Who would you rather have as a political candidate?

2014-05-14T15:26:07-04:00

I have a personal political platform posted through my Facebook site. But I cannot post it here. If you want to see what I truly stand for check it out.

Response by SFC Rich Carey made May 14 at 2014 3:34 PM

2014-05-14T15:34:08-04:00

I think we need more Veterans

Response by MSG Brad Sand made May 14 at 2014 3:35 PM

2014-05-14T15:35:19-04:00

A Soldier/Veteran are so rare these day that they should be put on the endangered species list. Additionally, are greatest leaders as a Nation were veterans. Some terrible ones too, but the best were veterans.

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2014 3:37 PM

2014-05-14T15:37:18-04:00

Great question CPL Brown,
Although I do not consider myself to be a political expert nor do I publicly side with any political figure or party in general; I would definitely support a candidate who understands the peoples needs and puts them before any one factions or parties.

As far as in the question of Military service goes I always liked the famous quote from Thucydides, "The Nation that makes a great distinction between Scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards; its fighting done by fools."

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2014 3:49 PM

2014-05-14T15:49:40-04:00

I'd be happy with anyone who actually studies the facts and relies on data over demagoguery. I've voted all over party lines and will support whoever I feel is dealing in reality.

Response by MSgt Keith Hebert made May 14 at 2014 3:52 PM

2014-05-14T15:52:45-04:00

Had to go replublican because conservative is not listed.
I equally dislike all parties

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2014 3:55 PM

2014-05-14T15:55:37-04:00

Frankly I don't like any of the parties. It's always about choosing the lesser of evils

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made May 14 at 2014 4:02 PM

2014-05-14T16:02:55-04:00

Stephen Colbert

Response by SGT Jason Doyle made May 14 at 2014 4:14 PM

2014-05-14T16:14:07-04:00

However, I believe all political candidates should have some prior service experience or work experience with an agency charged with national defense. i.e. NSA, CIA, DOD, etc.

Response by SSgt Gregory Guina made May 14 at 2014 5:10 PM

2014-05-14T17:10:37-04:00

MATTIS for Pres 2016

Response by SSG William Patton made May 15 at 2014 12:13 PM

2014-05-15T12:13:55-04:00

I do not think it really matters. All who ascribe to public service above the local level have special interest they must answer to. To run for state or federal office requires huge amounts of money and special interests provide the money they need to sustain their campaigns. When the candidate accepts this money they are then in a position where they must do what the special interest agenda dictates. The last president to stand up to the special interests was JFK and he was assassinated. Ike had warned him about the military industrial alliance and he took it to heart and was going to keep out of war in Viet Nam, but that all changed with his death. To save our republic we must have term limits for Congress and remove special interests from the equation. Then, and only then will our elected leaders work for We the People and not special interest.

Response by SGT James P. Davidson, MSM made May 15 at 2014 1:20 PM

2014-05-15T13:20:49-04:00

None of the above. I would rather a candidate with NO political interest or aspirations.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2014 1:55 PM

2014-05-15T13:55:20-04:00

I heavily lean Republican since they have the best policies for a country of this magnitude. Sadly though, the Republicans of today are like the Democrats of 20 years ago. Many purport false and deceptive ideologies. If we can get back to true freedom, less government and more acceptance of responsibility, we would be better off. ANY candidate who supports that will get my vote but they must have been consistent in their prior workings too. Like MAJ Dews stated, I have crossed party lines (twice) but only because the candidate was honest and stood for good beliefs. Like CPL Brown stated above, I too can expand on this but due to the sensitivities of this forum I won't post it. Feel free to message me if you'd like a polite, adult dialogue about stuff. We both just might learn something new. :D

Response by 1SG Michael Blount made May 15 at 2014 3:21 PM

2014-05-15T15:21:51-04:00

I tend to vote Democrat for the following reasons:
1. I'm old enough to remember how Richard Nixon damn near paralyzed this country with the Watergate scandal, and fired those (eg. Special Prosecutor, Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General) when they tried to do their jobs investigating the matter.
2. I remember how Reagan's empty promises of lower taxes exascerbated Federal budget deficits.
3. Despite his foibles, Clinton returned the Federal budget to a surplus - which was quickly frittered away by the Republicans trying to fight two wars and reduce taxes.
Both parties have enough scandals to sink a ship, so that's a push and doesn't really influence me too much. I'm fortunate enough to have a well paying, steady job. I know many don't and think government has an obligation to the less fortunate vs. padding already fat wallets.

EDIT - seeing these comments and the even split between thumbs up and down is indicative of the polarity gripping this country now. Unless or until that gridlock breaks, this country isn't going to make any meaningful headway.

Response by SSG Daniel Deiler made May 15 at 2014 4:00 PM

2014-05-15T16:00:50-04:00

It's a pipe dream but I would prefer to have a party-less system in which a candidate could run on his/her OWN platform without having to rely on conforming to specific party lines in order to get the necessary support!!! To be able to run and represent ones constituents without fear of having to play politics and childish games. I would also like to see term limits for those holding Public Office. Sadly I suspect neither will ever happen.

Response by SSG Robin Rushlo made May 15 at 2014 7:29 PM

2014-05-15T19:29:19-04:00

NONE OF THE ABOVE

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2014 8:29 PM

2014-05-15T20:29:13-04:00

While I see where you are going with this poll, it leaves way too much in the air. For starters, a Soldier/Military Vet can be from any party. Would the Republican voters want a Democrat Soldier/Vet and so forth? Also of all of the great veterans that ran, Alvin Greene still sticks out in my mind. Just because someone is a veteran does not mean that they would automatically be best. I didn't vote in the poll, because I base my opinions on the individual. Would you really want one of these Generals or CSMs that are all for cutting our pay and saying it improves discipline to run our country? Someone who speaks for all of us, yet doesn't even know what we want or is so far removed from our daily lives?

However, I will look at your fb and see what your stance is. As previously stated, my decisions are based off of the individual, which means, it doesn't have to be a big name of fancy party to win me over.

Response by SPC Brian Jones made May 16 at 2014 7:44 AM

2014-05-16T07:44:04-04:00

Really need this in check boxes so we could choose more than one.

For me I would pick Libertarian if there was even the slightest chance of them winning. Republican is typically my go to vote unless they are just an ass then mickey mouse get another vote.

Being a vet would give a candidate major brownie points but it would all come down to what he/she wanted to do if they won.

Response by CPO Chris Calvert made May 16 at 2014 9:06 AM

2014-05-16T09:06:49-04:00

Perhaps if we had more military veterans as candidates they wouldn't become just another politician that puts party before country! Nothing can be guaranteed but MOST vets - albiet senior officers may be exempted - put unit (country) before themselves!

Response by LCpl Steve Wininger made May 16 at 2014 12:40 PM

2014-05-16T12:40:56-04:00

I am a conservative, not Republican. The two party system plays a huge part in what is wrong with this country. I consider myself an independent because I tend to vote my conscious on election day. Usually, my conscious tells me that voting for the lessor of two evils, is still voting for evil. I personally think that there should be more parties allowed to pursue federal offices, and that the electoral college should be scrapped and replaced with popular vote.

Response by LCpl Steve Wininger made May 16 at 2014 1:05 PM

2014-05-16T13:05:36-04:00

I would like to say that all our countries leaders should be vets. In Great Britain even royalty is required to serve in the military. If more politicians served they would have a greater appreciation for the military, vets, and the problems that they are faced with after service, especially combat service.

I do not ever see this happening, but I believe it would give our leaders a greater sense of community and fidelity to the people if they had to put their life on the line.

Response by SGT Tj West made May 16 at 2014 1:26 PM

2014-05-16T13:26:50-04:00

This is a terribly crafted question and indicative of a larger problem not just among the military but among the general population. We have become such a "Twitter Society" that we try to compress all of the important information about our political candidates into 142 characters or short sound bites that can be played on CNN and Fox. Politicians -- ALL POLITICIANS -- are complex and multifaceted individuals.

The terms "Republican" and "Democrat" are just labels for the two currently dominant political parties (among many). Those parties are comprised of people who fall all over the political spectrum. As several people have mentioned above, those labels say absolutely nothing about an individual candidate's beliefs or platform. There are conservative democrats and there are liberal republicans. The word "independent" is equally, if not more nebulous. Some people use it to mean a person who is not a republican or a democrat. Other people use it to mean a person who does not belong to any political party. In other words, it's impossible to know what a person believes in, will vote for, or will support if they label themselves as "independent." Of all the options, at least libertarianism is a political philosophy, but even those candidates who consider themselves to be libertarian widely vary when it comes to how they would implement libertarian policies if elected (which is a bit of an oxymoron to say the least).

In reality you will never -- yes, I said NEVER -- find one candidate that encompasses all of your beliefs. It's just not going to happen. So that means that you will need to make compromises when you decide to whom you're going to give your vote. In order to make those compromises you need to understand who the candidate is and how they have acted historically in order to make a calculated decision with respect to how you anticipate they will act in the future if voted into office. You are never going to be able to do that if you rely upon labels such as democrat or republican.

Here's an example - in the 2000 presidential election you had GW Bush (arguably an Air Nat'l Guard vet) running against Al Gore (an army Vietnam vet). This is a bit of an over-simplification, but both candidates pledged to increase pay to troops and modernize military technology and equipment -- the big difference was that one proposed increasing the defense budget by $45 billion over the following 10 years (exclusive of costs associated with an anti-missile defense program) while the other proposed increasing it by $100 billion over the same time period. If you had to guess which candidate proposed higher defense spending and troop pay you would assume that it would have been the republican, Bush. You would be wrong.

I'm not saying that military personnel should have voted for Gore over Bush. There are lots of factors that could, and should go into deciding who to vote for, and for many people military budgets are just one of those factors. The bigger point is that we cannot rely upon the labels that politicians, candidates, pundits, and putative news outlets use to give us headlines. If you want to be an informed voter you need to do more work than that. You need to educate yourself about the individual candidate's positions, and then make a rational judgment about whether you believe they will and can accomplish those goals given their history and the current political environment.

Response by SPC Matthew Birkinbine made May 17 at 2014 10:44 AM

2014-05-17T10:44:35-04:00

I support candidates who don't support higher taxes, and who do support our nation's protections and service members.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 17 at 2014 10:47 AM

2014-05-17T10:47:52-04:00

I have been a Republican Conservative since the days of Ronald Reagan. My values are Conservative, and always will be. I know those on the left will call me names for being Conservative, but thats because they are covering up their own flaws and twisted
ideology. I may not agree with Liberals, but I am not gonna sit there and call them names.
And, yes I do feel a candidate should be a military vet. They should have at least 8 years of military service

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 17 at 2014 11:13 AM

2014-05-17T11:13:26-04:00

I really dislike politicians. I have always wondered how far one could make it by telling the truth.
Republicans and Democrats argue the same points over and over, neither one of them never fixes any of the issues they say the other party messed up.

Response by SSgt James Stanley made May 17 at 2014 4:19 PM

2014-05-17T16:19:34-04:00

I would rather have COL Allen West for President.

Response by LCpl Steve Wininger made May 18 at 2014 10:34 PM

2014-05-18T22:34:01-04:00

It is a shame the vets can't have their own political party without the other parties and the media screaming "Military takeover." I agree there needs to be more responsible vets in government.

I noticed that independents and libertarians are more popular than the traditional parties. So you think either of these two will be allowed in the next presidential debate? The establishment seems to do a good job at keeping things "Two-party."

Response by LCpl Steve Wininger made May 19 at 2014 5:20 PM

2014-05-19T17:20:28-04:00

Looks like the status quo is dropping in the polls Charles.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 19 at 2014 8:18 PM

2014-05-19T20:18:43-04:00

I live in NY state, and no matter which way I vote, the state goes Democrat, I vote Libertarian when ever I can, just to boost the numbers.

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made May 19 at 2014 9:49 PM

2014-05-19T21:49:01-04:00

Republicans and Democrats are animals of the same Stripe. I call them RepubloCrats, and with few exceptions there is little difference between the two parties. I am seldom disappointed with my characterization. Both parties are intent on increasing the size of government, and on increasing Federal control over the States and the People. I Vote Libertarian in every position I am able. Being a Vet is a Plus, but not a requirement in my opinion. I've known many a Vet who could care less about the Constitution, and many more who pledge fealty TO it!

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made May 20 at 2014 3:34 PM

2014-05-20T15:34:14-04:00

In 2016 I want to see Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Michiu Kaku in high office..

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 20 at 2014 3:36 PM

2014-05-20T15:36:46-04:00

I'm a complete advocate of the best man/woman for the job, but I feel military service should be a requirement for the Presidency.

Response by Cpl Christopher Allen-Shinn made May 20 at 2014 5:50 PM

2014-05-20T17:50:13-04:00

I respect former Secretary of State & retired General Colin Powell (R) and former Senator and Vietnam War hero James Webb (D-VA). Webb has recently admitted to NPR that he might consider running for prez in 2016 and doesn't think that he'd be a good veep (top nomination or bust). Rep. Tammy Duckworth is pretty awesome too. They're all veterans who I would probably support regardless of the party that they choose to affiliate with.

I tend to support moderate / centrist candidates. I've been leaning towards Democrats recently, but I always give more priority to my assessment of the individual politician than their party label. I watch politics closely and try not to miss elections because I believe that voting is an essential component of active citizenship.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 21 at 2014 12:41 PM

2014-05-21T12:41:20-04:00

A Constitutional Conservative, preferably as an independent or a member of the Libertarian party, who also has a military background.

Kind of like Ron Paul.

Response by SSgt Paul L. made May 23 at 2014 11:55 AM

2014-05-23T11:55:28-04:00

Liberal Libertarian.

Response by PO2 David Hagwood made Apr 8 at 2015 1:22 AM

2015-04-08T01:22:45-04:00

LOL Looks like Democrats aren't doing very well in this community. I voted for Vet, I would be happy to vote for a good right of center Libertarian; but I am a registered Republican. It's mainly because for years our country has been mostly a 2 party system and there isn't a Democrat that I could ever vote for. The problem is, career politicians usually align their beliefs with their party; and I believe the policies of the far left will ultimately ruin us. It has become more of a Socialist party. Like last time, I am going to listen to everyone and read up on and vet all the candidates. The debates are telling, too. I just hope they keep Liberal hacks like Candy Crowley from injecting their opinions in to the debates like last time. I doubt it, we're talking about CNN and MSDNC here, they just can't help themselves.

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made Apr 8 at 2015 7:47 AM

2015-04-08T07:47:25-04:00

I lean toward Libertarian, because they are typically more Constitutionally oriented. As people like Senator John McCain, and John Kerry and have shown us military service is no guarantee of Constitutional fealty.