I am voting for X. But if Y wins the election...

[warch]

I am voting Obama. But if McCain wins I will hope with enthusiasm that he will be competent and if he is not competent, I hope he will be accountable and if he is not accountable, I hope he is held so. I, of course, hope all the same for Obama. Audacity of hope and all that.

[Sundae]

I'm just sitting back and waiting, and looking after my nose.

[ZenGum]

I am hoping for Obama. If McCain wins, I just hope he stays healthy!

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

and I don't have the energy to drag a hyperactive toddler to a polling location for some paltry act of symbolism.

Absentee ballots are convenient.

[Big Sarge]

I'm voting McCain. If Obama wins, I will support him because he will be my commander in chief

[glatt]

I just learned that I'm allowed to vote absentee (in advance on a machine in city hall) here in Arlington because I'll be out of the state a mile away in D.C. for most of the day. Just like every other day I go to work. They count the votes on that machine on election night. The wait on election day is about an hour, so I may just do that.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by dar512

Absentee ballots are convenient.

I don't qualify:

Who Can Absentee Vote in Texas?

To vote early by mail, a voter must meet one of the following criteria:

1. Have a sickness or disability which keeps him/her from getting to the polls; or
2. Be 65 years old or older on election day; or
3. Expect to be absent from his/her county during early voting and on election day; or
4. Be confined in jail.

That being said, often our early voting locations are inside grocery stores. I could probably pull that off, because grocery carts have handy little seatbelts that trap him in (and unlike a stroller, he's used to going to the grocery store and wouldn't scream abou it.)

[classicman]

You qualify under #3 - you will not be in the area as you will be outta your mind with said child. Srsly, just say you'll be on a trip or out of town - they'll let you vote no prob.

[BigV]

:tips cap to UT for excellent thread:

I am voting for Obama. But if McCain wins, I think we will have a competent, experienced leader as our new President. McCain has leadership skills and experience and they will be much needed in his new office. President McCain will every chance and no excuse to reform the living daylights out of "dose bums". He will be an active President. ...

And that, my friends, is a *LOT* of lemonade.

because I find all his lemons terribly bitter. I do find his similarities in to Bush damning. I find his penchant for "action" a euphemism for shoot first ask questions later. That hasn't worked out so great for us as a country recently. We need someone in that office who's more inclined to think past the opening moves to the possible unexpected outcomes in addition to the hoped for outcome. I don't see McCain doing that. I see him a man of action. Not exactly a drama queen, but more comfortable in chaos, in flux, dancin around, rope a dope, feint jab jab move yer feet... stop already.

I will remain hopeful and optimistic that our great country can survive the worst that either of these candidates could throw at it, having survived for the past eight years. Because in the worst case, it will only be eight years.

[classicman]

If I don't vote at all which candidate will benefit? Cuz even not voting is like voting for someone.

[Clodfobble]

You're in Pennsylvania, right? I think that's a battleground state this year...

[SamIam]

I will vote for Obama, but if McCain wins, I will pray to my Lord and Saviour, Buddha, that Palin will drown in the runoff of an Alaskan glacier that is melting rapidly due to global warming. I can find some good things to say for McCain, but the thought of having a Pentecostal running the country is terrifying.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

... Now you post it. With feeling.

I am voting. Whether McCain or Obama wins, I will remain open minded, optimistic, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

[DanaC]

Looking in from the outside, I get the impression that either candidate is going to preside over a fundamentally different America in many ways. The neo-con experiment has shown itself for the danger that it is. America is a proudly capitalist country and there's nothing wrong with that, it's been the source of her strength for the whole of her ascendency. But there's a huge differece between subscribing to a largely laissez-faire economic strategy and playing fast and loose with the financial health of the nation.

My prediction, and my hope, is that regardless of which candidate wins, we have seen an end to the free for all of robber barons and the ideology of greed which underpinned it. When a traditional Conservative puts to me the argument against welfare, I disagree with it, but I can see their logic and their good (societally speaking) intent. When a neo-con makes that same argument, it flounders on the greed of their elite, their willingness to interfere in the market only for their own gain and the seeming delight of the anti-poor rhetoric. These people, who have steered the American economy into such dangerous waters, willfully ignoring the needs of their nation in their rush to profit, have fostered a hard attitude towards those who fail.

Personally, I'd like to see American conservatism return to its more traditional roots. I may not like their political message, but I understand it. I understand that it is, whilst obviously in the interests of the ruling elite, also a stance that puts the country's health at its core.

I hope Obama wins. I think most people over here that have an opinion, see him as the preferred candidate. But even if McCain wins, I think the zeitgeist just changed. Whether the answer to America's current problems is a right-wing, or left-wing direction, it isn't a neo-con path that's needed. The Gold Rush has ended. There are accounts to be settled and a serious contemplation of how the state and market relate to each other to be entered into.

[kerosene]

Well stated, Dana. I like reading your posts.