What's important to you?

[Bukkake Sensei]

I've realized recently that my political values and priorities have changed a lot over the last few years. There was a time when I was mostly interested in social issues, and things like abortion, drug legalization and same-sex marriage were always at the very forefront of my political agenda. Meanwhile, things like economics and gun rights didn't even register on my radar. I still have strong opinions on all of those social subjects and think it's extremely important that we debate them, but they just aren't all that important to me personally anymore. In their place, I've taken more of an interest in things like immigration policy and economic policy, but I still take nearly every issue into account to some extent.

But that's just me. I know people who view every election as a single-issue election; some people will automatically vote for whichever candidate is against abortion, or whichever candidate they think is more likely to legalize marijuana, or whichever candidate has a better record from the NRA. I know of one person (on this forum) who was very anti-Obama during the elections specifically because Obama supported trade sanctions against the country where his family lived. Basically, different issues are of varying significance to different people, and this fascinates me.

What political issues are you most passionate about and most likely to base your voting decisions on?

I'd have to say that my top three are immigration policy, environmental issues, and taxation. Like I said, they're not the only things I care about, but nearly everything else comes second.

 

[mermaidman]

As of right now, the issues that hit closest to home would be educational issues, health care issues, and Social Security. I support the health care reform, though I tend to lean against Obama's policies. As for educational, I am in a city funded private college, which gets its funds from not only the New York government, but the federal one as well. Budget cuts eliminate classes that are of interest, which leaves me with less options. As for Social Security, it is a big concern because of the amount of money that is soon to be exhausted. Having a 1-1 support system seems troubling, comparing it to the 6-1 trade off that it once was.

As for the issues regarding drug laws and such, to me they seem minor. Those kinds of things I can get without it being legal, so I see no point in particularly paying close attention. (These are my opinions, don't take them to heart.)

 

[Oberon]

Immigration and taxation are very important. Moreover, the management of money has always been something that intrigued me quite a bit. It's something I think every candidate should take time considering; not only what taxes will be challenged/discussed, but how about the actual economic structure itself? Is something more effective than what we have in terms of the type of currency? I think it's pretty important overall. Not to say we don't have a well structured economy, but it's still something to consider each election cycle, since the economy changes substantially every four years (much less every year).

Also, how we manage resources is also very important. Resources are abundant (more or less) but at the same time limited; considering how we can use/manage them is something I'll definitely look into.