Is it okay to vote for a candidate based purely on their demographic status?
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  Is it okay to vote for a candidate based purely on their demographic status?		 « previous next »
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Question: Well?
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Yes (D)		  
#2
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#3
Yes (R)		  
#4
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Yes (I/O)		  
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Author Topic: Is it okay to vote for a candidate based purely on their demographic status?  (Read 2223 times)
tpfkaw
wormyguy
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« on: October 05, 2010, 06:30:46 PM »
As opposed to the issues pertaining to the election and/or the candidates' personal characters?

For example:  "I probably agree more with Candidate A, but I'm voting Candidate B because (s)he'd be our first Brazilian-American governor."
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Associate Justice PiT
PiT (The Physicist)
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« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2010, 06:43:02 PM »
     I would definitely think less of someone who did that, but it's not a big deal to me.
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Semaphore
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« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2010, 07:12:48 PM »
People vote for candidates based on factors other than political positions all the time. If it's not about demographics, it's about charisma, personality, family, previous occupations, or something else. I don't see why it wouldn't be "okay" even if it seems petty.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2010, 07:20:30 PM »
I'm not sure if it is/isn't okay, but it's definitely retarded.
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RIP Robert H Bork
officepark
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« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2010, 07:36:23 PM »
« Edited: October 05, 2010, 07:39:19 PM by Mideast Assemblyman True Conservative »
Well, it's obviously okay. I'm mean, it's legal; you're allowed to vote for such-and-such candidate for any reason.

That said, it's stupid.
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Frink
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« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2010, 07:50:52 PM »
Sure, why not?
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nclib
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« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2011, 10:03:05 PM »
If by "okay", you mean, "is it ever a reasonable decision to make", then yes in some cases.

Politicians deal with the media and affect attitudes to their demographic group. For example, by appearance, you notice race and gender and some forms of ethnicity, but a white male supporting those groups can't be discerned just by looking at him.

That said, I would certainly never do that in a partisan general election, just that I don't think that concept is always totally unreasonable.
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courts
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« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2011, 10:07:13 PM »
No. Unless you're going to tell me it's OK to vote for someone simply because they happen to be white (whatever that means), male or christian.
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Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese
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« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2011, 10:22:39 PM »
Obviously people has to be allowed to make their voting decissions based on whatever factors they want, so in that way it's okay.

That being said a person who actually does value a candidate's skin colour/religion/class/sexuality higher than their political positions when deciding how to vote is obviously a complete idiot, so in that way, no it's not okay.

 
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phk
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« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2011, 10:48:06 PM »
Yes.
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useful idiot
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« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2011, 12:17:39 AM »
People tend to latch onto something about a politician that they can identify with. In the case of voting for someone of your own "demographic status", I think it's not unreasonable if the candidates aren't that far apart on the issues. A Muslim votes for a Muslim because they feel that they identify with that person's values. A black person assumes that a fellow black person knows a bit about what it's like to be them, and will be more sympathetic to their views and values.

On the other hand, voting for someone not of your group, because it would be the first person of their status to be elected to that office, is silly. Depends on what we're defining as "okay" though...
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Platypus
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« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2011, 03:03:10 AM »
It probably says more about them and how they'd vote in parliament than their speeches.
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King
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« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2011, 03:26:53 AM »
It's better than not voting it all.
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MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
Kalwejt
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« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2011, 09:49:05 AM »
It's stupid.
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So rightwing that I broke the Political Compass!
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« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2011, 09:54:28 AM »
No. Proof: it led to Hillary being shoved aside for Obama. It also led to Michael Steele.

/thread
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #15 on: February 12, 2011, 10:17:26 AM »
Absolutely not. It's a disgusting perversion of democracy.
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Franzl
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« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2011, 10:31:37 AM »
Quote from: Senator Antonio V on February 12, 2011, 10:17:26 AM
Absolutely not. It's a disgusting perversion of democracy.

Wouldn't democracy afford everyone the right to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason they want?
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Gustaf
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« Reply #17 on: February 14, 2011, 05:26:33 AM »
Quote from: Franzl on February 12, 2011, 10:31:37 AM
Quote from: Senator Antonio V on February 12, 2011, 10:17:26 AM
Absolutely not. It's a disgusting perversion of democracy.

Wouldn't democracy afford everyone the right to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason they want?

Lol. Democracy is far too dangerous to be allowed for anyone besides me.
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Redalgo
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« Reply #18 on: February 15, 2011, 05:32:36 AM »
It would be "okay" in the sense that they are allowed to and it is not my place to act in a way to prevent them from doing so. I would never vote for a candidate based on demographic status.
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Torie
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« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2011, 11:40:02 AM »
« Edited: February 16, 2011, 02:43:22 PM by Torie »
Anyone much older than myself gets negative points, if running for the first time, and I typically think most politicians when they push 80 need to just get the heck out of town. Color me an "ageist."  Heck it is sad what is happening to my memory at the "mere" age of 60. When will the rest of my mind starts going I wonder?
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MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
Kalwejt
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« Reply #20 on: February 16, 2011, 02:15:46 PM »
Quote from: Torie on February 16, 2011, 11:40:02 AM
Anyone much older than myself gets negative points, if running for the first time, and I typically think most politicians when they push 80 need to just get the heck out of town. Color me an "ageist."  Heck it is sad what is happening to my memory at the "mere" age of 60. When will the rest of my mind start going I wonder?

Torie, I'm still waiting for your eyewitness description of Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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Free Palestine
FallenMorgan
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« Reply #21 on: February 16, 2011, 05:15:55 PM »
No.  It really is counterproductive to progress and equality when you insist on having one of "your people" in office.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #22 on: February 18, 2011, 01:24:08 PM »
Quote from: Franzl on February 12, 2011, 10:31:37 AM
Quote from: Senator Antonio V on February 12, 2011, 10:17:26 AM
Absolutely not. It's a disgusting perversion of democracy.

Wouldn't democracy afford everyone the right to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason they want?

Strong particularisms always kill democracy or make it empty.
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