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This is going to be my only post on the election and what happened. I want to start off by saying I am disappointed. I am angry. I feel betrayed. However, I was prepared for this eventuality. Still, it hurt a lot. But what I really want right now, is for the Bush supporters on my friendslist to answer a question for me. And I want all of them to know that this is not an angry question. It's curiousity. I want to know why you voted for George Bush yesterday. I'm going to answer the question myself with why I voted for John Kerry yesterday. Open discussion. I ask that anyone who answers to be honest. I promise I won't get angry and I can only ask that people who might read these responses won't attack. I have a very liberal friendslist, but I have friends who are republicans.
So yes. Why did you vote for George Bush?
Why I voted for John Kerry:
1. Admittedly, I am a born and raised Democrat. However, that doesn't mean I don't cross party lines when necessary. I was all for John McCain in 2000. I shilled for Sam Katz the first time he ran against John Street. I think Rudy Guiliani is a guy I'd support. This time though, I voted along party lines because that's how I felt safer. I threw my support behind Kerry when he was given the nomination. I was pulling for Wesley Clark from the beginning and it was only after he dropped out did I even start to look at Kerry. But I supported him completely because I believe in the power of the democratic process and the power of change.
2. The war in Iraq. I don't believe that there were WMDs in Iraq. I don't believe that Iraq is the war we should be fighting. I believe in defending our country. I supported going into Afghanistan in an attempt to find Bin Laden. I support continued efforts to find Bin Laden. I don't support attacking a country that had nothing to do with the attacks on our country. I support our troops though I don't support the way some of our troops have treated prisoners of war. I don't believe the George Bush has a strategy for rebuilding Iraq nor do I believe that he has a strategy for getting us out of Iraq. I felt that John Kerry, having been in a wartime situation, had a better idea of what needed to be done. I also believe that he understood the threat of Bin Laden while Bush brushed Bin Laden aside to focus on Iraq.
3. Our economy. Unemployment is rampant. Highly trained individuals are unable to find jobs that match their skills. Our jobs are being shipped to other countries and corporations are given tax breaks for doing so. I personally work a job that is far beneath my abilities. I make $12.75 an hour and work a shift that keeps me from my friends and family because it was the only way for me to get health insurance. I still can't afford to pay all of my bills each month. I still can't afford to pay my car insurance. I wanted a chance and under Bush, I don't think I can get it. I would like to be proved wrong. I voted for John Kerry because I wanted a change. I wanted jobs for Americans. I wanted affordable health care. I wanted to feel like I can get ahead in this world without having to kill myself to do so.
4. I find the Moral Majority repugnant. I can't fathom a group that preaches love and Jesus and hates so many because they are different. I'm a Jew and because of that I have always been very sensitive to religious differences. I don't want our government to be a mouthpiece for the Religious Right. I don't want a government based in hate hidden as love. So I voted for Kerry despite the fact he is a Catholic, despite the fact he is anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion because he said that he would not impose his personal religious views on our country. And that is what government in a secular state should be about.
5. I am a woman. I believe in my reproductive rights. I don't think anyone has the right to tell me what to do with my own body. I am Pro-Choice though I cannot forsee a reason why I personally would have an abortion. But that doesn't mean that I have the right to tell the woman next to me that she can't either. I don't want a doctor refusing me birth control, refusing me treatment I need for reproductive health. I don't want to be told that I am a second class citizen in the eyes of our country because of my gender. I will still fight on this point up until and after Roe v. Wade is overturned. I voted for John Kerry because 2 maybe 3 members of the Supreme Court will be retiring in the next 4 years. Bush has stated that Souter (I think) and Thomas are his favourite justices, the two most conservative on the bench. He has tried to place extreme conservative judges on the benches of our country before. What makes the Supreme Court any different? Roe v. Wade is 2 votes away from being overturned. This scares the hell out of me and became the biggest reason why I cast my vote for Kerry. Let's hope we don't get sent back 30 years in women's rights after this election.
There are more reasons why I cast my vote for Kerry, but those are the big ones. So I'm asking the people who voted for Bush to do me the same courtesy and please tell me why they voted for him. I honestly want to know because I want to understand. I'm opening this post to the public, not just my friendslist. So please, please act like adults and don't attack anyone who answers and don't attack me for my views. I want this to be an open forum for discussion on both sides. If you voted for Kerry and want to say why, please go ahead. ETA: I'd like to know why you voted for whomever you voted for: Bush, Kerry, Nader, etc, etc. If you wrote in Superman, why did you do that? Etc. :)
I honestly want to know.
So yes. Why did you vote for George Bush?
Why I voted for John Kerry:
1. Admittedly, I am a born and raised Democrat. However, that doesn't mean I don't cross party lines when necessary. I was all for John McCain in 2000. I shilled for Sam Katz the first time he ran against John Street. I think Rudy Guiliani is a guy I'd support. This time though, I voted along party lines because that's how I felt safer. I threw my support behind Kerry when he was given the nomination. I was pulling for Wesley Clark from the beginning and it was only after he dropped out did I even start to look at Kerry. But I supported him completely because I believe in the power of the democratic process and the power of change.
2. The war in Iraq. I don't believe that there were WMDs in Iraq. I don't believe that Iraq is the war we should be fighting. I believe in defending our country. I supported going into Afghanistan in an attempt to find Bin Laden. I support continued efforts to find Bin Laden. I don't support attacking a country that had nothing to do with the attacks on our country. I support our troops though I don't support the way some of our troops have treated prisoners of war. I don't believe the George Bush has a strategy for rebuilding Iraq nor do I believe that he has a strategy for getting us out of Iraq. I felt that John Kerry, having been in a wartime situation, had a better idea of what needed to be done. I also believe that he understood the threat of Bin Laden while Bush brushed Bin Laden aside to focus on Iraq.
3. Our economy. Unemployment is rampant. Highly trained individuals are unable to find jobs that match their skills. Our jobs are being shipped to other countries and corporations are given tax breaks for doing so. I personally work a job that is far beneath my abilities. I make $12.75 an hour and work a shift that keeps me from my friends and family because it was the only way for me to get health insurance. I still can't afford to pay all of my bills each month. I still can't afford to pay my car insurance. I wanted a chance and under Bush, I don't think I can get it. I would like to be proved wrong. I voted for John Kerry because I wanted a change. I wanted jobs for Americans. I wanted affordable health care. I wanted to feel like I can get ahead in this world without having to kill myself to do so.
4. I find the Moral Majority repugnant. I can't fathom a group that preaches love and Jesus and hates so many because they are different. I'm a Jew and because of that I have always been very sensitive to religious differences. I don't want our government to be a mouthpiece for the Religious Right. I don't want a government based in hate hidden as love. So I voted for Kerry despite the fact he is a Catholic, despite the fact he is anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion because he said that he would not impose his personal religious views on our country. And that is what government in a secular state should be about.
5. I am a woman. I believe in my reproductive rights. I don't think anyone has the right to tell me what to do with my own body. I am Pro-Choice though I cannot forsee a reason why I personally would have an abortion. But that doesn't mean that I have the right to tell the woman next to me that she can't either. I don't want a doctor refusing me birth control, refusing me treatment I need for reproductive health. I don't want to be told that I am a second class citizen in the eyes of our country because of my gender. I will still fight on this point up until and after Roe v. Wade is overturned. I voted for John Kerry because 2 maybe 3 members of the Supreme Court will be retiring in the next 4 years. Bush has stated that Souter (I think) and Thomas are his favourite justices, the two most conservative on the bench. He has tried to place extreme conservative judges on the benches of our country before. What makes the Supreme Court any different? Roe v. Wade is 2 votes away from being overturned. This scares the hell out of me and became the biggest reason why I cast my vote for Kerry. Let's hope we don't get sent back 30 years in women's rights after this election.
There are more reasons why I cast my vote for Kerry, but those are the big ones. So I'm asking the people who voted for Bush to do me the same courtesy and please tell me why they voted for him. I honestly want to know because I want to understand. I'm opening this post to the public, not just my friendslist. So please, please act like adults and don't attack anyone who answers and don't attack me for my views. I want this to be an open forum for discussion on both sides. If you voted for Kerry and want to say why, please go ahead. ETA: I'd like to know why you voted for whomever you voted for: Bush, Kerry, Nader, etc, etc. If you wrote in Superman, why did you do that? Etc. :)
I honestly want to know.