OT: US Pres election

[Ballbarian]

I tend not to trust polls either (as I stated previously). They can be manipulated too easily by the crafter of the questions. In my own community it looks to be a close race.

I work in a county government office and you can bet that I get to hear a lot from the community about their political views. My primary function is as Deputy Treasurer / System Administrator (small county!) and I often work the elections just to help the County Clerk's Office when they are shorthanded so I get a fair amount of exposure to the public. In my state the governor is a Democrat but the tendency has been to elect Republicans. I for one tended to vote Democrat during the Clinton years, but have always prided myself on my independence (little 'i' as in not affiliated with any party). I find myself tempted over the last eight years of "Bush bashing" to vote a party line where a "D" next to your name guarantees that my vote goes to the other guy. I am sure that I won't go that route, but you might get a sense of my disgust with partisan politics in general. Both parties are guilty of it, but the constant undermining of the currently elected president (be he Democrat or Republican) pisses me off and tempts a retributive vote.

All that said, those who know me, know that I usually keep my political and religious views pretty close to the vest. I just find the silence of folks who share my point of view deafening (because I suspect that many don't frequent these boards) and I would hate for anyone reading this thread to think that everyone hated President Bush, wouldn't vote for John McCain, and disagreed with the decision to finish what was started in Iraq.

Will that make me the most popular fella on the forums? Probably not. But please know that I respect the views of all of the previous posters and even consider many of you friends.

(Oh, and for what it is worth, I don't give a rat's butt what color any of the candidates are.)