LOL at Tantalus.

I'm voting. Will choose Obama although I'm not thrilled with him. Guess expecting to be thrilled by politicians might be asking a bit much.

I'm not horrified by the candidates so much as the incredible influence of money in our political system and the distorting effect it has on our politics. Not so much in the presidential race, actually... it's more insidious at lower levels.

Any candidate or party that credibly promised to move to publicly funded elections would have my vote in a heartbeat. That way the politicians could stop trying to please the deep pockets, wealthy businessmen like the Kochs on one side or the labor unions on the other, and start actually doing the work of governing. They'd have to get something done, because it'd be the only way to win votes.

I agree. We need more political parties in the US, and it needs to be less corrupt. And people need to actually know about the candidates and system. If people are just going to vote along party lines, nothing's going to change.

Well, in Germany there is quite a lot of coverage on the presidential elections, especially during the Republican search for a candidate (sorry, I know there's a word for it, but I must have deleted it). Over here such decisions are taken exclusively by the parties themselves, the public is not involved. I know that there a strong sympathies for President Obama because he may in some aspects be closer to European thinking than the Republicans. For example the concept of a compulsive  health insurance simply belongs to our political system and therefore it is difficult to understand how this can be regarded as a threat to personal freedom. There is also the matter of financing the campaigns which is done differently over here - I'm not saying better because I would never criticise another democratic system just because it's different from my own. Another thing that is sometimes difficult for me to understand is the strong connection between religion and politics in the US or a thing like the Tea Party movement, but of course both are rooted in American history and are therefore an element of your culture.
Regarding a multi-party system: I think it does have its advantages and disadvantages. Usually you have to make coalitions in order to govern, so there will be compromises. The power of the individual party is reduced. In Germany we have a 5-percent-clause, i.e. a party must win at least 5 % of the votes in order to get into parliament. This shall prevent the country becoming ungovernable because there are too many parties, a thing that happened in the 1920s before Hitler's rise to power. But in general it's good to have more parties. A new party always means a challenge to the traditional parties and may force them to change their set structures. This was the case when the Green party with its strong focus on environmental protection was founded in 1980, later again with the Left Party and now with the internet based Pirate Party.
So, this was my little trip into politics for this morning. Hope I haven't proved too ignorant regarding your country  .

The whole Congress thing is getting rather annoying...

Theoretically, I agree with Washington. It would be better to not have any political parties, but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, voting is a right and a priviledge. Please reconsider your decision. Politicians basically run our lives, so we MUST have a say in how they do it. If you don't like the main parties, look at the independents or smaller parties. At the moment in Australia the balance of power is held by 3 independents and the Greens party. They have power out of all proportion to their followers. Voting in Australia is compulsory and you get fined if you don't vote, so we have to take it seriously to make informed choices. I actually handed out how-to-vote cards in a federal election a few years ago and my party not only managed to defeat the existing government, but the Prime Minister, who I despised, actually lost his seat. Best day of my life.
It just takes a lot of us so-called little people to bring about change.

And I admire President Obama so much for what he has done to reform the health system in America. When I had a major operation followed by chemotherapy about 8 years ago, it cost me LESS than one thousand dollars. We pay a tiny percentage of our income into a government medical fund, and most of our medical expenses are paid for out of that. And the unemployed and pensioners pay nothing for medical care. Seems like something Americans need to consider.

We don't get fined for not voting in the UK either. Polls are rarely above about 40% of the population and are often below that. The right to vote is taken for granted rather than valued.

I won't talk politics, but there is an interesting point illustrated in here:

imane nikko wrote:

I'm not horrified by the candidates so much as the incredible influence of money in our political system and the distorting effect it has on our politics. Not so much in the presidential race, actually... it's more insidious at lower levels.

Any candidate or party that credibly promised to move to publicly funded elections would have my vote in a heartbeat. That way the politicians could stop trying to please the deep pockets, wealthy businessmen like the Kochs on one side or the labor unions on the other, and start actually doing the work of governing. They'd have to get something done, because it'd be the only way to win votes.

sherlockskitty wrote:

I live in the USA  and I'm not voting.   Why?   Because.   What have the presidents ever done for us poor people?  They've cut off the dental and vision part of our insurance.....

Only when the 'little people' all start speaking up & having their say at elections, will the money effect be partially neutralised. It will never go away, but 'the little people' cannot be bought. No amount of money will compensate for knowing that the elderly will not suffer in pain because they cannot afford care.

Sure, they will be swayed by promises & short term handouts, but the working classes have very long memories & within a decade of EVERYONE having their say, things will abate.
Australia is NOT a poor country, yet money does not hold a great deal of political power here.
So skitty, if you want things to change, get everyone you know to start voting wisely.
Imane, if you want change away from the evils of money, get everyone you know to start voting wisely.

Funny how 2 completely different posts have the same solution.
Damned good analysis if I say so myself.

Voting for sure. I voted for Obama in '08, but being mainly Libertarian/Independent this is the first time I will vote a straight Democratic ticket because I can't imagine a world where the Romney's get to live in the White House. I have some very strong language coming to mind, so I'll just leave it at that. 

I'm voting! I'm voting for Obama. I agree with his views, he's intelligent, and while he hasn't ended all of the world's suffering over the past few years, if you look at the facts he has done a LOT. Plus, Romney? I think not. Ever. Even if I was Republican. I am, however, a bit disappointed about how the first debate went.