NationStates Jolt Archive

Would you consider my positions on these issues to be more in line with the Democratic or Republican Party? Please post any thoughts. (poll coming)

Abortion:
-In my opinion abortion is morally wrong but it should be kept legal- we should instead concentrate on fighting the social circumstances that give rise to abortions.

Civil Rights:
-The United States should not have adopted many fo the provisions of the Patriot Act.
-The US should not condone torture.
-Affirmative action is not a proper response to lagging minority employment or college admissions.

Economy:
-Tax breaks are a good means of spurring economic growth (although I don´t follow supply-side theories for the most part).
-Free and fair trade should be adopted except when industries critical to our national defense are involved.

Education:
-A college education should be available to every every qualified student regardless of their past economic status.
-Public schools should be held more accountable for their performace and vouchers should be made available in some cases.
-Intelligent design should not be taught in the classroom.
-Grants and low-interest loans should be made available for adults returning to college and job retraining for the unemployed.

Environment:
-The government should take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (although the largest, long-term initiatives should be incentive driven and not imposed by excessive regulation).

Gay Issues:
-Homosexuals should´t be subjucted to special legislation against them nor given special privileges under the law.
-Gay parents may adopt children but the issue of gay marriage should ultimately be left to each state government as they define marriage.

Immigration:
-Border security should be tightened on the US-Mexico although we loosen our policies on immigration pending agreements with the Mexican government about plans for improving the domestic economic situation there.

Military/Foreign Relations
-The military should be funded generously by the US government and kept up to dating in training and technology.
-Gays should be allowed to serve in the military without the "don`t ask, don`t tell" policy.
-Military intervention should be used sparingly and for the most part should keep out of the domestic politics of foreign governments.

Religion:
-There should be a strict separation of church and state although some faith-based service organizations should be eligible for support for the services they provide.

Social Security:
A system of optional privatized accounts should be gradually integrated into our social security system.

Stem Cell Research:
-Restrictions on government funding of stem cell research should be removed.

War in Iraq:
-The Iraq War is a disastrous example of a futile attempt at nationbuilding.
-The Bush administration´s "truthiness" when it came to justifying the war in Iraq is completely unacceptable at the administration should be held accountable for this.
-Withdrawel from Iraq should not be immediate but rather we should withdraw over the next 2-4 years trying to leave a decentralized confederation-style government the best we can as to minimize our losses as much as possible.

Why not keep your brain, and not sign it over to one party or the other.

Neither.

I am very aware of that, I was just curious as to what party line people thought these positions fell under.

Don't just pick a side and fight the other - that's not what democracy should be about.

You don't really have to 'become' either. Decide for yourself, it's what democracy is all about.

But for the record, you look like a Demoblican, and by that I mean a very moderate Democrat.

Would you consider my positions on these issues to be more in line with the Democratic or Republican Party? Please post any thoughts. (poll coming)

Abortion:
-In my opinion abortion is morally wrong but it should be kept legal- we should instead concentrate on fighting the social circumstances that give rise to abortions.

Civil Rights:
-The United States should not have adopted many fo the provisions of the Patriot Act.
-The US should not condone torture.
-Affirmative action is not a proper response to lagging minority employment or college admissions.

Economy:
-Tax breaks are a good means of spurring economic growth (although I don´t follow supply-side theories for the most part).
-Free and fair trade should be adopted except when industries critical to our national defense are involved.

Education:
-A college education should be available to every every qualified student regardless of their past economic status.
-Public schools should be held more accountable for their performace and vouchers should be made available in some cases.
-Intelligent design should not be taught in the classroom.
-Grants and low-interest loans should be made available for adults returning to college and job retraining for the unemployed.

Environment:
-The government should take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (although the largest, long-term initiatives should be incentive driven and not imposed by excessive regulation).

Gay Issues:
-Homosexuals should´t be subjucted to special legislation against them nor given special privileges under the law.
-Gay parents may adopt children but the issue of gay marriage should ultimately be left to each state government as they define marriage.

Immigration:
-Border security should be tightened on the US-Mexico although we loosen our policies on immigration pending agreements with the Mexican government about plans for improving the domestic economic situation there.

Military/Foreign Relations
-The military should be funded generously by the US government and kept up to dating in training and technology.
-Gays should be allowed to serve in the military without the "don`t ask, don`t tell" policy.
-Military intervention should be used sparingly and for the most part should keep out of the domestic politics of foreign governments.

Religion:
-There should be a strict separation of church and state although some faith-based service organizations should be eligible for support for the services they provide.

Social Security:
A system of optional privatized accounts should be gradually integrated into our social security system.

Stem Cell Research:
-Restrictions on government funding of stem cell research should be removed.

War in Iraq:
-The Iraq War is a disastrous example of a futile attempt at nationbuilding.
-The Bush administration´s "truthiness" when it came to justifying the war in Iraq is completely unacceptable at the administration should be held accountable for this.
-Withdrawel from Iraq should not be immediate but rather we should withdraw over the next 2-4 years trying to leave a decentralized confederation-style government the best we can as to minimize our losses as much as possible.

Your positions don't really fit either party. I'd classify you as a moderate lefty (liberal), but don't sign yourself over to one party completely. Vote for you think is best, even if that means a Republican one year, and a Democrat the next. (OH NOEZ!!!11 :rolleyes:)

You definitely shouldn't tie yourself hard to any particular party. You seem to be a bit of a centrist with a mild libertarian lean though to me. It really depends on what issues you take stronger stances. You might be more willing to agree with the democrats more on foreign policy. You are somewhat more like the republicans in economic policy. In terms of social policy you end up as a democrat though. If all issues are weighted equally then you would probably lean more to the left and end up more as an fiscally conservative democrat. Unless you believed in the economic issues a lot more staunchly than seems true then I would not go republican. You might be better served as a centrist as you do lean more to the right in economic ideas than most democrats.

Seems like you lean more towards the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party, and your deviations would be better received, though there are hardliners on both sides that would deride deviation.

There aren't enough Republican points in there for me to suggest that that party needs you more.

Really, if you don't feel that either fits your needs-and for gods sake you should never just take your beliefs of the parties checklist, but even given that if you don't find a party fits your needs there is no need to join a party but instead vote on who will fill most of your requirements. You don't get to do primaries, so if that's important to you then you should choose, but that's about it.

You might find a third party that has most of what you're looking for, but so far there aren't many 'centrist' third parties, so I don't know. I'm not judging whether you're a centrist or not, but mostly third parties are ones that have a particular saber to rattle and I didn't necessarily see that here.

Democratish, but more of a swing voter.

Vote Republican if the Democrats are in power, and vice versa. That way we can have gridlock.

Create your own party!

I would go for no.
Don't become either.

Why not keep your brain, and not sign it over to one party or the other.

.

Parties fail. Be your own person.

snip
With the glaring exception of the Social Security stance, I'd say you sound like a moderate Democrat. But that's a big issue for the Democrats--privatization is a bad idea and completely unnecessary.

Hey, I just turned 18 and that means I can register to vote too. I know what I'm going to do, but I wonder what posters on this forum envision me as. I've been called Republican, fundie (funniest one considering I'm atheist), leftie, etc.

I am against drug prohibition and the war on drugs
I am against the FCC, ESRB, MPAA, etc any form of censorship
I am against gun control
I am against the Patriot Act and infringement of privacy like ID cards and public security cameras
Against affirmative action and support the rights of clubs to exclude or include whoever they want
Favor public education with optional private system
Against corporate welfare
Against illogical demonization of corporations
Let gays get married
Against hate crime laws
Against New Age hippie stuff
Against illogical "world peace" alliances, etc
Not a big fan of nationalism, but I'm rabidly against anti-American groups that spout BS
Against eminent domain (I value private property very, very much)
Against death penalty
Originally for the Iraq War, but am backtracking now
War on Terror: take out the bloody bastards, but don't take out our freedoms
Apathetic on abortion: dislike pro-choice movement at times, and demonization of women who have abortions by the pro-life movement
Support Israel, mostly except for the wall and war on Lebanon
Favor open immigration system
Still support welfare for the poor and shit
Not a rampant environmentalist, but I'm not a global warming skeptic.


Yeah that's a brief description of my beliefs somewhat.

So what am I? A crazy commie? A dysfunctional democrat? A repugnant Republican? A gangrenous Green? A stubborn socialist? You decide.

OP - I already forgot your name and am too lazy to look

you should check out the Libertarian party.

You fall almost dead even in relation to how well you mesh with each party.

Don't waste your time with parties anyway. Vote for candidates.

The whole concept of allowing people to blindly vote for a party is only useful in allowing idiots to vote. An intelligently designed voting system would have names, but no party designation for the various candidates. The only people those help are the two major, useless parties.

You've got two difficult options when dealing with them. you can try to balance them out and thus keep either one from being able to toss our rights too far out......or you can try to get rid of them. Either way, they are going to hold tremendous power for a very long time to come

Why not keep your brain, and not sign it over to one party or the other.

Apparently democracy means slavish devotion to one particular party for life.

Whatever happened to changing your preference based on the issue of the day, rather than some pre-packaged ideological spin the party is supposed to represent?

Hey, I just turned 18 and that means I can register to vote too. I know what I'm going to do, but I wonder what posters on this forum envision me as. I've been called Republican, fundie (funniest one considering I'm atheist), leftie, etc.

Yeah that's a brief description of my beliefs somewhat.

So what am I? A crazy commie? A dysfunctional democrat? A repugnant Republican? A gangrenous Green? A stubborn socialist? You decide.
Probably a moderate libertarian. You seem to dislike government interventions and support certain social freedoms. You are a bit more centrist than the libertarian party is the last I have heard though. Given the fact that most of the issues stated were social, you might end up looking into the democratic party though given the nature of the American system. You definitely are not a democrat at heart though.

I'd rather not get my party affiliation from a message board, personally.

Why not keep your brain, and not sign it over to one party or the other.

/agree
im sick and tierd of American politics being a one or the other voting. Vote on what you think is right for the issues above. The chances are that you won't always agree with your party, and you can either vote against that issue or you can swallow your ideals and particpate in an autocratic election

If you value your soul and individuality then you will become neither.

Be yourself Mattopolia, vote for the candidate you believe will do the best job.

don't limit yourself to party lines.

You sound more like a democrat with slight conservative leanings on economics than a solid member of any party. If you want your vote to count, focus on champions of particular issues rather than party lines.

I think you lean towards a moderate democrat, but you should vote for who you think is right.

Why not keep your brain, and not sign it over to one party or the other.

Amen to that sistah.

Actually, with as much evil as could be perpetrated here, i'm pleasantly surprised with the attitudes of most of the posters here. Cool. *bows*

there are only 3 reasons to join a political party

1) you love everything about the party and want to work with them to advance their platform

2) you want to get a political job

3) you want to vote in a primary.

i became a democrat in '04 so that i could vote in the democratic primary for president.

my guy didnt win.

Would you consider my positions on these issues to be more in line with the Democratic or Republican Party? Please post any thoughts. (poll coming)

Abortion:
-In my opinion abortion is morally wrong but it should be kept legal- we should instead concentrate on fighting the social circumstances that give rise to abortions.

Civil Rights:
-The United States should not have adopted many fo the provisions of the Patriot Act.
-The US should not condone torture.
-Affirmative action is not a proper response to lagging minority employment or college admissions.

Economy:
-Tax breaks are a good means of spurring economic growth (although I don´t follow supply-side theories for the most part).
-Free and fair trade should be adopted except when industries critical to our national defense are involved.

Education:
-A college education should be available to every every qualified student regardless of their past economic status.
-Public schools should be held more accountable for their performace and vouchers should be made available in some cases.
-Intelligent design should not be taught in the classroom.
-Grants and low-interest loans should be made available for adults returning to college and job retraining for the unemployed.

Environment:
-The government should take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (although the largest, long-term initiatives should be incentive driven and not imposed by excessive regulation).

Gay Issues:
-Homosexuals should´t be subjucted to special legislation against them nor given special privileges under the law.
-Gay parents may adopt children but the issue of gay marriage should ultimately be left to each state government as they define marriage.

Immigration:
-Border security should be tightened on the US-Mexico although we loosen our policies on immigration pending agreements with the Mexican government about plans for improving the domestic economic situation there.

Military/Foreign Relations
-The military should be funded generously by the US government and kept up to dating in training and technology.
-Gays should be allowed to serve in the military without the "don`t ask, don`t tell" policy.
-Military intervention should be used sparingly and for the most part should keep out of the domestic politics of foreign governments.

Religion:
-There should be a strict separation of church and state although some faith-based service organizations should be eligible for support for the services they provide.

Social Security:
A system of optional privatized accounts should be gradually integrated into our social security system.

Stem Cell Research:
-Restrictions on government funding of stem cell research should be removed.

War in Iraq:
-The Iraq War is a disastrous example of a futile attempt at nationbuilding.
-The Bush administration´s "truthiness" when it came to justifying the war in Iraq is completely unacceptable at the administration should be held accountable for this.
-Withdrawel from Iraq should not be immediate but rather we should withdraw over the next 2-4 years trying to leave a decentralized confederation-style government the best we can as to minimize our losses as much as possible.

I took the liberty of bolding every conservative stance of yours and underlining the leftist stances; everything else either isn't a political issue, is unkown to me, is a totally moderate stance, or shouldn't be done anyway (issues of separation of church and state, eg.).

Honestly, like most people have said, you're pretty moderate; but I'm going against the mainstream when I say you're a moderate conservative. What made me positive was your hold schools accountable/school voucher bit; that's not a moderate position.

If you're asking who to vote for, well, you'll have to do your homework for each election. Finding the candidate who most represents where you stand will be tough.

But, long story short, you strike me as more Republican than Democrat. But maybe that's just me?

Probably a moderate libertarian. You seem to dislike government interventions and support certain social freedoms. You are a bit more centrist than the libertarian party is the last I have heard though. Given the fact that most of the issues stated were social, you might end up looking into the democratic party though given the nature of the American system. You definitely are not a democrat at heart though.

Moderate libertarian is probably a good name. From what I've gleaned from wikipedia, social-liberal (in Europe) might even be closer to my beliefs. Given the nature of the libertarian party of being a bit too extreme economically for me, I'm probably going independent. But no promises.:D

there are only 3 reasons to join a political party

3) you want to vote in a primary.



Not true in MY state. :D

Chaos! Anarchy! I love my State sometimes.

Republicans suck, and Democrats are just as bad.

Be smart. Be Libertarian.

Republicans suck, and Democrats are just as bad.

Be smart. Be Libertarian.
Biggest load of crap I have ever heard. No offense.

Biggest load of crap I have ever heard. No offense.

Biggest load of crap? What if I said to join the Constitution Party? Then what would be the biggest load of crap you've ever heard? Huh?

Fuck both of em'. Look at every issue individually and decide for yourself. And don't be afraid to change your mind either.

Look at every issue individually and decide for yourself. And don't be afraid to change your mind either.
This part is true, at least. But you have to ask yourself, do you want the perfect to be the enemy of the workable? I'm sure the OP can find a party which caters to his every policy position--but it'll likely be himself and three other guys on the internet. Governance is all about compromise. People who don't compromise have all their scruples and precious little influence.

Fiscal conservative, social liberal;

Dems would accept easier, sans SS.

I'd say Democrat, but your local Republican politicians might favor you better.

Biggest load of crap I have ever heard. No offense.

In my opinion, you're kind of foolish and misguided.

No offense. :rolleyes:

Biggest load of crap? What if I said to join the Constitution Party? Then what would be the biggest load of crap you've ever heard? Huh?
Not so much a load of crap in the sense that I don't like Libertarians, more like I found it ammusing and dumb that he said both Democrats and Republicans suck.
Libertarians tend to have the economic views of the farthest right Republican with the social views of a slightly left leaning Democrat (I guess).

I just find it amusing when someone says a party sucks then suggests something similar to it.

I didn't even read the OP or any replies in the thread, and I assume it has already been said several times: Niether. Really.

Why not keep your brain, and not sign it over to one party or the other.

That's a nice sentiment. Now let me explain how it works in the real world.

The current system we have constructed is effectively designed to limit political discourse between two, and no more than two, organized political parties. Absent major reforms, and by major reforms I am referring to multiple constitutional amendments, there will never be more than two political parties in the United States. Absent additional reforms to curb the institutional power of the existing political parties (it isn't exactly by accident that the United States has had a Democratic and Republican Party for just over 150 years now), those parties will always be some strain of what we know as the Democratic or Republican party. So while it's certainly more ideologically pure out in LaLa Land, if you want to get something done in America, you have to work with existing political institutions, and the only institutions with any political clout are the Democratic and Republican party.

Now let me tell you the upshot: your analysis of "selling your soul" to one party or another is, for institutional reasons, what in academia is called "totally bogus". The United States is not Great Britain, the American Democratic and Republican Party is not like the Tory, Labor, and Democratic Party, and you sure as hell don't vote for a party platform embodied in a candidate in America like you do in Great Britain. Structural factors make individual politicians far more powerful in America than they do in Britain, and consequently "voting for the man, not the party" is what everybody with the exception of a few people who are what used to be known as Yellow Dog Democrats and what might be known as Willie Horton Republicans (in that they would vote for Yellow Dogs and Willie Horton, respectively, if they had the proper party label) do in America. Blind party loyalty is, in direct contravention to the inference of your post, not how most Americans vote nor what the system is designed to promote.

Would you consider my positions on these issues to be more in line with the Democratic or Republican Party? Please post any thoughts. (poll coming)

Abortion:
-In my opinion abortion is morally wrong but it should be kept legal- we should instead concentrate on fighting the social circumstances that give rise to abortions.

Civil Rights:
-The United States should not have adopted many fo the provisions of the Patriot Act.
-The US should not condone torture.
-Affirmative action is not a proper response to lagging minority employment or college admissions.

Economy:
-Tax breaks are a good means of spurring economic growth (although I don´t follow supply-side theories for the most part).
-Free and fair trade should be adopted except when industries critical to our national defense are involved.

Education:
-A college education should be available to every every qualified student regardless of their past economic status.
-Public schools should be held more accountable for their performace and vouchers should be made available in some cases.
-Intelligent design should not be taught in the classroom.
-Grants and low-interest loans should be made available for adults returning to college and job retraining for the unemployed.

Environment:
-The government should take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (although the largest, long-term initiatives should be incentive driven and not imposed by excessive regulation).

Gay Issues:
-Homosexuals should´t be subjucted to special legislation against them nor given special privileges under the law.
-Gay parents may adopt children but the issue of gay marriage should ultimately be left to each state government as they define marriage.

Immigration:
-Border security should be tightened on the US-Mexico although we loosen our policies on immigration pending agreements with the Mexican government about plans for improving the domestic economic situation there.

Military/Foreign Relations
-The military should be funded generously by the US government and kept up to dating in training and technology.
-Gays should be allowed to serve in the military without the "don`t ask, don`t tell" policy.
-Military intervention should be used sparingly and for the most part should keep out of the domestic politics of foreign governments.

Religion:
-There should be a strict separation of church and state although some faith-based service organizations should be eligible for support for the services they provide.

Social Security:
A system of optional privatized accounts should be gradually integrated into our social security system.

Stem Cell Research:
-Restrictions on government funding of stem cell research should be removed.

War in Iraq:
-The Iraq War is a disastrous example of a futile attempt at nationbuilding.
-The Bush administration´s "truthiness" when it came to justifying the war in Iraq is completely unacceptable at the administration should be held accountable for this.
-Withdrawel from Iraq should not be immediate but rather we should withdraw over the next 2-4 years trying to leave a decentralized confederation-style government the best we can as to minimize our losses as much as possible.

I encourage you to be centrist, both are too extreme to know whats good for the country and only care for their own agendas. Believe in what YOU believe in and don't let them indoctrinate you.

I know you're thinking hard on this, but I'll make it simple:

Neither.
Republicans and Democrats are SUPPOSED to be different, and as far as beliefs go among the population, they are, but in political perspective, you'll see that all politicians are the same. They vote (generally) the same way, and they drone on and on about how dumb each other is (generally) the same way.

Don't categorize yourself as Republican or Democrat. Nor Liberal or Conservative.
View every issue as it comes to hand, and feel about it what you feel about it.
Your choices are yours alone.

You don't belong to a party.
You are individual.


I say you should just BE. That's good enough, and it's what the country needs.
Not more blind Party-only voters.