Do people vote for a political party or a leader?

Some people look at the party, while some will vote for a leader no matter which party he represents.





Do you agree or disagree?|||Democrats always vote for whoever promises the most Hand-Outs, Free Stuff, and Bigger Welfare Checks.





That's how Obama got elected.|||most will say they vote along party lines and there is the problem they only know what the party is supposed to represent not what it really does and they do not bother to find out what the person stands for|||I prefer party lines. Parties have defined intentions, individuals have agendas.|||Technically, in a parliamentary style democratic republic, you vote for a party who has nominated a slate of candidates. In a direct representational style democratic republic, you vote for a candidate who has received his party's nomination in one particular race.



The US has a direct representational system. Most of the world uses parliamentary systems. The liklihood of blindly following a party increases under parliamentary systems, but you also get more parties, so the of finding a party platform that conforms with your views increases. Usually, you get a slate of candidates that better represents the population in parliamentary style systems, though both have their problems.





Within the US, (and this is part of the reason our representatives don't reflect the public) generally in low level elections, you get party picked candidates and nobody knows who they are, so they vote the party. In high level elections, you get candidates who can convince the party primary voters, who tend to be the more extreme end of the party, and so the candidates who run in the general election tend to be strongly disliked by members of the opposing party, causing most people to always stick with the same party. That's not always the case, but it is the case pretty often.|||If people voted for the person there is no way they could vote for Obama and also be against Bush. If someone liked Bush they should vote for Obama in 2012. They are the same guy the only difference is one is a democrat and the other is a republican.|||you are supposed to vote your conscious, don't think people do that anymore, some vote the party not the man. we all know how that turns out|||Unfortunately, a large number of dead, disabled, and cartoon characters like to vote for democrats because they haven't voted for any other party in the past. 35% of Americans are net tax takers (pay no taxes but take other people's money) and unfortunately always vote democrat to keep the gravy train running. On the other end of the spectrum, many people take Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as real news people and go with their recommendations. I tend to look at the leader and don't trust democrats or republicans and feel that term limits are our nation's biggest need at the moment.|||In order to understand how voters can cast their ballots for a candidate who states that flag pins worn on the lapel is "jingoism" (then wore one to this day) and that he wants to socialistically "share wealth", you have to acknowledge that, besides the fact that most people overwhelmingly do not vote at all but, for those who do, the majority base this vote primarily on "name/face recognition" not on politics or party but by how good they look in "Bugle Boys".|||I vote for the lesser of two evils, which so far has always been the GOP candidate.|||The answer is both. A responsible voter looks for the underlying political philosophy of how the candidate wants to run the country. If the candidate runs under the banner of a particular political party, it makes it easier to know what this person is all about.|||I flip a coin. It makes no difference.|||It is proven, We will vote for anything.|||For years I was an independent who voted candidate not party. Now I am a Democrat that votes along party lines. Will never vote Republican again. For any reason.|||I agree|||There are many examples of human nature in the Bible, describing how we long for a leader (a king).


The founders knew this, and so set us up as a Republic. It is always better to vote for principles and character, than it is to vote for charisma and popularity.|||In America, politics is more about the individual candidate. In European countries, they often list the political party first on the ballot and people really don't care about who the actual candidate is.|||A politician that has viewpoints out of the norm soon finds out that all their views amount to nothing unless they are supported by a majority of other politicians. They can either convince others their way is better, compromise to get some of what they want or complain and get none of what they want. Voting your choice even if they are not of your political party will only exacerbate this situation and your choice will soon find that the world beater they think they were is just an insignificant freshman legislator. Voting party lines gives more strength to your overall beliefs simply by adding more votes to your side of the issues. Ignore abortion views simply because they effect such a small segment of the population. Stick with major themes such as taxes, health care reform, military readiness, budget reform or jobs then align yourself with the party that more nearly says and does what you prefer. Mixing your vote between parties only weakens your overall say in how government should work.