Very well said. In the end all politics in local all the things that really effect our day to day lives comes from local politics. That being said the federal government is also very important but just not in the same way.

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Walt Whitman
"I say that democracy can never prove itself beyond cavil, until it founds and luxuriantly grows its own forms of art, poems, schools, theology, displacing all that exists, or that has been produced anywhere in the past, under opposite influences."

Exactly. Corruption runs very deep in some cities and states and those people that cause those problems eventually move on to be senators and the like. It is much easier to stop someones career at the Mayor/Governor level then it is in the House.

Well, I've gotten quite, I don't know, disillusioned about the whole thing recently.

The amount of crap that Obama is having to take lately is making me want to support him even though he doesn't care enough about the economy to make important changes.

The crap he's dealing with from the McCain camp is just absolutely outrageous, and I think I've changed my position on who I'm going to vote for. Anyone who can take that much crap and still keep a positive attitude and still remain positive in the campaign is someone who I think is VERY presidential.

Yes, I'm being hypocritical here--and I know it. I have changed my position. At this point I don't even look at him as being "the lesser of two evils" anymore. I can't look at McCain as anything but "evil" now, and Obama, taking all this crap and keeping his chin up I'm starting to view as quite possibly the most presidential presidential candidate I've seen: I can't believe how professionally he is handing this situation--it's almost beyond human.

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Kizz, a little more grace, dignity and class in the Oval Office would be a refreshing change from the last 16 years, I agree.

Obama has handled things with aplomb, and I agree that that's what we need now. The White House shouldn't be a frat house.

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

As seeing as the states are winner takes all, unless one candidate loses by only one vote, then your vote is 100% meaningless. However for third party candidates, they don't try to get votes to win the election, they try to get the votes because if they can get a certain % (I think it is 5% but I'm not sure) they get more legitimacy and more power to effect change and competition. They need %, and so if you want to vote for them it is not a wasted vote, unlike the big two with do not need or for the most part even care about your vote (since states are winner take alls).

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Wouldn't it be great if we held and election, and nobody voted? The ultimate protest against crap candidates......

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"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

Or passed a double majority law? Because getting 100% of people to not vote would be 99.999999999% imposible, but getting 50.1% of people not to vote would be greatly posible.

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

I wouldn't vote for a third party candidate, if not simply because too many who do it, even fi they can't win, will do exactly what you said: influence the election. But not necessarily in a good way consistent with what I want.

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They won't influence the current election since the states are winner take all states. Obama is up (last I checked) in Oregon by 10 points, so my vote for him would do absolutely 100% nothing and have absolutely 100% no effect on this nation. However my vote for a third party will have an extremely slight effect since their goal is a percentage of the public vote, not a flat out victory. So my vote does a bit for them or absolutely nothing for Obama.

Your previous statement pretty much explains it, you want to pick the lesser of two evils. That means that you are promising to vote for an evil and you have nothing to complain about when an evil takes the office for every election until the US collapses.

I'm under the belief that you vote for the good, regardless of who else is doing it or not doing it. Kind of like I believe in standing up for what it right, regardless of how many people stand up with me.

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Same here.

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Carolina Politics Online

Sam