You base your vote on one issue?

It's more what I do not base my vote on.  All these distractions are meaningless.  Neither candidate, or for that matter the legions of minor candidates is ever going to be a love connection.  But there are dealbreakers, and a woman's right to choose is one of the biggest.  Another is gay rights - neither Obama or McCain has gotten any love from me for their positions on that.

Gun control I don't care one way or another about, and we all know how important that one issue is to many many people.  But at least it's an issue.  Not whether or not Reverend Wright did this or John McCain's wife did that.

One of my friends at work is a white Republican and he's voting for Obama, even though he disagrees with his policies and thinks he isn't qualified for the position.  His vote is so he can "help make history." 

This is like watching a dog walking on it's hind legs, unnerving, I think this guy is BS ing you. I am going to throw the BS flag. LOL

I don't think so...I've heard several people give a similar reason to why they're voting  for Obama.

The press is going to turn this info upside down and over all the while making her daughter look like a slut. But Hey Sarah, welcome to politics.

Why do you say "welcome to politics?" She's been in politics longer than Obama.

Americans, here's what it boils down to. If you're a Republican, you're hoping the "change" is the new guy does a better job than the old guy, while still holding the same core values and social ideals  that, in general, you agree with. That hopefully doesn't include agreeing with the profane laundry list of scare words that Mr. Rice has chosen to employ, but yeah, things like pro-life, strong defense, less taxes, let free enterprise thrive rather than strangle it, are probably on your agenda.

If you're a Democrat, you're hoping the "change" is your guy wins, which is fundamentally the change you want to see, and then your core values and social ideals can take the fore. Maybe he can get us out of Iraq, and fix the economy, and appoint some liberal judges to the Supreme Court. He will keep abortion legal, cut defense spending, and push social services to the front of the agenda.

If you're somewhere in the middle, an undecided, an independent, or call yourself something else besides Republican or Democrat, you may share some ideals that both sides have, mix-n-match, or your own agenda, and you have to decide which guy has the best shot at making you happy, or which you think will make the best leader, whatever your personal beliefs. You also have to figure out, along with those that are painted blue or red, which one you think will do the best job with the economy, foreign affairs, energy, and the environment.

What we all have to do is be honest with ourselves and make the best pick we can, because frankly, with the world in the shape it's in, this pick is going to be more important than it has ever been. Going forward, every four years, that is probably going to be the case. As a wise old knight once said, "You must choose, but choose wisely...", then he went and had tea with Sean Connery. Let us hope that whatever happens, we can all stop bickering and name-calling, and mudslinging, and whining bitterly because our guy didn't win. And, we can all get  50 million dollars a year, tax free, for the rest of our lives. Hey, as long as I'm wishing for the impossible....

PS: I'm looking forward to seeing what else Rich Rice can bring to discussions in this forum, outside of the political thread, as he writes pretty well. However, Rich, you should really try to lay off the name-calling and hyperbole, which I'm sure you're only resorting to because of the passion these types of discussions incite.

(edited to change my new word, "whinely" to whining)

You base your vote on one issue?

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I'm always amazed how many people do just that. In the area where I live the only thing more important than bear season is deer season. They will tell you in no uncertain terms that they vote Republican simply because Democrats want to take your guns.

I work with 2 guys directly who agree with Democrats on most core issues(abortion, gay rights, etc.) but won't vote for them simply because of the gun issue.

Especially troubling given the recent Supreme Court ruling.

I'm not an American, so the choice for me is easy. Just pick the one on the left. He'll still be quite a bit to the right of me, but well, that's Americans for you.

Of course the final result affects me as well, so I do take an interest. And it's sometimes fascinating to see what qualities you go for in your presidents.