These two quotes are from the White House.
"I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising"
"Taken as a whole, this bill improves the current system of financing for Federal campaigns, and therefore I have signed it into law."
Doesn't really fit well with the oath of office.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
That's why I can't stomach a vote for Bush. There's a lot of other reasons, but this one is the trump for me. Don't worry though, I can't stomach a Kerry vote. There's lots of reasons I won't vote for either of them, these just happen to be the biggest for each.
It's quite simple guys, you lie, and are dumb enough get caught in it (especially about your oath of office or a law you voted for), and you'll never get my vote.
So who do you plan on voting for?
Badnarik, Libertarian Party.
He's a k00k, and yea, throwing vote away, etc... but:
Michigan will almost certainly go to Kerry.
Voting for Kerry therefor does not matter -- it doesn't matter if he wins michigan by 100,000 or 99,999.
Voting for Bush likewise doesn't matter.
A vote for Nader (I hate that saying, but eh) is a vote for pushing the Democratic Party further to the left.
The Green Party is right out (and really, Nader should be out in the same way, but I haven't done enough research on him to present a good arguement for it right now, so he's just out by virtue of being left of the Dems,) because of wanting a maximum wage.
The Constitution Party is out by virtue of being more fundamentalist than the Republican Party.
This has a fair bit on my thought process...
As you can see, by my criteria, all of the candidates are right out, aside from Badnarik, who, aside from being a k00k, hasn't had a chance to do anything for me to dislike him.
Really, the big issue, besides the Big 2 being caught in lies/misleading/stupidity, is that all of the candidates except for Badnarik, and maybe the Constitution candidate, are for increasing the size, scope, and responsibilities of government. It's the very antithesis of everything I'm looking for.
What I probably ought to do is just not vote, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that this year. I told a few people already that I would vote in the election (not that that really matters).
Spoiling the ballot is another option, I suppose. And on that note, Vote Zappa.
Interesting, so where do you go to read up on politics for the various candidates? Is there a /. just for political issues (the politics discussed on /. aren't enough for a person trying to learn about the issues that differ between candidates).
This may be my first year voting, though right now I don't see a good reason to because I'm not particularly fond of Kerry or Bush. And don't worry, I don't vote, but I also very much don't complain. ;)