Originally posted by jimbo

Slowpro - I don't believe John Kerry would have been nearly as dangerous as George Bush (I know I can't convince you though). He seems a rational, moderate man, and not one to stubornly pursue policies based on faith, us vs them mentality, and prejudice.
It doesn't really matter - I didn’t vote for either one of those buffoons! No, I shouldn’t say that. Here’s the deal: personality-wise, I like your man Kerry as much as I like Bush. I get the feeling it would be easier to talk to Bush than Kerry. Bush seems like he would at least try to have a conversation with a peon like me - even if he didn't need my vote, whereas Kerry appears to be the stuck-up type who would look down his nose and not even speak to a peon like me if he didn’t need my vote. But the bottom line is they’re both rich, Ivy League frat boys, so it’s not like either one of them could really relate to me or my little insignificant life. So - from a personality standpoint it’s really a wash.

From a political standpoint, however, there is a slight difference. It's not so much a difference in the men as it is the effect political parties have. I don’t exactly like what either major party is doing. But one has more of a negative effect on my life than the other. The current administration is running roughshod all over my 4th amendment rights with all this homeland security crap. That bothers me when I think about it but, in all honesty, it doesn’t have much effect on my day-to-day existence. The Democratic party, however, is constantly getting in the way of one of my unalienable Rights - the pursuit of Happiness. Democratic lawmakers are relentless in their efforts to kill my joy.

I’m sure Kerry IS a rational, moderate man - but in the last couple election cycles, the party he’s associated with only gets my vote at lower levels of government. Democrats have simply been doing far too much damage to my hobbies to get my vote at the national level.

Having said that though, I do realize there should be more to the decision than my pursuit of Happiness. So - on to the bigger picture! I do vote for Dems at the local and state level. They actually brought my “batting average” up this time. All the Dems I voted for won as opposed to only two Republicans and ZERO Libertarians. So you see I do spread my vote around and you actually CAN convince me to vote for your party’s man (or woman) in the next national election. All you have to do is show me that the Democratic Party isn’t moving the country toward socialism. Just pick any plank on their platform - the economy, health care, education, the environment, military operations - pick anything and show me where they favor a solution that doesn’t conflict with the basic tenets this great country was founded upon and our Constitution - the tenth amendment in particular - as opposed to favoring a bureaucratic, centralized/socialist-government type solution.

Have at it. I think we can get 20 pages out of this thread...