Political dilemma

[Emiliana]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/68845/

This doesn't help much with the practical "who do I vote for?" issue, but there are political theories out there that account for the dilemma this reader is facing. The Political Compass, for instance (http://www.politicalcompass.org/) measures both economic left/right as well as authoritarian/libertarian power structures. You can take a quiz that places you not just on a scale of left/right, but on a grid measuring both variables.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Aaaaaand cue everyone taking the quiz and posting results!

[Marduk]

We've done that, Giovanni. More than once. You're free to do it, and I'd be a little interested to see what you come up with, but I think most people here have their scores lurking somewhere on this board.

In response to the question at large, one thing I think gets overlooked very frequently is what does the office actually do? For instance, if I learned that Obama was in favor of cults that engage in mass suicides, I don't think that'd really change my voting pattern, since it is very unlikely anything he does will actually be reflected by that. Abortion almost never is addressed on a national level; it is significantly more important in state legislators for that reason than presidents or senators or U.S. representatives. (Insert argument about judge appointment.) So for this particular questioner, it is unlikely Obama will do much on either of those issues that are stated as important.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

I know. It just seems that every time anyone posts anything about the political compass, and everyone ups and takes it again.

[NerdGirl]

Ok. Took it again. Economic -9.25, social -9.28. Seems that med school has turned me into even more of a pinko commie than I was before.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I took the quiz linked in the question again instead. I'm even more democrat than I was last time.

[Emiliana]

Oh, I'm not sure I was around (or paying attention) when it's come up before. I figured this was fairly basic for this crowd, but on the off chance that the original questioner was lurking, I thought I'd go ahead and say something.

[mic0]

Marduk (or whoever, but he seems to have an opinion ready), so which issues do you think people *should* consider when planning to vote? (I certainly don't know what to look for! I need to get ready for November now that I'm in a swing state...)

[Marduk]

Marduk (or whoever, but he seems to have an opinion ready), so which issues do you think people *should* consider when planning to vote? (I certainly don't know what to look for! I need to get ready for November now that I'm in a swing state...)

Sorry, I had intended to reply to this and then forgot it existed. But I'm back now!

As ought to be obvious, but really should be stated, politicians affect us with what they actually DO, regardless of what their views are. The former is usually influenced by the latter, but not always, and not in perfect correlation. So we look at records where available, always tempering that with the roles of the office itself.

When it comes to the office of president, they are not legislators. They do have veto power, however, and so we ought to look at when each candidate thinks that ought to be excersized. They also issue executive orders, so consideration of that should be included. How they deal with foreign leaders, and what they say about important events are also key. These things often have far less direct consequences, but nonetheless can be influential in world events.

For Obama, I'd consider how you feel about his exercise of political power to stymy the keystone pipeline project. Or how you feel about his use of executive power to focus on deporting criminal undocumented folks, instead of just a random smattering across the board. How do you feel he has interacted with other world leaders? How do you feel about what he says when talking about events like the Arab spring? Or the new anti-Islamic film and related fallout? How do you feel about his support of Obamacare (although much of this credit goes to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi instead) or the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell?

For Romney, how do you feel based on his public appearances he would fare with other world leaders? How about his pragmatic policy approaches? How about his fiscal policy of tax cuts on wealthy Americans and increased defense spending?

Some things that are most likely irrelevant about the two candidates: how they feel about abortion (although any judicial appointments could have influence here) how they feel about illegal immigration, how they feel about gay marriage, how they feel about marijuana legalization, how they feel about social security, how they feel about gun control, etc. All of these issues are either primarily the domain of the legislatures, or more likely to be influenced by court decisions, than reall something the president will do anything about.