Indulge me.

[kellinator]

For those of you who are planning to vote for Bush in November, would you please tell me why? Preferably a reason a little more nuanced than "Kerry's an asshole"?

Note: You're not going to change my mind on this. If the past four years haven't changed my mind, a fifty-word comment sure as hell isn't going to do it.

I'm just trying to understand. Right now nothing scares me more than the thought of four more years of Bush, but I know there are people I like and respect who disagree for whatever reason, and I want to know why, so I can at least try to understand.

No flaming. If I'm too slammed to post my DragonCon pictures (coming soon!), I'm sure as hell too busy to play referee. Play nice, folks.

Comments

[winterbadger]

I agree with the reasons you see for people voting for Bush, I just disagree that those are representative of ideology, or that ideology is opposed to reason. I follow an ideology (a liberal one), but not because I don't think. In fact, the ideology is the *product* of my thinking.

I'd say the answers that you suggest are true, but that they are based on ignorance or laziness ont he part of those who porpose them. Thing is, there *are* also people who propose the same answers out of a genuine ideology, and they're a different sort of fowl altogether.

There *are* people who seriously believe that massive tax cuts will prompt economic recovery and thus increase GDP and thus the tax base. Admittedly, most of them are also for big budget cuts as well, which Bush seems lukewarm about (but I gather big cuts are planned for a wide range of domestic program in thye next budget...)

There *are* people who really think that by overthrowing the Iraqi government and setting up a new one we create a democratic state that would start a trend toward democracy throughout the region. Of course, I'd've been more in favour of putting pressure on our allies (like Egypt and Saudi Arabia) over whom we have some influence to move faster toward democracy, instead of spending lives and moeny on an experiment in Iraq.

So, yeah, there are ignorant reasons to vote for Bush and ideological ones, but I'd maintain they're not entirely the same thing.

[gaiagurl.livejournal.com]

besides which, you can't impose democracy from the outside. the people have got to already want it themselves. and they can't be made to feel like they're establishing it at gunpoint.

and i don't know why nobody ever thinks to do budget cuts FIRST and then TRY tax cuts later. and they always cut in the wrong damn places. cutting domestic programs is a terrible idea right now. hell, it's usually a terrible idea.

[winterbadger]

Ah, but then one is, in this context, dealing with people who believe that government shouldn't be taking "their" money away from them to help "needy" people. They think that government should just be standing back and letting the economy roar, so as to create jobs for all those people so they don't *have* to take government handouts. (I think a large portion of the people who follow this logic also beleive that most welfare recipients squander their money on drugs and booze or scam the system, but let's ignore them and just deal with the people who are acting out of conviction rather than hate.)

I can understand that they think that; I just can't understand *why*; we instituted the "War on Poverty" in the 1960s, when our economy was very strong. It didn't seem to be providing for all the poor then, and it sure isn't now.