Voting straight ticket or individual races?

I'm 52. I have missed voting in two elections since I became eligible to vote the time Tricky Dick ran for re-election (I won't bore you with the stories), one of them a primary. And I have NEVER voted a straight ticket in a general election. I won't next Tuesday, either.

 

Never voted a straight ticket, and I'm not starting now. Voting for 3 Republicans (Dubya; Curt Weldon for Congress, who incidentally is running against a guy named Paul Scoles; and Tom Corbett for Attorney General), 2 Libertarians (Berlie Etzel for Auditor General and Darryl Perry for State Treasurer), and 1 Constitution Party candidate (Jim Clymer for US Senate).

 

Here in my district, there's Kerry and our House Rep. It's a highly democratic district and the Reeps aren't seriously contesting it. So the Dems will get my votes.

Our mayor died earlier this year, so we have a special election. But it's non-partisan. I will probably not vote for the candidate the democratic establishment has endorsed, though I change my mind on all of the candidates pretty regularly. Still, even the "opposition" candidates have have ran in other partisan elections as Democrats (though not necessarily as machine endorsed).

 

I am very tempted to vote a straight ticket this election. Many may disagree, but I really feel like this administration is such a disaster that every republican should be embarrassed and switch parties immediately. I know that this won't happen, but I still can't take seriously anyone who raves about the accomplishments of the past four years.

Anyway, I won't vote a straight ticket, because I research every candidate. I am also a member of the Chicago Teachers Union and often vote for the candidates that they endorse. Of course, the secretary of education, Rod Paige, probably considers me a terrorist for belonging to this organization. Then again, the Bush administration probably considers me a terrorist for disagreeing with most of the things he does.

This year, in fact, they are endorsing a republican that has good policies regarding public schools.

Of course, if a candidate is a huge supporter of "No Child Left Behind" in its current format, I won't vote for him/her. One need only spend a minute or so in my school to realize how poorly it works.

Anyway, education is a huge issue for me, and I vote for candidates who support it.

Unfortunately, I am always woefully unprepared to vote for judges. I have heard that some should be removed, but I never know anything about them, unfortunately. Anyone know where I should look for information on them?

 

I have only voted a straight ticket once.

What I usually do is go vote for the 1-4 Republicans I like, then go back and check off all the Dems. It's easier that way.

 

Split ticket, Kerry for prez and for the most part Republican after that. Heck I don't even know the name of the Dem challenging Vonivich. Maybe there isn't since Jerry Springer dropped out.

 

I remember thinking this exact same thing when I was young, but I've realized it's a pretty silly and idealistic notion. Noone has the time or expertise to really study the professional backgrounds of all the judges, clerks, treasurers, commisioners, and so on, that are running in local elections. I mean, seriously, if you don't vote for a judge based on party, what are you voting for? Have you studied her case record? Her looks? The "feeling" you get when you see him/her speak? Whether or not you like the football team at the school he went to?

Nah, for smaller offices, "party affiliation" is the most informative thing you'll likely get to know about most of the candidates. And let's be honest, membership in a party IS a quite helpful aide in figuring out where total strangers (which most candidates are to you) stand on given issues.

Obviously, the above doesn't apply to the major races, about which it is easy to be reasonably informed on policy issues from a variety of perspectives. The type of races that actually have televised debates and constant local press coverage. Even then, though, I think party affiliation is a pretty strong starting point upon which to base your further study. Too many people kid themselves into thinking that they are being "responsible" voters merely because they vote for multiple parties, when in reality they've just fallen prey to all kinds of cults of personality that sway so many voters, especially in the era of mass media.

 

I could have sworn I voted Republican once in my life....probably not, though.

I've voted against Democrats, but I don't count going third party protest as a real "split ticket." Democrat to Green isn't really a stretch. Nor is Republican to Right-To-Life. To me, a serious split ticket is when you cross the party line that matters. A split ticket is Kerry for President, Bill Jones for Senate (like a few are doing) or Bush and Barbara Boxer (like no one in the entire state would consider doing for a microsecond, unless they show up to the voting booth on angel dust).

When I voted against Dianne Feinstein, that wasn't splitting a ticket, though, that was sheer petulance. (I think that might have been the time I voted for the Republican, although I can't for the life of me remember who that would have been. More likely I went with whichever women's studies professor at Mills College was running on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket that year.)

 

I've been a Republican. I've been a Democrat.

I've voted straight ticket only once in my life, and King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng survived my wrath at the Republicans over the Lewinsky persecution in 1998.

This year I may just vote a straight ticket. Usually, the GOP has a better candidate for Secretary of State here in Washington, but not this year IMHO. That leaves county races, and the only question there is one county commission race. My mother has worked with the Democrat in the race, and she's not too impressed with her. But the GOP candidate looks to be worse. Maybe I'll leave that blank.

 

i dont really know if ill go straight ticket, i'm really just amazed that i honestly just found out that McCain was up for re-election, i swear, the guy doesnt even campaign anymore..

 

Split ticket for me. Four-ways.

-Voting for Dems Kerry and Leahy in the big ones.
-Voting for the GOP incumbent Gov. Douglas (VT only gives governors two year terms which isn't enough to fairly evaluate someone; particularly with a legislature that is only in session from Feb-May. Douglas hasn't done anything to anger me. He's fairly moderate and a Dem friend who works with the state government claims that the day-to-day government has been running very smoothly under Douglas. Plus, I'm not crazy about the Dem nominee for governor).
-Voting for the Progressive Party candidate in the Lt. Gov. race. (The Republican incumbent is an annoying jerk and I'd like to see his political climb undercut before he tries for Gov. The Dem nominee did some grandstanding in a committe meeting one day and ripped my friend a new asshole for no reason at all. She even voted in favor of his project right after belittling him. So, I won't vote for her. The Progressive Party candidate is running on a universal healthcare platform so he'll get my vote even though he'll split the left vote with the Dem which will lead to the idiot GOP incumbent winning re-election.)
-Voting for Bernie Sanders for the House who is an independent.

So, in the five biggest votes, I'm giving a little love to three different parties and an independent. The rest of the ticket: Dems for the statehouse and an intentional mix of parties for the bottom of the ballot. Make people work together.

 

Come on, Dan. Just admit that you voted for Michael Huffington.

 

I think voting ticket just for the sake of voting ticket is silly. That said, I have voted for one party completely down the line before, but that wasn't because of the letter next to their names.

This time around, I haven't decided on all the votes yet, but I think as a matter of principle I'll vote for the D in every race where the R has publicly endorsed Dubya. Then I'll work out all the rest individually.

 

Here is RSL-Land, you'll have the politcal equivalent of an Out Of Body experience when you see illegal aliens vote for our Republican congressmen (Yes, they will be voting. You don't have to prove you're a citizen to vote & he's offering amnesty so why not?)

And the Black Helicopters Militia crowd will vote for his Democratic challenger.

 

The name of the Democrat running against George Voinovich is Eric Fingerhut. His chance of being elected is slightly less than my chance of becoming Emperor of Patagonia.

Which raises a real question: given the outcome of that election is a stone cold certainty, which useless gesture is worthier: voting for Voinovich to lend my voice to those who want to tell the hard-right bent on intimidating center-right Republican Senators where to go, or voting against Voinovich for what he did as Governor?

Voting for Fingerhut is, of course, out of the question, just as voting for Robert Burch was pointless and ridiculous in 1994. I don't know anybody who voted for Robert Burch. I know people who voted against a Voinovich landslide, but I don't know anybody who voted for Robert Burch.

 

State Sen. Fingerhut.

 

A chicken in every pot and a Tivo in every home!

 

You made a wise choice.