I can't for the life of me figure out how a pro 2nd amendment guy could vote for a Democrat.
Unfortunately, I'm only left with the choice of voting Republican in elections. I will not waste a vote on a 3rd party candidate that stands no chance of ever being elected to anything.
OK, I'll bite.
The two quoted lines above are there to demonstrate a dichotomy btw, the first is very uncompromising, the second is the opposite. Just something to think about, nobody is of a single mind in all things.
First it's a fallacy to assume that a republican vote is a vote for your 2A rights. There is a lot of bad gun legislation out there, and it wasn't voted in with every republican present in opposition. More importantly, remember that the BOR is not wholly represented by 2A alone. What about 10A and the historically republican tendency to walk all over it until it's a laughing stock? How about the 4th, 5th, and 6th amendments, which plenty of our reps of all stripes, and this administration in particular, are happy to throw right out the window?
I believe in preserving my rights as spelled out in the BOR, not just clinging to one of them and playing lip service to others because it makes me uncomfortable when people with convictions opposed to my own exercise them.
What am I talking about? There's the standard list of well hashed out examples. The feds running over the states perfectly legal right to enact medicinal marijuana legislation is a fine example. The whole gay marriage ruckus is an even better one. What in the world the federal gov't has to do with that is beyond me, it certainly doesn't fall under the powers expressly granted them. It makes me uncomfortable that the same representatives who champion 2A rights for the cause of "liberty" are also willing to trample all over those citizens because they don't believe in either the letter or the spirit of the law, they believe in the letter or spirit of the law when it is in line with their group agenda. In the aforementioned instance, the "party line" seems to be all about freedom and personal liberty except "for them homo's cuz they make us uncomfortable".
Real freedom includes a lot of being uncomfortable. It also includes a lot of standing up for people you don't necessarily agree with.
Don't think I'm just attacking the republicans, I'm simply pointing these out as your post seems to indicate that the repubs are the "defenders" of our rights. Nonsense, they're the defenders (when it pays) of a couple of our rights that are more dear to some people than others. They're happy to trash the rest.
That sword cuts both ways. The Dems want to tell you all about your civil liberties out of one side of their mouths while taking them away with the other. Don't construe the above argument to be an endorsement of the democratic party.
In answer to your third party statement, I have to say that I have almost always voted third party / independent. I have to vote for the people who represent my beliefs, even if the system in place means their chances are slim or none. The alternative is the lesser of two evils approach you mention, which is not acceptable to me. My vote is a precious thing, I cannot in good conscience squander it on the "least offensive" candidate.
Here is my next question of left leaning members of THR? Are you members of a labor union? I can't figure out what else would draw you to the Democrat party.
I am currently a member of a labor union. My current employment is my first "union job", and my opinion on the pros and cons of labor unions has not changed. A full discussion of unions and their place in the world would not serve much to answer your curiosity however, and is an endeavor unto itself. The assumption however that being a member of a union makes one a Democrat however, is false.
In answer to your implied question which is "who are all these people?" you refer to as "way left leaning", allow me to clarify my own position, and in the process perhaps muddy the waters a little further, beyond our simple assumptions about "Democrats and republicans" by laying out my position on some of the common topics of the day.
I believe in our rights to own firearms.
I support capital punishment
I am pro-choice
I support a streamlining of our immigration process while opposing any "amnesty" for criminals already in our country.
I support same-sex marriage rights.
I oppose a variety of "nanny-state" nonsense, especially government health care. I've seen the way these people run the DMV, I don't want em in my medicine cabinet.
I'd like to see the federal government get back to their real job, and stop sending all my hard earned money to third world countries full of angry little stick people whose main export is religious and ethnic extremism.
I support the various "right to die" initiatives.
the list goes on...
So you can see, there isn't a nice packaged "platform" that I can get on, and I'm not signing on to one that supports of my convictions while sacrificing others. Hence, I have to pick and choose my candidates carefully, where I can find them, without regard for their party affiliation, if any. As you can imagine, I often vote libertarian.
I hope this provides a little insight into my "liberal" views, and perhaps some food for thought about our pre-packaged notions of political affiliation.
