If so, what made you switch over?
Amber...it is close-minded people like you that will keep us in the third party stranglehold that allows them to screw us over repeatedly. Did you know that the Republican party was once third party? And telling me that my vote is for Obama doesn't really bother me anyway because I think your precious McCain might just be more corrupt and untrustworthy than him.
Bryan
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I have voted Republican in the last 2 elections. In 2000 I believed in Bush's policy proposals. In 2004 I no longer believed in Bush, but I felt Kerry was a much worse choice. Now we arrive in 2008 and both candidates from the major parties are completely undesirable in my opinion. Given this fact I had to make some hard choices. The first one being could I support either of these men? The second being could I just vote against one of them rather than for one of them. The third being whether I could live with the consequences of voting for a third party and in doing so face the real possibility that one of these two would be elected anyway? In the end I decided to examine the third party candidates to see if any had a platform I could support. What I found was that I did like Barr's platform. I had struggled with this decision for quite a while, but once I made the choice I found a quite calm. I can vote for what I believe in. I don't just have to close my eyes, hold my nose and pull the lever. Frankly it is a great sense of relief to me.
open4one
I switched to the Libertarian Party when Bush Senior ran against Clinton, as I realized that neither were sincere about reducing government interference in private lives. I won't say that I've never looked back, but I can say I've never looked back with regret.
** Amber, you are quite mistaken. A vote for Barr is a vote for Liberty. If Obama (or McCain) gets elected, don't blame me for the result because I voted for what I wanted. If people had started looking at all of the options and voting for what they wanted years ago, I can assure you that the Democrats would not be giving us Obama, and the Republicans would not be giving us McCain now. A vote for McCain is a vote for the Republicans to keep giving you pro-military Liberals, and a vote for Obama is a vote for the Democrats to keep giving you totally unqualified nobodies that don't have a record to run on.
That's the problem with playing "lesser of two evils". The choices get worse until you stop.
Friendly Stranger..
I haven't switched and I'm not going to. However I'm not surprised that many are confused or still don't know at this point. I blame some of this on other voters who are sure. Many voters who know their choice are guilty of trying to sway others with biased views instead of being respectful and letting others choose for themselves. I also blame the media for this because they distort the truth and some people follow it, while others become perplexed in their choice, to the point where they either don't vote, or they vote independent which really doesn't help the country. Thirdly I blame the candidates. Some of this is their fault in the respect that they can't seem to remain solid on key issues. How are voters supposed to make a good decision if they see lies, scandals, and changing positions on issues? Overall I tell anyone to do their own research and choose wisely. I haven't switched because I know about each candidate and I pay attention to what goes on in the news. I encourage all to make a sound choice as it will shape our future..
DAR
I flipped from decades long two party voter (primarily GOP w/ GOP registration) to voting my conscience. That doesn't mean I WON'T vote in the two parties if they have the best candidate, only that I won't if they don't.
For President I plan to vote for Ron Paul if he'll file a form so my vote will be counted in CA, otherwise for Barr, likely. (My dilemma on second choices was solved for me: Baldwin apparently isn't the Constitution Party candidate for California, and Barr is more Paul than Keyes, hands down.)
As to why - I couldn't stand the frontrunners so did more research than usual, found Ron Paul and principled representation, and there is no going back.
Brent E
Back on July 25, Debra Bartoshevich, a Wisconsin woman who was a pledged convention delegate for Hillary Clinton, announced that she was now backing John McCain. In response, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s administrative committee voted unanimously to strip the woman of her credentials for the national convention, despite her pleas to keep her seat.