219 Comments on “The Whatever Presidential Endorsements: Add Yours Here”

1. My endorsement looks startlingly like your own, and for largely the same reasons. I’d caveat and say that Obama has disappointed me in ways that he hasn’t disappointed you (largely on the civil liberties front, especially vis-a-vis the Patriot Act and similar shortcomings). But he’s mostly done a decent job with what he had to work with, and he’s far and away superior to the alternative in all the ways you already illuminated. Ergo: Obama for President. My only other caveat: I live in a very red state, so my vote basically doesn’t count in this election.

2. You make the conditions slightly difficult, O Esteemed Host; I am endorsing Obama almost entirely to defend things as they are, and to forestall and I hope prevent altogether what will probably be called the Romney Revolution if the currently-constituted Republican party gets its Mitt on the levers of government. Obama’s commitment to not being Mitt Romney — a commitment I certainly think we can trust him to keep — is his most attractive quality to me.

3. As an Englishman I feel I have to endorse Obama. He has a more thorough understanding of international relations and, for me, with Obama as president for another term there is less likelihood of major confrontation in the Middle East with consequential less likelihood of major anti-west terrorist attacks and, so important, a consequential interruption of the flow of oil from that part of the world.

4. I endorse Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico and Libertarian candidate for President. If you think the war in Afghanistan is a waste of blood and treasure; the war on drugs, ditto; and giving trillions of dollars to Wall Street is a bad way to try restoring our economy’s full productivity, Gary Johnson is the only candidate who agrees with you.

5. I should edit my comment above to indicate that he’s disappointed me in ways that Scalzi didn’t express disappointment in his own endorsement, rather than saying in ways he didn’t disappoint Scalzi. I realized too late the logical fallacy in the way that I worded my statement.

6. I endorse Obama.
   My number one reason is for the potential supreme court nominations. I feel the court is too conservative, so we need a president that will hopefully nominate more moderate justices.

7. Speaking from the mouse next the elephant, I’ll just say that from up here, looks like any vote that doesn’t go to Obama is going to making the economy worse, and as goes the US economy, so eventually go its neighbours’. Plenty of stuff to criticize in Obama’s stance from a left-leaning pov (and I freely admit, I lean so hard left I need a cane to stand up *note this is not really why I use a cane), but on pretty much every one, from here, the opposite stance looks worse. And since you’ve a two-horse race – and why, oh WHY, did you think that a good idea, my dear friends and neighbours? – there is often only a choice between Evil and Lesser Evil.

   Personally, I think Mr Obama’s surprisingly less evil than the usual occupant of the office (bearing in mind that I keep my right eye closed while I look). Your $LOCAL_UNIT_FuelEfficiency may vary.

8. I too am voting for Obama for many of the same reasons you stated in your endorsement, but my biggest reason is the US Supreme Court. It’s my opinion that the longest lasting influence a president has on the shape of the government is through judicial appointments, most importantly, Supreme Court Justices. When I think about how my beloved country might be shaped by the addition of a couple Romney appointees, my blood runs cold.

   Some might say that since I am in a deep blue state, I should make a symbolic stand for some other candidate, but I prefer to make a symbolic stand that the elected president had the backing of the majority of the populace.

9. I am voting for President Barack Obama. I feel given the depth of the Great Recession it is going to take more than four years to get us out of this mess. And while I can’t say I am happy with the rate at which things HAVE gotten better, I understand that these things take time and that we are on the right course, which is forward. Also, in good conscious, I cannot vote Republican this election as I feel they have made a chose to be part of the problem as apposed to the solution in undermining the President and his policies. And lastly, the supreme court, with Romney appointing justices I feel that laws in The United States could take a frighting turn to the extreme right.

10. Look at the candidates, and see which one wants to lead the country and which one wants to rule it. As I stated in your earlier post, I’m with Schoolhouse Rock and ‘No More Kings’. I’m voting for Obama.

11. I would definitely endorse President Obama. He has done an amazing job considering the circumstances. The federal government is not designed to move quickly and as you mentioned, people that expected magic fixes were disappointed. Before the election in 2008, I saw a talk by David Sirota and he said at the time that anyone who expected a sudden wave of change would be let down because that is simply not how the system is designed. (He also said if you really want single payer health care, civil rights, etc. pay attention to your state and local officials. That is where real change can be implemented. Most people ignore those races.)

    Since my husband and I are both freelancers, our biggest expense is health insurance. For years it has gotten more expensive and covered less and less. I just got a letter that said they now cover wellness visits (like mammograms, pap smears and other screenings) and birth control because of the new healthcare bill, both which used to cost hundred of dollars (at least) a year. Another part of the bill forces the insurance companies to spend more on actual care and a lot of people (including us) got refunds from the crackdown.

    That is definite progress that affects our daily life. I do not want to see it repealed.

12. As a new US Citizen, this is my first chance to cast a vote in the US Federal Election. I’m voting Obama for many of the reasons you stated above. I wrote up my review of my ballot a few days ago. While I am extremely worried about the state of the US debt and deficit, it comes down to a matter of trust. I just do not trust Mitt Romney and his Rove-picked henchmen. I wouldn’t want my kids (especially my daughter) to live in a world ruled by these misogynists, nor would I want to live in a country that considers scientific fact to be disregarded as inconvenient heresy. I hope that the GOP loses this election by a landslide big enough that it carries the bulk of the party away from the bat-shit crazy side of the political spectrum, and returns it to a more centrist view that allows all of us to rationally discuss the important issues of the day.

13. I am Voting for President Obama because he is the leader of the anti-rape party.
    Seriously.

14. I endorse Ethan Cruikshank, 9th grader for US President, because he wont mess it up. and he is a extremly liberal republican. He would lower the minimum age for being president, and would not propose to do anything in his first day. He will completely ignore Obama, and disregard Romney, and be sarcasticly pleasent to Gary Johnson. He is a viable candidate because he is one of the smartest students in his school (a VA Governor’s School) and Is well read on politics. he also speaks French, English, American, Australian, Latin, some Russian, and Pig Latin. I’m guessing that’s more than Romney speaks. I am not sure if he is on any STATE ballots, but we may be able to put him on the school’s mock election ballot. Sorry @scalzi, I felt the need to say something, but I am not a fan of the candidates.Also you listed them as instructions and not rules. Loopholes, loopholes.
    ETHAN FOR PRESIDENT!

15. I am voting for Mitt because his energy policy will create many more LASTING jobs, including the Canadian oil sands pipeline.

16. Not a US citizen: endorsing Obama because of his anti-discrimination policies. His foreign policy is as blinkered as any US President but not actively insane and he seems to know where places are on the map.

17. Honestly, it pains me to vote this time out. Obama has not been a disappointment to me because I saw from the start that he was going to be primarily a corporatist President who made some Dem social stands while eroding civil and legal rights and extending our slaughterfest in the Middle Eat and now Africa. So he mostly fulfilled my expectations. Romney is awful, flat out. The 3rd party candidates are a joke in our current system, and I say this as someone who has voted for them since 1988. The system is not only rigged, but gradually breaking down. Voting at this juncture just seems to validate a terrible system whose result will be to put one of two poor choices for President into the office.

    I’ve spent a lot of the past several months talking to folks who want to boycott the vote and make themselves heard through other means. It is a quixotic quest but I understand their point; voting is in some ways as apathetic as not voting in a system that has only two real candidates and to whom we give vast power (that the last several Presidents have only tried to increase). I wish more citizens were interested in direct action and improving the system, because at this point without major reform we are just going to keep getting crappy Presidents in a polarized yet symbiotic political system. In the end, I could argue that because I live in New York my vote does not matter much, but that has nothing to do with my stance. If I do vote it will be for a 3rd-party candidate (probably Stein, although I think she would not be a good President), not as a “protest” vote but because if I must choose I will select the one without blood on their hands or power-hunger in their veins. I will vote with my conscience and not for some hackneyed “lesser evil” because that’s how it should work, and I am tired of investing in and ratifying a system that steals my political power and feeds to people who do not work for my interests.

18. I’m voting for Obama. He still makes more sense than Romney. I agree with many more of his policies.
    Meanwhile you should check out Joss Whedon’s “endorsement” of Romney if you want the zombie apocalypse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBewrP1X_is

19. I’m voting for Obama because, more often than not, he does the right thing. While what Mitt Romney truly believes is beyond my knowing, I’ve got to think he’ll dance with those what brung him, i.e., an ever-more-reactionary coalition of social conservatives, religious extremists, and really, really laissez-faire capitalists.

    I have to agree with those who support Obama because of the likelihood we’ll have at least one new Supreme Court justice in the next four years. This seems like the great sleeper issue of this and every Presidential election over the last 30 years. How it remains a sleeper issue after Bush v. Gore and Citizens United is a mystery to me.

20. I endorse Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for President. Her priorities match my own: heavy investment in renewable energy, higher tax rates for the rich and a sensible defense that meets our actual needs, not the needs a fat cat military contractor thinks we need.

21. I’ll be voting for Obama because I want to continue having a President who is more interested in the long term. The Affordable Care Act was designed to be implemented in stages, with the full implementation still to come in 2014-2016. That means we have only just begun seeing some portions of it, and some of the biggest parts are still two years away. I want a President who’s going to make sure those pieces are implemented, and who looks a little further down the road than the next financial quarter.

22. Obama. I feel that we need to continue going to the direction we’ve been going and I don’t think Romney has the ability to lead a nation (as opposed to a business).

23. Non-citizen, but NY resident; I get at least half a vote because I pay more attention than my (US) wife does and get taxed just as much. So: voting Green, happily [but would vote for Obama were I in Ohio without any grief]. I’m way to the left of the US political spectrum, and I think that a Green vote conveys that; may at some point get them to the threshold of being recognised as a third party (yeah, I wish); and has no risk here. It also has, for now, the happy convenience of not needing to worry about the fact that if a series of meteor strikes left Jill Stein as the only living candidate, she and her party would have no idea at all of how to actually govern.

24. I’m voting Romney, because while lots of issues affect different percentages of the population, one of them — economics — affects 100% of the population. Mitt’s not perfect. But Obama has not earned a second term. Government-centered, trillion-dollar-deficit spending is not a sensible response to a badly-stalled un-recovery. Finger-pointing at your predecessor or your predecessor’s party is not a sensible response either. I look forward to seeing Obama take up a nice position at a university somewhere. He will make mega-bank on the lecture circuit, where there are plenty of teleprompters.

    Meanwhile, with President Romney, it’ll be grown-up time in the Oval Office.

    Romney-Ryan in 2012. Book it.

25. I’m voting for Obama; there are (As you noted) several things that have and are happening under Obama’swatch I’m not thrilled with, but aside from that fact I think he’s done a pretty good job internationally, I am also mostly good with PPACA (I wanted it to go further), the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Lily Ledbetter Act, and do believe the stimulus, watered down as it was, probably kept the recession from being worse that it was for most of main street America.

    But like another poster above, my chief concern in this election is the status of the supreme court. I think the Citizen’s united ruling was both wrong and has been demonstrably damaging this election cycle, I think the likelihood that an even more conservative court that would damage and further treat women like second class citizens unable to make the most basic decisions regarding their lives and health under a republican administration is highly likely and Gov. Romney has proved himself to be about as principled as a hollow reed in the wind regarding basic rights, and Paul Ryan may have more principles, but I tend to think his suck for anyone who isn’t male or hardline catholic.

    So, I’m for you, President Obama. Here’s hoping the next four year, your co-legislators in the GOP will stop trying to make you look bad and actually get some stuff done.

26. While my politics are closer to Jill Stein, I am endorsing President Obama. The two most important reasons are that while he avoids talking about climate change, he made some strides in attempting to confront it (as detailed in The New New Deal by Michael Grunwald) and his continued implementation of the affordable care act.

    I also fear a President Romney and how he would handle Iran.

    My problem’s with Gary Johnson are well explained by Josh Barro here. I do not want a president who would cause a depression through inept economic policies.

27. I live in Missouri, in Kansas City, and in Senator McCaskill’s district. So I actually do have things to vote for other than President.

    I live in Senator McCaskill’s district in Missouri. The Republican challenger, Congressman Akin, is an idiot on just about every single social issue from abortion to education. Don’t particularly care for McCaskill, but can’t let the idiot get in. Not that I’d have necessarily voted for any Republican anyway, but I didn’t even really need to investigate any farther than “legitimate rape…shut the whole thing down” to make a decision there.

    State races: only interesting thing is increasing the cigarette tax. I think that’s a good idea. I think they should go farther: have an economist figure out how much they can raise taxes to without causing the black market to pick up and set the taxes at that figure. Maximize the taxes, in other words. Poorest hardest hit? Good, they can also least afford the medical problems that go with their habit, and start putting a down payment on the healthcare they’re gonna need.

    President: Romney. Everything that’s happened around the Benghazi issue shows President Obama is a pretty miserable crisis manager. which is pretty much Job 1 for a President. We don’t remember FDR as a person, we remember him being in charge during the depression and WW2. JFK was at best a so-so President (started our involvement in Vietnam) but is remembered for his management of the Cuban missile crisis. Lincoln and the Civil War. The thing that makes presidents great is how they manage it when bad things happen. President Obama pretty much abandoned an ambassador and his entire staff to a raging mob and then took the opportunity to throw the first amendment under the bus as an attempt at appeasement and to save his “We ended terrorism!” not in his campaign. I don’t think the President’s foreign policy has worked in any way, the failures of Egypt or any of the other Arab Spring countries to come out with even slightly more liberal or even democratic governments is a great example. From what I’ve seen and read, they’ve devolved into “One man, one vote, one time” democracies, now with new and different “President for Life” dictators.

    The main argument, however, is best cribbed from John Ringo:
    When you choose your king, forget most of the reasons you think you should vote for the king. Mostly, the king can’t do much about the economy but ruin it. They can’t make you richer or smarter (although they can manage the reverse). If you want one suggestion, think about all the contingencies under which that king may hold your lives in his or her hands. And choose wisely.

    I betcha the ambassador in Libya and his staff wish they could have chosen differently.

28. I basically agree with John Scalzi, and will be voting for Barack Obama. I’m in Massachusetts, so this is likely to be a vote that will be part of a vast majority for Obama.

    For that reason, I’m encouraging friends who are disappointed in Obama or Romney to vote for either Jill Stein or Gary Johnson. I think having healthy third or fourth parties would be a good thing. It might keep the two major parties more focused on some of the issues that get ignored. For instance, at the other candidates debate, there was a real discussion of the War on Drugs, which would be a good thing to end, but neither Obama nor Romney will say that.

29. I’m a 42 yo American woman living in New Mexico, a decidedly blue state surrounded by red, unless Colorado comes around. I also endorse Obama and there’s no sense in listing all of the reasons why as JS has already done so admirably.

    Instead, I’ll list one major reason why I won’t vote for Romney/Ryan. I strongly believe that were they to win this election, women’s rights would take a huge nose dive and as a single mother of a nearly 18 yo daughter (who’s heartbroken that she can’t vote in this election, she turns 18 on Dec.14th), women’s rights are a huge issue for me and have already taking a beating lately.

    So even if Romney had had my vote before choosing Ryan (he didn’t, btw), that would have lost it, just as McCain’s choice of Palin lost him a lot of votes he might have had otherwise.

30. There are many reasons why I’m voting for Obama, and they largely align with your awesomely-written endorsement. But the reason I am SPECIFICALLY voting for Obama is because I am a woman. I know that he will NOT: try to legislate my uterus and control my reproductive choices, remove my affordable access to contraceptives, appoint ultra-conservative Supreme Court Justices (that could potentially be used to overthrow Roe v. Wade); and that he WILL or ALREADY HAS: signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (though just allowing a woman to sue for being paid less than her male peers isn’t much help in ending the institutionalized gender wage discrimination), support VAWA (instead of trying to edit it to cut out support for Native Americans, immigrants and LGBTQ people), end the discrimination in healthcare that allows me to be charged as much as 80% more for healthcare coverage than men (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/health/policy/women-still-pay-more-for-health-insurance-data-shows.html), support Planned Parenthood and other resources for low-income women to receive healthcare and necessary services, and so much more.

    As a woman, in good conscience and in the interest of self-preservation, I cannot vote for or endorse any current Republican candidates. They have shown time and again over the past few years how little they care about women’s well-being and how much they want to turn us into second-class citizens.

31. I’m endorsing President Obama for a second term because: 1) He’s done the best to revive an economy mismanaged for much of the past thirty years as anyone could expect; 2) He’s been for the most part excellent at handling crises (Bin Laden, sea piracy, not sending troops into Libya or Egypt); 3) He leads with neither his heart nor his glands but his mind; 4) He’s not deeply in political debt to those who wish to convert this country back into a past that never existed, nor could exist; and 5) He does not kowtow to those who know nothing but hate and envy. He has my respect and my vote.

32. I am voting for Obama.

    This is symbolic – I live in California now, my vote doesn’t make a difference. I’m voting because it matters to other people. I’ve had two conversations with people I love, both of whom live in Cleveland, Ohio, where I used to live. They both don’t think voting matters. I have tried to point out to them that their vote matters so, so very much more than mine, due to the strangeness of the system. I’m not entirely sure I got through, but, well, I can’t (yet) activate the shock collar through my iPhone.

    Obama is who he is. We all see what he has done. I can’t say I’m not disappointed in some (many) respects. He’s a Rockefeller Republican. It is easy to abide by John’s rule about not slagging the opposition- I can slag the guy I’m voting for. He sucks on civil liberties, compromises on social issues too soon, and demonizes leakers.

    I’m afraid that is the institution now, and not the man. Which is why I support a constitutional amendment that requires all presidents to wear either a goofy beenie (fan to make it spin, I’m sure the Secret Service can figure it out) or nose-and-glasses while addressing the public.

33. So, if you’re living in a purple state like Mr. Scalzi is then you should follow his lead and vote for Obama. But if you’re in a clearly red or blue state and you’re a big fan of civil liberties you should really consider voting for Gary Johnson. He is, by far, the most serious candidate the Libertarian Party has ever been lucky enough to get (a real ex-governer!). As president he could do a lot to reign in all the security overreach we’ve seen over the last decade. And while I wouldn’t cut government spending as much as he would choose to, that’s mostly the domain of Congress.

34. I will also endorse President Obama. I also understood that I was voting for a Vulcan pragmatist, though a handful of decisions on issues like torture and civil liberties strike me as being beyond the pale and deeply disappoint me.

    That being said, Obama has managed to steer the country through an extremely difficult economic period and has shown a commitment to taking care of the general populace and not just the economic elite. On foreign policy, he is sane and reasonable, if not always right or just. He can curb the excesses of the Republican party in the legislative branch and appoint Supreme Court justices who will preserve personal and civil liberties.

    I don’t think Mitt Romney is a bad man. I do think he’s a man who believes in giving people what they paid for. As such, I suspect a Romney presidency would focus on preserving the wealth of people of his own economic class, with a few token gestures toward extreme social conservatives and hawks who want even more military action in the Middle East. That does enough harm in itself, but I think it also means that almost no energy or political power will be left to protect middle and working class people, children, the unemployed, and other vulnerable members of society. I don’t think Romney has anything against these people, but I don’t think they’re likely to ever be on his list of concerns.

35. My millisecond reaction when I opened your page and saw the this post up top was, “Hey, it’s our former governor, Gary Johnson. What’s he doing there?” And then, *face palm*, I remembered he was doing the presidential candidate thing as a Libertarian. And, uh, no, I’m NOT endorsing him.

    As someone said upthread: “I am Voting for President Obama because he is the leader of the anti-rape party. Seriously.”

    Nuff said.

36. Obama. I’m not sure that a woman could vote otherwise this election, given all the controversy about what she can and can’t do with her body, and whether rape is a legitimate crime. There are lots of other issues, you betcha, but the issues that are involved with discrimination based on biology this election make my choice crystal clear.

37. I endorse Mitt Romney for President. To be honest, Mr. Romney was not my first choice, but I find him vastly more capable and winsome than his Republican predecessor, John McCain. (It pained me to vote for McCain.) Romney is closer to my own preferences on most things.

    As a Conservative Christian, I thought long and hard about electing a member of the LDS, but frankly, I’m less concerned about that than I used to think I would be. Martin Luther is credited as saying he would rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian, and as a pragmatist, I think there’s something to that. Note that I’m not saying Mormons aren’t Christians, rather that competence is more important to me in a politician than which church they affect to attend. (As an aide, as a Conservative Christian, I have no use for the perplexing and boneheaded attacks from The Detractor, but that’s a comment for another post.)

    Romney strikes me as competent and savvy. I like his stance on the issues that matter to me; the economy, foreign policy, religious freedom, cutting taxes, smaller government. I like his business experience and believe he has the best plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

    When voting for President, I look at the VP candidate and likely Supreme Court nominations. I’m closer to Paul Ryan (a local boy we’ve seen grow into a sharp, formidable candidate himself) than Mr. Biden (who, while shrewd, is nobody’s preference for President should Mr. Obama pass – the two words that scare me more than most are “President Biden”).

    With the exception of the bewildering rooftop dog episode, I like Mr. Romney’s devotion to his wife and family, and appreciate his philanthropic devotion. He seems to be a capable manager of both private and public affairs. He seems like a decent guy, with a clear mind and a sharp eye. We appear to have similar values in a majority of critical areas.

    And, to be honest, I think the idea of electing a ‘gosh President’ is just swell. ;)

    I realize it is not popular (nor particularly safe) to be this candid about these unpopular and unhip preferences, however, I believe that it is still possible to respectfully disagree with a reasoned person without demonizing them, and am willing to put my money where my mouth is. Also, I have great respect for the Mallet of Loving Correction, which is notably absent nearly everywhere else.

    Finally, if my space opera hero Joss Whedon can endorse Mitt Romney, why not me*?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6TiXUF9xbTo

    * Yes, I know Joss’ endorsement is also satire. It’s still very clever and very funny, and were I undecided, it might even persuade me.

38. Further to my comment above, I’ll amplify my foreign policy concerns of Romney: any action against Iran, whether by the USA, or by Israel, supported by USA, will result in action by Iran against oil tankers in the Straights of Hormuz. This will severely restrict the flow of oil to Europe and the USA. If this action escalates, as it will, the UAE and Oman will get involved to protect their interests, to ensure their ocean border remains inviolate by Iran; the UAE will forcibly take back Islands taken previously and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq will get involved to ensure the oil continues to flow out and money flow in. And finally Islamic extremists both in the area and world-wide will use the chaos to enable them to make many more attacks.

39. I endorse Barack Obama because I think that he has done a stellar job in steering us through the financial crisis, and because I greatly appreciate his tackling and passing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Like others, I wish that he had tackled some issues more forcefully when it became apparent that consensus-building wasn’t working, and I wish that he had done more to lessen the obsessive focus on terrorism in the federal government. On the other hand, I think he has shown real leadership in keeping us relatively removed from new conflicts in the Middle East while providing a constructive pressure where he could, and has worked hard in the face of considerable political opposition to push through measures to improve the economy. I think he is the best candidate for the job.

40. I would have liked to have submitted a second endorsement for Ethan Cruikshank, but unfortunately – I’ve already voted for Obama in early voting. Also unfortunate … the fact that I’m located right in the middle of Arkansas and my vote will most likely be in vain.

41. And, leading on from my comments above: Obama doesn’t get a second term, Romney will get in.
    As Romney’s Middle East policies takes hold, Iran threatens the flow of oil through the Gulf of Hormuz.

    A reduction of circa 20% of oil imports into the USA will be catastrophic.

42. I understand that this is the place for candidate endorsements. I don’t want to thread drift, but can I ask: would it be ok to post ballot measure endorsements, too? There are a couple of those which are more important to me than the presidential election is.

    [Answer: No. Presidential only, please. — JS]

43. As a Malaysian, I’m hoping Obama will return as president. Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and there is a lot of anti-US sentiment here thanks to Iraq, Afghanistan and yes, even the Osama bin Laden takedown. While I personally believe Osama had to go, Muslims here feel it was another example of “US-led anti-Muslim tyranny.”

    Should Romney become president, I fear that his handling of foreign affairs will mean more bloodshed and possible wars in Iran and Pakistan. What the Middle East needs now is a levelheaded leader and not someone who will blithely take Israel’s side without question or think training nukes on Iran justified. Romney has also proven to be moronic as far as diplomatic skills go. He can’t even handle himself well in the UK, I fear how he’s going to go down in the Middle East. The return of Dubya: pissing off the Arabs forever.

44. I’m voting for Gary Johnson. While I grew up in a middle class family, many of my friends, neighbors, and co-workers are poor. These are the people who suffer most under big government.

    My co-workers do pay taxes. The federal government gives subsidies to banks that don’t need it. But it also withholds money from the paychecks of the working poor. The most cost effective way to help the working poor is to cut their taxes; it’s absurd that a person with a job should have to pay money to the government then have to fill out paperwork and ask for some of it back in the form of a tax refund or an EBT card. Gary Johnson promises to eliminate the income tax and replace it with the Fair Tax, a sales tax that would not apply to basic necessities but would apply to yachts, mansions, John Scalzi’s tablet computers, etc. I will give credit to Barack Obama for cutting the payroll tax, but it wasn’t enough.

    Although I’ve have abstained from using drugs, and I hope that any kids I have will do the same, I believe that the laws against marijuana do more harm than the drug itself. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, thanks to the drug war. Progressives should be outraged that urban youth are more likely than college students to serve jail sentences for marijuana possession. Fiscal conservatives should be outraged that all these convicted drug offenders receive free shelter, food, and health care at the expense of the state. A good friend of mine is 23 year old. Every President elected during his lifetime has admitted to using marijuana, and yet WalMart won’t hire him because he was convicted of having a small amount of pot. Gary Johnson will work to legalize pot.

    Gary Johnson will also work to balance the budget by ending corporate subsidies. Neither Obama nor Romney are willing to take this important step. All corporations can be divided into two categories: (1.) successful companies that generate their own revenue and therefore do not need subsidies (2.) failing companies that consume more wealth than they create and therefore do not deserve subsidies.

    I’m voting for Gary Johnson. While I grew up in a middle class family, many of my friends, neighbors, and co-workers are poor. These are the people who suffer most under big government.

    My co-workers do pay taxes. The federal government gives subsidies to banks that don’t need it. But it also withholds money from the paychecks of the working poor. The most cost effective way to help the working poor is to cut their taxes; it’s absurd that a person with a job should have to pay money to the government then have to fill out paperwork and ask for some of it back in the form of a tax refund or an EBT card. Gary Johnson promises to eliminate the income tax and replace it with the Fair Tax, a sales tax that would not apply to basic necessities but would apply to yachts, mansions, John Scalzi’s tablet computers, etc. I will give credit to Barack Obama for cutting the payroll tax, but it wasn’t enough.

    Although I’ve have abstained from using drugs, and I hope that any kids I have will do the same, I believe that the laws against marijuana do more harm than the drug itself. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, thanks to the drug war. Progressives should be outraged that urban youth are more likely than college students to serve jail sentences for marijuana possession. Fiscal conservatives should be outraged that all these convicted drug offenders receive free shelter, food, and health care at the expense of the state. A good friend of mine is 23 year old. Every President elected during his lifetime has admitted to using marijuana, and yet WalMart won’t hire him because he was convicted of having a small amount of pot. Gary Johnson will work to legalize pot.

    I live in a red state. I am under no illusions that my vote on November 6th will decide who takes the oath on January 20th. Yet I see a lot of concern trolls who say things along the lines of “Dude, I share your beliefs, but your guy doesn’t stand a chance. Vote for my guy because the other guy is MUCH worse!” But a huge part of why my guy doesn’t stand a chance is because people keep claiming that he doesn’t stand a chance. I hardly ever hear any other reasons cited for why I shouldn’t vote for him. As far as I’m concerned, the only reason why someone who lives in a non-contested state should not vote for Gary Johnson is if they truly feel that Gary Johnson should not be President.

45. This is really hard for me to say whom I’m endorsing… I’ve really thought hard about this living in Ohio. Part of me wants to say Gary Johnson, I agree with almost all of his conceptual ideas and the fact that we’re all getting screwed by the one party that looks like two, it’s just none of you want to open your eyes and realize it.

    Here’s the thing, I can’t endorse Johnson because of one simple thing (that will probably start a flame war, so I’m sorry Scalzi but bear with me I’m using it to go deeper than just that point) – he’s pro-choice… call it Catholic Guilt, but I can’t support that. Being an adopted child and thinking about what would or could have happened if my biological mother had gone the other way really makes you stop and give pause. I know several of your will say “Your a dude! You have no right to tell a woman what she can and can’t do with her body!” and I would agree with you, except what about the body of the child growing inside. Maybe it’s the romantic or the Catholic in me, but isn’t that in part what draws us to this author and other science fiction authors? – imaging that life can happen anywhere at anytime? so why try and ruin it here on Earth… I’m not trying to make this a debate about that specific issue…

    My wife pointed out to me last night that each candidate (Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or even the Peace and Love Party) has a multitude of issues that they are speaking out on, and most voters have a pecking list of one or two things that matters the most to them (so I guess having survived birth, this just happens to be one that resonates with me). I know some people would cite similar issues: gay rights, capitol punishment, tax reform, environmental concerns, and so forth. Maybe that might be the bigger question that we should be discussing – not which one candidate do you think is the most tolerable or lesser of the evils, but what is the one fundamental values of your being on why or why you cannot vote for a specific person?

    I know, some of you think I’m a nut job and want to write me off… that’s your opinion – Thank you for letting me express mine.

46. [Deleted because candidate is not on the ballot. But thank you, Scorpius. I would indeed make a fine lich lord — JS]

47. President Obama’s steadfast shepherding of the Affordable Healthcare Act through to its final acceptance, and Romney’s insistence on doing all he can to dismantle it from day one, is enough for the president to get my admiration and my vote. Add in Women’s rights issues and (though late) support of gay marriage, and there’s no way I could vote otherwise.

48. This year I will be voting for Gary Johnson for a couple of reasons:
    1) I like the Libertarian thoughts of getting government out of our way. Smaller government is better. I may change my mind on this one in the next four years, but this is where I am right now.
    2) I think Pres. Obama botched how the Affordable Healthcare Act was passed. It’s too big, too complicated and has too many compromises. If he had pushed harder for simple, easy to understand legislation, instead of being steamrolled by a bill with his name on it, I’d like him more.
    3) I don’t trust Romney as a politician. I can tolerate his style in a CEO (kind of expect it, actually), but I prefer politicians to stand for something, and be open and honest about it.

49. Obama.My personal pick.
    Ed

50. Not a US citizen.

    I’m endorsing President Barack Obama for a second term. He’s done better with the economy than anyone has a right to expect, don’t ask don’t tell was monumentally stupid, making the smart choice between sending some guys to find and kill Osama bin Laden and invading other peoples countries gives me faith in future rational acts, he’s still trying to build consenss responses when the GOP are throwing a toddlers tantrum in the halls of power, his civil liberties record is frankly appalling but you can’t win em all.

    I’m against Mitt Romney because he reminds me far to much of President George W. Bush (he’s obviously smarter but he has the same self centred belief that it’s his turn), because the most extreme wing of his own party are frankly evil and rather than stand up and be counted he’s helping to elect them, because he believes that asset stripping american companies, throwing their workers onto the streets and moving any remaining hardware to the far east to make a second fast buck is a moral and appropriate way to make a living, because he cares more about winning than taking part.

51. [Deleted because, as noted, this thread is for endorsements, not commentary — JS]

52. I endorse Barack Obama for a second term. He turned around the economy, killed Bin Laden, and has changed his mind on gay marriage. Did he do any of these things on his own? No, of course not. Did he do other things which make me sad and & disappointed? *coughdronestrikescough* yes. But he’s light-years better than Mitt Romney, who just wants to get elected and damn the consequences; and whose privilege goes so deep he can’t even see it.

53. My ideals most closely align to Jill Stein, however I will be casting my vote for Barack Obama. The primary reason is the second that John listed: to ensure Mitt Romney doesn’t win. I am no fan of Obama. He is too weak on protecting civil liberties and refuses to fight for separation of church and state. However, since I live in Florida, and since Florida looks like it might once again be a tipping point state I cannot cast a throwaway protest vote for Stein.

    I also agree with PZ Myers that the Green Party are wasting their time and money in bidding for the Presidency. The should focus their money on a campaign to get Green Party candidates elected at the local level.

54. I voted for and endorse Obama for President. The data show that, since FDR, job growth under Democratic presidents (i.e., under more “liberal” tax and spending policies) has, on average, been better than job growth under Republican presidents (http://educationvotes.nea.org/job-creation-quiz-1a/). While we all prefer to pay lower taxes, if I have to pay taxes I prefer that my taxes go to support social programs to help the American people rather than wars and military buildup which tends to help the select few.

    It also bothers me that Romney and Ryan want us to elect them based on “trust” that their financial plan will be revenue neutral but won’t give us specifics.

    Finally, as a woman I fear for my health and rights if Republicans have control.

55. Vote Vermin Supreme for President 2012 http://www.verminsupreme.com/
    But seriously, I shall vote Gary Johnson, because I prefer Austrian economics to Keynesian economics and I want the Libertarian Party to be a significant thing.
    Of course, if I were voting in a swing state, I’d vote Obama, because racism is bad and so many of the people opposing him are doing so for explicitly racist reasons and if Romney wins it will encourage and empower them.

56. John, alright then. :)

    I endorse Obama for reasons largely similar to yours.

    The Republicans really lost me in the debate where they all said they would not sign a budget which was balanced by a 10:1 ratio of cuts:tax increases.

    Assuming Romney was telling the truth, that’s a recipe for incredible cuts to discretionary domestic spending. I don’t think we can take that.

57. I’m putting my endorsement in for Gary Johnson. Previous posters have all given very good reasons, but the reasoning for mine is simple: If he gets only a mere 5% of the popular vote, the LP qualifies for federal matching funds, and that might just be the ticket out of this two-headed cointoss we’re stuck in now.

58. I’m endorsing President Obama. I’m a life long Massachusetts resident, and was not impressed with Mitt Romney’s attempts at leadership. As a woman who is bisexual and Neo-Pagan, I see myself having a better future under a second Obama administration than I ever could with Romney.

59. I also endorse Barack Obama for president, for many of the same reasons that our host JS mentioned. Has he been perfect? Of course not, there are some things that he has done that I deeply disagree with (mostly with drone attacks in neutral countries, assasinating American citizens without due process, even if they are scum I think it sets the table for a VERY dangerous slippery slope). That said, I am a member of “I didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me” club. As long as the modern GOP continues to be batshit insane and stand for Legitimate Rape and Intelligent Design I can never cast my lot with them. I really wanted to vote for John Huntsman in the primaries but he dropped out before FL :(

60. I’m endorsing and casting my vote for President Obama. Mr. Scalzi said it best: “You’ve done well. Keep going.” While I have some concern about his use of Predator drones and other foreign policy matters, I do believe that he has achieved some good things on the domestic front, even if those policies are subject to heated debates everywhere. I think his administration can do more if given the chance (especially by more rational Congressional Republicans).

    I bear no ill will against Gov. Romney or Congressman Ryan, but I don’t think their economic policies will help us that much, nor do I think their foreign policy will improve our relations in Asia and the Middle East. And I am saddened that the current GOP is acting like less of the Loyal Opposition and more like “rabid opposition at any cost, even reelection.” I sincerely hope that Republican voters will get a better crop of candidates to choose from once this election is over.

61. For many of the reasons John has already mentioned I am voting for Obama. My reasons distill into two main categories, 1) Obama overall did a good job considering the situation he was thrown in, and 2) I find the current state of the GOP to be abhorrent.

    1) Obama took office with a set of economic circumstances that would have made weaker men curl up into a ball. Did he handle the economic mess perfectly, not even close, but the economy is slowly recovering. Obama was working against a united political foe that wanted nothing more than getting him out of office, and they clearly stated so. That anything got done at all in the past 4 years is a miracle. I believe that Obama has a more credible plan to find long-term solutions to address healthcare, and the entitlement programs.

    2) The GOP are acting like a bunch of children. Someone (Obama) took their candy and now they will do nothing but pout until they get their way. They are like the child that gets told no you can’t have the ice cream and will go kicking and screaming through the store until they get what they want. I am convinced they are not acting in the best interest of he country, but rather are playing a game so they can keep playing politics. Now not all Republicans are like this, but the GOP has definitely taken a turn to eliminate anyone willing to play ball with the other side and compromise. I would seriously consider Romney if I were assured that we would get the moderate republican that sat as governor AND would not be beholden to the GOP agenda. I do not believe in rewarding bad behavior, The GOP needs to learn to compromise and seek solutions that work in the real world. Romney would have done much to ingratiate himself to me if he had been forthright and laid out details of his plans, the few details that have surfaced are scary. I will only touch on one, taxes. Romney wants to eliminate loopholes and deductions and lower the overall tax brackets. In theory that sounds great, a streamlined tax code would do wonders to the economy overall. However, Romney also admitted in the second debate that he wants to eliminate all capital gains tax. This proposal is nothing short of insanity. The highest earners in the US get a disproportionate amount of their income via capital gains (buying/selling stock, dividends, and classifying their salary as capital gains). To get an idea of just how bad this would be look at your average large firm CEO, their salary is significant but that is generally dwarfed by stock options (yes capital gains). Eliminating capital gains would essentially create a situation where the majority of the income of these high earners is tax free. The effective tax rate on these people would plummet into the single digits, heck plenty of financial managers earnings are almost entirely capital gains so they would pay close to nothing in federal taxes. And what will these people do with their new found windfall? Trickle-down you say, get real. You and I know they will buy a new BMW, Rolex, and a time share in Tahiti, most of that money will not stay in the US to help the economy grow.

62. Well, stencil lives in Great Barrington, in Massachusetts’s westernmost part – as some would have it, the northernmost town on Long Island. He has no representation, now that Daniel Shays has passed on. All his neighbors will vote for Obama; therefore stencil endorses, and will vote for, Gary Johnson for President.
    .

63. I endorse — and will vote for — President Obama. I believe the Democratic Party platform comes closest to my core values. Like Scalzi, I *want* a cool-headed smart dude in the White House.

64. I will vote for Mitt Romney for president. The reason that you should vote for him as well is that, as Mr. Scalzi pointed out, he is an administrator and not an idealogue. He is often times attacked for this. I offer that it is exactly what we need. He will be able to compromise to achieve a consensus solution. Everyone touts the importance of being able to work across party lines and we now have a candidate with an outline for success but a willingness to give and take to arrive at that successful and inclusive outcome.

65. There was no doubt that I’d be endorsing and voting for Obama, no matter who the other candidate was. I have many reasons for this. However I have a whole new one, which is merely President Obama behaving as the leader of a nation should — but as we’ve seen in the recent past, at least one POTUS not doing: he flew back in the storm from campaigning in Florida late last night to D.C., to provide the leadership this nation needs desperately during hurricane clobbering the densest populated third of the nation. This is the largest storm to ever hit mainland U.S.A. My home is targeted. Already parts of my end of Manhattan have been informed by mass ConEd mailings that the power grid is being shut down.

    We evacuated to New Orleans on Saturday, so we are personally and physically safe, surrounded by the most understanding and compassionate love, as we wait to learn whether our home survives.

    I trust President Obama to do all the right things as fast as they possibly can be done to pull our part of the world out of this enormous physical and economic disaster. And hopefully, finally, be able to convince this nation that climate change is real and is happening to us all right now — not even next year — and let us please take some sane, scientific and feasible steps to deal with it, rather than pretending it’s not happening because the corporate bottom line thinks acknowledging climate change is bad for it.

    Obama believes the federal government has a large role in disaster relief and preventing disaster if at all possible, and early warning the population about threatening disasters. None of this will continue without Obama receiving a second term.

66. I voted Green Party for President. The fact that I can’t actually remember the name of the candidate will give you some idea of how emotionally invested I am in that choice, but there you are.

    Obama is, for my money, by far the better of the two candidates who have any chance of winning. As a progressive, however, I’m pretty disappointed with him in a number of ways (I also think he’s done a fair to excellent job on a number of other issues). I live in a state that is certain to go for Obama, so I cast a protest vote.

67. Jill Stein: Green party

    Here’s endorsement for all people who live in states where their vote won’t really matter, I’m looking at you California, Idaho, Utah or Massachusetts.

    It simply true that the Republican Party as currently established are insane, they’ve bitten the poisoned fruit of the Randian tree and its policies will leave us in a place that life for the majority is as Hobbes put it, “nasty brutish and short.”

    So we need a Leviathan, which the current Democratic Party is doing just fine. It’s kind of freaky to think that the policies of the current Democratic Party are to the right of Richard Nixon in many ways. Specifically the military, the drone wars in the assassination of two American citizens in Yemen without recourse to the court, a complete subjugation of the privilege of habeas corpus if ever I’ve seen one, makes it the case that I cannot support this president. At this fact that Nixon established the EPA via executive order which would never happen under this president when you get the picture. And because I live in California I’m not about to give harm to the good for a desire of the perfect, I can vote for Jill Stein.

    Does Green party have some insane ideas, for sure! But at least their hearts are with the majority of Americans the 1%. And we do need to have progressives and liberals gain a voice back in the body politic. So if you live in such a state like California or Utah vote Green in order to get progressives back on the ballot in the future.

68. I’m voting Obama because I’m pro-universal healthcare, pro-regulation, pro-EPA, pro-FDA, pro-FEMA, pro-PBS, pro-NPR, pro-Planned Parenthood, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-science, and pro-education.

69. I endorse President Obama for the same reasons I voted for him in 2008. In the realm of foreign policy he pulled us out of the Iraq War, went after the leaders of Al Qaeda, and strengthened diplomatic ties across the world. He was a much needed step forward on social issues, repealing DADT, endorsing civil rights for LGBT, and the passing of the Affordable Health Care Act. This is doubly important to me as a 25 year old who would have spent many months uninsured. Furthermore, the more I read about what the bailout did and what is going on in Europe right now, the more I’m convinced that the USA would be in a bigger whole right now if the federal government didn’t step up.

70. I’m Australian, and during an unexpectedly bad pregnancy last year, Australia’s health care saved my finances. Americans deserve public health care, too. So Obama for me.

    Louise Curtis

71. Obama will get my vote for any number of reasons. He’s not as liberal as I am, nor as I want him to be, and saddled with a do-nothing GOP majority in the House that seems unlikely to be corrected this year, he won’t be anything more than a pragmatic centrist if he hopes to get anything done.

    That said, he’s done a fine job with the four years he’s had, he’s pulled the plane up out of the nosedive it was in, and yes, I’m better off now than I was four years ago.

    I look forward to the day when the GOP doesn’t stand for the Gay Oppression Party, the Gender Obtuse Party or the Gross Oligarch’s Party. Might mean we’re moving the center back, y’know, to the center.

72. Endorsement: Obama. For inheriting one of the worst economic disasters since the depression, he did pretty good on an economic front despite being blockaded most of the time (the GOP crying: “He hasn’t shown us a plan!” when they really meant to say: “He hasn’t shown us a plan that we like and we aren’t here to compromise!”). Unlike many liberals, Obama has shown he is willing to admit medicare and medicaid need modifications to stay solvent. He passed the Affordable Care Act. I wish he’d gone further, but the political climate wasn’t there. He admitted he was wrong on the idea a civil union is a replacement for gay marriage: he decided to forgo challenging DOMA, and eliminated “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The Lily Ledbetter Act. The beginnings of Wall Street reform. His hard line stance on forcing BP to set up a fund to pay for damages (now, if we can only get rid of the upper limit protections these guys have). Pulling out of Iraq; beginning the pullout of Afghanistan; burying Iran in a world wide embargo that is crushing its currency; support Syria, not with troops, but allowing them to fight their own revolution with a limited aid showing their independence from Mother America and respect to their own abilities. It is truly a way forward from the arrogance of our wars in the past. I could go on. But I think this is enough.

73. Voting for Obama. Why? Because our form of electing only benefits a clear, broad, recognizable choice, rather than many choices. As an incumbent and a candidate of one of the two major political parties in the USA, Barak Obama is my clear, broad, recognizable choice for president. He is also (and critically) not anything like Romney in terms of the role of government, right to life issues, equality issues, church & state issues, etc. A more nuanced and thoughtful selection of a ‘minor’ candidate would only succeed in bleeding the percentages for Obama, increasing Romney’s chances for election. In other words, our form of election punishes voting for who you want, rather than voting to prevent someone from getting elected. Vote big, not small unless your vote is for philosophical merit alone.

74. If I were an American, and not a Canadian Citizen (such as I am) I would vote for Barack Obama. He’s had a pretty rough time of his first term, running up against major road block after road block from the GOP. He has managed to keep your country afloat, he’s sort of Christian, which swings big in the ole U.S. of A, and he’s a smart guy who doesn’t make his money by chopping your corporations into pieces, leveraging them to death, paying himself millions, then walking away as the employees and banks get left in the lurch. If Romney get’s the go-ahead, you should move to Mexico or China, and you might manage to regain your lost jobs at a substantial reduction in pay, work place safety, time off etc etc…
    Think of your country and Vote Obama. He can’t walk on water but he’ll keep you afloat.

75. I used to be an alien (of the non-resident kind) but am now merely someone who is not a US citizen.

    If I could vote in the upcoming US presidential elections, I’d vote for Obama, and so would, by a recent poll, about 98% of my fellow countrymen. It’s a little because Obama seems competent, but mostly because the Republican party seems so shockingly ignorant and, well, downright evil in so many things.

76. I will vote for Gary Johnson, largely as a response to the President’s not-so-stellar record on civil liberties and the expanding security state.

    I see this vote as a luxury extended to me by my residency in Illinois, where I do not have to worry about handing a single electoral vote to Mitt Romney. If I were in a swing state, I would vote more strategically.

77. Against Romney, for many, many reasons! Here are just 3:

    Economically, he espouses an agenda that has been demonstrated *not to work* every time it’s been used since Reagan in ’80. He is one of the ‘Austerians’ (in the words of Paul Krugman); austerity is being demonstrated, right at this very moment, (yeah, you guessed it!) *not to work*.

    Socially, I don’t think the 1950’s were probably all they were cracked up to be, unless you’re a cis-gendered, white, monogamous, middle-class-or-above, hetero male (full disclosure – I’m all of those things) and see no need to repeat the policies of that time.

    Finally, conceptually. Being President is not like being the boss. Mr. Prez doesn’t get to say ‘this is my policy, now implement it!’ to Congress. Being President is constant negotiation and compromise, with parties internal and external. Running the country is not a game of ‘maximize the return on investment of your shareholders, at any cost’. Once again, History provides us with many examples of businessmen reaching the oval office – they (and the country) do not tend to fare well.

78. More and more it seems there is no viable party for moderate leaning Republicans such as myself so this year I will be voting for Obama. Though I think my personal preferneces line up more with Mitt Romney the man and I would have enjoyed him as governor, I detest the national Republican party and can’t give them my support.

    I’m also voting for Obama because I think in areas like foreign policy and the economy stability is valuable. Any good ideas Romney might have regarding the economy (and I do believe Mitt the person not Mitt the Republican creation does have some good ideas) would never survive the deplorable gauntlet of national Republican asshatery. Whatever differences in opinion I may have in some of what Obama has done are not strong enough to jeopordize the current stability.

    Finally, whether I agree with it or not (and I do on many parts) I will vote for Obama because he was able to get the Affordable Care Act through quite possibly the laziest, most incompetent, out-of-touch, and divisive Congresses in history. If he can do that during an election year I’d love to see what he can do in a second term.

79. I’ve already voted for Obama, so he has my endorsement. While I’m displeased with the aggressive military policy he’s continued, he’s the candidate who seems least likely to try to give control of my body to other people, or to try to restrict my rights based on other people’s religious beliefs. Of the candidates I think have a chance at winning, he seems most likely to not be in favor of my dying horribly through circumstances not in my control.

    I’ll take it.

80. I’ve already voted for Obama, and never considered any other choice. Your analysis of your own choice is a nearly perfect reflection of my own, other than you omitted the factors of Supreme Court choices and Romney’s total detachment from facts.

81. I’m Canadian, living in the States. If I could vote, I’d vote blue, because quite frankly the GOP scare the fuck out of me (and having each team cock block every decent move the other team makes is a frankly stupid way to run a country.) I feel like Romney (if anything he’s said thus far can be taken at face value) is identical to Obama in foreign policy, largely similar in economics (meaning I don’t actually think the Ryan plan will gain much traction, and that Obama’s Tax the Rich thing will get the teeth taken out of it). But Obama is the clear choice, because even if he doesn’t care much for foreign citizens (and what American president does, or perhaps more kindly, can afford to?) he at least seems to care about his own.

    But really, ANYTHING to keep the GOP out of power. Those guys are terrifying.

82. I endorse and voted for President Obama. The main reason is I think he has done a good job in the face of Republican intransigence and economic disaster. He looks toward the future and what can be done to make it a better place. He saved the automotive industry, put into place a better health-care system, killed bin Laden and al-Awlaki, ended the war in Iraq honorably, helped millions save or get jobs, and promoted better technologies. President Obama has earned a second term.

    I am also voting against Mr. Romney because despite his claims to moderation, he will embolden the worst elements of the Republican party. The Republican House in 2011 and 2012 voted time and again against the Affordable Care Act, a woman’s right to choose, a person’s right to love and marry another consenting adult, preventing climate change, protecting women and children, and helping jobless Americans. With a Republican President, they would press these issues even harder and probably pass much of their agenda. With the election of fiscal conservatives, the social conservatives (many of whom also portray themselves as fiscal conservatives) would also ascend to power and legislate their narrow brand of morality. Mr. Romney and his allies are not looking to reach across the aisle and do not want to compromise. The last three plus years have demonstrated this clearly. They do not want to govern, they want power and that is why I could never vote for any member of the Republican party as it currently exists.

83. This moderate Republican will be casting his vote for B.H. Obama next week. This is more of a “lesser of two evils” vote and not an especially ringing endorsement of the current President, who has had an extended learning curve over the past four years.

    But I look at the other guy, and on the domestic side I see promises that are unlikely to be fulfilled, because there’s no way the math adds up. On the foreign policy side, I see incoherency and self-contradiction.

    So I’m voting for the guy who’s performed “okay”–as opposed to the guy who, quite honestly, frightens me.

84. Speak primarily to why you’re voting for the candidate of your choice, rather than using the space to slag the other candidates

    Hm. About half the reason I’m voting for Obama is because some of his political positions line up with mine. But there are a number of issues that are important to me but Obama stands at the complete antithesis. And the only reason I’d support Obama with regard to these issues is because I’m pretty sure Romney would only take them even further away from where I would stand.

    I’m voting for Obama because stimulus is the only way to get an economy out of a depression, because we need to have the rich pay their fair share of taxes and right now they’re paying some of the lowest taxes in the last hundred years, because if it hadn’t been for unemployment benefits being extended I would have lost my house, because we need health care reform, we need to put an end to insurance companies being able to drop paying customers once they get sick.

    I oppose Obama’s continuation of indefinite detention but I can only imagine Romney would make it worse. I oppose Obama’s idea that the president can assassinate American citizens without due process, but I can only imagine that Romney would take that and run with it. I oppose Obama’s continuation of the operations in Guantanamo (and expanding a similar operation in Bagram), but I can only imagine that Romney would do even worse. I oppose Obama’s prosecution of whisteblowers, but I can only imagine Romney would do worse. I loathe that Obama cut a secret deal with insurance companies to drop the health care reform’s public option and then publicly said he was fighting for the public option, only to “drop” the public option months later. But I know Romney will throw out what little health care reforms we got and return control to the robber barons insurance companies.

    So, I can’t fully endorse everything Obama did in the last four years. I oppose some significant things he did. But I will be voting for Obama in part because he lines up with me on some things politically speaking and because of the things where Obama does NOT line up with me about, Romney would only be worse.

85. I endorse Obama as he has done the best he could with the mess he was left with, he has dealt with the GOP whose goal above all including the needs of the country was to make Mr. Obama a single term president and he allows women to choose.

86. I also endorse Obama. I just don’t feel like the Republicans have taken responsibility for the policies that got us the situation(s) Obama inherited, and I haven’t heard anything that says they’d do it differently a second time around.

    I also feel that, particularly in what we face now with Sandy and other nationwide ills, that you need someone running government that believes in the power of government to do good. Not people interested in downsizing it or passing off responsibilities to the private sector. Doesn’t mean I think the Democrats are doing a great job, but at least they’re willing to take it on.

87. There are oh so many reasons that I endorse Obama, but I’ll stick with one that’s timely and personally affects me: Hurricane Sandy. Romney, his running mate, and his party have all poopoo-ed climate change as something happening right now. Well, guess what…It’s happening right now outside my window, and I will be seeing hurricane-force winds in a couple of hours. But that doesn’t matter, because Romney thinks–and these are his own words, said in front of a live studio audience–that FEMA and other governmental disaster aid programs are “immoral.” I think I’m going to trust the guy who left the campaign trail to return to Washington DC and do his job (i.e. be the President) in the middle of a national disaster instead of continuing to glad hand big money donors in states far away because he feels it’s against his morals to help me and my fellow Americans.

88. My absentee ballot is going in for President Barack Obama. While Obama’s disappointed me on several issues, I believe he is the right person to continue the job.

    Moreover, this iteration of the GOP scares the pants off of me. The current GOP is actively anti-science, and utterly irrational when it comes to politics. I want very much to be able to vote for an Eisenhower-style Republican. Which, in a way, I am, by voting for Obama. The idea that he’s a socialist is just lunacy to me. Such statements show the bizarre shift rightwards in the GOP.

89. Anyone who has paid any attention to what the candidates have said and what they have done with their lives can come to only one conclusion. Barack Obama is the only choice despite the fact that he will face 4 more years of GOP sabotage. We saw what unbridled GOP control brings from 2000-2006 and cannot afford to do that again.

    For those who support Johnson or Stein – imagine how useless the President would be if he had both parties against them instead of just one. Its nice to pretend that they could somehow be different but in day-to-day combat with the House and Senate we could not get better than Obama right now (sadly)

    For those who find that unacceptable I’d suggest – Cthulhu 2012 – WHY VOTE FOR A LESSER EVIL?

90. Not a US voter, and far from a single issue voter. However, I have one threshold test that determines whether I can even think about the rest of a candidate’s policies: do they think I’m worthy of being treated a full citizen of the country? In the US, the answer to that question for me as a gay man is a resounding “No” re Romney. The rest is therefore irrelevant. The only other person who has a chance of winning is Obama, and he’s no worse than Romney on the issues they both suck on (war, habeus corpus etc), and better on everything else. So; qualified yay Obama.

91. I’m voting for Obama (1) because I think he’s done at least a B average job as president, especially considering the opposition – and (2) because I haven’t yet heard even a serious Romney supporter give a reason why that isn’t, at minimum, exaggeration or wishful thinking on their part.

92. You said it in your other post: “What about a third party candidate? My answer: Dude, I’m in Ohio. Ask me to be capricious with my vote some other time.”

    I’m also in Ohio, and I will be voting Obama for exactly the reasons you are. Both for Obama and against Romney. In a world where I could cast a vote for any candidate without fear of Romney (or the current GOP) winning, Jill Stein of the Green party actually lines up with my ideals slightly more than Obama does. But the difference is slight, and living in Ohio, my vote has to go to Obama if it’s truly going to count as “against Romney”.

93. I might not get past the mallet on this, but I endorse not voting. This isn’t from apathy. I’ve been following this political season closely and listening to what the candidates have been saying. I read through much of what the third party candidates said in their responses to the debate questions. At this point I cannot in good conscience vote for anybody who is running.

    I was a Republican until George W Bush, at which point I switched to Independent. I believe George Bush did more damage to our nation than just about any other person in modern history. In order for another Republican to get my vote for President they are going to have to convince me that they won’t start unnecessary wars and destroy civil liberties in the name of security, not to mention the need to control spending in a sane, balanced way that nobody in politics seems to be making a serious attempt at. Even though my political views are much more conservative (in a more traditional sense), I find I agree with Scalzi’s summary of the current GOP. I have no idea what Romney would actually do as President because he seems to be fine with saying whatever he thinks will help him at the moment, but I have no reason to believe he’d be an improvement, and I won’t vote for him.

    On the other hand, I can’t vote for Obama either. I don’t agree with his view that the government is a good solution for most problems. Further, I think he’s been very ineffective as a President. I don’t think he’s done a great job at dealing with foreign policy (although admittedly worlds better than Bush). He hasn’t kept some of his key promises that would have made me more inclined to support him, including comprehensive Immigration reform. I’d be in favor of any comprehensive solution that focused more on the immense value of immigration and immigrants as real people rather than using it as a proxy for security fears or a shield for racism. Along that line I originally had some hopes for Obama on Immigration and civil liberties, but he has not made any real positive effort to address these areas. In fact, he has continued policies that have kept us on the slope of losing civil liberties in the name of national security.

    Overall, our whole political system is so corrupt and bent it is frankly hard for me to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I understand the “lesser of two evils” argument, and the whole idea that all citizens should vote, but voting for someone is giving them at least a modicum of my support, and my conscience won’t bear doing that with these candidates. I’m still debating voting for propositions and some local offices but honestly the people running for Congress and the state offices where I live are just about all cut from the same cloth. It is largely just the nature of our society and political system at the moment, and I’m afraid things will get worse before they improve. I will be watching the outcome with interest, because I do care. But I won’t put my name on any of it, even in the privacy of the voting booth.

94. I’m endorsing Obama. Basically because my GOP relatives just completely baffle me with their lack of sense – as do most of the GOP that I have seen lately on news outlets. I have read Gary Johnson’s positions, and although they are admirable, I don’t believe they are legally supportable, which puts them in the political rubbish-bucket for me.

    Romney is simply saying what he thinks he has to say to get elected. That’s beyond political rubbish-bucket speak to me, because he’s a really smart guy – and he’s playing us for fools. Plus, he doesn’t need to be President… It’s just simply too weird to me…. He should spend his days doing rich guy stuff… The last thing we need is a POTUS that wakes up two years from now and says “…what am I doing here?”

    Obama is the only candidate with skin in the game — that’s actually my criteria for taking a candidate seriously…. I disagree with those that say it’s impossible for Romney to get elected… and if he is elected, I guess we just have to go back to that old saw that we get the democracy that we deserve.

95. Romney, because Minnesota’s become a Romney-possible state, and I think that Romney will be a better president for the USA as a whole than Obama would be in a second term. Otherwise, and closest to my mind because of his positions, and my heart because of family friendship, Gary Johnson.

96. I endorse Gary Johnson because if the Libertarian party can get 5% of the vote they become eligible for federal matching funds. The 2 party system is not helping us any more. We need more parties with a real impact.

97. I have already voted absentee for President Barack Obama. Reasons:

    1. Supreme Court picks. I do not want any more Alitos, Thomases, Scalias, or even Robertses on the court for the rest of my lifetime.
    2. Health care. I look forward to being able to get insured in January 2014. I hope I don’t get sick before then.
    3. Freedom. I cannot support a party which is pro-rape, pro-slavery, anti-life, and against religious freedom. That would be the GOP. They threaten not just Roe vs. Wade but Griswold vs. CT and the 1st, 13th, and 19th Amendments.
    4. Fear. I refuse to live in fear. I will not support the party of racism, homophobia, and xenophobia.
    5. Science. I approve of it.
    6. Nihilism. I cannot stand the scorched-earth approach of the GOP members of the House and Senate who vote against even perfectly conservative policies because it is more important to defeat Obama than to actually do anything useful.
    7. War. I don’t want more of it. I feel that Obama is much less likely to start a war with Iran, and I am disturbed by Romney’s Cold War attitudes toward Russia.
    8. Social Security and Medicare. I would like them not to be privatized.

    Obama is far from perfect, and I disagree with a number of things he has done. But the above eight reasons are plenty sufficient for me to support him.

98. Australian. Warm fuzzy leftist, in the Stross mold. Americans deserve universal health care, and do not deserve to have half their population subjugated in the name of the sexist memes of two centuries ago. Obama is not nearly leftist enough in his policies for my liking, but he’s better than the recent average on foreign policy, he’s intelligent and he’s politically savvy (Machiavellian in method but not morals) enough to get the important stuff done. Romney is a plutocratic nut-job and his party seem to have been constructed to make him look sane-ish by comparison. So, it’s Obama all the way.

99. I’m a Utah Mormon, and I will be voting for Pres. Obama. I know that my state’s electoral votes will go to Romney, but I think it’s important to vote no matter what. I support Obama for various reasons, the fair pay act, affordable health care act, getting rid of don’t ask, don’t tell and allowing gay members of the military to serve openly, not defending DOMA, support of Planned Parenthood (or at least not saying he’d shut it down), support of gay marriage. I feel that he is better internationally and there will be less wars and diplomacy mistakes than under Romney, TARP, which I believe helped more than hurt. There are a few things I’m disappointed about, but that mostly seemed to come because of compromising with people who were unwilling to compromise. As a woman I think that Obama has been, and would be a better leader than Romney. Supreme Court Justices – I think they currently lean to far to the right, and would love more moderate people there, and I don’t think a republican president would nominate anyone remotely moderate. And taxing issues – I feel that Romney would do more for the millionaires and billionaires in the country than for the rest of us – and I don’t know how anyone can feel differently about that after his 47% comments – and his “plan” to do nothing and just by being elected and nominated will create a bump in jobs. Also – with all his wishy-washy flip-flopping – you don’t know where you stand with the guy. Who knows what he would do? AND it’s only one heartbeat away from “Personhood” Ryan… so that’s also pretty scary.

100. As a non-US citizen, the endorsement has to go to Obama. Biden actually has foreign policy experience, where Ryan’s only experience is generating massive debts (and calling it sound fiscal policy). Obama has the appearance of a man of the world and generates policy to support the population (eg obamacare) where Romney is a part of a US-based parochial cult (from my perspective) and comes across like a smarmy relic of the postwar. Oh, and the rest of the World seems to understand that Objectivism and Fundamentalism are mutually exclusive, yet an organisation with the funding of the Republican party can’t?
     Viz the Libertarian Party, is this not asking to re-learn Michael Moore’s lessons from a few years ago? The people most likely to be persuaded to vote for Party 3 are progressive democrats, so pushing the third party is essentially giving the election to the Republicans.

101. I’m not an US citizen and do not live in the US, so I don’t get to vote in your election. If I could, I would vote for neither Obama nor Romney, regardless of in which state I lived. I don’t like any of them. I dislike Romney less than I dislike Obama, but I am no fan of the “lesser of the two evils” thinking.

     There is a virtually non-zero chance (as in “really really tiny, far less than one in a billion”) that my personal vote is actually going to matter in making any difference in the outcome. The only possible reasons for voting are symbolical, of the “making myself fell better” kind and of the “what if everyone acted like me?” kind. Don’t get me wrong, they are good reasons. I do vote. I just refuse to vote strategically for a candidate I do not particularly want to be elected.

     So I would be voting for Gary Johnson. I don’t agree with everything the man says, but enough to think that he would actually make your country a better place. And I could vote for him without feeling ashamed of myself.

102. German Citizen here and endorsing Obama.
     Because life is not solely about money.
     Because human rights include getting married, getting healthcare, getting an education, getting assistance when in need, not having an unwanted child.

103. Because I am lucky enough to live in a solidly blue state, I was able to vote my heart and not my head: Jill Stein and the Green Party. However, if I lived in a swing-state, I would have voted for Obama, and I endorse him as the next president of the United States.

104. Resident Alien here in CA.

     If I could vote, it would be for Obama. Just a few reasons:

     1) My two brother-in-laws total 5 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq between them, and they don’t like it there. Romney will be beholden to Alderson, so there will be a strike on Iraq, and another major Middle East war as a result, along with massive oil price spikes due to supply uncertainties through the Straits of Hormuz and probably boots on the ground on the shore as a result. Last thing I want to pay with for my taxes is yet another trillion dollar war. And another crashed economy courtesy of the Repubs.
     2) Fiscal policy. Ryan is a joke, his numbers simply don’t add up. Romney’s 20% across the board cuts will benefit me personally, until he eliminates the state tax break and mortgage tax relief, without which the numbers don’t even remotely work. We tried exploding the deficit under Bush II, Romney/Ryan is much worse. We just got out of a recession, let’s head into another one.
     3) Medicare/Medicaid vouchers. Because the private health insurance market works so well at the moment for everyone else – how can it possibly go wrong when extending it to the old, sick and befuddled in the country? My parents in law will be simply unable to deal with vouchers, and they have us to help them. And apparently spending 16% of GDP on health costs, instead of the 8% in pretty much every first world country, with worse outcomes, is a good thing…
     4) Romney will be rule by the plutocrats, for the plutocrats. There is no logical argument for abolishing capital gains tax or inheritance taxes, he will do both, to further entrench the top 0.01%.
     5) As others have said, Supreme Court appointments
     6) Romney will just cave into the Republican nut jobs in the House and Senate – if he is President, it probably means a clean sweep of all branches by the Republicans, so we can look forward to a ban on abortion, suppression of gay marriage, DADT put back in place, etc, etc – basically medieval social policies.
     7) EPA – I like breathing clean air and drinking clean water, thanks.
     8) More military spending – who (apart from Iran) are we looking to pick a fight with? Mars? And isn’t spending 50% of the worlds’ military spend enough, so it has to be 60%?

105. Oops, Iran in para 1.

106. Non-US citizen, endorsing Obama.

     Living in the Netherlands I am used to a country where the government is (to a reasonable approximation) of the people and for the people, used to a country where compromise is important, used to a country where we try to give everyone at least a chance to be more, achieve happiness and a good life. Obama seems to have shown to be at this point the best option (as far as presidents matter) for the USA.

107. I would *love* to endorse Jill Stein. A president who is both truly pro-education and anti-US interventionist military activity would be absolutely lovely. That said, I am voting for Obama, because I live in Ohio and the modern republican party has become monstrous. They have become the party of misogynistic, racist, self-centered anti-intellectualism, and they cannot be allowed to hold national office. If I were in California, I would vote against both of the main parties, but in Ohio the logic of voting for the lesser of two evils must apply.

108. I live in Maryland; it’s basically a done deal that Obama will get our electors. I will be voting for Gary Johnson and my local Libertarian candidates to show my displeasure with the two-party-only system. My vote is only ‘wasted’ until enough of my neighbors wake up and realize there are other choices.

109. I have found a few of Obama’s actions disquieting, and I am disappointed he could not arm-wrestle his own party into a more effective force for the limited time it had to overcome Republican obstructionism. Nevertheless, I heartily endorse him for another term.

     In most ways, my views exactly follow John’s, so I won’t reiterate any of that. But I have one additional observation. Romney is a clownishly bad liar.

     It is in fact necessary as President to, on occasion, dissemble, prevaricate, omit facts, cast unjustified aspersions, and so forth. Telling the bald and complete truth in moments of crisis is often against the national interest. Romney has over the course of this campaign lied incessantly, and the quality of his lying has been abysmal. It suggests that he lies without thinking about how to lie, or how easily he’ll be found out, and has staff that does not help him by preparing functional lies for him. I foresee this impeding a Romney presidency, as he loses credibility on every public and private stage.

     Obama, on the other hand, knows how to lie. I’m not even sure I know what he’s lied about, which is the point. But he has lied–I know this is true because the Republicans tell me so. And I have to thank them, because I needed exterior verification of Obama’s effectiveness in this milieu.

110. Romney.
     President Obama failed on every front- 1) the economy continues to struggle with the debt growing out of control, 2) America’s standing in the world is diminished and continues in a downward spiral, and 3) he’s increasing the size and power of the government through the Affordable Care Act, which the majority of folks don’t want, and we can’t afford (see 1) above). While I’m not on board with many planks in the GOP platform (I really don’t think the government should tell folks who they can’t marry, or what a woman can or can’t do with her body), I believe Romney will get this country back on the right track.

111. I cannot endorse Obama. I’ll just point to three things: Benghazi, Fast & Furious, and his original campaign promise to “fundamentally transform America”. He’s certainly on track to fulfilling that promise, but I don’t want my nation transformed at its foundation; indeed, I want it returned to its foundation, which is the Constitution.

     I cannot endorse any third party candidate. None of them can win, and firing Obama is too important.

     I don’t want to endorse Mittens, either. He makes me queasy as spoiled tuna salad, and I voted against him in the primary. He is far too close to Obama for my liking. He does not seem to understand the difference between capitalism and corporatism, which is frightening. However, he’s a successful, competent executive. He actually does know to manage bipartisan compromise (maybe a bit too much, in fact). He does seem to have some vague grasp of Constitutional principles, and I believe he’s slowly coming to grips with the fact that a certain, stubborn core of the American people demand a return to them, and that pushing that core any further is actively dangerous. He truly believes in the American way of life, and has faith in the ability of the American people to run their own lives. Indeed, he has faith,at all, and though it is different from my own, its adherents do many worthy things, and have many exemplary habits.

     Finally, he understands that America has enemies, and that his second priority, after jobs and the economy, is to defend us against them. He’s wrong on that; national defense should be the Commander in Chief’s first priority, while jobs and the economy are beyond his remit. But I’ll take him any day over a President who believes that our enemies can be made our friends if only we are flexible enough to bow deeply enough.

112. I am voting for Obama (and incidentally a straight Dem ticket for the first time ever). Partly because he has not done anything terribly wrong, and has done several things right. But mostly because I am a woman with two daughters. A Supreme Court more Republican than we already have (I balk at calling that ideology conservative) would have no problem stripping women of all their rights.

113. Doggone it, I meant to add:

     I can understand the impulse to NOT vote as a positive act, rather than out of apathy or negligence.

     The argument is that given the size and power of the government these days, voting for anyone at all, at any level, is tantamount to choosing your overseer, rather than your leader. No candidate, no politician, will be able to fix that. Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy has metastasized to a truly horrifying extent.

     Accordingly, I came closer than I ever have to not voting this election. However, I am not quite ready to withdraw. I woke from the progressive dream too late to prepare and train, and I’m too old for a fight anyway. The best I can do is vote for the least of the evils, which is pretty much all you can ever do, and buy a little more time.

114. I endorse Barack Obama.

     I have friends who are barely keeping afloat financially. I see the homeless and destitute every time I go into the city. I know a good number of people of various ethnic minorities, and all of them are less healthy and financially worse off than their white peers.

     I also volunteer at a local kitchen, which prepares and delivers food for the impoverished and chronically ill. I’ve helped them distribute the food, and as a result I’ve gotten to see just a tiny, tiny bit of my country’s ugly side. The city and lots of the surrounding suburbs are in an awful way – the buildings are decaying, there are gang signs everywhere, windows are boarded up or broken, everyone is missing teeth. Doors are triple-bolted, and women and not a few men look at me like I might bite them.

     There are thousands and thousands of people, just in my immediate area, who are barely scratching by; and the Republican party’s philosophy at this point seems to boil down to “I’ve got mine, screw you.” That kind of negligence might as well be a death sentence for a lot of people – quite literally in many cases. This is class warfare – and race warfare, and gender warfare – and it’s not the Democrats I see carrying it out. It is social Darwinism, and I do not believe in that and will not vote for people who support it.

     tl;dr I support Barack Obama because he is not a Republican, and because I do not want to see any more people suffering.

     (Sorry BTW if I’m being a bit vague about things. I don’t want to reveal my location publicly.)

115. I am endorsing, and will vote for, Gary Johnson. Realistically, it will be a while (if ever) before there is a Libertarian in the White House. However, by giving Mr. Johnson your vote you’d be showing to both Republicans and Democrats alike that fiscal responsibility and civil liberties are still highly valued and far from mutually exclusive. You would not be “wasting” your vote, you would be using it to influence and change both dominant platforms for the better.

116. Obama, mainly because he’s a pragmatist with good values. I would vote for him for that reason alone. I don’t agree with him on everything, but I feel like he’s going to pick from a number of good (or at least the best available if not great) options.

     This time, however, I have a sense of urgency precisely for what Obama is not– he’s not supporting anti-women measures, he’s not out-of-touch with the bottom 99%, he’s not confusing about what his positions are at any point in time.

117. I think that there are positive reasons to endorse Obama and negative reasons that make the Republican Party an unacceptable choice for any sane person. But there is a third path that wanders along both of those paths.

     Obama has had a far greater level of success than he’s given, even by supporters. On that line, read “The New New Deal,” by Michael Grunwald and if you have any question about what a regressive bunch of retards the Republicans are, or of their dishonest, just read “The New Deal” Michael A. Hiltzik, the latter a pretty eyes open look at much of the good, not so good and just plain awful of the New Deal, including among the other side’s sins having to deal for a time with a Wall Street swindler as that mobs official representative. Moreover, as you’d read, his colleagues just looked the other way when he clearly broke the law.

     Obama is not without fault. I’m uneasy about drone strikes and the process, along with other policies inherited from and continued to some extent from Bush, the man who destroyed the United States as we know it without trying, not that Dick Cheney didn’t try. But when I look at him on balance, I see no future for Social Security or Medicare without Obama and, ideally more Democrats in Congress. The Republicans are like Newts, they’re odd little animals who remember nothing of consequence and can’t let go of anything that works, therefore must be destroyed.

     Teddy Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan, according to the recent history of the 1907 Bank Panic would find both Romney and Ryan unacceptable, not for their social policy, but for their outright unAmerican ideology on capitalism, imported by neo-Leninist Ayn Rand, who aspired to build a bigger, cruel nation of oligarchs and Tsars.

     But back to Obama.. He’s done a lot despite Republican obstructionism. Most thought the stimulus was too large — and it floored most legislators in its size — but we’ve never before forced such a mess in current dollars — or with as much knowledge about what should be done. Not enough attention was paid, in particular by loony Republicans, but also some Democrats to solid economists such as Paul Krugman and many others less well known. They knew as some of us do that we have learned much in the past 80 years or more about what spins national economies and what sets the right. Republican policies have never been good for the United States. Theirs is the way of Panics, depressions, low stock markets or real bubbles as in 1929. Those who have done best at recovery are those, i.e. Reagan and Bush 1, who said one thing and did another, i.e. practice a variety of Keynesian economics.

     If we elect Obama, there’s a better chance that we can keep the economy growing, perhaps see a rapid acceleration of growth as the last of the Bush era wrings itself out of the system. There’s always a chance of foreign economies affecting us. In either case, The opposition is a disaster. They are not respected internationally, Obama is. We’re looking at dueling foreign policies, but also economic policies that are intrinsically wound into them.

     As it is, I’m in France where no one, this borne out by polling, wants to see Romney elected. In fact, they can’t believe Americans would vote against a solid, inspiring leader who would do better with something other than a bunch of right wingers willing to destroy the country for the sake of partisan advantage. In Germany, 87 percent polled would vote for Obama. Hard lady Merkel can get along with him and can trust an administration that does do what it says. Israel, cast aside the cheap politics, and Obama has been a solid ally who has not jumped into bed with Netanyahu’s own domestic politics. Romney became the first American nominee to my knowledge to hold a fund raiser in Israel, from what I could tell just to convince the relatively few very rightwing Jews that he was on their side, not exactly in step with the nation of Israel.

     How does Romney recover from his endless gaffes in Britain where he offended the entire conservative party, his supposed friends, and left the Labor Party gasping at his stupidity. Obama, on the other hand, gets on well without getting involved in internal British politics. Given the disaster that Romney type economic policies have been in most of Europe, no wonder.

     As for the Nobel prize, Sometimes the Nobel Committee expresses a hope about peace as it does about actual peace. Anyone who gave Henry Kissinger a Peace Prize was putting hope in front of experience and dismal human wreckage Kissinger’s policies left around the world. IN JUST EIGHT YEARS.

     I believe that the Nobel Committee saw a future for a racial understanding in the United States that has not fully come to fruition, not least because of the endless racism of the Republican Party and their allies on the very, very extreme right. If we get through to a second term and the GOP racism is repudiated, however narrow the margin, it will be a massive step forward in which black, brown and all other races will begin to share the power instead of having one party constantly seeking to divide the nation so that they can monopolize the white male vote. Unfortunately for those bigots, from Romney on, it’s harder and harder to attract other members of the American electorate than White Males when you’re losing, inevitably, some of the white males along with virtually all of the Latinos, the Native Americans, the Asians — just name the people targeted by punitive GOP legislation and speeches in the past four years. One of these days, we’ll see our first Jewish President, our first Latino, our first Asian. All good Americans. To that, the Nobel Peace Prize spoke.

118. John, I know you said not to respond to other posters – but I kind of need to because some else’s comment finally put into words my thoughts on this election.

     If I am choosing a king (or president) based on who I can trust in a crisis – who will I trust to ‘hold my life in his hands’ – there is no contest. I will vote for Obama because as a woman, Romney has told me exactly what he thinks of my life and how he will support me in a crisis.

     As others have said, my vote may not count for much (I live in a thoroughly red state), but it matters to me that I cast it.

119. I endorse President Barack Obama for a second term. (Yes, I know you’re shocked.) My main reasons are the same as John’s. But in addition, Romney will undo (well, say’s he’ll undo) a lot of things that are important to me; not just the ACA, but the repeal of DADT as well. He also says he’ll defend DOMA.

     And there’s plenty of evidence that Romney is actively homophobic, not merely ignorant. I don’t want to go back to a bygone era in terms of my rights. And, of course, right now the fact that the Republicans are against nationally-organized disaster response is burning me up.

     I would vote for Barack Obama against a much better opponent than Mitt Romney, and I would vote against Mitt Romney even if his opponent were much worse than Barack Obama.

120. AU citizen here. If you didn’t have a completely broken electoral system, i.e. with preferences, then I would endorse Jill Stein in an instant. To us Australians, even Obama is pretty right-wing.

     Given the vote-splitting problems that you do have, I would endorse and vote for Obama, mainly because my views on the GOP’s mendacity pretty well match Scalzi’s and (nearly) anything that keeps them from power is absolutely a good thing.

     Can’t say I’m impressed with Obama’s drone-assassinations, expansion of spying on US citizens, continuation of Guantanamo, etc, but on balance he’s been far better than the GOP alternatives presented.

121. Obama. Because elections are always a choice between evils, and the greater evil is The Man With No Face.

122. To put it more directly: The choice is between a timid, conservative Democratic Party and a batshit insane Republican Party.

123. As I live in Iowa, swing-state central, I’ll most likely vote for Obama. If I could vote in good conscience, I’d vote for Rocky Anderson or Jill Stein.

     Rocky was the governor of Salt Lake City from 2000-2008 and is a leading progressive voice for LGBT rights, climate sanity, restorative justice, stopping the war on drugs, and foreign wars.

124. I endorse Obama. He’s done an acceptable job under extremely difficult conditions, and with some amazingly hostile opponents. Plus, I just plain like the man. Doesn’t mean I don’t think he has problems, but my perfect candidate would never make it to national level in the first place.

     The other candidates of which I am aware in descending order of approval.

     Jill Stein – probably closer to my way of thinking on many issues, but a) no chance, and b) the Green party is leaning disturbingly anti-science in many ways. No likey the woo.

     Gary Johnson – dropping the war on drugs, and many other wars seems like a damned good idea, but I have some pretty strong disagreements with the libertarian platform.

     Mitt Romney – Like John, I think he might be an okay candidate under other circumstances. I.e. if the party he were catering to were more moderate, I think he would veer more moderate. I don’t think I would ever be enthusiastic about him though, and with the current GOP, I would sooner vote for a rabid skunk than Mitt. Anti-science to the hilt, anti-choice, anti-civil rights – I won’t vote for any GOP candidate right now, despite having done so in the past. Even my current Republican state representative, who I know personally, and quite like, is not getting my vote this time around – he’s too beholden to people who are anything but moderate or likeable.

125. I’m also backing Obama. It’s an easy call for me. Even if I disagreed with the vast majority of what Obama thinks and does, I’d still choose him over Romney after taking one look at the people that make up his foreign policy advisory team. The fact that the RNC lets John Bolton and his band of neo-con crusaders anywhere near a serious candidate for the party ticket tells me all I need to know about the current state of the national Republican Party. I think one unnecessary, bloody and costly war based on a series of lies is enough for a single generation, if it’s all the same to you folks. And I’d rather not see another administration in my lifetime uttering Orwellian phrases like “preemptive self-defense” with a straight face.

     I’m no lifelong democrat either. I happily voted for George HW Bush, who was far more practical, centrist and intelligent than his son and whom I think was an above average president. But candidates like him aren’t allowed to rise through the party ranks anymore. There are good, reasonable and centrist Republicans out there. I voted for a couple of them in local races when I participated in early voting a few days ago, but they aren’t calling the shots anymore, and they have to fight to avoid marginalization within their own party.

     Also, as a Wisconsinite, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for Paul Ryan and Reince Priebus. If it makes you feel any better, we kept Scott Walker for ourselves.

     You’re welcome.

126. I have been undecided for a very, very long time. But I think this thread is what finally made up my mind – after reading how many people want Obama because they believe he won’t try to prevent Iran from going nuclear. I’m endorsing Romney even though I’m angered by a lot of the nonsense that comes out of the Republican Party, and even though I agree with Obama on most things, especially health care and immigration reform.

     Why? Because my grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, and the slaughter of her entire family was enabled, in part, by a policy of wishful-thinking appeasement that thought any sacrifice was acceptable to avoid war, and that the leader talking publicly about killing all the Jews couldn’t possibly mean it seriously.

     After World War II, as a 16-year-old without a single living person in the world who knew her name, my grandmother moved to Israel, the only country that would take her. Israel is where most of my relatives live now. And much as I would love to, I can’t vote for the candidate who seems likely to follow a policy of wishful-thinking appeasement while Iran works on its nuclear arsenal and talks publicly about wiping Israel’s six million Jews off the map.

127. [ Deleted for not being an endorsement – JS]

128. I believe America means everyone should be equal, and have a shot at the American dream.

     (Who doesn’t?)

     Women should get paid as much as men. Gay people should be allowed to make legal life-long commitments to the person they love. Women should be in control of their own bodies. People who have the misfortune to get a disease shouldn’t be shut out from medical care for the rest of their lives. Kids shouldn’t starve because their parents are poor. We ought to send fewer of our boys and girls abroad, and do better for them when they come home. We should be a leader in science, instead of rejecting it.

     OBAMA 2012.

     waves flag, patriotic music

129. IN a perfect world, I’d endorse Gary Johnson, because I am also a libertarian. Everyone compains about lack of choice, but if you really want a third party candidate, find, promote, fund and vote for them at every level from town council on up. Third party candidates should not be reaching for the brass ring of the Presidency until they have an viable alternative to the two parties and have some kind of success to point to to get to the next level. A third-party candidate for the president needs to start campaigning much earlier, before the two parties’ candidates suck the air out of the room.

     It’s not a perfect world, so I am endorsing Mitt Romney, four more years of the current course are less than optimum, to quote a politician.

130. Obama has my endorsement. 4 years to fix many years of mess is unrealistic. Especially when it appears darn near everyone not actively on his side is, with malice afore, during & after thought, willing to destroy everything because they don’t like his race or his politics & didn’t create a miracles upon demand. Obama gets that women, gays, children & elders are human beings with human rights, to include marriage, birth control, education that’s not an unholy fortune, equal pay & affordable healthcare; that women, gays, children & elders are NOT disposable tools & toys for use & abuse by those in power. He also gets that it takes many hands using science not wishful thinking to build, to maintain & to pass on an actual viable civilization for the long haul.

     The so called Republicans w/their pathetic pandering to faith abusing tea bagging sociopaths are hell bent on being oligarchic bootlickers & wannabe god-kinglets. They haven’t a clue, wouldn’t recognize a clue did it bite them in their delicate bits – have absolutely no business running a house, never mind a country. Compromise, Communication & Rational Recognition of Reality are essential to running a house or country and the Republicans no longer do any of those.

131. I endorse Barack Obama, because he is working to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, only without having his policies be centered upon jumping into our 3rd war in a decade as the first resort, instead of as the last resort. I actually believe that he would actually go to war in this conflict, should he deem it necessary. (Those drone strikes are not a sign of a progressive pacifist.) I could even conceivably agree with such a decision, depending on the circumstances, if it comes to that. I truly hope it does not.

     This is in addition to all of the other points that have already been said by Mr. Scalzi and others. But I felt that this needed to be said.

132. I’d love to be able to vote for a moderate republican, really. But under the current form of the GOP it is a group, mostly, of wacko positions – on women’s health, Austrian economics, sexual orientation, and, in the final analysis, what the 21st century should look like. (And for the GOP it looks a lot like the 17th century to me.) So, I’ll vote Obama.

     Oh, wait! Really, that means I am voting for a moderate republican, doesn’t it?

     Alas.

133. Barack Obama. Not because he is a great president, or even a particularly good president, but because the other choices are worse.

134. Obama.

     Cause Repubs scare me. All the anti-women and anti-science talk bothers me greatly as a fairly smart woman with a daughter.

     I don’t want to see my future turn into A Handmaiden’s Tale.

135. Living in New York, I have the option of being capricious with my vote, and it’s going to Rocky Anderson. Yes, he’d be a horrible president- he comes across as a nagging whiny professor, and I can’t imagine him doing any kind of horse-trading negotiating that is so essential to the office of President. Yet I like his left-of-center politics, believing them ever-so-slightly more realistic than Jill Stein. It’s not a protest vote- it’s a “try to express my opinion” vote. Stop the drone killings. End corporate welfare. Single payer. Boost the minimum wage. Marriage equality. Good things all, that I hope the Dems will eventually push harder.

136. Had Huntsman received the nomination, It would have been a more difficult decision. However, as Romney/Ryan/Koch bros got the nod, this election became a no-brainer. Romney reminds me too much of McCain–both once may have held some core beliefs, but sold out. Besides, as someone wasting his history degrees, I can tell you the Laffer Curve, Reaganomics, supply-side economics, and ‘rising tide floats all boats’ have never worked. Romney seems to be relying on magical thinking. I prefer something more reality based. So, I went ahead and voted Obama

137. Gary Johnson

138. When Barack Obama ran for president four years ago he said that if he did not fix the economy his presidency would be a “one term proposition.” He didn’t say it would take eight or ten. He said he would concentrate on jobs “with a laser-like focus”. Instead he concentrated on creating a healthcare system that would be his legacy accomplishment.

     Are you better off than you were four years ago?

     Is unemployment below 5% like he promised?

     It’s not just my house that is worth 20% less than it was when he took office, it’s almost every home in America.

     I lost my business. Twenty-four employees. Gone. I skipped paying my mortgage for six months to make payroll. I didn’t qualify for the government bailout.

     I’m still in my home, which I built myself in 2003, because I negotiated my own deal with the lender. Again, I didn’t qualify for the government mortgage plan.

     Every month it’s touch and go. I built custom homes before the crash and now I’m building patios, planters, driveways, whatever. I don’t mind that, it’s the way it should work. I was mainly a spec builder and I got caught with specs on the ground (and another huge investment) when everything tanked. It was right for me to take the hit. I SHOULD have gone bankrupt. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.
     But what about the rest of America? What about all the other businesses that weren’t speculators? Thousands of them have gone out of business and millions of people are unemployed because of it.

     While millions of Americans struggled to find work, President Obama was playing golf and taking vacations. I know it’s just “optics”, but you know what? They are shitty optics.

     Expectations were unrealistic for President Obama. I don’t think serious people really expected the seas to recede or peace and love to reign throughout the world, in spite of his grandiose promises. But Americans had the right to expect certain things. Barack Obama said that he didn’t believe in Red States and Blue States, he was going to make us the UNITED States. How’s that working out?

     When it came time to pass his legacy, he had one meeting with the Republicans. One. It was the single most partisan bill ever passed of that magnitude.

     “I believe in bringing folks together.” Really? Does it look like the country is more united now to you?

     I’ll tell you a secret. A lot of Republicans voted for Obama the first time around. McCain didn’t thrill many of us, and you know what? We thought it would be good for the country to elect a black man.
     Well, that isn’t working out too good either, is it? Racial tensions in this country have gotten WORSE since he was elected.

     I am what many of you would consider of “moderate” Republican. I’m an atheist. I believe the Declaration of Independence said that “All men are created equal”. It didn’t say “except gays, if we let them in the whole country will be too damn fabulous.”

     But you can’t rewrite history. This country was founded by highly religious people. Belief runs deep and you can’t change it over night. We had eight years of Ronald Reagan. Twelve years of the various George Bushs. No one has taken away your right to put on a condom and no one wants to, in spite of the less than “bring America together” fear mongering coming out of the Obama camp. Would a lot of Republicans like to make abortion illegal except for rape and health of the mother? Yes. Will they be able to? No.

     Here’s a big one for you since I know it’s a huge issue with John’s readers. Do a LOT of Republicans want to make ALL abortions illegal? Hell no.

     For everyone who is voting based on the Republican position on gay rights, I understand completely. Someday soon, the younger block of Republican voters will get this shit fixed in the party, but it isn’t happening tomorrow. This is my personal number one issue with my party. Hold fast, my friends. It’s going to happen. If you feel you must vote for Obama, please, please, please think about what he is doing to the economic situation in this country and what he personally has actually done for gay rights. Has he advocated strongly for you?

     And finally, Mitt Romney. Not my first choice, frankly. My guy decided not to run. I love how all the liberals told us that Romney was the only “acceptable” Republican (except for Huntsman) but now he is the devil incarnate. Romney, the most evil capitalist in the world. Born with a silver spoon, not just in his mouth, but crammed into every orifice. In spite of the fact that his grandfather was a Mexican immigrant, he somehow hates immigrants. In spite of the fact that he’s been married forever, is faithful, and obviously loves his wife, he hates women. (At least if you listen to Bill Clinton who is certainly an expert on treating women as play toys)

     Mitt Romney formed an investment firm to buy companies that were struggling and make them profitable, then sell them to make himself and his investors money. He was extraordinarily successful. He was NOT a vulture capitalist. Most of the companies he bought are still thriving. He did not take the taxpayers’ money and invest it in companies that no rational businessman would fund, like Solyndra, Fiskar, etc.

     Let me ask you one last question. If you were down to your last $1000 dollars of the money you were saving to pay for your child’s education and you had to give to one of two men, which would you choose, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? Because that is the choice we are faced with next week. For many of us this is not a hypothetical, it is literal. One of these two men will be managing the investments of millions of Americans. Choose wisely.

139. I’m for Romney. America’s budget deficit, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of GDP, is something we can’t afford to keep. America needs a president who knows how to make money and how to save it. Romney fits that bill, while Obama only knows how to spend money we don’t have.

140. [Deleted for not being an endorsement – JS]

141. I am voting for Obama. In short, his healthcare muddlings have doubled my premiums, quintupled my deductibles, and now 12k of my income every year goes straight to health care. I feel as if Romney were elected, none of that would change. That being said, I think that if Obama is in office through 2014 he might take notice of what big health insurance companies are doing to keep making the same amount of money and move to correct it. Romney certianly cares little for anyone who is not ‘wealthy’. I just worry that Obama won’t remember to care about the people in the ‘middle’ like me who are taking a terrible financial beating over his healthcare reform. (yes I know it needs to be done, I just wish I wasn’t one of the eggs getting cracked to make the omelet)

142. Context: Australian

     I would recommend a vote for Barack Obama, simply on the grounds that he does appear to recognise that the rest of the world doesn’t universally recognise the US of A as a benevolent pseudo-parental figure, and more importantly on the grounds that he is okay with that. He doesn’t appear to hold the daft (to my mind) opinion that the only allowable attitude toward the USA on the part of any other country is awe-struck worship. He admits the USA can stuff things up big time, and that he can make mistakes. All of which I consider to be major pluses from a foreign policy standpoint.

     Plus, of course, he appears to recognise where Australia is located, which is another big plus.

     As an Australian, I recognise that the foreign policy of the Australian government is still one of following along like well-trained colonial lapdogs of our chosen colonial overlords (we switched from the UK to the US after the end of WW2). Under Obama, there’s less chance of Australians getting killed for the greater glory of US corporations than there is under Romney (and really, if we want to have Australian people risking their lives in order to increase the wealth of a few already-wealthy plutocrats, we have a mining industry right here in Australia which would be overjoyed to help out; just ask Gina Reinhardt). I’m uneasy about the drone strikes, and I really don’t like that the USA is apparently going to be stationing (more) drones here in Australia, but I’m not enough of a fool to believe that’s going to suddenly stop with Romney at the helm.

     On the economy: economic stimulus, applied at the right time, to the right sectors, works. We here in Australia have a functional economy and weathered out the worst of the 2008 – 2009 crisis as a result of good fiscal management by our federal government in the form of a very strong, very positive stimulus package that delivered money in the ways it was needed to the spots where it was required (first round, cash handout to persons on permanent low incomes; second round, infrastructure development across the country). Austerity, on the other hand, is being shown (once again) not to work in economies around the globe. Barack Obama appears to be capable of learning from the lessons of history, and that’s something the USA sorely needs, in my opinion.

     When it comes to your minor party candidates, I really don’t know enough about them to have an opinion one way or the other – I can only comment based on party lines. As such, I’d be actively dis-recommending Gary Johnson (because everything I’ve heard about Libertarianism as a political philosophy strikes me as an active pointer that there’s an invisible, silent “G” at the front of the word. Libertarianism, as far as I can tell, is the political philosophy of an eight-year-old who’s “run away from home” by hiding out in their tree fort, and reeks of unacknowledged privilege) and providing a cautious “let’s see” sort of recommendation for the Greens candidate, Jill Stein, (but only “let’s see”, because world wide, Green candidates tend to be missing that touch of pragmatism needed in order to really be able to cope with a highly negative workplace, which is what a Green president faced with a Democrat/Republican congress would be stepping into from day one).

143. [Deleted because not an endorsement]

144. As an Australian and a woman I’d have to vote for Obama. He has at least some understanding of international policy, he promotes healthcare reform – why any American thinks that having a universal healthcare system is undesirable I cannot fathom, he has done a lot to rebuild his nation in the wake of the financial crisis – and doubtless would have achieved more if he hadn’t been continually blocked by a hostile legislature, and he does not think that a woman is incapable of making rational decisions about her body.
     The Republicans frankly scare the wits out of me. Their total lack of a grasp of science, their attitude to women and blinkered view of the rest of the world is terrifying so even without his other flaws (like the tax issues, ever-changing policies and disregard for 47% of the US population to name only a few) I could never vote for Romney as long as he was part of such a party.
     Obama came to office with a huge weight of expectation on him which it would have been impossible to live up to and, in my opinion, has done well in the circumstances.

145. [Deleted for not being an endorsement – JS]

146. Romney all the way.

     Better the devil I don’t know, than the one I do; at least there is a chance we might see something different, than the last four years.

     Maybe a lot of you don’t realize this but a smaller America is not going to be a good thing for the rest of the world, think pre-WWI.

147. My politics line up most closely with the Green Party, and I’ve liked everything I’ve read that Dr. Jill Stein has said. I live in Kansas, so regardless of who I vote for, my state will go to Romney. Which makes it extremely tempting to vote with my conscience for Jill Stein.

     But I’ve been thinking about it lately and it seems to me that we don’t need a Green Party president, we need more Green Party members in Congress. So I may end up voting for Obama after all.

     And I do like Obama. I don’t like everything he’s done, and I think he spent his first two years being far too naive about being able to work with the Republicans in Congress. But in general, I like his social policies, I like his insistence in continuing to build alternative energy sources to coal and oil, I like how he actually supports science, I like that he ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and fought against DOMA.

     And more importantly, I agree with you, John, that the modern GOP needs to be fought. It’s the reactionary, anti-science, anti-women’s rights, anti-LGBT rights, anti-universal healthcare, anti-welfare state, anti-worker’s rights, pro-big business party, which is something I think needs to be fought vehemently. Because of the GOP, I see America quickly becoming a third-world country that happens to be a major military power in the world, and that scares and saddens me. The path to the future is science, exploration, multiculturalism, diplomacy, gender and sexuality equality, and progressive economics.

148. Sorry, I’m with Chris Hedges on this one.

     I am disappointed that Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson (the other two “major” candidates) didn’t make into the picture zone of your post. Even if you wouldn’t vote for them, they’ve done the work to be included as legitimate national candidates just like Johnson. I think their pictures deserved to be included if for no other reason than acknowledgement of their existence rather than “other.”

149. I voted Obama/Biden because –

     I am the mother of daughters. While Democratic support of equal rights has not been stellar they are not leading an assault against my agency and rights (that’d be the Republican party). I will do everything I can to be sure that the President nominating the next Supreme Court justice(s) is a Democrat.

     I support human rights and believe it is immoral to prioritize my pocketbook (an economic issue that arguably affects every citizen as stated above) over the human rights of my LGBT+ friends and family.

     I am a scientifically literate citizen who believes that climate denialists, creationists and pseudo-science believers have no business making or implementing environmental law.

     I’d like my President to have more than a passing acquaintance with the truth.

     I believe in universal health care. The ACA is flawed but a huge step in the right direction. I do not want it (or any of the other social safety nets currently in place) dismantled.

     I do not want our representative on the world stage to be an ignorant, saber-rattling bully. President Obama has done a lot to improve our reputation worldwide (although I would agree with those expecting more from him).

150. I’m going to endorse Anybody But Romney*. If he were running as himself, rather than as the front man for Rove & Norquist’s corrupt party, I’d probably pick him over, say Cthulhu or Newt Gingrich, and I can’t endorse any Republican running for anything anywhere until they clean up their party, even though I do know some good Republicans.

     Obama’s been an unconscionably bad president – extrajudicial assassinations, prisoners still in Gitmo, torturers defended instead of prosecuted, overall political cowardice whenever the Republicans have challenged him, I can’t endorse him, but if you’re in a state where your vote matters, I’d recommend holding your nose and voting for him. (And as a Libertarian, I wasn’t expecting him to fix the previous Republican administration’s economic damage, but electing a real Republican is a really stupid way to deal with that.)

     I endorse Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, and since California’s electoral votes are solidly going to Obama, I’m voting for Gary. But as a second choice I’d happily endorse Jill Stein and the Green Party; I think they’re wrong about economics but the rest of their values are mostly in agreement with mine. Rocky Anderson’s not on the ballot in California, so I haven’t paid enough attention to him; Roseanne Barr is running with the Peace and Freedom Party here, with Cindy Sheehan (yay!) as her VP, and if you’ve got a choice of voting for them I’d also endorse them.

     There are other third-party candidates out there – here in California there’s somebody running on the remains of the American Independent Party who’s some kind of right-wing theocrat, and I’d put them behind Obama but ahead of Romney. Your state may have other candidates on the ballot.

     * That’s Mitt Romney. If Hugh Romney (aka Wavy Gravy) wants to run his Nobody for President campaign again, cool! Nobody’s going to stop the war! Nobody’s going to fix the economy! Nobody’s telling you the truth!

151. I’m a Kiwi living in Sweden so I don’t have a vote, but if I did it would go to Obama. I hope that the US will also vote for Obama. It’s about trust. I get the impression that Obama thinks about the choices, and tries to do the right thing. And his choices more often than not come closer to what I would like than the views expressed by the GOP. I am not sure what Mitt Romney believes and what would drive his choices. But I do know that the GOP has nonsensical ideas and its politics scare me.

152. [Deleted because it’s not an endorsement, and was hilariously ridiculous political boilerplate aside — JS]

153. I’m endorsing Obama / Romney 2012. As in Michelle Obama and Ann Romney. I think much more highly of these two tough, intelligent, and capable women than I do of their overambitious, under-qualified husbands. They are undoubtedly 90+% of the motive force behind their spouses’ success. Michelle and Ann would make an incredible team. Too bad they’re not on the ballot.

     In reality, I’ll vote for Obama. He annoys me less than Romney does. At least I know where Obama stands on the issues. Also, he has yet to piss off the Mayor of London, which Romney managed to do on his very first attempt at “foreign relations”.

154. I endorse Obama, not for his potential, but because he has earned it. Washington Monthly listed 50 Obama accomplishments from his first term (full link at bottom), of which I have listed the top 20. I suspect he will overcome adversity in his second term to accomplish just as much.

     1. Passed Health Care Reform
     2. Passed the Stimulus
     3. Passed Wall Street Reform
     4. Ended the War in Iraq
     5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan
     6. Eliminated Osama bin laden
     7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry
     8. Recapitalized Banks
     9. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
     10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi
     11. Told Mubarak to Go
     12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies
     13. Improved America’s Image Abroad
     14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending
     15. Created Race to the Top
     16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards
     17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis
     18. Passed Mini Stimuli
     19. Began Asia “Pivot”
     20. Increased Support for Veterans

     Washington Monthly link: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_2012/features/obamas_top_50_accomplishments035755.php

155. I’m European, politically way left than most of the US (the whole German Parliament is left of the US, so that’s no big statement). Obama respects women, scientists, and atheists, and I’m all three. Especially a woman, and the mother of a daughter.

     moved me to tears.
     I endorse Obama.

156. I hereby endorse Mitt Romney for the office of President of the United States. My reason is, a President Romney will galvanize more opposition, and take the muzzle off the civil libertarians in this country who have been silenced because Obama is a Democrat.

     Can you imagine the outcry that would have been raised from the left if George W. Bush had announced that he now had the power to kill Americans without due process? You will never get that kind of push back for civil liberties in this country as long as a Democrat is in the Oval Office.

157. [Deleted for looking rather a lot like trolling — JS]

158. I endorse and have voted for President Obama. Several reasons but the one key is I am a woman and a rape survivor. I would never cast a vote for the party that would put me or rape back in the closet.

159. John, I would love to know whether you think the distribution of answers here reflects how the election will play out, or the demographic of your readership?

     I am an Australian woman, and if I was voting it would be for Obama. Like some of the other Australians who have spoken before me, I can’t imagine why any country wouldn’t have a Universal healthcare system and I think implementing it was a hugely brave and intelligent step. I think Obama has done a great job, given the circumstances. In the Australian press he appears to come across as intelligent, articulate, funny, engaging, and deeply caring. Romney just comes across as another ignorant Bush flavoured idiot with anachronistic ideas.

     As for the Republican party… to be honest, I genuinely can’t understand how a party with such anti-progressive policies still features so large in American politics. I cannot imagine an Australian party surviving with those kinds of policies. Not for long, anyway. Mind you, our voting system is pretty straightforward… every vote is a vote that counts.

160. Not a US citizen, but my girlfriend is. She sent in her ballot voting for Obama and I completely agree with her. Obama has issues with civil liberties and I think his drone war does more harm than good in the long term. However I don’t think Romney would be any better with regards to Guantanamo, Patriot Act, etc, so I have to judge on the other issues.
     Romney it seems to want to dismantle the US economy, create a war with Iran, remove women’s and LGBT’s rights, leave the poor without healthcare and give the rich more money. His party is incapable of making any kind of compromise, is so anti-science that a a college education is almost a curse word and while they keep calling themselves the party of fiscal responsibility, plans like slashing taxes by 20% accross the board simply will not pay for themselves.
     Obama is far from perfect, but Obamacare, the repeal of Don’t ask don’t tell and keeping the economy from tanking would get him my vote if I had one…

161. Jill Stein – Green.

     I *was* going to vote for Obama, holding my nose, but then I saw she had gotten arrested while protesting the ‘presidential candidate debate’ to which neither she nor Johnson had been invited.

     Since I live in a blue-blue state, there’s no risk of my non-Obama vote helping Romney, if I lived in a more purple state, especially one with a lot of electoral votes, I probably would still have voted Obama.

162. Swing state voter (Virginia). I’d prefer to vote for someone who could end this darn election yesterday; the swing states just get bombarded with advertisements. I believe Ohio and Virginia are the big two this year, so I feel for Mr. Scalzi.

     I have to go with Obama. He’s done well on getting the economy back on track, given the obstruction he’s had to deal with. And the ACA, which in time Republicans will regret tagging with the name “Obamacare”, was a major piece of legislation that was a long time coming. The insurance thru work model was never anything but a poor jury rig and has long had serious effects on our economy, as well as limiting many workers choices of jobs, limiting innovation and worker movement as health care became unaffordable for individuals.

     After this election cycle, I’ve decided not to focus on the negative. I suspect Mitt would not be the awful president many fear. I just believe Obama would be far better.

163. I’m a Mormon, and I’m voting for Barack Obama. A lot of that has to do with my personal politics–I’m a Democrat, and for obvious reasons I think President Obama champions the issues I am most concerned about–but it’s also for the same basic reasons you listed in your own endorsement: I want the President to have my vote, and even though I suspect Gov. Romney is a good person, I think it is my duty to vote against him. If you’re interested, you can read more about my decision here: http://christopherhusberg.blogspot.com/2012/10/im-mormon-and-im-voting-for-barack-obama.html

164. I’m voting for Obama for many of the same reasons you listed in your post. I don’t think it’s realistic to expect a president to heal our economic woes in one term even with a cooperative Congress – which Obama has most definitely not had. But the main thing is that he’s worked to get at least SOME renewable energy into the equation ($90 billion investment), and with the number of superstorms we’ve had, that means something to me. Yes, I know he’s not moving fast enough, but our system simply wasn’t designed to move fast, and having climate-change deniers in Congress has not helped matters any.

     I’ll also add that I’d really like to keep control over my own lady parts.

165. Obama
     I’m a 30 year veteran of the U.S. Navy and I think that his view of foreign relations is much stronger.
     The fact that Gov. Romney’s foreign policy team has people like “Nuke’em all” John Bolton and “They will shower us with flowers” Dan Senor just scare me.
     I have not seen the courage in Gov. Romney to stand up to anyone in his party regardless of how insane they may be.
     I believe that a Vote for Gov. Romney will be one more step towards a modern American Theocracy.

166. I endorse Obama because I don’t think people can be trusted.

     Americans can’t be trusted to think for themselves, so we need a leader who’s willing enforce thought controls. Obama has proven that he can do that. Americans can’t be trusted to plan for their own future, and Obama wants to level the playing field by penalizing people with the audacity to work too hard and plan too well and take too much of the benefit for themselves. He’ll take the extra that those people don’t deserve and give it to all the rest of the people who do deserve it. Americans can’t be trusted to eat or drink or smoke what I believe is good for them this year, and Obama wants to make sure everyone takes the right kinds of drugs and to jail people who won’t take them or who take the wrong kinds. He wants to subsidize chemically-enhanced food and make sure that the companies that provide us with all the fantastic good drugs can’t be unfairly attacked for making minor mistakes. Over population is a serious problem anyway. We should be thanking them, not suing them. Americans can’t be trusted with their own culture. They are unbelievably arrogant to think that they have a better culture than any third world countries. Peace, prosperity, and education are such petty metrics in comparison to world music, colorful clothes, and pungent food! Obama will work tirelessly to ensure the complete upgrade of America’s boring and monotonous historical culture to a vibrant one on a par with Angola, Mexico, and Pakistan.

     I think most of these reasons could apply to Romney, too, so I could go either way. I’m mostly for Obama right now, though.

167. I recommend voting for neither the Republicans nor the Democrats. Both parties are responsible for my nation’s current troubles, because the USA didn’t get to where it is in a single four year term. It took decades of negotiating and wrangling to get where we are today. That’s why I blame both parties equally for the economy being in the toilet and other political issues.

     By voting for someone who it not a member of the Big Two I am letting my dissatisfaction with how my country is run be known. A plague on both of their houses. If enough people don’t vote Democrat/Republican and third party candidates make it into office anywhere, and in large enough numbers to be more than “just a fluke”, I think the sitting politicians and the media who feed them will take a step back and reconsider things.

168. I almost forgot another reason I’m voting for Obama! Almost all of his top campaign donors are big banks, so that must mean he knows something about handling money and the economy, right? I know, I know… Romney’s top campaign donors are mostly big banks too, but… Obama! Obama!

169. Context: Canadian living in the UK with a number of USA relatives, some Republican and some Democrat.

     If I had a vote in the USA, I’d be casting it for Obama.

     There are plenty of good, positive reasons to vote for Obama, articulately expressed above. Now I’d like to say a few words about Romney.

     I agree with Scalzi that Romney is primarily an administrator and problem-solver. If he was working with a Congress made up of Democrats and/or moderate Republicans, he might be a fairly acceptable President.

     But in reality, those who control today’s Republican party (in Congress and beyond) simply do not care about solving the very real problems which face the USA and the world. Instead they retreat into a simplistic fantasy world, where if only more taxes are cut, or more oil wells are drilled, or gays and women are persecuted some more, or a few more wars are started in the Middle East, then all will be well.

     Romney has shown no interest whatsoever in standing up to this faction. For that reason, I think a Romney presidency would be a disaster.

170. I’m a Canadian citizen. I endorse Barack Obama for most of the reasons you exposed yourself (both pro-Obama and anti-Romney). The fact is however many flaws president Obama may have, he is the only one that proposes a path that seems even slightly grounded in reality. Moreover, having to suffer under a Harper government strikingly reminescent of some of the worse traits of the GOP, I’m just glad there’s someone keeping North America from falling completely into lunatic ultraliberal religious conservative territory…

171. Really loved Scalzi’s endorsement of President Obama. Ditto everything he said.
     I’ll link to Randi Rhodes’ website for President Obama’s top 50 accomplishments during his first term, which pretty much sums up why I am voting for him again.
     http://www.randirhodes.com/pages/rrnews.html?feed=393046&article=9880240
     Plus, Romney lies way too much! Seems like everything he says turns out to be untrue. I had to laugh when it turned out that he even embellished the “binder full of women” story!
     http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/10/16/binders-of-women-its-not-just-a-meme-with-its-own-twitter-and-facebook-page-its-a-lie/

172. I’m voting for Gary Johnson.

     1) I truly think that payroll taxes are counterproductive.
     2) I like his approach to civil liberties.
     3) I don’t feel like either major party represents where I’d like this country to go anymore, at least not in total.
     4) I’ve always voted for the lesser of two evils as I’ve seen it, and I’m tired of compromising.

173. I’m a Canadian who reluctantly endorses Obama solely because he’s the lesser evil. It’s a shame that his impressive accomplishments, particularly in health care, are undermined by his shameful disregard for civil liberties. His refusal to close Guantanamo, his kill list, his drone war and his administration’s anti-whistleblower stance should deeply worry any American.

     The only thing – the only thing – he has going for him is that Romney would be worse.

174. Like many moderate voters, I am a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I do not think that Romney would be dreadful president, nor do I think he is a bad person. In my view the economy will, eventually, recover regardless of who is in office.

     However, I will be voting against Romney mostly for the reasons well articulated by others, specifically:

     a) Romney’s Bush-era foreign policy team
     b) The social conservatives running/ ruining the Republican party
     c) Selection of Supreme Court justices.

     The reason I am voting for Obama rather than a third party is:
     a) I am in a purple state (Pennsylvania)
     b) The popular vote. I would do anything to avoid the horrible popular /electoral vote mismatch that plagued this country in 2000. Even if I wasn’t in a pure blue or red state, I still would vote for one of the main parties because the total numbers *do* matter, especially in this election which will likely have some razor thin margins. I realize the popular vote does not impact who is elected, but it is worth a significant amount for the moral high ground.

175. I endorse Mitt Romney for president because there is a chance that he might be smart and pragmatic about the most important issues our nation faces whereas Barack Obama–after three+ years–has emphatically demonstrated that he is neither.

     So the first contentious element of that endorsement is the definition of “the most important issues our nation faces”. I’m going to identify national debt. We are on a course to insolvency and financial collapse and everybody knows it but no one is willing to touch it. President Obama convened the Simpson-Bowles commission and then promptly stuffed their finding in a drawer to be forgotten. Mitt Romney not only has embraced their findings, but even back in 2008 he was the only candidate of either party who made long-term, structural reform of our entitlement piece a central aspect of his campaign.

     Back in 2008 a lot of moderates came over to vote for Barack Obama because he was perceived as smart and pragmatic, but over the last 4 years he has completely failed to deliver on that promise:

     However one views his policy prescriptions in the depth of the recession, we are now over three years into recovery and President Obama has not put forward a program to deal with the projected massive long-term entitlement cost-driven debt.
     Indeed, he is the first President to explicitly abandon even the long-run goal of a balanced
     budget. He adopted the much weaker goal of stabilizing the debt-GDP ratio at the higher projected FY2016 level, but then did not budget for it. Instead, he appointed the Simpson-Bowles
     Commission to propose how to do so; then he ignored its recommendations. He has made no serious proposals to deal with the immense long-run projected deficits in Social Security and Medicare, which total several times the current national debt.
     When Treasury Secretary Geithner was asked by Congress what the Administration’s plan was, he said, “We don’t have one.” Vice President Biden guaranteed, “No changes to Social Security.”
     President Obama is thus set to bequeath an immense, costly legacy of debt, whatever the direct benefits and costs are of his specific policy choices was,

     That’s from an article by Michael J. Boskin called A Note On the Effects of the Higher National Debt On Economic Growth [pdf]. Boskin was an economic adviser for Bush, so you can write him off as partisan if that is your thing, but he’s also the Tully M. Friedman Professor of Economics at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research, so maybe his work should be taken seriously (albeit with a grain of sale, sure).

     In the article, Boskin outlines the dangers that huge debt poses to economic growth. This isn’t the standard shrill Tea Party rhetoric that tries to compare the the US national debt to a household with credit card debt. It’s a considerate explanation of why the short-term benefits of stimulus spending need to be weighed against the long-term costs of debt. The Obama Administration has showed no capacity to even attempt that cost-benefit analysis, as the stimulus was only constrained by political rather than economic pressures.

     Is Mitt Romney guaranteed to save us all? Of course not. Paul Ryan, after all, voted against Simpson-Bowles when he was on the panel. But Ryan isn’t running for President, and Mitt Romney is. He has clearly been faking his role as a staunch social conservative for the last few years not because he’s secretly liberal but because he secretly doesn’t really give a damn. Beneath all the bullshit the campaigns (both of them) spew out to appeal to an ignorant electorate, the reality is that we know that Barack Obama either doesn’t care about or doesn’t understand the serious long-run financial hurdles our country is facing, and there’s some glimmer of hope that Mitt Romney might. Look, you can’t pay attention to the speeches, the debates, or the commercials because it’s all focus-grouped marketing to appeal to your at a sub-rational, psychological level. Also: talk is cheap. But when you look at actions, then Barack Obama has disqualified himself from services as our chief executive by a complete failure to even recognize the looming threat to our nation. Mitt Romney hasn’t done much or anything to qualify himself, but at least there’s reasonable grounds to believe he might do something better than useless.

     Maybe that’s not saying much, but for me it is saying enough. He’s got my vote.

176. I endorse President Obama for a second term. Inheriting a global economic collapse and a US economy shedding jobs and wealth, he’s already made some huge immediate strides, and laid the non-sexy structural groundwork for a real recovery — all while growing the federal budget by only 1.4% per year, by far the slowest in recent history. He’s grown US exports by 50%, halved the rate of initial jobless claims, doubled the DOW and tripled consumer confidence, and returned the overall unemployment rate below that of his inauguration. When you consider the cliff the economy was falling off of at the time, the turnaround from the “bottom” of 10% is remarkable. And this is with 2+ years of unprecedented GOP obstructionism blocking his targeted tax cut packages to spur more growth and recovery, and his proposals to reduce the deficit. He finally put the US on a path toward real energy independence — a net oil exporter — and established the US as a major world player in green energy. (Not to mention taking the first structural steps toward real health insurance reform and creating a governing structure to finally be able to manage and respond to costs.) For economy-minded voters, a president who inherited an economic disaster and then, in the past 18 months, cut the employment rate from 10% to under 8%, is a president going in exactly the right direction. And at the same time, historic strides in recognition of gay rights and women’s rights, both under considerable attack from the GOP. While his use of drone strikes caused me to leave the Democratic Party one day after his inauguration and join the Green Party, living in North Carolina I face a clear choice of conscience: do I give myself a feel-good pat on the back in the voting booth, or do I face the political reality that is either a second term for Obama or a first term for Romney? A Romney presidency with a GOP congress, and perhaps multiple supreme court nominations to be made? That is a recipe for the early 1930s both economically and socially and one which must be opposed with all political force. A last aside: I remain completely unpersuaded by arguments that withholding my vote from the Democratic candidate will have any effect on moving the party left. It didn’t work in 2000, it didn’t work in 2004. What we need in this country is election and electoral reform, not self-defeating, time and energy and money consuming self-congratulatory pats on the back in the voting booth: http://fairvote.org/

177. Ohio female voter, and still truly undecided.

     I’ve mostly voted Democrat for president, with a few 3rd party votes along the way. This year, I really really, really want to vote for 3rd party candidates. I believe that both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein have policies and plans that align more closely with what I want to see happen in America. Which one I lean towards changes, but I’m thinking Gary Johnson would make a better president by virtue of more political administrative experience.

     But I live in Cleveland, Ohio. My vote potentially will count in the big Red VS Blue race. I’ve been told by dozens of friends, family, and well-meaning political workers that my 3rd party vote can blow the election, again. (yes, I voted for Nader. I still stand behind my reasoning. Buy me a drink sometime and I’ll explain.) If everyone who would like to vote “other” but won’t because of strategy did vote for the candidate that spoke to their hearts and minds, we might see real splitting of the vote, 3 or 4 ways, which would send a message to the Big 2 parties that their time of duopoly is over, and change might be instituted.

     Yeah, I’m an idealist, but I’m also over 50 and still alive, so I’m kinda pragmatic, too. I know that Libertarianism won’t work, because most people won’t take responsibility for their own actions, let alone their lives and well-being of the community they live in. Green won’t work because most people, even in the midst of the weirdest hurricane, oh wait, I mean post-tropical cyclone or whatever, deny that climate change is real and brought about by the human race’s own sloppy energy use. But I still hope.

     Hope was the reason I voted for Obama last time, and this time I don’t see hope in him, only a continual caving in to Congress in the name of compromise. I think Romney would be a worse choice, sending the country into a tailspin trying to recapture an idealized version of 1950s prosperity. I don’t want that to happen.

     So I’m still undecided. Vote my heart (Johnson)? Vote my conscience (Obama)? I won’t know until Tuesday.

178. I’m British, so pretty much by definition a raving liberal by American standards. By British standards as well for that matter.
     Had I a vote, I would give it to Obama. He’s not perfect. Really not very keen on his drone policy, but he’s by far the lesser evil.

179. I endorse allotting electors by D’Hondt. I endorse Coombs’s method for counting votes.

     But until that happens, I have to adjust to a FPTP system. According to ISideWith, the candidate who best matches my beliefs is Stein; if I thought everyone would do my bidding, I’d probably go with her. In the event, however my fear that if everyone voted their honest choice, Romney would have the pluralities required for an electoral majority exceeds my wish that Stein does.

     Considering that, and considering the Congressional race outcomes are also important (and driven by similar considerations), I have to say, Obama.

180. I’ll be voting for Obama, for reasons very much like John’s, though I normally vote Republican. The problem is that I’m just an ordinary conservative, not a Christian Jihadi (yes, I’m just an ordinary Christian, too) or a Wilsonian imperialist. I don’t expect the Republicans to shape up unless they’re clobbered repeatedly, so instead of voting Libertarian, as I used to when I was dissatisfied with the Republican nominee, I’ve actually voted Democratic in 2004 (me to Dad: “I can’t stand Kerry either, but this is an emergency!”) and 2008 (thank you, Sarah Palin, for making up my mind!), and 2012 (already in the mail to the Oregon elections board).

     Also, I actually like Obama and think he’s done a good job. Everybody outside the Fox bubble knows that it will take a long, long time to clean up Bush’s mess. I am very glad that I’m employed and we’re not in a full-scale Depression.

     Finally, I urge anyone who simply can’t vote for either of the two major party candidates to vote for Gary Johnson. We may very well need a replacement for the Republican Party, and he’s the best Libertarian candidate in many years, maybe ever.

181. Feh, I meant Sainte-Laguë, not D’Hondt.

     (John, I know you said 1 per person, but can I prevail upon you to merge, not delete?)

182. Obama. I agree with him on many issues, most of all on his acknowledgement and consideration of good science in social and environmental policy. And in international relations, he seems to have something that is recognizable as maybe the beginnings of humility, which in itself is a major feat for the commander in chief of the US. From what I understand, reining in a military campaign like the one Bush Jr. unleashed is not an easy feat without leaving chaos in your wake. It takes time. In terms of the U.S. economy, that military campaign continues to eat up dollars that can be better spent elsewhere. If it hadn’t been for Bush’s war, Romney’s vague allusions at how tax cuts for the rich are going to help the middle class just might have had a shred of truth behind them.

     But most of all, I want the GOP to fail. I am angry at them for being so deliberately obtuse, and playing so fast and loose with the truth on a whole rainbow of issues. “Fast and Loose with the truth” is far more dangerous to me than “Completely incompetent.” I actually think that the incompetence lies with the GOP, and is related to how stubborn they are at sticking to their delusions.

     I can’t look at them and not think about Colbert’s statement during the White House Correspondents Dinner under Bush: “The truth has a well known liberal bias.”

     Yeah, I know that he was parodying Bush. Still, despite that and the many repeats of cases like Assange’s trial (of intending to hide the truth) under the Obama administration, All I can think is:

     Indeed, Mr. Colbert.

183. My endorsement is purely for Massachusetts voters. It doesn’t matter what you vote. Obama is getting the MA electoral college. So don’t waste your vote on president on that issue. Consider, do you want alternatives to remain on the ballot. This year the Green Party and the Libertarian Party made the ballot. It doesn’t matter whether their candidates are flaming nutbars or not. They won’t win.

     But, your vote for them can make it easier for them to get onto other ballots in the future. The machine politics of the two major parties need to change. So pick either Green or Libertarian and vote to get them ballot access for future elections.

184. As a uterus-possessing American, I’ve cast my vote for Obama. It’s MY uterus, and I’m a mature, responsible adult — I can decide for myself when and whether to use it.

     As a woman who’s been sexually assaulted, and then failed by the court system (I apparently didn’t “scream loud enough” for my would-be rapist to “know” I wasn’t willing, and then I had the bad form to get away), I’ve cast my vote for Obama. At least HE’S anti-rape.

     As a mother, I’ve cast my vote for Obama. My son’s future is too important to me to not do my part to prevent a presidency that’s controlled by today’s GOP and their frightening insanity.

185. I’ll vote for Johnson because I’m a Libertarian, I believe strongly in everything the Libertarian Party stands for, and I’ve voted for every LP candidate for President since John Hospers in 1972. I might have broken that string this year if the Repubs had nominated former LP candidate Ron Paul, but that was not to be.

     The idea that a vote for Johnson is a wasted vote is just insane. First, if the tally was close enough that one vote decided it, the courts would end up deciding the winner anyway, like Florida in 2000. So my vote for Obama or Romney can accomplish nothing but give the illusion that I approve of one of them, which I most emphatically don’t. Second, if enough people vote for Johnson, perhaps the next LP candidate will be taken more seriously, maybe get included in debates. That would lead to more votes, and if that effect feeds on itself enough, my grandchildren might have the opportunity to vote for a Libertarian who DOES have a chance to win.

186. Looks like a good place to put something I had just sent around my friends. – From an Australian with US ties.

     America, I’m worried.  

     You’ve got your election coming up soon, and people seem split on who to go with. I’ve been watching pretty closely the last few years, and I’m convinced you should stick with the President you have now.  

     The reason I say that is that for President your choice is between four more years of slow, gradual but steady improvement and four to eight years of what got us in trouble in the first place.  

     The Republicans seem to hold much the same positions (tax cuts even at a time of historically low rates, no spending even on collapsing infrastructure, no or fewer regulations). Mostly they’re the same people who supported everything done under Bush/Cheney (including the bailout), without any acknowledgment of their part in it. Otherwise they are more extreme people, who primaried the moderate Republicans and got rid of them. In fact in the second debate, Mitt Romney was asked how he would be different from George W Bush. He literally didn’t even offer an answer, saying he preferred to use the time to talk about a previous question instead.  

     I mention what happened to the moderate Republicans, because I think it’s worth remembering that Obama was the more moderate Democratic candidate. Democrats chose him, even though Clinton made it quite clear she would vigorously oppose Bush’s legacy and his former allies. Republicans reacted as if that’s what we got, and still do, even though Obama campaigned on a policy of working together, and has governed that way too – not investigating accusations of torture and war crimes. Adopting Republican proposals for his key policies, such as health care, and being willing to amend them, like reducing the stimulus. Leaving out actual liberal proposals such as single payer, public option or mortgage relief.  

     It’s true that since his election Obama has always been fiercely opposed by the Right, but the things I hear them now saying he should have done more of, are things they blocked or were against at the time. Even to the point of quite happily damaging America, like with the debt ceiling crisis or government shutdowns. (I don’t like comparing gov to family or business budgets, too many things don’t match up, but one thing that applies to both – if you want to save money you don’t just stop paying the bills).  

     A lot of people I know may be on the other side – unhappy with Obama for not being liberal enough, and wondering why you should vote for the lesser of two evils, again. I agree, I’m right there with you. The biggies for me being single payer/public option and drone strikes/whistle blowers. To you I’d just say – that’s not the choice you have in front of you. The election *is* just this. If you want better Politics or better Democrats, once in 4 years is not the time to work on it. Take your lesson from the Tea Party and make your changes through action and engagement between election cycles, at national and local levels. Give whoever’s in the White House regular pressure and incentive to do more of what you want.  

     Ultimately, I don’t think the USA needs a different President, I think you should get a better Congress.

187. I am an American expatriate and a permanent resident of Canada. and I endorse Barack Obama. As a U.S. citizen it is my privilege and responsibility to vote in US federal elections and file a 1040 with the IRS every year. I am originally from Illinois, the state which has sent four governors to prison (two others were acquitted), so I hold few illusions about the level of corruption required to become a successful Illinois politician. Obama has disappointed me with his support of Hollywood’s intellectual property agenda and his failure to curb the constitutional abuses of the PATRIOT Act and Guantanamo Bay, but I have a mother, a wife, and a sister, and his stance on women’s rights is reason enough to vote for him. He has performed a difficult job admirably in the face of vicious and implacable opposition. He has not infringed on our second amendment rights as many feared he would.

     Mitt Romney’s ignorance about healthcare is frightening. Emergency rooms do not provide ongoing treatment for chronic illnesses. They do not provide insulin, chemotherapy, or anti-psychotic drugs. The lack of affordable healthcare prevents many would-be entrepreneurs from starting businesses or attracting employees, giving an advantage to larger corporations and stunting economic growth.

     As a small business owner with my own preexisting condition I was unable to obtain affordable health insurance for myself or my employees in the USA, so I was only able attract staff members who had coverage through their spouses. The healthcare system in the Canadian Province of British Columbia is not perfect but it is quite good and it is available to all. Other provinces have completely different systems- there is no national health service in Canada. When the news media talks about “the Canadian Healthcare System” they reveal their ignorance .

188. I will be voting for President Obama. I am occasionally disappointed that he wasn’t able to do more of what he set out to do, and some of his decisions make me sad, but I look at his opposition, and the only thing going though my mind about the Republican Party is ZOMFSMWTF?!?!?

189. I live in NH so I am considering my vote carefully. I endorse Obama and encourage all who live in swing states to remember that your vote really counts. I won’t repeat what Scalzi already listed as Obama’s accomplishments. Looking forward, my top issues are government regulations on financial industries, food and drug industries, workers’ rights, women’s rights and the environment. Listed plainly on Romney’s website (his 5-point plan), it is clear he favors deregulation and reduced funding to government agencies responsible for enforcing regulations. There were lots of criticism about Dodd-Frank but I saw few discussions on how Congress voted to withheld funding, effectively annulling the act. The Affordable Health Care Act and the Consumer Protection Act will need strong support by a President to see them through. Obama will do that, or at least try his best. Romney will not and has promised those are acts he will repeal on Day One. Romney keeps saying that he will let each state regulate. Unfortunately the current economic reality is that states are much smaller than corporations. At the state level, corporations call the shots. Just look at corporations that play states against each other to give them tax breaks to compete for a new factory or office complex. Romney’s ‘let the state decide’ policy will give free reins to corporations. Therefore, I am voting for Obama.

190. [Deleted for trolling — JS]

191. I want to encourage all who already spent time writing an endorsement to send it to your local paper. I just did.

192. I know an 11 year old girl who has been fighting Leukemia. She is only insured because Obamacare says there are no preexisting conditions for children. Her mother *already* received a letter from the insurance company saying she will not be insured as of February, if Romney is elected and Obamacare is rejected. Even if for no other reason (and I agree Scalzi’s reasoning) I have to vote for Obama.

193. I voted for Obama for many of the same reasons John mentioned. I have a very hard time taking someone seriously as a possible POTUS who has been proven to be lying so often or changing his story so often as Mittens. I would also like to say that as a woman, the only thing that scares me more than the phrase “President Romney” is the phrase “President Ryan.”

194. I believe that government has become a place for people to get wealthy, if they are’t already when they b.s. their way in . Basically the message is the same from all who run , I can make your life better . Lets see, a bushel of wheat has gone from around 2 bucks a bushel in the 60’s to around 6 bucks today. A gallon of fuel has gone from around 25 cents a gallon in the 60’s , to around 5 dollars today. As you all well know the petroleum cost controls everything we do,and what we eat . There is a oil out there that our government and the oil people do not want you to know about .You can cook with it and you can make automotive fuel that will put out carbon dioxide, rather then carbon monoxide. The plant it comes from also has one of the strongest fibers on the planet and you can also make food from the seed. What is left over can be plowed back into the soil and it helps rebuild the soil. This plant can yield 40 to 50 barrels of oil per acre every year,over and over, for ever. The much more inexpensive and environmentally safe oil would be very tough competition to the world controlling petroleum products. Do your own research, there is a wealth of information, ,o, by the way , the plant I am writing about is , cannabis . I too want a county and government to be proud of ,but until the manipulation from the top stops, its not going to change. My vote is going for GARY JOHNSON, If we don’t start now the grandchildren of our grandchildren are going to have a huge mess, and rich or pore, it is not ours to trash, it belongs to the next generation, don’t ya think ?

195. I’m white, Middle aged. Live in the West. Own a couple of guns. Work in oil & gas. And guess who I’m voting for? Nope. Not him. I’m proudly voting for President Obama. The man’s done a mighty fine job digging us out of a really, really deep hole. As a relevant aside, the US will overtake Saudi Arabia next year as the world’s largest oil producer. Pretty neat considering how many damn fools I’ve heard accuse President Obama of being anti-oil. Oh, and the US has cut its CO2 production as a percentage more than any other indutsrialized nation since 2005. And that one is not President Obama’s feather-in-cap; that one’s good old-fashioned market forces at work. Turns out natural gas is cheaper than coal, easier to transport, and produces half the CO2 per energy unit.

196. Since I live in a very red state, I endorse and plan to vote for Gary Johnson, as many others have noted, in order to try and get a third party option to the insanity that is the two bad options we have this year. If I was in a swing state, as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate, I would probably hold my nose and vote for Romney over Obama. I appreciate the well written endorsement by JS, but I think our number one concern is the deficit/debt, and while I’m not sure about Romney’s math, Obama has had four years and not produced a single budget even when his party had control of both houses of Congress.

     JS – I saw your violent opposition to the Ryan budget proposals, I would love more info on any plans you think would work to avoid a Greece-like meltdown.

197. Four years ago I was a “Republican for Obama”. Not this time. This time I’m an Independent for Obama. The party of Lincoln has been taken over by angry idiots, racists, and robber barons.

198. Jill Stein is the closest match to my political beliefs, but I live in a swing state. (Surprised the hell out of me — I never thought North Carolina would be anything but the reddest of red states.) I was tempted to endorse “the one with the blue necktie”, but decided to be serious instead:

     I’m voting for the President. I’m fond of science, and think we are best served by having a President who thinks it’s, y’know, valid. I have a uterus, and would like to continue being the boss of it. I have family in the armed forces, and would prefer they not be sent into harm’s way unnecessarily. I think LGBTQI folks deserve the same set of rights that I have. I would a million times rather have the next Supreme Court appointees be in the Kagan/Sotomayor mold than the Alito/Roberts one. I think that, faced with a Republican congress for the past 2 years (and an obstructionist Republican minority in the Senate for the 2 years before that), the President has still managed to get a fair amount done. (I thought that the Onion article “Obama Turns 50 Despite Republican Opposition”, which began “After months of heated negotiations and failed attempts to achieve any kind of consensus…”, summed things up pretty perfectly.) I’m a fan of the EPA (unofficial motto: Keeping rivers non-flammable since 1970!) and of FEMA. I think that putting more money into Title X, given what it saves in Medicaid expenditures, is the right way to go, even if that money is going to the oh-so-controversial Planned Parenthood, which has a favorability rating more than three times higher than that of Congress.

     I think that it’s absurd that the massage therapist I see, a single mom with two kids and a mortgage, pays a higher effective tax rate than a many-times-over multi-millionaire. I think that voting needs to be supported and encouraged, not suppressed. As a devout Christian and a regular churchgoer, I think that we have a moral responsibility to care for the poor, the sick, the outcast, and the stranger. I think that this is compatible with things like the DREAM Act and ObamaCare, and incompatible with cuts to an already threadbare social safety net.

     I am better off today than I was four years ago, but that’s not why I’m voting for the President. I’m a “values voter.” It’s just that my values are a little different from the ones usually implied by that term.

199. Although I am not old enough to vote (I will, next election) I would vote for Obama. I think he has done a reasonable job with the situation he came into office with.
     Also, I feel more confidant “voting” for Obama because he actually lays out plans for what he’s going to do. Romney says he’s going to do something, but doesn’t explain how.

     A side note:
     for everyone saying their votes do not matter, they do. Barely half of eligible voters in America vote, we take it so much for granted. EVERY VOTE COUNTS. My mom always says, “if you didn’t vote, you can’t complain.”

200. In the time since i’ve been legally able to vote I have only seen ambitious politicians who have managed to do nothing but screw things up despite their best intentions of making a positive change. This has led me to the following conclusion: Change is not feasible. This thought sort of came together when I was watching yet another political add where the incumbent was being accused of being absent during most votes in the last session of congress and I realized, I would rather have someone who does nothing, than someone who either 1) accomplishes something big, that will likely turn out to be another congressional boondoggle or 2) spends their entire session fighting and creating acrimony with the opposing party, not only not creating much positive but unintentionally negative results as well. So I intend to vote for the the candidate with no ambition to do much more than collect a paycheck and enjoy the title, rather than vainly hope they might do something worthwhile and being perennially let down. Even in the office of president I would rather have a vain pompous ass who had no sites beyond making himself look good and protecting his legacy for the next 4 years so he can safely pass the buck when he’s gone. That is why I will be voting for Obama.

201. I endorse Obama. I’ve knocked over 500 doors for him this year, I’ve given him more money than I’ve ever given to any candidate I wasn’t married to, I’ve blogged and tweeted and face booked, and recruited volunteers. This Friday night, a volunteer will arrive at my home from out of state (I live in Loudoun county, Virginia) and stay through Tuesday. I am working the polls on Tuesday. I am IN.

202. Popping back in to say that not voting because of principals is indistinguishable from not voting due to laziness or forgetfulness or ignorance. If you don’t like any of your choices on the ballot, you are always free to write in the name of someone you do want. It can even be your own name.

     People around the world re fighting and bleeding and dying to win the right to vote. Anyone who chooses not to vote because they don’t like their choices should read an international news paper once in a while. Or even a history book.

203. I have to say this is one of the easiest presidential endorsements I could make. Bush I vs. that guy in the tank, Bush I vs. Clinton, Bush II vs. Gore were all tougher decisions. Romney is so incredibly difficult to pin down on the majority of what he may or may not believe I can’t even consider him.

     I did vote for President Obama in 2008 with great enthusiasm but had also read “The Audacity of Hope” and knew he was a big fan of Ronald Reagan which set my expectations well below many that also voted for him. Imagine taking a mandate from the American people and spending any of it on a post-partisan concept of bipartisanship with a GOP minority that had been off the rails since Gingrich was Speaker and has to this day continued to crash through bushes, homes and skyscrapers but avoided falling in the canyon that would end the madness. The idea that the GOP needs to negotiate is legitimately not justifiable to them, which is why they are still about as whacked as you can get and will continue to push the envelope. So now we have immaculate birth control in cases of rape… No boundaries.

     So why vote for President Obama? He believes in science, women, governing, bipartisanship (I know it has drawbacks), fiscal stimulus, US manufacturing, US jobs, common sense foreign policy, LGBT rights and climate change (anyone seeing the GOP mocking rising seas today?).

     I’m all in for President Obama as he gets it. I’d love to see a viable Green Party candidate but throwing your vote away to get 1-2% of the vote hoping it will make a difference will not help get a 3rd party in the mix. That takes money. The only 3rd party candidate I remember getting any real media attention was Ross Perot and that was because he had the money to make it happen. Sadly he would not be able to make it happen now in the Citizens United world that Democrats can barely hold on in. Corporations are people my friend.

     Vote Obama.

204. I endorse the Peace and Freedom party candidate, Roseanne Barr, because Obama can’t keep promises and I don’t think Romney would be good for the country.

205. I endorse Barack Obama, because he has accomplished an astounding number of things in the face of some of the most mindlessly partisan resistance in American history, and because his party is not insane.

     I don’t think Mitt Romney’s a bad guy. And I live in southern Wisconsin, where I have voted both for and against Paul Ryan more times than most Americans ever will. But the modern Republican Party has abdicated its responsibility to be responsible. It took me over 5000 words on my own blog to explain why I can no longer vote for anyone from that party, and to recapitulate that here would be tedious and likely get me malletted. Bottom line, Obama wins my vote because I believe not voting for him would lead to calamity.

     Obama has not disappointed me much – I knew going in he was essentially Dwight Eisenhower without the army uniform, not some Progressive icon. I’m comfortable with that.

206. I am endorsing the guy who’s representing the right side of the party that rules us, ’cause it’s their turn. Really, I think you’ll find if Romney gets elected he will disappoint the right as Obama has disapointed the left. Both men are far closer to center than anyone who listens to campagin speeches would believe.

     If you want to know about what either party truly believes in, become friendly with people in the party leadership on both sides. This from someone I know in the Colorado Dem. party, “People just want to be told what to do.” and this from someone from the Republican party in my home state, “People need to be shown what to do.” Both very scary, both from conversations about why both men got active in party politics.

     I really think that people commenting on the two party’s/parties’ candidates need to get a hold of themselves. Romney as president will not destroy the country, Obama as president will not destroy the country. Come on guys, take a deep breath. Crying doomsday over the candidates is just turning yourself into Newt’s monkey.

207. I endorse Obama, sort of by default. Valid criticisms can be made of him though they rarely are in that the competition is guilty of the same flaws (eg can we appoint people to monetary positions like treasury who are not planning on going back to Wall St. in a couple years? Please?) Given the selection we have it’s Barry for better or worse.

     For those of you considering Romney I would suggest just asking yourself one question first. This being; can you name one issue or policy that you are absolutely clear on his position pertaining to it? Just one, then vote for him. I watch politics reasonably closely and cannot think of one. Maybe you’ll have better luck but this sort of seems to me like a candidacy based on buying a pig in the poke. I get the sense that I’m watching a salesman trying to close a deal rather than a man with a vision.

     The libertarians interested me greatly for a while until I heard Ron Paul discuss environmental law and I was truly, truly disappointed. The only 2 options i could see with his views involved either complicity or naiveity. Neither a very good option. Further he believes life begins at conception. How many of you younger crowd are willing to relinquish much of your birth control options? I understand he’s not running, but would suggest looking into these 2 issues before going libertarian. If individuals within this framework can get past the lunacy of unrestrained capitalism in relationship to the environment, and can actually get religion out of their planks he/she would have a great deal more appeal for me personally. Again you may differ on these issues but I personally don’t see these positions as “libertarian”.

208. I voted early. I voted for the candidate that I feel will protect and advance the ideals and goals of the Enlightenment. I voted for the candidate who takes a pragmatic, data driven approach to decision making. I voted for the candidate who believes education is the key to expanding opportunities for all and advancing our economic base. I voted for the candidate who makes tough and gutsy decisions. I voted for the candidate who thinks that Science plays and vital role in America’s economy and quality of life. I voted for the candidate who is working to create a fairer playing field for the middle class. I voted for the man that understands we need a diverse energy base for both our economic and geopolitical security. I voted for the candidate who has made mistakes, but done so with humility and a desire to learn from them. I voted for the candidate that stopped us from dropping into a Great Depression, added over 5 million jobs, wiped out many of our enemies, ended one of our hideously expensive wars of choice and who brought my uninsured son the possibility of health care beyond emergency rooms. I voted for the guy that got Bin Laden.

     I voted for President Obama. You should too.

209. This election is not like the 2000 election, where I voted for Nader out of disgust at Gore’s mediocrity. Obama has accomplished some important things in the face of a Republican Congress and party more interested in finding new ways to insult and humiliate him than in working for the common good. The federal stimulus (for all its faults), the end of DADT, his non-support of DOMA, and the ordering of bin Laden’s takedown definitely earned him points in my book. Sure, I’d have loved it if Obama closed Guantanamo or worked towards remedying climate change. But there’s only so much the POTUS can realistically accomplish by himself.

     If you believe the POTUS should be a symbol of honor, then backing Romney would be a serious mistake. Saying that Romney’s and Ryan’s constant public lies are part of the electoral process is only a quarter-truth at best. Yes, politicians lie. But the honorable ones knock off the lying when they’re caught out. Romney and Ryan have responded to public debunking by lying even further.

210. No other choice but for Gary Johnson is honest or ethical. We need a break from random acts of senseless violence upon innocents in nations we have not declared war on. We need a break from the War on Americans who have drugs, or who might have drugs because they’re the wrong color. We need a break from the war on women. We need Gary Johnson, whose credentials far exceed all of the Mitt Romneys put together.

211. I support a second term (and vote) for Barack Obama. As a transgendered lesbian (the jokes write themselves), more progress with laws regarding my person has been made during his tenure. I also perceive the fact that the President is more for concerns of the working class and real situations I experience than his Republican opponent. (I am also a veteran of the military)
     With my educated understanding of the world, I do believe Romney would seriously drag us backwards with women’s rights, working class, and my “lifestyle” (laughable term) in general.
     My 2-cents might not be much, but I get to toss them into the wishing well.
     Great post John!
     ~Lexie

212. Although I hope Obama takes this election, I admit that I’m voting for Jill Stein. I want to see more third and fourth party candidates seriously considered, and since my state is going red no matter what the pundits might suggest (Arizona’s a Mormon state–they’re going to vote for the Mormon), I’m voting for more options.

     I am genuinely curious about the libertarian candidate–I think Gary Johnson would be an interesting (and likely excellent) choice, but I agree with more of Stein’s policies.

213. Obama all the way. Anyone who thinks that the problems in this country could have been fixed in the last 4 years with a partisan government must have been smoking something. I don’t think he has done that bad of a job considering what he was facing and I wholly support the idea of health care for all. I am securely middle-class and have a job in a very, very secure job field — however I am aware, every day, that the vast majority of Americans, including myself, are one nasty diagnosis away from financial ruin.

     I am also pro-gay marriage, pro-choice, pro-environment, and anti-big business. Mittens and Ryan terrify me. Plus they have proven repeatedly that they will say whatever they think will get them elected. Mittens in particular, flip-flops like a fish washed up on the beach. He is also horrible in the foreign policy arena and his behavior during the recent Olympics where he managed to piss off one of Americas oldest allies was frightening.

214. I live in Texas and have already voted. I cast my ballot for Obama, for two reasons:

     First, because we will have at least two and possibly 3 Supreme Court justices retiring in the next few years, and the prospect of having the court fully stacked by the people who wrote the decision on Citizen’s United and its equally foul companion Kelo vs. City of New London frankly terrifies me.

     Second, I’m a woman of reproductive age. I have been in an abusive relationship and was raped by that partner. I have been sexually molested three times in addition to the rape, once by a neighbour when I was nine years old, once by a coworker, and once by a tour guide. I have been sexually harassed by a superior. I can name off the top of my head at least four other women I know personally who were raped, including one who was drugged AT MY PARTY, and when we tried to get her home to safety, we didn’t know that one of the people who was trying to take her home was the one who drugged her. He raped her. I can name off the top of my head seven women, either personal friends or friends of the family, who have had serious pregnancy complications, including eclampsia, where your choice is to deliver the fetus (if it’s old enough it will live, otherwise it dies) or watch the pregnant woman die a horrible death, and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where you either have an emergency C-section and hope to save one of the fetuses as well as the mother or you do nothing and all three of them die. I know several women who have had abortions, including one who had one to save her own health, one who was pregnant with a trisomy 13 baby, and one whose partner coerced her into having the abortion and then dropped her like a hot rock when she tried to commit suicide from grief.

     In my current profession, if I get pregnant, I WILL lose my job. Period. End of story. I work in a dangerous field and there is no way I can continue to work through pregnancy and for several months after birth. If I can’t pass a work physical, I can’t go to work, period. I’m not married, so there is no guarantee that I would have a partner willing to raise a child, so if I don’t have an abortion or put the resulting child up for adoption, I will have to leave my career (which I like, have been doing for a decade, and am really good at) so that I can be not travelling constantly and take care of that kid. And before somebody jumps in and shouts, but birth control! personal responsibility!!, let me point back to the previous paragraph, in which I tell you that I have been raped. Let me point you back to the previous paragraph, in which I tell you that I was sexually assaulted at work. What, precisely, am I supposed to do, when I am assaulted? And oh by the way, assuming I were married to my very sweet boyfriend, if the only way I can 100% prevent pregnancy is to practise abstinence, how long do you think that marriage would last? How many men write all the time to Dear Abby and Dan Savage and Carolyn Hax, complaining about how their wives refuse them for sex all the time? So we use birth control, which is now courtesy of PPACA made available at no cost, because the financial and social benefit to me, the individual woman, and to taxpayers/society as a whole VASTLY outweighs the financial cost.

     My ability to live indoors, eat hot food, and guarantee my financial, legal, and social independence is inextricably linked to my ability to control my body, including controlling and restricting my fertility. My legal ability to have dominion and control over my body, dominion and control that we as a society even extend to the dead (you can’t become an organ donor without either your explicit permission when you are alive, or with the explicit permission of your next of kin!), is being openly challenged and sabotaged by both elected members and by candidates who are ALL running for the Republican party. These members of the Republican party are either wilfully blind or outright contemptuous to the observable truth, that pregnancy is risky and dangerous to the mother, doesn’t always end well, NOT something a woman can magically control (shut that down!), and presents unique physical, psychological, financial, and social burdens to people with a uterus that it does not and cannot present to male-bodied persons. The prospect of having them in the congress in sufficient numbers to pass ever-more restrictive legislation on reproductive control terrifies me. The prospect of having a president who would not use a massive flaming red veto pen over such legislation terrifies me even more.

     So, Obama/Biden 2012, because it’s nice to have politicians who understand that it’s my body and I am in control over my body.

215. As others have mentioned, were I in Ohio, I’d be voting for Obama. However, I’m in a state where I might as well not show up to vote. The cynic in me says I could save some time and trouble by staying home.

     The idealist in me will drag me out of bed on the 6th to vote for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate.

     Why? For starters, I like a lot of her policies and I respect her idealism. I also appreciate her strong stance on military spending. Our military budget is practically a taboo topic among legislators, but when you count all the “emergency” spending and caring for all the wounded veterans our wars create, HALF of all the money you send to the government is spent on past and present wars.

     As for the comments that it’s “A vote of principle” or a “Throwaway vote”. A vote for Stein is neither. If she gets 5% of the national vote, then the Green Party will receive federal funding in the next election. 5% is a real stretch. We haven’t seen a third party claim that much since Ross Perot got 18% of the national vote 20 years ago, but I consider it a worthwhile goal. Stein isn’t running for President. She’s stated on several occasions that she doesn’t expect to win. She’s running for federal funding, which would force both the Democrats and the Republicans to take Green Party policies seriously, and that’s a goal I can support.

     Additionally, I’m loathe to say this, but Obama has thrown out many campaign promises that I cared about. He promised to close Guantanamo. It’s still open. He promised to get us out of foreign wars, but he drew down troops in Iraq only to throw them at Afghanistan and Libya. He used Bush-era authority to assassinate 2 US Citizens. They were on foreign soil, and I’m sure they were very evil people, but they still had the right to a trial. Additionally, his administration is actively defending the military authority to “detain” anyone, regardless of citizenship or location of arrest. I find these decisions duplicitous, and they erode my trust in Obama’s ability to act ethically.

216. hi
     well i am from austria, european union so i can´t vote in the most important election of the year.
     in a way i am in the very same position as us citizens from texas or california :-(
     from an european standpoint i am NOT thrilled by any candidate for us president (or most candidates for congress)
     but if i could i would vote for obama – not because he would be good for europe (none really is) but his foreign politics and economic ideas are at least sane. (if you want to start a war with iran you should at least know that there is no common border with syria and that iran doesn´t need syria as a harbour because it has its own coastline and speedboats that are a big danger to the us-navy)

     i am quite hopeful that pbo will remain president and that the democrats (from an european perspective a center-right party) will retain control of the us-senate but the reps/teaparty will keep the house (by now most of them have moved so far to the right that they would be considered a radical fringe party in europe – well even more than 86% of english conservatives would vote for obama)
     http://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2012/10/31/yougov-finds-that-con-voters-in-britain-divide-6-to-1-in-support-barack-obama/
     and that should you start thinking….

     we have seen what 8 years of bush did to the worlds economy, peace and the image of the usa around the world
     bush has been the best recroutment agent for al kaida
     we don´t need that again

217. I live in Massachusetts that is overwhelmingly an Obama State. My initial reaction was to vote for Obama because Romney was not a very effectual governor of our state. However, I am much more of a believer in Jill Stein as president and have decided that I will vote for her. I found out an interesting piece of news. Any alternate party candidate that receives 5% of the popular vote will receive public funding in the next election cycle. it is a good message to send to the dominant parties that people are looking for change.

218. Obama. Why? Because presidents have been trying since Truman or Eisenhower (sorry: don’t remember which one it was) to get a universal health care plan-any universal health care plan-passed. Obama actually did it.

219. Gary Johnson. I’m tired of voting against people and am happy to have someone who, while not reflecting ALL of my principals, at least seems to have some. And a track record that seems to match what comes out of his mouth.

     Lastly, if enough people start to vote their principals, rather than for the lesser evil, maybe the two main parties will finally take notice. If that means we get saddled with a cretin for another four years (which one? does it matter?), so be it. sometimes things have to get a little worse before they can get better.

     Sigh….

     Right now it looks like the only people who are guaranteed to win from this elecetion are the brewers and distillers. ‘Cause we’re all going to need a lot of that for the next 4 years.