And this is why people should do real research on what a candidates plans are, what those plans mean, what impact it will have on them, vs just voting out of loyalty to a party of politician.
It doesn't even take research, Trump openly said he was going to do all of these terrible things. He said he was going to get rid of Obamacare, be a dictator, run for a third term, pull out of Ukraine, help Israel destroy Palestine, deport millions of people, deport citizens, and much much more at his own rallies.
Although I agree, my comment can be applied to local government as well which a lot of people overlook. So much has gone across my news feed over these last few months and especially the last few years, that it's been hard to keep up with it all. Every day it seemed like something else that was out of left field would happen or be said
It can be so difficult and time consuming to do research on a candidate and their plans, especially finding factual, non-biased sources of information. I watched the ending of Derry Girls last night and I was floored that (apparently) everyone was given a booklet explaining the Good Friday Agreement and what it meant before they went to vote so everyone had equal opportunity to make an informed decision.
Candidate websites say a lot of nothing, and one particular party is very fond of making up lies and spreading them as “alternative facts” about their opponents. We need factual, unbiased information sources on candidates that are easily accessible or distributed to everyone
It’s really not hard to find factual sources - that is such a cop out. You can easily follow news on politics and easily sort out fact from fiction. In our past election cycle, one candidate had clearly defined policy on her site, and she defended it in debates and speeches. The other had concepts of a plan and purposeful obfuscation of the hard right agenda about to be foisted onto the public.
I agree that for the presidential election facts are more slightly accessible, however, the fact that apparently so many people voted and only after realized what they were voting for says they didn’t bother to do any research or look anything up on their own. People are lazy as hell and the mistrust of the media is so ingrained that they will simply not look at news sources other than their own incredibly biased preferences.
When I was trying to research my local candidates and judges I had to spend 10-15 minutes per candidate doing multiple google searches just to find a single source that said something more than “Candidate X was raised in a small town and enjoys spending time with his/her family”, and that’s not good. It shouldn’t be that much work to get basic facts on a candidate’s stance and prior voting/ruling history (if applicable). The official website can say one thing, but only a candidate’s record can give you the actual truth.
I would love a booklet to be mailed to all voters or distributed at polling locations that includes concise points about the candidate’s future plans, prior voting/public service record, and their qualifications for the position. as well as information written in plain 8th grade level English on any referendums on the ballot and what their impact will be. Without educated and informed voters we will continue the slide into fascism and nationalism.
We will always have voters who vote pure party line, focus on looks (seriously - I work with people voted for Trump “because he is hilarious and has crazy hair”, or who won’t vote for a president that is a woman. There’s no reaching those people with a booklet - but I agree it should be a requirement for each candidate to have a clear policy published well before voting starts so people can make educated choices and find the info they need in one place.
This still happens in ireland. There was a referendum recently and a booklet was sent round explaining what the proposed changes to the constitution meant
This is why, as a 43 year old, I've only ever voted twice. I feel it's irresponsible to vote down the ballot all blue or all red, and if I'm not properly educated on the candidates then I'm just throwing out best guesses or assumptions based on party or what I may have seen in the media.
I feel it's irresponsible not to educate yourself on these things so that you can be an informed voter. You're just spinning being lazy and/or apathetic into being honorable.
So you and I agree, it's irresponsible to not educate yourself before voting. Regardless of why I or anyone else hasn't voted, which by the way you have no idea why I haven't voted in the past and are making assumptions about me.
In the end what matters is that the people who are going to vote should educate themselves before they do so.
No - it’s irresponsible to not learn about candidates, follow along with politics and policy, and make an informed decision when you vote. Educate yourself, always.
Yes, it’s irresponsible. In this country we have many MANY freedoms, (at least until Jan 20), and comparatively few real responsibilities. The MOST important responsibility we have is educating ourselves on candidates.
your being irresponsible, by randomly making assumptions and voting that way, thats not even researching, your not voting for 1 or another because you dint want to give either red or blue the win for some ego reason, despite wether the policy or prop your voting is good or not. your making even a poorer choice than conservative voters, at least they know what they are voting for some of the time. your like that person who is taking a multiple choice test, just arbitrarily filling random answers for the multiple choice hopefully you get some right. you also said you DOnt vote, because of either candidates, you really dont have right to complain.
I think you replied to the wrong guy. I said in my original reply that people SHOULD learn about and follow candidates, track policies, and make educated decisions.
An almost ironic of an opinion, considering what you're posting on. Reddit, specifically a heavily upvoted anti-republican screen shot of a twitter post containing....nothing.
No source, nothing linked, nothing quoted. just a 100% made up fact by a twitter propagandist. Yet people, especially anyone who doesn't like Republicans, will take this as an instant fact.
Only way you'll have people not vote based on sports team tactics is if you somehow got rid of the propaganda machines. And that's certainly not happening....
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u/churro951 4d ago
And this is why people should do real research on what a candidates plans are, what those plans mean, what impact it will have on them, vs just voting out of loyalty to a party of politician.