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Are You a Straight Ticket Voter?

Are You a Straight Ticket Voter?


  • Total voters
    51

X Factor

Anti-Socialist
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Be honest. If you've never voted for someone from the "other" party (or you've done it so infrequently that it pretty much doesn't matter, like you can think of that one time 30 years ago that you did, etc.), you are a straight ticket voter and just own it. You're hardly alone. The majority of voters vote a straight Democrat ticket where I live and, in other Texas cities, most vote a straight Republican ticket. In fact, it's funny. Where I live, the GOP laments that kind of voting (which I agree with) but promotes it anywhere Repubs are the majority...but I digress. If you're constantly lamenting the other side as being "cold hearted" or the "empty headed", why should there be a reluctance to admit that you'd never cast your vote for someone you percieve that way? So just be real.

getting the poll together
 
Be honest. If you've never voted for someone from the "other" party (or you've done it so infrequently that it pretty much doesn't matter, like you can think of that one time 30 years ago that you did, etc.), you are a straight ticket voter and just own it. You're hardly alone. The majority of voters vote a straight Democrat ticket where I live and, in other Texas cities, most vote a straight Republican ticket. In fact, it's funny. Where I live, the GOP laments that kind of voting (which I agree with) but promotes it anywhere Repubs are the majority...but I digress. If you're constantly lamenting the other side as being "cold hearted" or the "empty headed", why should there be a reluctance to admit that you'd never cast your vote for someone you percieve that way? So just be real.

getting the poll together

Nope. I've voted for Libertarian Candidates several times.
 
I am an independent, some R's, some D's, the occasional L's.

Parties suck.
 
Absolutely, earlier in my life i was a straight Republican voter I am now a straight Democratic voter.
 
Be honest. If you've never voted for someone from the "other" party (or you've done it so infrequently that it pretty much doesn't matter, like you can think of that one time 30 years ago that you did, etc.), you are a straight ticket voter and just own it. You're hardly alone. The majority of voters vote a straight Democrat ticket where I live and, in other Texas cities, most vote a straight Republican ticket. In fact, it's funny. Where I live, the GOP laments that kind of voting (which I agree with) but promotes it anywhere Repubs are the majority...but I digress. If you're constantly lamenting the other side as being "cold hearted" or the "empty headed", why should there be a reluctance to admit that you'd never cast your vote for someone you percieve that way? So just be real.

getting the poll together

Complaining about people who vote straight ticket is stupid. Both parties stand for certain things, and in many cases those things are mutually exclusive. They are far apart ideologically(except to for example libertarians, who when they view things from the far off place they inhabit, everything looks close). If there are 2 candidates on the ballot, one a republican and one a democrat, then it is far far far more likely that the democrat will stand much closer to me ideologically than the republican. While I do not vote straight ticket, it is exceptionally rare that I vote for anything other than a democrat.

And of course I do not call the other side "cold hearted" nor "empty headed". Kinda a failed attempt here X Factor.
 
Absolutely, earlier in my life i was a straight Republican voter I am now a straight Democratic voter.

Props for the honesty, for real. At least you're consistent. Why would you vote for anyone in a party you always trash (I mean that "you" in the general sense), assuming you believe what you're saying? Like I say, you're hardly alone, just one of the few willing to be up front about it.
 
Srsly? Since when?

All my life. Voted for McCain for pres Bush before that, didn't vote for pres last time, left it blank, no vote for a guy that thinks that secret underwear has magical powers.

If I don't like either candidate I leave it blank. I vote a mixed ticket. I have standards I go by, if a candidate in the state of AZ has the backing of Joe Arpaio, I don't vote for them, and that has been R and D. If a candidate is a born again mouth breather creationist I don't vote for them. I've voted for more R's than D's, but lately, if I don't like either of them, I leave it blank.
 
Complaining about people who vote straight ticket is stupid. Both parties stand for certain things, and in many cases those things are mutually exclusive. They are far apart ideologically(except to for example libertarians, who when they view things from the far off place they inhabit, everything looks close). If there are 2 candidates on the ballot, one a republican and one a democrat, then it is far far far more likely that the democrat will stand much closer to me ideologically than the republican. While I do not vote straight ticket, it is exceptionally rare that I vote for anything other than a democrat.

And of course I do not call the other side "cold hearted" nor "empty headed". Kinda a failed attempt here X Factor.

I was trying to come up with the common complaint about both major parties. If you viewed that any other way or assumed that I meant that in a one sided way, the failure is actually yours. You do realize that straight ticket voting means you push that one button at the beginning of the ballot and everyone on that party benefits from that vote? You don't even look at the candidates name after that, so yeah, I think it's, at least, lazy. If I don't know either candidate, I don't vote for either, I don't blindly vote for the "R".
 
I was trying to come up with the common complaint about both major parties. If you viewed that any other way or assumed that I meant that in a one sided way, the failure is actually yours. You do realize that straight ticket voting means you push that one button at the beginning of the ballot and everyone on that party benefits from that vote? You don't even look at the candidates name after that, so yeah, I think it's, at least, lazy. If I don't know either candidate, I don't vote for either, I don't blindly vote for the "R".

You assume incorrectly. Try reading my post again and see where it is in any way suggesting what you try and claim. And yes, I do know what straight party voting is, as is also apparent from my post. Reading Is Fundamental.
 
You assume incorrectly. Try reading my post again and see where it is in any way suggesting what you try and claim.

It was the only thing that made sense why you call me a failure in this thread, but now now I gather that's just the response that I should always expect from you. I know, I know, "victim card...blah blah...can't take responsibility...yada yada".

And yes, I do know what straight party voting is, as is also apparent from my post. Reading Is Fundamental.

I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page and that you were defending what I understood to be straight ticket voting and you're wrong, it's perfectly legit to criticize.
 
Criticizing straight-ticket voting has been a ploy by the GOP to win elections for many decades now, just as with whining with term limits.
Except when GOPs get into office--then they forget about term-limiting themselves--up to seven Senate terms with some .
 
Criticizing straight-ticket voting has been a ploy by the GOP to win elections for many decades now, just as with whining with term limits.
Except when GOPs get into office--then they forget about term-limiting themselves--up to seven Senate terms with some .

:roll:

So, straight ticket Democrat, no doubt.
 
So, straight ticket Democrat, no doubt. It must be nice to be so convinced that your side is just so infallable and it's always the GOP responsible for everything.

And, do you vote straight ticket Republican?
 
I was trying to come up with the common complaint about both major parties. If you viewed that any other way or assumed that I meant that in a one sided way, the failure is actually yours. You do realize that straight ticket voting means you push that one button at the beginning of the ballot and everyone on that party benefits from that vote? You don't even look at the candidates name after that, so yeah, I think it's, at least, lazy. If I don't know either candidate, I don't vote for either, I don't blindly vote for the "R".

That button you speak of was done away with in Illinois in the early 1990s when Repubs had control of our Legislature and Governor--so there's that.
But we still have an open primary so I like that--I've voted in the GOP primary since 1972.

I still lament GOP Gov. Ogilvie losing our 1972 governor's race.
The next governor signed a bill from the dirty Chicago DEMs allowing the Legislature into my Pension fund when I was in college.
I knew back then we would be in the deep **** we are now with my pension .
 
And, do you vote straight ticket Republican?

I do not. In fact, I helped a friend run for a local office as a Democrat (and win, I'm happy to say). In fact, I walked in a 4th of July parade for her and was approached by one of the old ladies I knew from the local GOP who told me, "Oh, you're with them now." Of course, the next election cycle, I helped another friend win as a Republican (very rare here), so I'm sure that lady thinks I'm a spy or something. Lol. I could have tried explaining to her that I knew my friend a long time and how she was legitimately much better than the other candidate, but that would have been a waste of time. Like NIMBY, all she saw was party and that's all that mattered.
 
There are two kinds of straight ticket voters:

1) People who vote for a party in order to vote against the other party.
2) People who vote for a party because it most matches their own ideology.

Though it might sometimes be difficult to discern between the two types, we can often see the difference here at DP. The first group I have no respect for... they are actually not voting FOR anything. They are just voting destructively. The second group I have no issue with. They are voting for the ideology that they match up with.

As for me, it has depended. When I was much younger, I never voted for a major party, and in any major elections, I usually voted for myself, writing my name in. Later on, I tended to vote Democrat as Democrats come closest to supporting where I stand on many issues, though not all. Presently, it is somewhat mixed, especially when it comes to voting for someone in my state. Though Democrats are more likely to get my vote because they support the positions that I support, how well a candidate has done in his term of office carries a LOT of weight with me. For that reason, even though I said here at DP I never would, in the lat gubernatorial election, I voted for Chris Christie. He's done a good job, and even though there are a few things of which I disagree with him, I wanted to support him for the good work he's done.
 
When voting for tickets, sexual orientation doesn't come into it for me.
 
That button you speak of was done away with in Illinois in the early 1990s when Repubs had control of our Legislature and Governor--so there's that.


That sounds excellent, good for them. No doubt you see it as a dastardly GOP plot, as you've already stated. It wouldn't happen here because the GOP is the one that benefits from it the most in this state. I'm assuming everyone defending it fully supports the other side benefitting from it just as much or more.
But we still have an open primary so I like that--I've voted in the GOP primary since 1972.

So do we and I like it too. My voting history here is pretty checkered, depending on who I know that's running.
 
In the last election in 2014, I voted for my GOP congressman in the primary against the TEA loon as well as in the general he won.
It's important to keep sane, normal GOPs in the House--as their numbers have thinned out.

In 1972, I voted for our GOP Senator Percy for the first of three times--he lost to Sen. Simon in 1984.
How many more examples would you like--that I voted against President Carter twice?

For the most part, the GOP lost me with their tax cuts to the rich in 1983 and the first 400+ billion deficits we ever had.
Deficits that would be equal to 1.6 trillion in today's numbers and began what we have now--an 18 trillion dollar deficit.

:roll:

So, straight ticket Democrat, no doubt.

I have never voted a straight ticket--not that I have to justify that to you.
That was a pretty partisan cheap shot .
 
There are two kinds of straight ticket voters:

1) People who vote for a party in order to vote against the other party.
2) People who vote for a party because it most matches their own ideology.

Though it might sometimes be difficult to discern between the two types, we can often see the difference here at DP. The first group I have no respect for... they are actually not voting FOR anything. They are just voting destructively. The second group I have no issue with. They are voting for the ideology that they match up with.

As for me, it has depended. When I was much younger, I never voted for a major party, and in any major elections, I usually voted for myself, writing my name in.

Why does that not surprise me? Lol.

Later on, I tended to vote Democrat as Democrats come closest to supporting where I stand on many issues, though not all. Presently, it is somewhat mixed, especially when it comes to voting for someone in my state. Though Democrats are more likely to get my vote because they support the positions that I support, how well a candidate has done in his term of office carries a LOT of weight with me. For that reason, even though I said here at DP I never would, in the lat gubernatorial election, I voted for Chris Christie. He's done a good job, and even though there are a few things of which I disagree with him, I wanted to support him for the good work he's done.

But voting a straight ticket means you're voting entirely on party lines completely regardless of the person (or type of person) you're voting for. That guy that you just heard in the news that was found in hotel room with a dead hooker? Yeah that was Congressman Crook and you just cast your vote for him solely based on the letter he has by his name. Sorry, yes, I think that's lazy.
 
Be honest. If you've never voted for someone from the "other" party (or you've done it so infrequently that it pretty much doesn't matter, like you can think of that one time 30 years ago that you did, etc.), you are a straight ticket voter and just own it. You're hardly alone. The majority of voters vote a straight Democrat ticket where I live and, in other Texas cities, most vote a straight Republican ticket. In fact, it's funny. Where I live, the GOP laments that kind of voting (which I agree with) but promotes it anywhere Repubs are the majority...but I digress. If you're constantly lamenting the other side as being "cold hearted" or the "empty headed", why should there be a reluctance to admit that you'd never cast your vote for someone you percieve that way? So just be real.

getting the poll together

At least on the national level, yes. Reason being, nearly all of my votes have been purely defensive. I was voting against a candidate with stances I find regressive and degrading. As often as the Democrats offend my sense of sincerity and philosophy, they don't often offend my sense of humanity, so Democrats it is. However, I have never found myself completely at home in the Democratic house, and at this point in my life I am not even sure I belong to the liberal spectrum anymore (although honestly I would argue whether Democratic politicians on the whole even qualify as "liberal" to begin with). I've never been registered as part of any party, and my local voting has been considerably more diverse.

However, that officially ends as of this last election. I will no longer be voting unless I see a candidate I genuinely like (and that is a very high bar, relative to America's abysmal standard for politicians -- they better be something way above and beyond). Someone made an argument to me a while back that I had never heard before: voting is consent to the system as it stands. He's not wrong. And I don't consent. I have done, and will continue to do, everything humanly in my power to persistently and loudly express my non-consent, since, unfortunately, the critical mass of other Americans required to change it simply doesn't exist.
 
That sounds excellent, good for them. No doubt you see it as a dastardly GOP plot, as you've already stated.

Since when did stating a fact become "seeing things as a dastardly GOP plot".
I thought you were done with broad-stroking and putting words in people's mouths.

It wouldn't happen here because the GOP is the one that benefits from it the most in this state.

The GOP legislature in Texas has been a criminal organization since their remap in 1990 and the way they hunted down Democratic lawmakers.
There's a reason Texas is at the top of the DOJ's list for remaps.
A 27-9 remap in 2010 with only a 55-45 advantage is certainly egregious.
 
Why does that not surprise me? Lol.

It shouldn't. I got 3 votes in 1988 for President. :2razz:

But voting a straight ticket means you're voting entirely on party lines completely regardless of the person (or type of person) you're voting for. That guy that you just heard in the news that was found in hotel room with a dead hooker? Yeah that was Congressman Crook and you just cast your vote for him solely based on the letter he has by his name. Sorry, yes, I think that's lazy.

Then when you say "straight ticket" you are referring to group #1 in my previous post. No, I have never voted "straight party".
 
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