Originally posted by TheRedneck

That chart is in 2 dimensions, don't we live in (at least) a 3-D universe?

Beyond the joke I think there´s some truth to that. Wouldnt the whole person be well-versed in all sides + a combination of them all + beyond them all?

I would guess so.

Seems like there´s some type of retardation that allows for most to only occupy a single viewpoint.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Dear Liberals, Dear Conservatives...
...
"This one candidate will go to war. This other candidate will cause poverty in our nation." What lousy "freedom of choice" is that supposed to be? /quote]

Since I consider myself a 'moderate'; I probably should not be answering this letter to liberals and conservatives. '' So, I won't answer!

I do have a question though; since the first President Bush LEFT office in the worst national debt the nation had ever had ... and then Mr. Clinton left office with all of the former Bush mess cleared up and the economy was good and sound ... and then the current Bush wrecked the economy worse than even his own Dad ... who then is it that YOU think will cause our nation to go into (worse than we already are) poverty?

Also, which candidate is the one responsible for killing the current Bush's SECRET plan to hand over our seaports to an Arab company? Remember Bush said he had already made the deal and it could not be changed ... when it was finally made public. Well, one of those three candidates stood against Bush and defeated the whole mess on HER (big hint there) own sweat and hard work!

I'm voting for Ron anyway ... and yes, I know all about how our system works.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull

(...)

I'd vote for Ron Paul if there was any chance of him winning

(...)

Root of the problem ?

__________________

By the way why are you all speaking of voting for any potential president while USA happily tread on Universal Suffrage*'s toes ?...

*I mean the (only) true one, which is direct.

I had to give you a star for this post.

I also have positions that don't all line up with either philosophy. Sometimes I'm on the liberal side of an issue and sometimes on the conservative side.

People try to define my beliefs, like you said in your post, if you believe in this then you have to also believe in that. It's simply not true.

Thanks for a post that helps to define who people really are, not what you assume they are.

Do any of you really think that your vote mattters, it doesnt. the powerfull put who they want up to be voted for and have us idiots think we make the desicion, I never recall a time that I said hey I want this guy for president and ran a had the country vote for him. Thats just the rich. Now you have people like supper deligates that can do as there party says, they dont even try to hide it anymore. Do a little research on some of the polititions, you will find a long family history of most of these people having ruled in Washinton. Take a look a your president now check how many generations his family goes bak. Pull up Bill Clinton I think He has relatives from the past as well as many others. So I dont think we descide much.

Isn't odd how much our political system resembles Rome's before Caesar? Isn't odd how are political system is heading the same way Rome's did? Do your homework people.

First off, too Rigel,

Please put the thesaurus away, eh

Skyfloating,

Great post and conversation

I've always dealt with this by voting for the lesser evil. Some would say that is wrong minded but it is the choice we are left with.

While reading posts here at ATS, I've often wondered how many of us could ever align with either Party. I doubt it is much different for candidates running for office. There is no way any honest person could say they fully agree with either platform.

The average Democrat wants nothing to do with the Far Left and the average Republican wants nothing to do with the Far Right. The extremists will never represent the point of view of the vast majority of Americans. Nearly all of us lie somewhere in the middle.

I'm sure that most simply pick up where their Parents left off and follow what they know at first. Then as we get older we form our own opinions and possibly change Parties. I know that's how it was for me.

My Father was a staunch Democrat in his time. He passed away in 1971. He was an active vocal supporter of Kennedy and his views. Jump forward in time and it all changes. He was also very Conservative. The Democrats of his day were also conservatives. He was opposed to abortion and considered it murder. He was opposed to big government and high taxes. Both very normal views for Democrats in his day. Kennedy was more like Reagan than anyone else since, even if the modern day Democrats paint a different, dishonest picture.

Had he know that Kennedy cheated on his Wife, this same man who I watched aggressively campaign for him, would have campaigned against him. As the information about Monroe surfaced, he stopped talking about Kennedy all together. In his world, the one I grew up in, marriage was for life, commitments were for real, lying was always wrong and dishonesty was not to be tolerated in any form.

Jump forward too today and we have a completely different world and society. Everything is upside down and backward. Liberal means intolerance of others and demands that the government represent the wants of small segments of society, regardless of the desires of the vast majority of others. Conservative means overly aggressive laws, imprisonment for victim-less crimes and demands that everyone be in lock step with the Far Right Ideal.

We lie in the middle of this sandwich helpless to control whether we are to be spread with mayonnaise or mustard.

The solutions to fix this badly broken Two Party System we are under, are in fact quite simple. The only thing stopping it from being fixed by eliminating both money and the Party System, is the money and the Parties themselves. They lead us down this merry path, by leading us to believe it is too complex to address, when in fact they do not want any changes.

The very process of getting elected locks them into the dysfunctional family we call our government. It is clearly a case of "follow the money". With money being the number one prerequisite to being elected, the candidates are caught up in a trap.

They can not be honest or the money will stop and any chance of being elected would go out the window. They are forced to do all the things they probably hated before they started their first campaign to even have a chance. I think many, if not most people who run for office, start off with good intentions and high ideals. It is the process that corrupts them and forces bad decisions upon them while in office.

Then to make matters worse, they have to kiss our and our babies backsides to get enough money; meaning we are as much to blame as the system itself. When we walk into that voting booth, we are not voting what is best for society. We are voting for who we believe will benefit our own selfish interests the best.

I share your dilemma, about which Party or Candidate to vote for. I think most of us are troubled by the fact that neither Party truly represents us. I think I fit the mold that many others are cast in. I'm a Fiscal Conservative and a Liberal, under the real definition, on social matters. I realize we need our Laws and those who enforce them to protect us from ourselves; but at the same time I don't want others dictating how I live my own life. I want honest people in government, while at the same time I want to be represented by someone willing to fight dirty if it benefits me.

In the end, I think the only solution is to vote for the lesser evil and PRAY for the best.