Why I'm voting for Shawn Lindsay... And other political ponderings

oregon State Rep Shawn Lndsay.
http://djcoregon.com/news/2011/11/17/up-coming-lawyer-shawn-m-lindsay/

Six years ago I renounced my membership to the republican party. I've always been too independent to conform to the wiles of any one party or candidate, but Oregon doesn't have an open primary so I had to choose a party, and republicans were more in line with my core beliefs. After eight years of Bush (the first four were good  the last four were terrible), I had to distance myself. Parties are occupied by people and people are imperfect. Therefore, all candidates and parties are imperfect.

I registered as Libertarian and prepared for the cries of "wasted vote" and "If you don't vote for A that's essentially a vote for B".

This is bull shit. Vote for the candidate you like the best, not the candidate with the best chance of winning.

The electoral college essentially disenfranchises anyone who does not live in a  swing state. I live in Oregon, where a republican presidential candidate has not won since Bush I in 1988. In 2008, I voted for libertarian Bob Barr.  Obama became president. If I would have voted for John McCain, Obama still would have become president. As long as we have the electoral college, unless you live in Florida, Ohio, Coloardo, Iowa, Arizona, or the handful of other swing states, your vote is meaningless anyway. If a straight up popular vote determine the presidency, I could respect the cries of "waste vote"

But we don't, so I don't.

I also don't care if a politicians views change. Who cares? People evolve. My views have changed, drastically over the last ten years... why do we lambaste politicians who change their views? Life experiences happen, new information comes out, needs change. Who cares? Ten years ago, I was against gay marriage, in favor of the war in Iraq, pro death penalty and indifferent on healthcare. Now, I'm in favor of gay marriage, against the war, opposed to the death penalty in most cases and feel resentful that I am soon going to be legally compelled to have health care. Am I a flip flopper or just a normal, evolving human being? Shouldn't I give this same grace to my politicians?

I favor a nationwide sales tax and abolition of state and federal income taxes, I am opposed to abortion, I favor decriminalization of all drugs, and I have no problem with illegal aliens gaining citizenship. I understand many don't hold these views, that's fine. We all have different views on what this country needs. We all place emphasis on different issues over other ones. As long as you're thoughtful in your views and can thoughtfully articulate why you believe things a certain way, I have no issue with how you decide to vote.

So, why am I voting for Shawn Lindsay  Quite simple. He's running a clean campaign. I'm sick of candidates bashing other candidates. I don't care what you think about your opponent  I care about you. What do you have to offer? Shawn Lindsay sends me flyers that state his views, his goals and his objectives. He doesn't trash his opponent. I decided to vote for him long before I discovered what party he belonged too.

Certainly, he's trying to get elected so I'll take his message with a grain of salt. He at least has a message.

But who is his opponent? Well, I got several flyers from his opponent as well... turns out it's Joe Gallegos. But all I know about Joe Gallegos is that he doesn't like Shawn Lindsay. In fact, I didn't even know Joe Gallegos was running against Shawn Lindsay until the fourth flyer where, at the very bottom, he finally said who he was. Why should I vote for Joe? He has no message outside of "Shawn Lindsay sucks". That's not a message, that's high school drama. What is Joe going to do to fix problems?

So, essentially  I will only vote for candidates who tell me what they are going to do to fix the perceived problems, not for those who simply trash their opponent. I recently saw an ad for a presidential candidate that was so vitriolic and name calling, I instantly decided to vote for his opponent.

I hope more people will start voting this way. Let's talk about ideas. Let's talk about why you're the best person for the job. Let's not call names. Let's solve problems by being proactive and voting for what a candidate supports, not for what a candidate does not.