Please read my post before answering.

[crocodile deathroll]

Well I am not voting for George Bush for the simple reason I am an Australian citizen.
I am not voting for his little "ass-licker" Yankee Poodle Jonny Howard either

 

[dsm]

It never did..the only thing that matters in presidential elections is the electoral college.

Or a well-balanced Supreme Court.

http://www.iknowwhatyoudidlastelection.com/bush-supreme-court.htm

 

[Peach Jr.]

I didn't vote for Bush the first time, and I won't vote for him the second time either. Not that one's vote matters here (as we have seen in 2000).

No, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat.

 

[Peach Jr.]

I didn't vote for Bush the first time, and I won't vote for him the second time either. Not that one's vote matters here (as we have seen in 2000).

No, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat.

 

[shanek]

For those of you who voted either definitely for or definitely against Bush, why and what do you consider to be your party affiliation?

Because everything Bush has done in office has resulted in an abrogation of our liberty. I'm a Libertarian.

 

[shanek]

As far as I understand it Americans do not vote for their President in the sense of: mark an x beside the name of the candidate you choose for president.

If I am wrong please correct me. I am no expert on elections in th US.

It seems to me that the choice comes in the form of becoming a party member and voting for a nominee pairing of Pres and VP.

You don't have to join a party. You can be unaffiliated. You do need to be a registered voter.

You can put your mark next to any Pres/VP pair you want, but you aren't actually voting for them. You're voting for electors, and whoever is elected joins the Electoral College. They're the ones that actually elect the President.

 

[shanek]

Actually you can write in any name you want.

Whether or not they're actually counted is another matter. Many Greens in NC wrote in Ralph Nader (because the State of NC doesn't recognize the Green Party) and these votes were completely ignored and uncounted.

 

[shanek]

Explain electoral college for me. In Canada we have a vague resemblance to a form of Rep by Pop so this is foreign to me...

It was deemed a much better option than having Congress elect the President. But if you elect the President solely by popular vote, then only a few major cities will decide the election.

 

[dsm]

I didn't vote for Bush the first time, and I won't vote for him the second time either. Not that one's vote matters here (as we have seen in 2000).

Well, 2000 actually showed us how much one vote could matter. In a country of ~100 million potential voters, the separation between Gore and Bush was only ~541 thousand and only 537 in the state that made the difference. If you went out and had swung 20 (Florida) voters and they had swung 10 additional voters each, the election would've been different (minus the Supreme Court ).

 

[WildCat]

You don't have to join a party. You can be unaffiliated. You do need to be a registered voter.

Here in Chicago, you don't even have to be alive to vote. The saying is , "Vote early & often". That's how JFK got elected.

 

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

You don't have to join a party. You can be unaffiliated. You do need to be a registered voter.

You can put your mark next to any Pres/VP pair you want, but you aren't actually voting for them. You're voting for electors, and whoever is elected joins the Electoral College. They're the ones that actually elect the President.

It is a vague recollection of my reading of political systems that prompted my statement probing

Originally posted by PygmyPlaidGiraffe

As far as I understand it Americans do not vote for their President in the sense of: mark an x beside the name of the candidate you choose for president.

If I am wrong please correct me. I am no expert on elections in th US.

Thanks for clearing that up. Now I understand why I doubted American voters vote for a President.

 

[arcticpenguin]

I am not affiliated with any party, I'm independent.