Independents, please speak up

Oh, I'm very much a socialist, too. They have the best parties.

 

Good answer. You are the type of person I was thinking of when I started the thread.
What's your take on the election, or have you decided yet?
By the way, my "And...?" was just a poor joke implying that you're fucking nuts.

 

I'm an independent. I think the real world is too fluid to align with one party or the other.

Obama has my vote right now. I'd have a hard time voting for Hillary. I have a lot of respect for McCain, but his position on Iraq makes it hard for me to consider voting for him.

 

Good point.

My take on the election is ... while I like both Hillary and McCain, and think each of them could make good presidents, I will be utterly depressed for four years if the election for the leadership of this country comes down to those two.

Personally, I voted Obama. And I'll vote Obama in the general, if I get that chance. I think he's a breath of fresh air, I think he's inspiring, and I think he can be a force for positive change in this country, regardless of whether I agree with his policies or not. And I think that's vitally important at this time. So, he's my choice.

 

Well said regarding Obama. That's pretty much how I feel.

 

The polls I've seen show McCain beating Clinton but losing to Obama, and obviously it's because of the split in the independent vote.
You both prefer Obama over Clinton. I do too.
But if the election were held today, would you vote McCain or Clinton?

 

Oh, and here's a shoutout to all open-primary states, plus the Democratic party of California (but not you, GOP!), for allowing us GDIs to vote in your primaries. We thank you for that.

Haven't made up my mind. I'd like to dwell in my misery for a few months before making that choice.

Leaning Clinton, because she's certainly well qualified and it's far overdue that we've had a female POTUS in this country. Fucking Pakistan has had a female PM already, as have several dozen other countries. Why haven't we even come close to electing a woman president? Fucking disgraceful.

 

I tend to vote Democrat in national elections and Republican in local politics -- or did up north. Democrats in this state are fucked up for the most part.

 

It sucks. You travel the country getting your ass beat and even if you have some success you have no chance of playing in the NCAA Tournament. It blows but we're hoping to get into a conference in the next five years.

 

Unlike Buck-W, I will call myself a libertarian, which I'm pretty sure leaves me as indy in this election, but I pretty much agree with what he wrote here (though maybe not in the same spirit. I don't want to imply that I think Buck shares any of the following feelings).
I don't think I'd like a fair deal of Obama's policies, but I like what he says and how he says it.
I also have a creeping suspicion he might turn out to be JFK like not just in rhetoric, but in an inability to get things passed through Congress, which would kind of be the best of both worlds for me. But it also sickens me to even think that way.
At least I know he won't be as hateful as the Republican have gotten, though.
McCain v. Clinton (all life should be treated like a supreme court case) I'd probably vote for McCain. I'd love to see a female pres, but I just couldn't make that vote.
For me, she's like the opposite of Obama. She won't lift up the country, which it needs. She's more likely to get mired in some crappy partisan crap. And she's definitely good enough to get her stuff passed through Congress, which I wouldn't really like.
I have to see McCain and hear more McCain before I know for sure. If I decide I don't like him, I MIGHT end up voting for Hill just to get a female pres.

I'm hoping once the field gets narrowed and it's Person A campaigning against Person B, I'll get a clearer idea.

 

I think the number of independents continues to grow as each party becomes more beholden to the extreme and traditional bases of support. Most Americans aren't as conservative or liberal as the respective parties and its hard for me at least to align myself with some of the nuttiness preached by both sides. I tend to vote for Democrats more than Republicans, but I will vote for the best person for the position at the time of the vote. Sometimes a Republican is needed or more qualified than a Dem, sometimes its the other way around. And besides, how many registered Dems and GOPers would there be if it cost $10 to register for either party? To suggest that either party has a monopoly on good ideas and integrity is a joke.

 

Haven't had a party affiliation since I became eligible to vote. I'm not a Green Party kind of guy, but when environmental issues come up on the ballot, I err on the side of the environment (there's only one Earth, so if we fsck this one up, we're boned). As far as pledging loyalty to one of the two major national parties, DanOregon said it best with his last line.

Not a big fan of any of the Republican or Democratic front-runners, so I suppose I'll be a free agent until November.