When it comes down...

[Reaganfan]

In the voting booth, will you vote for another safe four years? Or will you vote for better economy, not caring who gets blown up. Bush is the best choice.

[ShapeShifter]

In the voting booth, will you vote for another safe four years? Or will you vote for better economy, not caring who gets blown up. Bush is the best choice.

I vote for four years of better economy and a safer world without anyone getting blown up. Kerry is the best choice.

[© tweed]

I will hold my nose and vote for Kerry.

[opebo]

Bush, though I'm more nervous about the moralizing prude wing of the GOP than previously.  Who knows, Missouri's not going to be much of a contest, maybe I'll vote libertarian.  Or maybe I'll just go back to Asia before the election.

[Dave from Michigan]

Bush 4 more years of the GOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[angus]

You keep polling.  I still say George.

who's expected:

democrat - john kerry
republican - george bush
socialist - walter brown
constitutionalist - howard phillips?
reform party - patrick buchanan?
natural law party - john hagelin?
libertarian - harry browne?
communists - ??
green (aka democrat apologists) - ?
unaffiliated - ralph nader
unaffiliated - others

[Kevinstat]

For information on who's running for President this year, see http://www.politics1.com/p2004.htm .  Howard Phillips is not running, at least not now, and I'm pretty sure Harry Browne isn't either (Browne isn't on the "Not Running" list of Libertarian candidates, but I believe he was earlier and may be off now because he had made it clear early on that he would not run this year and thus was not the subject of any speculation (although any recent nominee would be subject to some speculation no matter what he/she said).

[hugh]

I live in Iowa. I'm not going to be blown up. But I am going to struggle to find a non-agricultural job.

[opebo]

I live in Iowa. I'm not going to be blown up. But I am going to struggle to find a non-agricultural job.

You could find an agricultural one?

[classical liberal]

What's the agricultural unemployment rate?  It bottomed out at about the 50% mark in 02 or 03

[hugh]

nt sure, but it is better here then in most of the country

[opebo]

What's the agricultural unemployment rate?  It bottomed out at about the 50% mark in 02 or 03

Actually you can make a living in agriculture - ironically as a sharecropper or renter.  Out where my father's farms are, there are so many elderly and city-folk absentee landowners, an able-bodied man can strike a hard bargain, getting use of the land for next to nothing.  Though agriculture isn't very profitable, the key here is making money off of the irrational desire to own farms that aflicts certain types of city-boys.  Sometimes they even throw in a house rent free - houses are in excess supply in many rural areas.

[classical liberal]

Are you a city boy, or a farm boy?  Or are you a suburbanite?

[opebo]

Are you a city boy, or a farm boy?  Or are you a suburbanite?

Grew up more or less on a farm, but was aware that it was just my father's expensive hobby, not a real farm.   We did have cattle, pigs, chickens, and ponies, however, and grew a big garden.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

President Bush - for a sound economy and security at home.

Ditto Opebo's thoughts though.

[Lunar]

Wha?  Oh, Kerry.

Most of the big issues I think Bush has backwards (while probably only half for Kerry).

[Q]

In the voting booth, will you vote for another safe four years? Or will you vote for better economy, not caring who gets blown up. Bush is the best choice.

How's that for an impartial, unbiased polling question?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

In the voting booth, will you vote for another safe four years? Or will you vote for better economy, not caring who gets blown up. Bush is the best choice.

How's that for an impartial, unbiased polling question?

Senator Kerry...why? (Remember, this is if i COULD vote, i'm 16)

1. He will keep the nation just as safe as Bush can
2. Stabalize the economy
3. Remedy that disaster we know as "Operation Iraqi Freedom"
4. Help put a stop to this conservative movement that's literaly beating the crap out of the first amendment
5. Solidify the line between church and state that Bush has blurred and wants to erase
6. Have a non-moron be my leader
7. Put John Edwards higher up in the government
8. To never hear "President Bush" ever again

[MAS117]

Hockey dude, go register to vote at eh fantasy elections thread we need you

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

In the voting booth, will you vote for another safe four years? Or will you vote for better economy, not caring who gets blown up. Bush is the best choice.

How's that for an impartial, unbiased polling question?

Senator Kerry...why? (Remember, this is if i COULD vote, i'm 16)

I'll comment on these one at a time:

1. He will keep the nation just as safe as Bush can

I'd say that's the big fat question mark that a lot of votes are hanging on.  I'm really not sure how Kerry would handle national security.  Clearly, Bush's foreign policy adventures have made world leaders think twice about terrorism and WMDs.  Just look how nicely Khadaffi is playing right now.  Will the world preceive that the giant has fallen asleep again if Kerry is elected?

2. Stabalize the economy

The economy will stabalize itself.  Kerry or Bush will have nothing to do with it.  I do think, once the economy is on solid footing, that Kerry will be more likely to balance the budget than Bush will.  Republicans can't raise taxes without destroying their support (ahoy, Bush Senior!), but Democrats have more of a luxury in this regard.

3. Remedy that disaster we know as "Operation Iraqi Freedom"

We can't simply pull out right now.  Whether or not getting into this mess was right, pulling out without an established order would be disasterous in so many ways.  Too many to list here.  We'll see what happens on June 30, whether the new government will "take."  If Kerry wins, I don't envy the position he will be in, because we're going to need to keep peace and order, even with a government in place, for quite some time.  I haven't seen any indication that Kerry has a coherent exit strategy for Iraq.  I couldn't even tell you what a good exit strategy would look like.  To say that Kerry is going to "remedy that disaster" is being outrageously optimistic.

4. Help put a stop to this conservative movement that's literaly beating the crap out of the first amendment

This movement is happening at the grass-roots, popular level.  What do you propose Kerry do?  Institute martial law?  Send the national guard in to keep people from praying in school?  You're young, so I don't fault you here, but there is tendency in the liberal establishment today to disdain the popular will.  A perfect example is the Mass. supreme court, ordering the legislature to conform its laws to its own ideology, in total disregard of the will of the people who elected them.  There are other countries in the world in which the government "puts a stop to" popular movements.  I don't think you really want the US to emulate them.

5. Solidify the line between church and state that Bush has blurred and wants to erase

This is probably the one item that Kerry certainly would be able to accomplish.  Kerry is not going to support faith-based initiatives or school vouchers.

6. Have a non-moron be my leader

Bush didn't get an MBA from Harvard, nor did he successfully run the second largest state in the Union for six years, by being a moron.  This is childish ad hominem.

7. Put John Edwards higher up in the government
8. To never hear "President Bush" ever again

I don't know what place Edwards would have, if any, in the Kerry Administration, but electing Kerry would result in Bush being out of office, yes.

Sounds to me like you're not all that interested in electing Kerry, but rather in un-electing Bush.