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Presidential Preference Poll

Hillary Clinton

17 votes

Gary Johnson

2 votes

Evan McMullin

1 votes

Jill Stein

1 votes

Donald Trump

1 votes

Other

2 votes

TransMonk Nov 04 2016 03:54 PM

The purpose of this thread/poll is not to fan the flames of any debates contained in the general election thread that is already open. I also understand that the majority of our forum members are likely left-leaning, so this is not intended to be a scientific indicator of who should or is likely to win on November 8th. I am genuinely curious about not only who folks may be voting for, but also why. I am especially interested in what our resident Republicans and Independents are thinking about as election day draws near. 1. Who are you voting for and why? I'm hoping this can be a discussion on what we support about the candidate of our choosing instead of what we dislike about other(s), but I also understand that this election cycle has had some hard choices. 2. If you are voting third-party, who would you rather win between Trump and Clinton? Some forum members live in states that are going to very likely be blue by large margins. That could give voters there a bigger incentive to vote third-party. But one of Trump or Hillary is going to win this thing. Even if you are not going to vote for either, I would be eager to hear which you would rather see win and why. Lastly, I understand that voting can be a very personal and private thing (especially given the froth built up on both sides during the current cycle), so if we have posters that would rather not participate or discuss, I do not blame them. Again, the intent here is to generate discussion and not to re-hash arguments from other threads nor to make any personal attacks on other members. I'm not expecting this to be an exercise in changing any minds...so let's not beat each other up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I did not vote for Hillary in the 2008 nor the 2016 Democratic primary. I think she is a horrible candidate and she very rarely excites me like past candidates have during certain cycles. I feel (a) that if there were any number of other Republicans running as the GOP nominee, they would be running laps around her and (b) that there are other Democrats who would be undoubtedly blowing Trump out if they were the D nominee. That being said, I do agree with Hillary on 80%ish of the issues. I do not find her to be criminal and I do not find her to be any more "corrupt" than any other average politician. I do not find her untrustworthy as it relates to being an effective leader when protecting my personal interests and keeping my family stable and safe as Americans. I do feel like she has the adequate experience and skills to be President. While, from a political position, I think she will be handcuffed by the opposition from Day 1 if elected, I do think she could do a decent job as President otherwise. Now, I have voted Democratic in every Presidential election since I was old enough to vote and I would likely vote for the D nominee no matter what (as I do find Trump not only unqualified, but also at many times dangerous and un-American). But, when I look past her personality, I do agree with Hillary on most of the issues. I believe our last few Presidents were better candidates than Presidents...I'm hoping and believing Hillary can be the opposite.

Edgy MD Nov 04 2016 04:01 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm writing in. I'm considering the Maturen-Muñoz ticket of the nascent American Solidarity Party, but I may just pick two of my friends. Maybe Jill and, um, Brian. That's it. Jill and Brian. I don't anticipate Maryland swinging for want of my vote.

Ashie62 Nov 04 2016 04:08 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm the Evan guy. A write in in NJ.

d'Kong76 Nov 04 2016 04:11 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm the Johnson guy. Haha, that's fun to say.

Fman99 Nov 04 2016 04:11 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm voting the Democratic line, just as I've done each year since 1991.

Benjamin Grimm Nov 04 2016 04:12 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm with Hillary. It's the most effective way to stop Trump.

seawolf17 Nov 04 2016 04:17 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm all in on President Clinton. She's far and away the most qualified of the four major candidates, and also far and away most in line with my personal beliefs.

sharpie Nov 04 2016 04:19 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

What Seawolf said. And it isn't close.

metsmarathon Nov 04 2016 04:27 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

seawolf17 wrote: I'm all in on President Clinton. She's far and away the most qualified of the four major candidates, and also far and away most in line with my personal beliefs. this. i may not like everything about her, or everything she does, but her positions and her policy are the most in line with my own. and there is almost literally nothing on the other side of the ticket, in position, or policy, or person, that i can get behind.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 04 2016 05:08 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm with her.

themetfairy Nov 04 2016 05:39 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm with Hillary Clinton - 100%

RealityChuck Nov 04 2016 07:19 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Hillary. Very qualified and I agree with her political positions wholeheartedly. Her big drawbacks are that she doesn't look good in sound bites and there has been a concerted effort over the years to find scandals where none were there.

Lefty Specialist Nov 04 2016 07:58 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Like you have to ask. Hillary is one of the most qualified people ever to run for president. She'll be a lot better at governing than she's been at campaigning. She actually has a lot of well-articulated ideas and plans that have been drowned out by the stupidity of the mainstream media. Give her a Democratic Senate and we can at least start to make some progress in this country. Trump has fewer qualifications for office than I do. I've worked for the government. I have never filed for bankruptcy. I've actually read the constitution (it's really not very long). I don't grope women or engage in 'locker-room talk'. I pay my taxes every year, in full and on time. I have never used a charitable foundation to pay my legal bills. I'm willing to admit that I know less about the Middle East than the generals do. I'm still on my first wife. I've raised a son who doesn't kill endangered animals for sport. I don't tweet, ever. I don't discriminate against Mexicans, African-Americans, women, gay people or Muslims. I think Vladimir Putin is a nasty son-of-a-bitch who cannot be trusted and who has attempted to influence this election. I think that KKK leaders are bad people. I think a Gold Star mother should be honored, not abused. But I'm not running. I will be doing get-out-the-vote work in Pennsylvania this weekend instead. Shame on the Republicans who foisted this con man on us. Louis C.K. said it best the other night. "If you vote for Hillary, you're a grown-up. If you vote for Trump, you're a sucker. If you don't vote at all, you're an asshole."

d'Kong76 Nov 04 2016 08:22 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

It's a landslide!

Nymr83 Nov 04 2016 08:48 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I'm voting for Johnson because I find Hillary/Trump unacceptable. Maybe if I lived in a more competitive state I'd feel more compelled to decide between them and vote the lesser evil (Which I think is the corrupt criminal Hillary! - yeah, seriously, Trump SUCKS) but living in NY where the electoral vote is decided I prefer neither. Lefty Specialist wrote: Like you have to ask. He already did ask. She'll be a lot better at governing than she's been at campaigning. That is a very low bar. Trump has fewer qualifications for office than I do. I don't know you, but since he is probably less qualified than the average person that is a safe bet. I've worked for the government. I'd consider that a negative generally. I have never filed for bankruptcy. Trump is really setting the bar low here. I've actually read the constitution (it's really not very long). Its a good read, particularly that part about slaves. I don't grope women or engage in 'locker-room talk'. you're missing out on the "locker room talk" - but good job not sexually assaulting anyone, we're real proud of you. (geez, could Trump set the bar any lower?) Louis C.K. said it best the other night. "If you vote for Hillary, you're a grown-up. If you vote for Trump, you're a sucker. If you don't vote at all, you're an asshole." I'd say if you vote for Hillary you are a sucker, if you vote for Trump you're an asshole, and if you don't vote at all you've probably saved yourself what would otherwise be a wasted half hour of your day.

Vic Sage Nov 04 2016 09:35 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

i'm not deluded enough (or ignorant of basic mathematics) to think that my one vote will swing a presidential election, particularly in solidly blue NY, so i've freed myself to vote my conscience. That being said, there is no candidate, including 3rd party nominees, who i'm enthusiastic about. Unlike my votes for Nader, i don't think anybody running besides Hilary is remotely qualified for the job. Besides simple basic competency, i think Trumpism needs to be repudiated by a huge loss, so he not only loses the election, but the ugly, xenophobic, racist, misogynistic brand of anti-American fascism he represents (i.e., the "alt-right") is also soundly throttled. That's why, if you're considering a 3rd party candidate this year, or a write-in, please think about it some more. I've been a 3rd party voter most of my life (starting with Jon Anderson in 1980), so i'm not one of those people who complain about "wasted votes." If a candidate represents your core values, you have not only a right but a duty to vote for that candidate, regardless of the chances of their victory (as such are determined by the media). But look at Johnson and Stein closely. Alot of their views are not only naive, but some are moronic and a few downright dangerous. So the only reason people are voting for them is in protest of the 2 major party candidates, not because your for Johnson or Stein but because you're against both Trump and Clinton. So your not actually voting FOR something your voting AGAINST everything. Which, in a normal election cycle, i could still understand. I wouldn't agree, but i would understand. But this isn't a normal election. This isn't left vs right, conservative vs liberal, neocon vs progressive. This is a battle for basic human decency. This is an election about our secular souls, about who we are as a people; about who we want to be; about what kind of democracy we want to leave to our children. Whatever one may think of Hilary (and i don't have a particularly high regard for her, primarily based on her hawkish and pro-corporate views), she is within the range of rational public servants capable of doing the job, and she projects to the world sane, rational, humanistic values. You don't like her politics? fine. wait 4 years, run a rational Republican and take another crack at her. But voting for Trump is just lobbing a hand grenade into a school room and getting off on the kids scurrying for their lives. And voting for a 3rd party in THIS particular election not only reduces the chances of stopping him, it misses the very important and valuable opportunity afforded us to repudiate the angry racism and bullying demagoguery, the anti-democratic impulses, that the short-fingered vulgarian represents, to slow the normalizing process of those values now occurring in our culture, and the ability to vote FOR something... FOR democracy, and FOR basic human decency and dignity. If 10 of the current 14% of projected 3rd party voters decided to vote FOR basic human decency, Clinton would win in a landslide and we as a people would be making a statement... a statement not just to the coalition of white male skinheads, knuckledraggers, supremacists, survivalists, paranoids, fundamentalists, and anarchists among us, but to the world, and to ourselves. I'm committing my one pointless vote to Hilary as my contribution to the effort to repudiate the neo-fascism in our midst. I'm voting FOR democracy. what are YOU voting FOR? Vote FOR something on Tuesday. Its the only way this shit can work.

MFS62 Nov 04 2016 10:23 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Hilary gets my vote. A Trump Presidency would be a total disaster for all that is good in America. A vote for Hilary affirms that goodness. The fact that Trump insulted a Gold Star family is an infamia for which there is no excuse. But if somehow he appeared on my ballot, I'd vote for Lefty Specialist. Later

Chad Ochoseis Nov 04 2016 10:31 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Hillary. And I'm in a swing state, so it counts. Much of this isn't about Donald or Hillary at all as far as I'm concerned. I vote party - certainly at the federal level. And for me, that means voting Democratic. Fundamentally, Democrats believe in social safety nets for the poor, sick, and struggling, a free, comprehensive, and high-quality educational system, expansive government programs to build infrastructure, fund basic scientific and technological research, and preserve the environment, and restrictions on corporate power. And, at their best, they recognize that all of these benefits cost money and believe in a responsible, equitable tax structure that will provide revenues to pay for them. Republicans, at their best, don't believe that these goods are worth their costs and would rather have the money stay in the pockets of individuals. They believe that the growth of business ultimately benefits everyone, and that government is best when it stays out of the way, and that wealth correlates with merit. Neither philosophy is inherently stupid, and it annoys the crap out of me to hear one side question the intelligence of the other based solely on their beliefs. But I'm on the side of the Democrats. Does government always do the right thing? No. But we've had centuries of governments that didn't place restrictions on what wealthy and powerful individuals and groups were allowed to do, and none of those governments produced societies that any of us would care to live in. Untrammeled wealth and corporate power doesn't trickle down to the poor; it leads to multi-millionaires living in gated communities and sending their kids to top prep schools where they can make the connections they need to stay in the upper class, while the poor get "educated" in schools that barely qualify as holding pens and wind up getting valued only for their muscle in a society that doesn't pay much for muscle. Or they don't get valued at all. Either way, they stay poor. I'm closer to rich than poor, and I'd still rather pay a few more bucks for a society that doesn't treat its members that way and does place restrictions on individual and corporate wealth and power. In the end, I think I'll benefit from cleaner air, lower crime, better transportation, and better health care for all. I haven't even gotten to Trump and Hillary personally. If it's not clear from what I've already written, I don't think all Democrats are morally superior to all Republicans. John McCain - at least the 2008 version of him - was a good man, with more physical courage than I'll ever have. I thought he ran his presidential campaign with class, and it's pretty clear that he regretted choosing nutty Sarah Palin as his running mate (and not just because it cost him votes). George H. W. Bush dedicated his entire life to serving others and stood up for what he thought was best for his country. Same with Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, and Teddy Roosevelt. But Donald Trump is a great big puckered asshole, while most of the allegations against Hillary have proven to be nothing but hot air. This post is already too damn long, so I'm not going to rehash all the reasons. But, for chrissakes, really? Donald Freaking Trump???

Rockin' Doc Nov 05 2016 03:21 AM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and doubt that I ever will. Neither party has, in my view, a monopoly on good ideas or qualified candidates. I consider myself an independent with a slight Republican leaning. I have never been a fan of Hillary Clinton. There has always been something about her that just makes me uncomfortable and mistrustful of her. Then Donald Trump somehow won the Republican nomination. Suddenly, I found a candidate far more scary and untrustworthy than Hillary. Throw in Trumps total lack of political experience, tact, basic human decency or morals and I found myself greatly disappointed in my options. I considered voting for a third party candidate, but see that as more of a protest vote. Living in a possible swing state, I feel every vote could matter. So this morning I went to the poll and cast my vote for Hillary. The thought of a Trump presidency frightens me and I wanted to know that I did what I could to hopefully prevent it from occurring.

Lefty Specialist Nov 05 2016 03:27 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Rockin' Doc wrote: I have never voted a straight ticket in my life and doubt that I ever will. Neither party has, in my view, a monopoly on good ideas or qualified candidates. I consider myself an independent with a slight Republican leaning. I have never been a fan of Hillary Clinton. There has always been something about her that just makes me uncomfortable and mistrustful of her. Then Donald Trump somehow won the Republican nomination. Suddenly, I found a candidate far more scary and untrustworthy than Hillary. Throw in Trumps total lack of political experience, tact, basic human decency or morals and I found myself greatly disappointed in my options. I considered voting for a third party candidate, but see that as more of a protest vote. Living in a possible swing state, I feel every vote could matter. So this morning I went to the poll and cast my vote for Hillary. The thought of a Trump presidency frightens me and I wanted to know that I did what I could to hopefully prevent it from occurring. Awesome. Drag your friends out to vote, too. I live in a very Republican town and a lot of people I know are in the same boat; they just can't bring themselves to vote for Trump. They don't like Hillary for vague reasons they can't quite define, but they realize that she won't be an unmitigated disaster on the order of The Donald. So they're holding their noses and either voting for her or skipping the top of the ticket. I'm in NJ so the presidential won't matter- she'll win here easily. But I understand people can be conflicted.

themetfairy Nov 05 2016 03:44 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Ashie62 Nov 05 2016 03:57 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

It looks a bunch of educated CPF people are doing the right thing.

Lefty Specialist Nov 05 2016 08:47 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Nymr83 wrote: and if you don't vote at all you've probably saved yourself what would otherwise be a wasted half hour of your day. That people have fought and died for many times over the past 240 years.

RealityChuck Nov 06 2016 07:52 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Libertarianism isn't as political philosophy; it's a temper tantrum.

d'Kong76 Nov 06 2016 08:50 PM Re: Presidential Preference Poll

Perhaps you can help enlighten us more by editing this page, Professor. Remember, show your work! Philosoph* is used 67 times in this entry. No mention of temper* or tantrum*. [ctrl f] in most browsers.