He's the fuzziest and furriest monster of all Sesame Street! So loveable!

.

You know, the guy who keeps trying to grow a beard because he thinks it will make his fat, rolly-polly face look macho.

I can't speak for everyone, but my ballot will have more than one thing to vote for. It's at the state and local level that one's vote matters most.

Refusing to vote at all because one doesn't like the presidential candidates is the worst form of temper-tantrum.

is not to your liking ..will you leave that box blank?

Hence the "sit" part.

the presidential election

Not a person. Not a party. Not even an idea.

So stop asking. Back off.

It's none of your business what people do in the ballot box on election day. Period.

you didn't need to reply at all..i certainly did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable..just curious and no one put a gun to your head to reply..so chillax

Maybe you meant it genuinely. But 95% of the people on here asking that follow it up with the DU TOS or a comment used to bludgeon people into voting for their candidate or their party. It's almost always a threat, not a question. I am tired of it.

If you meant it genuinely, then here's a better answer:

I will be voting for whomever my conscience allows me to. I will also be voting for someone that I feel represents me to some extent. There are of course no perfect candidates (and certainly none in American politics that represent my view), but there are those who agree with me enough on an issue by issue basis that I would feel comfortable voting for them.

As far as your question goes, it would depend on who gets the nomination. If Sanders wins, he has my vote. I don't agree with Democratic Socialism, but I do feel that he has the potential to engage the electorate in a way that has not happened in many years. He may open up the opportunity for those who disagree with capitalism entirely to have a voice, if not a seat at the table. If this movement grows into a truly humanistic one, then there is also the possibility of building a leftist movement from those who have had their worldview expanded. With that there is the potential for a leftist coalition in local areas, if not on a nationwide scale. There are a lot of ifs, but I would sooner take that chance than reject him entirely, like many of my comrades on the left have decided to.

I am going to decline discussing who I will be voting for if he does not receive the nomination, other than to say I will not be sitting out the election.

I have never and will never vote for someone based on their party association or out of fear of what might happen if my preferred candidate loses. I see nothing but a slow and painful decline into what is becoming neo-feudalism that way. I prefer to send the message to other people that there are those of us who will not give in to those in power.

There are of course risks associated with that, but as someone bordering on homelessness, I will be one of the first to lose if it goes wrong. From my studies of history, I also believe that the only way to progress is to vote on principle and let a consensus arise from the chaos of thoughts and beliefs of a people at large. We must build a movement together, and if we endorse those who will do us harm (even if only by inaction), we lose the chance of doing so.

i appreciate your reply..my only comment is that if we all vote for our own best interests...that is all i can ask..it will be best for us all

I just don't appreciate the veiled threats that generally accompany certain questions.

Hillary if she was the nominee

Seems odd you would jump at the poster for asking a question tgat you already answered here..

There is a difference between asking and demanding, as the case usually is.

The threats are fairly obvious, Justin.

"Vote this way or something terrible will happen and we, the good people, will blame you."

"Vote this way, because if you don't, we, the good people, can't wait to watch you kicked off the site if you admit your sin."

"Vote this way or you're a traitor to the party, and we, the good people, will think you're horrible and will hate you forever."

"Vote this way or else...this, or that."

If not, I understand. But I am curious. You are one of the few I like to talk to even when I disagree. I doubt we will come to a consensus, but your thoughts are always welcome.

the nominee.

If that isn't, I'm not sure what it is.

Threats are very convincing to those who will not stand firm in tough times. Convincing people does not have to be nice.

Fair point and I don't want to see any purge here.

as far as i have seen..no one is threatening you

But elsewhere and irl, yes, they very much have.

Do you not consider those statements to be threats?

that i would consider to be threats..no

You can find these and many other statements on this board, and in real life. My characterization of them was perhaps a tad blunt, but not, I think, inaccurate.

Start an op with that question.

And yes I will enthusiastically support Sanders if he is the nominee.

who ever the democratic nominee will be...right now i am hoping that nominee is bernie..but if not..i will support whole heartedly gets the nod

Hrc supporters on this board are on record saying we will support the nominee. Some Sanders supporters are on record saying they will not support HRC in the general if she wins.

Unless you meant to say "All Hrc supporters..." as distinct from some, in which case there is no distinction for you to make.

Which is it, Justin? A flatly stated assertion you are ill-equipped to prove, or a self-inflicted case of marble-mouth?

Have you?

You're being deliberately obtuse, and everyone can see it.

... never in those ops I have never seen an HRC supporter say they would never support the nominee.

Now you're prattling on about OPs you've seen in the last six months, which goes about zero distance in answering the question put before you.

If you want to qualify your original statement about Hillary supporters, the place to do that is in the offending post, which is unsupportable on its face. If you can't figure out how to edit it, I'd suggest a self-delete.

Get the last word in if you need but i am bored with this back and forth.

"Bored"? It's more a case of someone calling you out on your bullshit, and yet here you are, faced with what you must see as a choice between asking for a fresh shovel, or running away from your own words.

Running away it is, then.

.... that while the poster is badgering you, we all fail to see one single link to any threats claimed on this thread, except for some alleged quotes that haven't been backed up yet.

... where is the proof of the threats being touted in this thread?

The Pumas haven't as far as I have noticed. You hrmjustin are either a first or are in the minority. If you ever see the light you are welcomed with open arms.

publicly said they won't vote for Sanders if he is the nominee?

Let's shortcut the rest.
You'll remind me that I can be banned.
I'll remind you I live in California.
You'll say something about Gohmert on the Supreme Court.
I'll acknowledge that I'll need to shut up or get banned after primaries are over.
You'll think I'm baiting you into a hide.
I'll let you know I don't care enough to alert.
You'll remind me that I'll be screwing the downticket vote.
I'll remind you that I'm voting, but choosing a write-in candidate for President.

Hopefully that covers things.

Good bye.

I had a very low opinion of them in 2008 and will have the same l8w opinion of them whoever they maybe.

Who coined the term PUMA... and don't say crybabies, because you just won't say which campaign coined that term.

Your point didn't stand. You ran away, and this latest of your was just low-hanging fruit. Lower than usual, that is.

Anything to avoid an honest answer.

Where did the political acronym PUMA come from?

Say whose campaign it originated with. You've been asked a couple of times here and all you can come up with is your trademark "goodbye" and badly worn tap shoes.

Their exact names I could not tell you but i didn't care for them nor did I respect them.

Nor would I respect HRC supporters who woukd not support Bernie if he wins.



If Hillary wins how would you feel if bunch of Sanders supporters pull a puma? Yes it is their right to but how would you feel about it?

According to the 2008 exit poll, Democrats who voted for Clinton in the primaries split 83-16 for Obama-McCain.

Now imagine reading this two or three years hence:

According to the 2016 exit poll, Democrats who voted for Sanders in the primaries split 83-16 for Clinton-Clown Car Occupant of Your Choice.

I'm so confused here, what is the attempted gotcha?

And there were a lot of conservatives there, too.

But it remains that their primary argument was not to vote for the nominee. Whatever attempted gotcha you're trying here is a complete and utter failure.

PUMA's are those who don't want to vote for the nominee. If you want another term to distance yourself from that implication, please feel free to pick one. We can start a thread about people who won't vote for the Democratic nominee, if you want.

Sanders would be against any such attempts and would disavow anyone who claims to be that way as one of his supporters. As would I.

Good evening.

...are PUMAs?

Have a good one.

We all know the PUMA's weren't actually Clinton supporters, just like PUMA's if Clinton gets the nomination aren't actually Sanders supporters, because Sanders would if he lost the nomination completely disavow such actions just as Clinton did.

I would say most of us will. I also think most Hillary supporters will vote for Bernie if he wins the nomination.

that are going to need to be replaced. We cannot let a wing nut fill those vacancies.

... as much as I do not want Ms. Clinton as our nominee, if she is, I'll vote for her. (Although in fairness my presidential vote hardly matters, as I live in NY and NY goes Dem for president no matter what.)

... with links to the dozens of threads where this has already been asked.

And DianeK - why would you think Clinton supporters would sit the election out when it's been 'progressives' who have historically pouted / not voted / tried to change rules / ran third party when their guy didn't make the cut?

well that clears alot up for alot of us..thank you for clearing that up

A conspiracy-minded my way or the highway uncompromising lose the world on principle person. A 'progressive.'

"progressives" are neither monolithic, nor are they some bizarre separate species.

Each has their own opinions, and a majority are no more desirous of a GOP victory than any Democrat.

Yes some have stated their intent to sit it out if Clinton is the nominee. But many others will vote for Clinton, even if they have to do so with a clothespin on the nose.

What number is this? 123? Oh Diane play curious.

It is a truism that all politics are local. You only get better state politicians by voting for them locally, and you only get better politicians by voting for them state-wide.

Support whoever seems to adhere as closely to your own values. This horseshit of "well only blah blah blah" can win, is just that, horseshit, if we all go to the polls, cart those that we know to the polls, and do our ever-loving best to get all who want to vote to the polls.

I don't view being a voter as a job, nor organizing to help seniors and elderly folks or anybody without a ride to the polls. I view it as my responsibility. Maybe somebody will help my behind get to the polls at some point.

I am a Democrat.

voting for the dem nom is an option
sitting it out is an option
voting for someone in another party is an option
leaving president blank while voting downticket is an option
voting for a write in candidate is an option

diane, i will assume you have the best of intentions, and it looks like you could be fairly new or a long time visitor who just started posting.

but there have been many, many, many threads asking if we are willing to commit to the dem nom. some people (myself included) have said that they will not vote for candidate x in the general. most if not all of these threads have been started by hillary supporters because some some will not vote for a corporate 1%er, or a third wayer, or a hawk ,or whatever. hillary supporters have come back with a zillion different "loyalty oath" type threads which sometimes included warnings about the supreme court or we will be thrown off du (not true) or being a traitor to the dem party, as if nominating a corporate owned wall street buddy who voted for the iraq way is not an egregious betrayal and should be ignored for the sake of some mythical party loyalty.

its a political discussion board, you can ask any question you want. but many of us are tired of being nagged about our vote and do not wish to be intimidated or guilted into voting for someone that (at least in my case) our conscience will not allow us to vote for. some people are tired of having their privacy invaded for the sake of a ridiculous pledge that no one is or should be required to make. so you can ask, but you will get some pretty passionate, even pissed off responses due to the long history of this type of discussion.

I support Bernie. No problems between us. It's all good. Nobody's bent out of shape...

It will be a spirited fight in CT but I am happy to live and vote here. I feel it is a privilege.

..rank & file democrats will vote.

Most of the folks in this forum are politically minded and will almost certainly vote. Whether we vote for the Democratic nominee or a 'protest vote' most of us will vote.

But what about the rest of the democrats? The ones that prefer to spend their time thinking about almost anything else rather than politics. The ones who aren't as reliable come Election Day. The ones who need a bit more encouragement

Will they be excited and fired up for Hillary if she's the nominee? Excited and fired up enough to get out there and vote? Maybe.

Yes, there are many people here and at other sites that are passionate about her candidacy and will be fired up to vote for her, but in my opinion I don't think there's a whole lot of excitement for her in that other crowd. Hillary herself told Lena Dunham "if you can't get excited, be pragmatic". Not exactly a rah-rah go team kind of sentiment.

Bernie Sanders hinted at this when he told the DNC recently (paraphrasing) 'the Republicans didn't win in 2014, the Democrats lost'. I tend to agree with that sentiment. If you want the people to get out and vote, give them someone they can be excited to vote for.

If Hillary is the nominee, I hope she can fire up the people, because it would be a disaster if she lost the GE.

Though looking at the alternatives at this point in time, I think almost anyone could beat the republican, whomever they choose.

And, a handy write-in line in case all of the options require too much nose holding.

Not even a flicker of indecision there.

I will be more or less enthusiastic about it depending who the nominee is, but there is zero chance I would vote 3rd party.

if he wins the nomination. All of the potential Dem candidates are honorable, decent people who would be vastly preferable to any Republican.

This is too important to sit out.

If you ever hear someone say your vote doesn't count, they are wrong. If we ALL made what effort we could to find out about who best represents us, and then voted, our world would change the minute those we elected stepped into office.