So why didn't you vote for Ron Paul?

[Proletariat]

I guess because I live in Va and it wouldn'tve mattered. But man, looking at these two guys, it's hard not to dream about what could've been.

[Strike For The South]

I am....

[Yoyoma1910]

For one... I'm not a Republican, which in Louisiana is the only party (including Libertarian and Green) which doesn't allow independents to vote in their primaries.



I think it's because they hate everyone who isn't a republican. Or maybe because they think that independents in Louisiana are all left over "Longmen," singing "Every man a King." Which, btw, they hate.

[KukriKhan]

Out here in lal-la-land[ss]tm[/ss] we have a write in option on the ballot.

I considered writing in the missus, cuz she knows how to balance a budget, but she's also kinda overly-friendly to animals, so I think I'm going for the constitutionalist.

I'm bugged that he wouldn't ditch the repubs after the disrespect they showed him, though.

[KarlXII]

I vote Decepticon.

[PanzerJaeger]

... bc I really don't want Obama to win ...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I think I couldn't get a ride home.

Which is just an excuse for being lazy...

[Crazed Rabbit]

I think I'm going to. Maybe Barr or the Constitutionalist.

CR

[lars573]

I vote Decepticon.

Peace through tyranny, always a winning platform.

[CountArach]

For those who don't know - Ron Paul will be on the ballot in Montana

[drone]

I guess because I live in Va and it wouldn'tve mattered. But man, looking at these two guys, it's hard not to dream about what could've been.

I did. It was either him (conscious) or Hillary (sabotage). Looking back, I stand by my vote. RP represents that tiny, forgotten wing of the GOP that I like. It would have been hilarious to have him in the spotlight as the banks crashed and burned. Paulson would be changing his shorts on a regular basis if Paul was leading the polls.

[Fragony]

Would have if

[Koga No Goshi]

I did. It was either him (conscious) or Hillary (sabotage).

Wow, you guys admit this?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Koga:

I voted Hillary in the VA primary precisely to up her numbers enough to prolong the agony of the Dem nomination process. It was pretty well known that Obama would win VA, but a lot of us GOPers hoped we could get a delegate or two more onto her side and muck things up a bit. After all, Johnny had sown things up by then anyway.

Moreover, as a favor to Louis, I voted for Hillary since he, her most ardent champion, was a froggie and couldn't actually pull the lever for her. Its always fun when your goals and a friend's coincide and you can help so easily.

[drone]

Wow, you guys admit this?

You guys? Again?

Virginia is an open primary state. I can vote for either party's nominee. This year, I chose to pad Paul's tally, even though he had no chance at that point. And I'd do it again.

I was thinking about voting Hillary, mainly for the possible comedic value come convention time. But I didn't, since it didn't seem to be a factor when our primary finally rolled around.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Wow, you guys admit this?

System's broke anyway.

[JAG]

... bc I really don't want Obama to win ...

.. And he is and isn't that wonderful!

[Banquo's Ghost]

.. And he is and isn't that wonderful!

It would be wise not to start counting chickens. There's a long way to go yet and many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.

[Lemur]

Yup. Ain't nothing decided until all the votes are in. It pains me to see McCain supporters acting like it's already lost, and Obama supporters acting as though they've already won. I can assure you that people in the McCain campaign haven't given up, and nobody in the Obama campaign is measuring the drapes for the Oval Office. Both sides are too darn smart for that.

[JAG]

Game over man, game over.

[Fragony]

Game over man, game over.

Game goes on, just less playing. If the economy collapses it would be the worst day for the western communists ever, they would have to go out and get a job.

[Lemur]

Going back to the OP, I didn't vote for Ron Paul because I voted in the other primary. Had I voted in the Repub, however, I would certainly have given the good Doctor my vote.

Game over man, game over.

You quote a classic, sir!

[Spino]

I didn't vote for Ron Paul because I'm an independent. Had I been a registered Republican I would have been more than happy to give Ron my vote.

Unless modern science can somehow reanimate & revitalize the dead body of Reagan (whilst restraining it from feasting on the brains of the living) then New York's electoral votes will continue to fall squarely in the Democratic category for a long time to come (shocking, isn't it ). So... once again I am left to cast a 'symbolic' vote this November in the hopes that the political bean counters are paying attention. I'm torn between voting for McCain just to provide a loud symbolic vote against Obama or following my ideological principles and giving the Libertarian party candidate my symbolic vote like I did in 2004.

[Don Corleone]

I seriously considered voting for Ron Paul. But his grasp of economics is childish at best, dangerous at worst. His hard-currency platform would have done the very thing he claimed he was trying to resolve... concentrating economic wealth in the hands of a small cabal. In a fiat currency system, the government demand in the form of taxes is for the currency, not the specie, and therefore any possessor of dollars has equal ability to weight their currency (a dollar is a dollar in my piggy bank or in 1st National Bank). In a specie currency system, only those with access to the specie reserves can recognize the full faith and value of the currency. In other words, unless I've got a gold dollar at home to match that paper dollar, my dollar isn't worth the same what a paper dollar at 1st National, who has a vault full of gold in the basement.

What's more, when you enforce specie currency, you absolve the government from the responsbility of maintaining fiscal policy to control inflation. They can issue paper promissary notes (still dollars, mind you), as they see fit, with no responsibility for the consequences.

Finally, specie currency artificially prohibits the flow of capital between different economic systems, and currency valuations do not track GDP growth. Think about that for a second.... The French Franc was worth much, much, much more than a U.S. dollar in 1830. Do we all think that its a good thing that as America's wealth has grown, the sum total of all of her currency must maintain the same ratio to the sum total of all of France's?

Ron Paul offered a lot of good ideas, but the gold standard was one I just couldn't get past. The only thing worse than the Federal Reserve setting monetary policy for the country is having Warren Buffet and George Soros do it.

[Koga No Goshi]

You guys? Again?

Virginia is an open primary state. I can vote for either party's nominee. This year, I chose to pad Paul's tally, even though he had no chance at that point. And I'd do it again.

I was thinking about voting Hillary, mainly for the possible comedic value come convention time. But I didn't, since it didn't seem to be a factor when our primary finally rolled around.

*Shrug* I just had the impression that if someone on the left mentioned the suspicion that a lot of righties were voting Hillary just to muck up our process, or improve their chances in Nov. as a Republican voter, it would be called hysterical liberal conspiracy theory.

From the right's talk radio and such, it was pretty obviously a tactic a lot of people on the right were using, I'm just surprised you'd speak frankly about it. I do consider it underhanded to intentionally vote for a candidate not because you have any intention of voting for them in the Presidential, but just to hurt an opposing party. Even if it's legal.

[drone]

Well, technically I was doing the same by voting RP. Since I'm not registered Republican, was I sabotaging the GOP nomination process? I knew I wouldn't be voting for the doctor in a presidential election.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Well, technically I was doing the same by voting RP. Since I'm not registered Republican, was I sabotaging the GOP nomination process? I knew I wouldn't be voting for the doctor in a presidential election.

Well would you have voted Ron Paul if he had been a viable candidate/if he had been nominated? If so then I think that's fine, but I don't think people should ever vote for a candidate in a primary who they would not vote for if that candidate had a reasonable chance to succeed in the general election/made it to the general election. I consider that to be sabotaging the process and abusing the system.

And just to be clear I definitely support open primaries over closed ones. In fact I'm quite happy that my home state offers open primaries.

[drone]

Well would you have voted Ron Paul if he had been a viable candidate/if he had been nominated?

Yes. Especially since watching the train wreck that has been the McCain nomination/campaign.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I'm torn between voting for McCain just to provide a loud symbolic vote against Obama or following my ideological principles and giving the Libertarian party candidate my symbolic vote like I did in 2004.

The only wasted vote is one that does not follow your principlies. Go Libertarian.

[Spino]

The only wasted vote is one that does not follow your principlies. Go Libertarian.

Mind you I am not a big fan of all things Libertarian. My support of Libertarian candidates is as much a reaction to what I feel is the unacceptable and unnecessary growth of government as it is an attraction to the traditionally conservative elements of that platform.