Do people vote with their head?

[independent]

MY kid is angry about the carbon tax. He thinks it will do nothing to help the environment. He thinks gas is too expensive already. He thinks it is just another way to tax the public. They went out and bought a new gas guzzling vehicle and drive it when they only have to go four blocks. If people took themselves out of the equation and simply just voted for what is best for Canada the results would be a whole lot different.

[Moonbox]

I don't vote for what's best for Canada. I vote for what's best for me and how I feel. If I believed that Global Warming has been proven and that we are headed for disaster, I would vote for the Green Party. If I believed that people unable/unwilling to work deserved more social assistance, I would vote NDP.

The Green Shift, any way you try to explain it, is ultimately just an equalization formula to tax the haves and give to the have nots. There is NOTHING in it for me with the Green Shift.

It's incredibly naive and borderline crazy to think that people should be expected to vote for 'what's best for canada' instead of what's best for themselves.

[guyser]

Do people vote with their head?

No, a #2 pencil

[Smallc]

If people took themselves out of the equation and simply just voted for what is best for Canada the results would be a whole lot different.

I always try to vote for what is best for Canada, as I am a patriot. The thing is though, my view is biased no matter how balanced I try to be. I want what is best for the country and so do many others, we just don't all agree on what the best thing is.

[Leafless]

I don't think people vote with their head.

Because if they did, voting Liberal means voting for a socialist party who would be represented by a PM who is also a citizen of France would be totally out of the question. Just what kind of political ideologies would a PM who is also a citizen of France have?

And that is the basic problem with an officially multicultural country is when cultural issues dominate the real issues of the country.

And that includes other ding bat socialist people parties like the NDP and the Green Party who use your money to be spent on socialist programs ignoring the real issues and problems with the country.

[Moonbox]

I always try to vote for what is best for Canada, as I am a patriot. The thing is though, my view is biased no matter how balanced I try to be. I want what is best for the country and so do many others, we just don't all agree on what the best thing is.

I think that's a better way of expressing what I said. Very insightful. No matter what we think, our feelings, morals and perceptions completely alter what we think is best of Canada and we're never all going to agree.

[Wild Bill]

Vote with their head? Well, today it seems the Conservatives do. The Liberals and others all seem to be heart people.

Which is the smarter way to deal with reality is cause for a whole new thread in itself.

[Smallc]

Vote with their head? Well, today it seems the Conservatives do. The Liberals and others all seem to be heart people.

Some proof of that please.

[Topaz]

Vote with their head? Well, today it seems the Conservatives do. The Liberals and others all seem to be heart people.

Which is the smarter way to deal with reality is cause for a whole new thread in itself.

Would you have voted for the Conservatives if their name was "Alliance"?

[Bryan]

MY kid is angry about the carbon tax. He thinks it will do nothing to help the environment. He thinks gas is too expensive already. He thinks it is just another way to tax the public. They went out and bought a new gas guzzling vehicle and drive it when they only have to go four blocks. If people took themselves out of the equation and simply just voted for what is best for Canada the results would be a whole lot different.

See, I think it's completely the opposite. The "whatever it takes" approach to the environment is far more of a heart decision. Doing an cost-benefit analysis is using your head.

[Wild Bill]

Would you have voted for the Conservatives if their name was "Alliance"?

I don't understand your question. What's the name got to do with it?

[Wild Bill]

Some proof of that please.

Easy! Look at the campaign ads! The Tory ads attack Dion for having plans that won't work or are too expensive. These are "head" approaches.

The Liberal and NDP ads attack Harper personally, accusing him of being "in bed with his corporate big business friends" and not caring about ordinary people. Pure emotional appeal. There's no evidence of their charges to be refuted or debated, just a straightforward appeal to the "heart".

Tory ads - Dion's policies are poorly thought out or flawed.

Liberal/NDP ads - Harper is evil and eats kittens.

What else do you need?

Incidently, I just was picked for a focus group by a opinion research company. They paid a number of teams of us to watch political TV ads for Jack Layton and give our opinions of whether the ads changed our minds or were at least appealing.

They paid us for our time and fed us a light supper so I quite enjoyed it! I was struck however by how the ads were pure "heart" in their approach. They all seemed to be quite simplistic. Harper was bad and Jack and the NDP "cared" more about people. Almost nothing about specific goals or how to achieve them.

When I made my comments pointing this out it was interesting how the others around the table reacted. Those already inclined to vote for Harper knew exactly what I meant. Those of NDP persuasion looked genuinely puzzled.

We did have some former Liberal boosters but they freely admitted that they just couldn't vote for Dion. They were switching to NDP or Green.

We each got paid $100 for our time so as you can imagine there was some serious money being spent to research the appeal of these ads. Obviously the NDP considered them important. Me, I wasn't so sure they were truly getting their money's worth. It reminded me of that old saying that a consultant is someone you pay to tell you what you want to hear.

[eyeball]

Vote with their head? Well, today it seems the Conservatives do. The Liberals and others all seem to be heart people.

Which is the smarter way to deal with reality is cause for a whole new thread in itself.

No kidding, given the likelihood that Stephan Harper thinks the universe is only 6000 years old.

I'll take a heart full of compassion over a head full of nonsense any day thanks.

[Bryan]

No kidding, given the likelihood that Stephan Harper thinks the universe is only 6000 years old.

So, who are you supporting, The Strawman Party?

[eyeball]

So, who are you supporting, The Strawman Party?

None of the above actually.

[capricorn]

No kidding, given the likelihood that Stephan Harper thinks the universe is only 6000 years old.

If you can prove this, you may have grounds to get Harper to step aside and drop his candidacy.

[Wild Bill]

No kidding, given the likelihood that Stephan Harper thinks the universe is only 6000 years old.

I'll take a heart full of compassion over a head full of nonsense any day thanks.

I thought that was Stockwell Day. I never knew that Harper was a literal Christian.

Do you have a cite that states this, by any chance? I heard the man talk many times and I never heard anything that agrees with what you're saying.

Perhaps I just missed it. Please give me a cite.

[Smallc]

Easy! Look at the campaign ads! The Tory ads attack Dion for having plans that won't work or are too expensive. These are "head" approaches.

The Liberal and NDP ads attack Harper personally, accusing him of being "in bed with his corporate big business friends" and not caring about ordinary people. Pure emotional appeal. There's no evidence of their charges to be refuted or debated, just a straightforward appeal to the "heart".

Tory ads - Dion's policies are poorly thought out or flawed.

Liberal/NDP ads - Harper is evil and eats kittens.

What else do you need?

Incidently, I just was picked for a focus group by a opinion research company. They paid a number of teams of us to watch political TV ads for Jack Layton and give our opinions of whether the ads changed our minds or were at least appealing.

They paid us for our time and fed us a light supper so I quite enjoyed it! I was struck however by how the ads were pure "heart" in their approach. They all seemed to be quite simplistic. Harper was bad and Jack and the NDP "cared" more about people. Almost nothing about specific goals or how to achieve them.

When I made my comments pointing this out it was interesting how the others around the table reacted. Those already inclined to vote for Harper knew exactly what I meant. Those of NDP persuasion looked genuinely puzzled.

We did have some former Liberal boosters but they freely admitted that they just couldn't vote for Dion. They were switching to NDP or Green.

We each got paid $100 for our time so as you can imagine there was some serious money being spent to research the appeal of these ads. Obviously the NDP considered them important. Me, I wasn't so sure they were truly getting their money's worth. It reminded me of that old saying that a consultant is someone you pay to tell you what you want to hear.

What are you talking about? In this campaign, Harper's ads have either been scare tactics or ads that were meant to pull at your heart strings. There was a a plan in there, but they were certainly not all head.

Jack Layton's primary ad so far had many things that were not meant to go at the heart, but rather the head. 1 in 8 children in poverty, 5M Canadians without a doctor, $50B in corporate tax cuts. Those are real numbers.

The Liberal Ads also talk about heir plan and bash what they call Hapernomics. I really don't agree with your argument.

[eyeball]

I thought that was Stockwell Day. I never knew that Harper was a literal Christian.

Do you have a cite that states this, by any chance? I heard the man talk many times and I never heard anything that agrees with what you're saying.

Perhaps I just missed it. Please give me a cite.

It is hard for the Canadian public to reconcile Harper's image as a highly rationalistic policy wonk with the conservative Christian morality and leap-of-faith belief system of the denomination to which he belongs, says Foster, a specialist on Canadian politics and conservative Christianity.

Harper's "near-Teutonic" rationalism, says Foster, seems at odds with his evangelical faith, which Foster says relies on supernatural belief.

"It's as if the two hemispheres of his brain are warring with each other."

Cite

Much of my own sense of where Harper's head is at stems from what I've heard his supporters who live in my town say they believe about him. I recall one of these once telling me it was silly to worry about the state of this world since God was making us a new one. Even if Harper is only half as far gone as this its still way too far over the edge for my liking. We are currently faced with some very very serious problems and we need serious leaders with an ability to think clearly, rationally and above all else humanely.

Now, can anyone else imagine Jesus throwing a 14 year old into today's jails? Give your freakin' heads a shake.

Edited September 27, 2008 by eyeball

[TCCK]

Now, can anyone else imagine Jesus throwing a 14 year old into today's jails? Give your freakin' heads a shake.

There needs to be real consequences for criminal actions or the youth of today will continue to get worse. 20 years ago murders by kids under 15 were very minimal, not today, the numbers have gone I believe 545% higher in that time.

Video games , TV portray the criminals as good guys almost and show no consequences, the parents babysit their kids with TV's and video games so they are getting a slanted moral value system and being desensatized to the violence. They have no idea that when they hit BOBBY over the head with a bat, HE WILL NOT RESPAWN in 15 seconds.

Show them there are consequences for actions, they must be respnsible for what they do.

This will cut crime down. Countries that have stiff penalties or capital punishment do have lower crime rates (by percentage) than their neighbouring countries.

BUT you must also provide a safe place for these 14 year olds to go so they do not end up being the prison girlfriend for all the older prisoners. You do have some responsibility to the criminals for thier safety and then re-educating them so they can be productive members of society.

[Wild Bill]

Much of my own sense of where Harper's head is at stems from what I've heard his supporters who live in my town say they believe about him. I recall one of these once telling me it was silly to worry about the state of this world since God was making us a new one. Even if Harper is only half as far gone as this its still way too far over the edge for my liking. We are currently faced with some very very serious problems and we need serious leaders with an ability to think clearly, rationally and above all else humanely.

Now, can anyone else imagine Jesus throwing a 14 year old into today's jails? Give your freakin' heads a shake.

Ok. So you don't know about Harper but you've heard something from some of the people around him.

Proof positive, I guess! Guilty by association.

I hang out with a lot of musicians. What does that say about me?

I am careful to avoid country singers, however.

[independent]

There needs to be real consequences for criminal actions or the youth of today will continue to get worse. 20 years ago murders by kids under 15 were very minimal, not today, the numbers have gone I believe 545% higher in that time.

Video games , TV portray the criminals as good guys almost and show no consequences, the parents babysit their kids with TV's and video games so they are getting a slanted moral value system and being desensatized to the violence. They have no idea that when they hit BOBBY over the head with a bat, HE WILL NOT RESPAWN in 15 seconds.

Show them there are consequences for actions, they must be respnsible for what they do.

This will cut crime down. Countries that have stiff penalties or capital punishment do have lower crime rates (by percentage) than their neighbouring countries.

BUT you must also provide a safe place for these 14 year olds to go so they do not end up being the prison girlfriend for all the older prisoners. You do have some responsibility to the criminals for thier safety and then re-educating them so they can be productive members of society.

You make a good arguement for improved education and tighter legislation for the sale of video games. You need to support the families and help the kids that do not have the family support. Most kids involved in crime go to gangs because that is the only family they know. The education they get there will not tell them about the consequences of their actions. The problem is governments do not want to spend money where it is needed at the root of the problem.

[eyeball]

Ok. So you don't know about Harper but you've heard something from some of the people around him.

Nobody it seems knows a lot about Harper. He's been keen to reveal as little as possible about where his head truely is, he is secretive and rigidly controls the images and messages both he and his party send. This has been his style from day one since he's lead his party, during his term as PM and his one man campaign roadshow. I guess Jesus was never really big on sharing the spotlight either was he?

In addition to what I've heard his supporters say about him (Harper that is) I've also read articles like the one I cited and opinions of people who might provide some insight to what's going on in his mind, like specialists on religion and Canadian government for example.

I just don't have the capacity for suspending my disbelief the way you and Harper can I guess. It sounds like Harper had to do some pretty serious swallowing to become the educated believer he's reported to be. He apparently wasn't enlightened or saved in the more conventional manner like walking in the desert or as a result of some profound life-altering crisis.

You've placed a lot of stock recently in the inability of leftists to think rationality or scientifically. Can you seriously imagine yourself coming to the same conclusions Harper has about the nature of reality after reading C.S. Lewis and Muggerridge?

[eyeball]

You make a good arguement for improved education and tighter legislation for the sale of video games....Most kids involved in crime go to gangs because that is the only family they know. The education they get there will not tell them about the consequences of their actions. The problem is governments do not want to spend money where it is needed at the root of the problem.

I can attest to some of this. My family exploded when I was 14 or so and I soon found myself hanging out on the mean streets of Toronto with a bunch of other under-age refugees in similar straights. Fortunately a bunch of us had the good sense to head out west and go logging and fishing and meet new chicks.

A good part of my education about consequences mostly involved staying alert to avoid getting squashed by a flying log. Logging can kind of make you feel like a target in a video game.

[betsy]

Would you have voted for the Conservatives if their name was "Alliance"?

Why, do you vote because of the name?