Do You Vote For The Political Party Or The Candidate?

[calypso*a*go-go]

Just wondering how many tend to vote for one party vs. another without really caring who the candidate is.

 

[olena]

I never vote straight party at the ballot box. I research the candidates on their own merits.

 

[totalia]

Being Canadian, we vote for the party of course lol.

 

[shortbun]

Good question!! I've voted a straight ticket only once
other than primaries. I always research the candidates
and vote with my brain based on the needs of the area.
DH and I once went to a charity fundraiser and personally
begged a local republican to run for mayor of our large
city to defeat the democrat in office! He ran and won!
I have occassionaly voted "against" someone rather than
voted for anyone...but never at high level office. It's easy
to decide how to vote if research is done.

 

[AirForceRocks]

I've never voted by party - I research the candidates and vote for the one I think will do the best job, regardless of party.

 

[auntpolly]

For me the candidate <i>is</i> the party. It's a philosophy. Unless a candidate is really going against the grain of his own party, and you don't see that all that often, there are too many philosophical differences. I am not against the Republican candidate so much as I am against what they stand for.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have always voted split. I would find it hard to believe any party would have a corner on the market for good people to do the job.

 

[heart4pooh]

I almost voted for a democrat once. She is the most informed and devoted person in our county. The week before the election I found out she was a republican! Whew, that was close...LOL

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Yes, I'm voting for the party and candidate. This time I would vote for anyone but Bush!

 

[snoopy]

Originally posted by auntpolly
For me the candidate <i>is</i> the party. It's a philosophy. Unless a candidate is really going against the grain of his own party, and you don't see that all that often, there are too many philosophical differences. I am not against the Republican candidate so much as I am against what they stand for.

I'm a party girl, pretty much.

 

[caitycaity]

Originally posted by auntpolly
For me the candidate <i>is</i> the party. It's a philosophy. Unless a candidate is really going against the grain of his own party, and you don't see that all that often, there are too many philosophical differences. I am not against the Republican candidate so much as I am against what they stand for.

i agree with this. i have ocassionally voted republican, but it's hard for me to separate candidate and party in most (non-local) elections. 90% of the things i believe in are the supposed core values of the democratic party.

 

[Galahad]

90% of the things i believe in are the supposed core values of the democratic party.

I guess an interesting tangent would be to find out what people think the core values of each part are. My guess that staunch supporters of one party or another will have somewhat prejudicial views on what the values of the opposition party are....or the values of their own for that matter....

 

[Lanshark]

There are issues that are important to me and I vote for the candidate whose stance on those issues closely matches mine.

 

[jrydberg]

Originally posted by snoopy


I'm a party girl, pretty much.

Well yeah, but what about your voting habits?

Seriously though, I don't care if the candidate belongs to the Bull Moose Party. If he/she is the best candidate, in my judgement, I'll go with that.

Unfortunately, I have serious reservations about the Democratic Party when it comes to economic issues and serious reservations about the Republican Party when it comes to social issues. As such, it's usually more about which candidate I can tolerate the best.

 

[tar heel]

I vote for the candidate, but most of the people I vote for are Democrats b/c those candidates tend to represent my views.

I'm going to have an interesting experience tomorrow, though, because everyone I vote for will be a Republican. North Carolina's primary is tomorrow because a lawsuit about redistricting cancelled the original May date. I am registered "unaffiliated," which means I can choose my primary. I am choosing the Republican primary b/c I want to be able to vote in the County Commissioners race. I live in a heavily Republican county and there is no chance of a Democrat winning a county commission seat, so this primary is the election.

 

[caitycaity]

well, galahad, for example, choice is a very important issue to me. a large number of republicans that i would have been able to vote for are anti-choice. as db-ers who were around for last year's election will remember, i voted for connie morella (who did not win, LOL), a republican. she was pro-choice however, so i had no qualms voting for her because i thought she could do a better job than the democrat candidate.

now, i'm certainly not a one-issue voter, but when it comes down to it, many things that i value (socially) are things that most republicans are either against or don't care about as much as the democrats. obviously i don't think i've ever voted for someone who i agreed with 100%, but i do try to research candidates carefully, and in my experience the non-local democrat candidates match up to me much more often than the non-local republicans.

 

[auntpolly]

Originally posted by caitycaity
i agree with this. i have ocassionally voted republican, but it's hard for me to separate candidate and party in most (non-local) elections. 90% of the things i believe in are the supposed core values of the democratic party.

You know, even the local ones can be touchy for me. The Republicans school board canditates are always advocating stuff that is against my core values!

 

[caitycaity]

Originally posted by auntpolly
You know, even the local ones can be touchy for me. The Republicans school board canditates are always advocating stuff that is against my core values!

for better or for worse, the first jurisdiction that i was able to vote in was VERY republican, especially locally. frequently there weren't even any serious democrat candidates for local elections, so it was usually "who is the best of the republicans." now i live in an area that is the exact opposite (well not quite as bad, but almost).

 

[rcyannacci]

Another party girl here, although I don't presume that party politics are for everyone. I tend to agree with the Democratic platform on both the national and local levels, and feel that by voting party I'm supporting more than just one candidate.

I do certainly feel for voters who are economically conservative and socially liberal- it's a tough situation to be in and an increasing visible contingent of voters. I even wonder, as I age and earn more money (hopefully), if I will start to fall into this group. It will be interesting to see how this growing trend will be addressed in the future.

 

[Saffron]

I find it easy to split my vote when it comes to local elections. I'm not sure if that's because I see more of the candidates in everyday situations or what it is, but I can vote Democrat or Repulican for local elections, it depends on who has my interests at hand.

For president and state elections I vote party. I thought I would have split my vote somewhere along the line, but I never have.

I voted candidate in your poll since I do split my vote on the local level.