Election day is only six days for now. If you live in a swing state (like me) then you may have noticed that most commercials are for some sort of campaign. Ooh, boy. It seems that there are still a whole bunch of people who are undecided in this election. This seems funny to me because you have two very different candidates with two very different world views. But, unlike everyone else, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for.
I've seen celebrities out there trying to tell you that you should vote for their guy. I guess they think they're smarter than you and you should believe them.
There are commercials I've seen out there where candidates slam each other and one local election where the candidate is outright lying about her opponent.
One candidate will be on TV tonight spending half an hour telling you why you should vote for him.
You know what? These ads don't really matter. You basically have two kinds. The first is the "Look how great I am, vote for me", the other is the "Look at what a scumbag my opponent is, vote for me".
If you really want to know how the candidates stand, you need to do your own research. And you can probably do it pretty easily. In fact, I'm going to help you out.
Johnmccain.com is John McCain's official website.
Barackobama.com is Barack Obama's official website.
Factcheck.org is a site you can check what the candidates say compared to their record.
USAtoday.com has a neat game that asks you questions on issues and will match you to either Obama or McCain.
So if you're still debating who to vote for, you have six days to decide. Don't let people tell you they're smarter and you should do what they say. It's your vote and you have the right to exercise it.
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Thanks for the help Matt! I'm politically retarded and was wondering where I was going to be able to find reliable sites to look at. Those all seem like good ones. :)
There is a lot more on the ballot than presidential candidates. Judges are up for reelection, state governor, congress...
A good web site to check on your candidates is
http://votesmart.org
Enter your zipcode and you'll get a list of candidates in your local area. Some of them may have even taken the political courage tests which lets you know exactly how they stand on sensitive issues.
Also, Matt there are at least six candidates running for president! I've personally found the third party presidential candidates and their stances quite refreshing when compared Barak and Obama.
http://www.thirdpartyticket.com/
Also, just to show you how SIMILAR these two candidates are, view this quick video. Warning: it supports Ralph Nader, but it's worth viewing to see how a third party candidate is worth looking into.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5WiE6MnmCM
Oh, sorry here is a direct link to the video that can be clicked on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5WiE6MnmCM
Votesmart seems a good resourse too. I focused on the presidential candidates rather than local issues because I've got readers in Kansas, Texas, and Georgia as well. I've yet to find a good site that will tell you what exactly is on your ballot. It took a while to figure out what's on the ballot for Independence voters (like the constitutional amendments and propositions). If anyone knows a good site that will help with that on a multi-state basis, I'd like to bookmark it for future elections.
And though I'm tired of the same old candidates that come from the two-party system, I've yet to see a viable third party candidate. Maybe someday...
You can find sample ballots through the election board/ group from your local area.
Try this for Independence:
http://jceb.co.jackson.mo.us/electioninformation/sampleballots/sampleballot.aspx
Also, vote smart is a good web site to look for local candidates such as governor, house and senate.
Also, the Missouri bar association recommends reinstatement of all the judges.However, i recommend voting all a couple of judges that have been there for 20 + years. Let's get some fresh meat and give someone else a chance.
Here you can read reviews on the local judges:
http://www.mobar.org/data/judges08/jackson.htm
I'm sure your readers might be able to find something similar in the states they live in.
Sorry, I can't help it... i'm a librarian and it's my job to connect people with information :D
PS, have you seen the constitution party candidate? I know some republicans that have read up about Chuck Baldwin and changed their vote. Give it a try if you haven't already! http://www.baldwin08.com/
If you liked Ron Paul -- he endorsed Balddwin.
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