How do you choose whom to vote for?

[Barzan]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

Is PSOE the party in government now or is it the Basque party or another one?

PSOE is the party in power now, yes.

Oh, I'd vote for them too!

I do wish they'd fix the two-tiered labour system so people our age could get full-time permanent employment instead of being on contract without benefits forever, but on the whole I think that party's doing a hell of a lot better than the last one that was in charge.

A lot of people in Spain would agree with you. The PSOE has been doing a good job, so far. Considering the economical state Spain is experimenting lately... I only wish that PSOE wins on the next elections. God knows what would happen if the PP rises to power and we end up with Mariano Rajoy as PM.

That would not be good. Doesn't the People's Party have members in it that are sympathisers with the Franco era?

You get them in the PSOE too. The thing is that the PP is über conservative, and many of the advancements the PSOE has achieved, like same sex marriage, will be banned right off the bat were the PP to rise to power again. This party would also send Spanish troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, again, and create a violent atmosphere.

[Barzan]

You get them in the PSOE too.

Really? That's kinda scary...

The thing is that the PP is über conservative, and many of the advancements the PSOE has achieved, like same sex marriage, will be banned right off the bat were the PP to rise to power again. This party would also send Spanish troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, again, and create a violent atmosphere.

Yeah, I figured that. It would be a shame if that were to happen.

[The Blaatschapen]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Actually, no, you vote on a person, who in turn belongs to a party. It works a bit weird, but it works

[Buffett and Colbert]

It's a combination of these, and many more things that would make me want to vote for a candidate. I chose intelligence and competence, however, because I suppose this is the most important thing. But you can have intelligent and competent people who will screw the nation too. So it all depends...

[Barzan]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Actually, no, you vote on a person, who in turn belongs to a party. It works a bit weird, but it works

Oh, so it it like in the UK where you vote for your MP based on burroughs?

It's a combination of these, and many more things that would make me want to vote for a candidate. I chose intelligence and competence, however, because I suppose this is the most important thing. But you can have intelligent and competent people who will screw the nation too. So it all depends...

True that.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

It's a combination of these, and many more things that would make me want to vote for a candidate. I chose intelligence and competence, however, because I suppose this is the most important thing. But you can have intelligent and competent people who will screw the nation too. So it all depends...

In PR? Dude, good luck.

[The Blaatschapen]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Actually, no, you vote on a person, who in turn belongs to a party. It works a bit weird, but it works

Oh, so it it like in the UK where you vote for your MP based on burroughs?

No, we have 1 single voting area and 150 people to elect. Basically it works like this:

You vote on a person, who is in turn on a ranked party list. All votes of all persons in a party are added, this will determine the amount of seats for that party. And the people on top of the list of that party get in, except if a person who'd normally not get a seat has a certain amount of preferential votes then that person gets in instead of the last one of the 'top listing' who'd normally gets in.

It's slightly more complicated than this, but it works

[Dyakovo]

I look for people that share in my political ideals...Id vote someone who's platform was to help Truckdrivers, College Students, and South Mississippi...But, Im not sure anyone else would,

Two out of three isn't bad...

[Barzan]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Actually, no, you vote on a person, who in turn belongs to a party. It works a bit weird, but it works

Oh, so it it like in the UK where you vote for your MP based on burroughs?

No, we have 1 single voting area and 150 people to elect. Basically it works like this:

You vote on a person, who is in turn on a ranked party list. All votes of all persons in a party are added, this will determine the amount of seats for that party. And the people on top of the list of that party get in, except if a person who'd normally not get a seat has a certain amount of preferential votes then that person gets in instead of the last one of the 'top listing' who'd normally gets in.

It's slightly more complicated than this, but it works

So do you have to choose 150 people per ballot then?

[Ceannairceach]

Where ever my dart hits on the Dart Board of Shame

[The Blaatschapen]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Actually, no, you vote on a person, who in turn belongs to a party. It works a bit weird, but it works

Oh, so it it like in the UK where you vote for your MP based on burroughs?

No, we have 1 single voting area and 150 people to elect. Basically it works like this:

You vote on a person, who is in turn on a ranked party list. All votes of all persons in a party are added, this will determine the amount of seats for that party. And the people on top of the list of that party get in, except if a person who'd normally not get a seat has a certain amount of preferential votes then that person gets in instead of the last one of the 'top listing' who'd normally gets in.

It's slightly more complicated than this, but it works

So do you have to choose 150 people per ballot then?

No, you pick one out of I dunno 300+ or so. And in the end 150 actually get in.

[Allbeama]

I think I will start writing myself in on the ballots from now on.

[Barzan]

I think I will start writing myself in on the ballots from now on.

You do know that, even if you won, you couldn't actually "win" because you write-in qualified registered write-in candidates, right? (Write-in is for people who don't have enough money to get their name on the ballot -- you can't just write anyone's name in and have it count.)

[Tunizcha]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Better idea (proposed by Lewis Black):

Take a giant map of the US, and have whoever won American Idol that year throw a dart at the board. Wherever the dart lands, we fly there, strap a parachute to a monkey, and push the little fucker out. He lands, walks around a bit, and whoever hand he grabs first, that'll be the President.

[RightLeaningChristians]

1. Non-Asian
2. Looks like a guy that could say, "Yeah.. well Fuck you!"

[Farther Reaches]

The first thing I look at is whether or not they take an aggressive stance against either myself or those I care about. Then, I check for the possibility of policies that, while not intended to do so, could threaten my well-being. Assuming neither candidate is a direct threat, I will then analyze their policy and balance the differing issues, as I am burdened with having opinions on issues that aren't consistent within a single party.

It doesn't help that I keep drawing parallels between arguments opposing gun control and arguments for pro-choice.

[Doitzel]

I'm a little distressed by how comfortable so many people seem to feel with enforcing their ideologies on others.

That's what democracy is.

[Omnicracy]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Actually, no, you vote on a person, who in turn belongs to a party. It works a bit weird, but it works

Thats how the worlds second largest Republic (or mabey largest, if India is a literal democracy, which I doubt) in the world works, and we've been doing it for alot longer. If You ask me, while I can understand the benifits of party-voteing (harder for a two party system to form), I still think its better to vote for a person who you know (for lack of a more accurate word) the policies of than for a party you know the policies of that will pick its own people who could wind up accting against what you would want.

(adendum: I kept reading posts, the system you have sounds like something i might have tryed as a checks and ballences in my government system. Of course soon after realizing that was too crazy to work and scraping it for something better. )

[Omnicracy]

Well, here in the Netherlands you get a huge piece of paper sent to your home with all the names on it. Usually I hang it on the wall, blindfold myself and throw a dart to it. The person the dart lands on is the person I vote for.

I thought voting there was by party, no?

Better idea (proposed by Lewis Black):

Take a giant map of the US, and have whoever won American Idol that year throw a dart at the board. Wherever the dart lands, we fly there, strap a parachute to a monkey, and push the little fucker out. He lands, walks around a bit, and whoever hand he grabs first, that'll be the President.

I saw that bit. In all honesty, It probably would produce the same (if not occasonaly better) quality of president that we already get.

[Red Latin American]

only vote for candidates of the left, preferably Communists, to defend the interests of the working class

[Omnicracy]

I'm a little distressed by how comfortable so many people seem to feel with enforcing their ideologies on others.

That's what democracy is.

I wouldn't say enforcing is what democracy is. Its more like useing the most persuasive argument your morals will allow (for people who get elected, these arguments are usualy full of lies and half-truths) to convince everyone else your right and either truely hearing out other argument or at least pretending to (back to most of our elected officials for that last one).

[Rolamec]

I think we would like to believe that we would vote for a candidate because he shares our political views or would do great things for the country, but would we really?

Not to say it's intentional. But biases occur, whether we are aware of it or not.

For example, when you turn on the t.v. and decide to watch the news, what channel do you watch? Fox? MSNBC? CNN? And which way do you vote? Do you fit the stereotype, in that if your conservative you tend to enjoy Fox, if your liberal you find comfort in MSNBC? I know I do, and it annoys me.

Think about shows like with Olbermann, Hannity, Beck. How they are centered, what they are based on. Its all based on emotions, they will spin a story to satisfy the viewers, not necessarily spread the objective truth. They are more concerned with how many viewers watch them, how entertained and comfortable they are, rather than if the news is being spread, if your receiving the objective truth.

The same applies with our candidates and our so-called 'objective' biases that we have in our selection.

In reality we may support a candidate because he believes in equality for all, or because he shares our traditional values. He was a pastor, a community organizer, a general, an actor. He is black, he is white, he is a she, he is a he. He graduated from Harvard, he taught at Yale, etc.

This is not to say that we don't select a candidate who shares our views, I voted for Barack Obama because I was tired of Republicans, because I am more liberal than conservative, and because I consider myself a Democrat. I admit, he is one hell of an orator, his campaign made you -us- feel like we were essential, and that we made the difference. Perhaps we did.

But I also wonder how many people voted for a candidate because he was young or who didn't vote for someone because he was too young. Was the fact that a candidate served in the Navy attract us as an attractive quality and we adjusted our views to vote for him? Against him?

One book, I would recommend is the Political Brain

http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publi ... 1586484255

One study was very interesting. It talked about how in 2004, 50 Bush supports and 50 Kerry supporters were both given an MRI and given controversial quotes said by their candidates and asked to defend them. The MRI revealed that when defending their candidate, the rational part of their brain grew inactive, while their emotional part heated up.

So it makes you wonder, do we really, objectively and un-biasely support any candidate? Any choice? Can we?

[Rolamec]

I'm a little distressed by how comfortable so many people seem to feel with enforcing their ideologies on others.

That's what democracy is.

I wouldn't say enforcing is what democracy is. Its more like useing the most persuasive argument your morals will allow (for people who get elected, these arguments are usualy full of lies and half-truths) to convince everyone else your right and either truely hearing out other argument or at least pretending to (back to most of our elected officials for that last one).

Point made. Which is also why our founding fathers (if your American) intended our country to be a republic, not a democracy. There is a reason why thinkers such as Plato to Churchill considered democracies one of the worst form of governments. They are great for the majority, and terrible for the minority (African-Americans in slavery and segregation, as well as Asians, many immigrations Irish, Italians, Germans, Eastern Europeans, Hispanics; women; gays; etc.).

Democracy is great until an emergency occurs, and a scapegoat is found. Than it quickly transforms into a mob-ocracy. Athens being a great and unfortunate example.

[Omnicracy]

I'm a little distressed by how comfortable so many people seem to feel with enforcing their ideologies on others.

That's what democracy is.

I wouldn't say enforcing is what democracy is. Its more like useing the most persuasive argument your morals will allow (for people who get elected, these arguments are usualy full of lies and half-truths) to convince everyone else your right and either truely hearing out other argument or at least pretending to (back to most of our elected officials for that last one).

Point made. Which is also why our founding fathers (if your American) intended our country to be a republic, not a democracy. There is a reason why thinkers such as Plato to Churchill considered democracies one of the worst form of governments. They are great for the majority, and terrible for the minority (African-Americans in slavery and segregation, as well as Asians, many immigrations Irish, Italians, Germans, Eastern Europeans, Hispanics; women; gays; etc.).

Democracy is great until an emergency occurs, and a scapegoat is found. Than it quickly transforms into a mob-ocracy. Athens being a great and unfortunate example.

I think my previouse post still aplies to a republican system. I am American, yes. While most of what you say is accurate, you have errored on Churchill. The quote goes something like "Democracy is the worst form of government, eccept for all the others." He ment republican democracy, not true democracy. And befor we get into a semantical argument in this thread about democracy, republic, and a slew of other words, let me say that we are all intelegent people. We know the true meanings but use the words in the common format for simplicities sake.