I ask because I have regretted some of my votes in the past and it has altered my choices in the future. I learned from the results of voting for the wrong people. But I honestly don’t see this from either side very often. They are willing to “hold their nose” and vote for someone they don’t like because the “other guy” is worse . . . and then they take ZERO responsibility for the actions which happen under the control of the person they put into power.
It reminds me a little of a religious cult, where the members supported and cheered the charismatic leader, but when it is over, they bemoaned their evil and cruelty . . .all ignoring their own culpability.
I ask this question both as a self reflection exercise and as a potential segue into a conversation about mutual agreement that we as individuals will stop the cycle and quit voting FOR people we don’t support. I’d like a discussion around this topic, personal responsibility, and do you have any regrets?
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I ask because I have regretted some of my votes in the past and it has altered my choices in the future. I learned from the results of voting for the wrong people. But I honestly don’t see this from either side very often. They are willing to “hold their nose” and vote for someone they don’t like because the “other guy” is worse . . . and then they take ZERO responsibility for the actions which happen under the control of the person they put into power.
It reminds me a little of a religious cult, where the members supported and cheered the charismatic leader, but when it is over, they bemoaned their evil and cruelty . . .all ignoring their own culpability.
I ask this question both as a self reflection exercise and as a potential Segway into a conversation about mutual agreement that we as individuals will stop the cycle and quit voting FOR people we don’t support. I’d like a discussion around this topic, personal responsibility, and do you have any regrets?
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I voted for Stefanik before she became MAGA.
I regret that decision.
I also don’t like voting for Schumer or Gillibrand and which I had done a protest vote.
I voted Obama, Obama, Clinton, Biden and Harris.
I dont regret any of those choices.
The only vote I regret is the time I voted third party.
Since then I learned my lesson and did research before casting a ballot. New information may come along, but I feel confident that I acted as well as I could given the information available at the time.
I once voted for the incumbent dem in a primary not knowing he made a shitty vote re Israel/Palestine (I forget what it was tbh). I wish I voted for the leftist.
Until Biden, I’d never voted for a president who won. I figured myself out in 2015. I regret having ever voted for a Republican in a contested election but, in my defense, I was stupid.
Yes. Often
Generally I only regret primary votes. That’s not to say I couldn’t theoretically regret voting for a Democrat over a Republican, I just haven’t yet.
I don’t think you’ll find many at all who wish they’d voted Republican instead.
You’ll probably find a fair number who regret their primary votes. Fetterman and Sinema voters, for example.
Part of the problem is that sometimes both candidates suck. People aren’t thrilled about either candidate so they just vote for the person that has more policies or positions they like even if they don’t like that particular candidate.
I’ve never regretted a vote.
Yeah, I wish I had supported Bernie harder in ’16 and ’20. Over the last few months he and AOC have demonstrated leadership capabilities far beyond what either party has been able to produce. They actually care about the common man, and they are willing to go to the places like the midwest, where our snooty Dem leadership was too highbrow to bother to do. You know, where there are bunch of former Democrats.
I don’t, *because* i recognize that the reverse could/would be worse. I’m willing to accept that I voted for Obama’s second term, even though he did drone strikes, because I know that alternative forms of warfare are worse, and because I didn’t think things would be better for anybody under a Romney presidency. And because I know that the world is too complicated to just assume that every bad action had a perfectly great alternative. So yes, I have some responsibility for the actions taken by Obama and Biden. If anyone wants to hold that against me they can, but only if they can confidently assert that they truly believe Romney or Trump would have been better in those years (and not just on single issues, I will admit that I wish Romneys concerns about Russia had been listened to). Because unless you are willing to leave, or take drastic action to make change, those were the options given. Too many people believe that *not* voting gets rid of that responsibility, but it absolutely doesn’t, all it means is you allowed a presidency to happen without taking part.
*segue (Segway is a brand of transportation device)
I’ve never had the need to regret my vote becuase I don’t vote for people who are idiots or criminals.
“for those you put into power” is an unexpected exception. There are definitely votes that I might wish I had done differently, but I feel to warrant a “yes” to your question we would need to have a vote where
Which, combined… I’m really having a tough time thinking of a single instance.
> we as individuals will stop the cycle and quit voting FOR people we don’t support. I
In a two party system you can either choose the lesser evil or you can abdicate responsibility.
I understand what you are going for here. It just has a bit too much “both sides” in it to be palatable for most people that will read it.
With the current system of government we have being almost entirely “you are either a democrat or a republican”, as well as most voting being FPTP and not ranked choice, it leaves almost no room for 3rd parties to have a chance at doing anything. In fact, you can see 3rd parties being weaponized to “cancel out” opposition parties votes. This was especially evident during 2024 before the election with the push to have people either not vote or vote 3rd party due to the Israel-Palestine conflict and how poorly it had been handled by Biden.
What they failed to realize is that by enabling Trump to win, they would make things so much worse. It was an incredibly short sighted decision that has led to some of them even being deported at this point.
I voted for Biden and wish he did handle that conflict better, but I do not regret voting for him because I am fully aware that the alternative would have been far far worse. I feel the same way about the Ukraine war. I feel it could have been handled better, but the alternative with Trump would have been far far worse.
I voted for Obama and dont regret that decision at all. He was (arguably) one of the best Presidents since I have been aware of politics.
You are asking people to take responsibility for the failures of a President they voted for, when the situation could have been so much worse if they voted differently.
There is no such thing as an ideal candidate, there will always be things you dont agree with them on and if that is not the case and you do agree with them on everything, then you are talking about a religious cult. Just take a look at MAGA.
I believe I voted for a Republican in the house in 2002. I had already left my identity as a Republican behind, but was still in the process of understanding that I wasn’t an independent but rather a Democrat. I suppose I regret that vote along with all the votes I ever passed for Republicans prior.
I have voted for Bob Menendez multiple times and it was clear he was a criminal and I don’t “regret“ my vote. I am not happy that it took so long to get a better choice in the general election but control of the Senate is more important than my individual senator being a better person.
The only vote anyone on the left should truly regret is a bad choice in the primary. The correct choice in every general election for decades has been to vote for the Democrat.
The issue with this question is we have a 2 party system where 1 side is the cult and the other is voting against the cult .
The argument becomes who is the cult
No, I haven’t regretted my vote, ever. That’s because I don’t take voting personally, and see it as nothing more than a utilitarian use of my limited power to stop whatever greater evil the Republicans want to do. So when even the people I vote for screw up, I still dont regret it, because the alternative would always be worse. I live in Illlinois. I previously voted for Rod Blagojevich for Governor. I don’t even regret that vote, because a crooked Democrat is still better than a non crooked Republican who wouldn’t increase minimum wage, support unions, support abortion or lgbt rights, etc.
>They are willing to “hold their nose” and vote for someone they don’t like because the “other guy” is worse
This is the objectively correct choice.
The bigger problem facing the nation is people not voting for the better candidate and then not taking responsibility for everything that happens when the worse candidate wins.
>mutual agreement that we as individuals will stop the cycle and quit voting FOR people we don’t support.
Please please please stop pushing this please please please. Just vote for the better candidate.
I can’t say that I regret any of my votes. I have definitely been disappointed when my candidates don’t win.
Yes, in all sincerity I regret voting for Biden. It made me directly responsible for and signaling my approval towards the genocide in Gaza, a position I was glad to rectify in 2024. It also rewarded the obvious fixing of the 2020 primary.
Nope, I’ve generally found that even though I don’t like all of the choices that the people I voted for make, they still end up being a better choice than their main opposition would have been in the same situation.
Of the votes I have placed in my lifetime I am 100% certain I did the right thing in all instances. I regret nothing.
I do regret buying into the hype regarding John Fetterman during his campaign, but I don’t live in his state. I still think he, much like salmonella and most other diseases, makes a better senator than Dr Oz would so I can’t be too critical of his voters either.
Maybe if a terrible person was elected and only won the position by a single vote.
Yes. When I was younger I used to just check the boxes for the judges because I didn’t know anything about them and didn’t care to find out. Then I came to see the justice system and the impact judges have at the local level.
I think there’s an important distinction between general elections and primaries. If I vote for someone who I don’t like in a presidential election, but who I strongly believe is far better than the alternative, I don’t think I’m culpable for the faults of the person I voted for. I think the fault belongs to whoever voted for that person in the primary, and to our 2-party system in general.
I’m old, so of course I regret some 20th century votes. Unfortunately, though, the Republicans have become so bad that I don’t have a real alternative. The fact that I can vote Democrat and pretty much automatically know that the other guy is worse is not good.
Not really. I’m aware the lesser evil is still evil – just substantially less so. But realistically I’m not given other options so unless someone wants to fund my campaign I can only try to stop as much evil as I have the opportunity to stop, and that means voting for the best chance against Republicans.
I do think if democrats held congress and the white house for six straight years it would rattle the republican party enough that they would moderate. And when the republican party moderates the democratic party would also be able to move to the left.
I once voted for a dead guy over a Republican, no I don’t regret it.
Not really. I live in a red state, so my vote always goes to the less insane Democrat.
I’ve voted for many candidates of all parties. The answer is … No. That’s because I’ve always researched the candidates before casting my vote. I made the best decision at the time. In many cases it was “the better of two evils” but at least I did with my eyes open.
So far I haven’t been given cause to regret any of my votes. The candidates I vote for may not always do what I was hoping they would, but they’ve never disgraced me, and the country always seems better for their efforts in hindsight
I have yet to regret a vote.
As for taking responsibility, if Clinton had won in 2016 for example, I would have taken responsibility for helping to empower her, both the good and the bad. It was an obvious choice since anything but voting for her was clearly a worse outcome, but that doesn’t remove my responsibility in helping to bring it about.
I regret voting Green in 2020
I’ve regretted past votes when I thought I was conservative. I’ve since realized I was ignorant and only going off of what I had been taught in the home. I’ve course corrected and haven’t regretted my vote since.
I don’t have regrets.
I haven’t always liked the candidate I voted for. I certainly don’t agree with most of them on economic issues. But they were ALWAYS better than the alternative. “Both sides” is BS. The center right Democrats ARE better than the Far Right Republicans.
You speak as if we have more than two choices. We don’t. It’s a kick in the shin or a kick in the balls. Those are your choices. Voting for unicorns and sandwiches is just NOT voting for a kick in the shins, and therefore a kick in the balls.
If we had a proportional representation system, I could vote my conscience and get representation that actually represented ME. But we don’t. Stupid fucking Founding Fathers.
It kinda seems like you want to pretend you’re better than us, but you’re not. I reject your framing, and I reject your “self reflection exercise”.
You’re just as culpable as us, and I’m not taking any implied guilt from YOU.
This is gonna sound so stupid but keep in mind I was only like 19 at the time. I voted for Ted Cruz in the 2012 Texas primary election for Senate because I felt he would be more beatable in the general election than David Dewhurst (then the Texas lieutenant governor and a moderate compared to Cruz). And maybe that was true — Cruz was considered very far right and almost a fringe candidate in Texas back then. But Cruz still won handily in the general election against Paul Sadler (a moderate Dem I liked). Whoops!
I think it’s interesting how we say to the right, “this is your fault! You voted for him,” but when Obama increases the drone strike program 300% or Biden helps fund genocide in Gaza or we continue to do business with a Saudi government that literally kills gay people, we’re like, “lesser of two evils, bro. None of that is my fault.” And, listen, I vote. Held my nose and voted for Kamala and Biden, but I’m getting pretty tired of the DNC using the threat of fascism to force my vote and I think it’s comical that people want to blame the republican voters for whatever but then take zero responsibility themselves for the actions of the people they elected.
Not that it made any difference, but I supported Andrew Yang during his Presidential run. I’m glad he never went anywhere.
No, but I tend to do a lot of research before I cast my ballot. I usually go to each candidates website and look at their platform (if they have one) as well as read the local news paper’s articles about them. This last election, i ended up watching over 6 hours of debates for each political position… it was a painful endeavor. Moreover, my state has a very thorough voter’s pamphlet with statements from each candidate as well as the full and abbreviated language of each ballot measure along with pro and con arguments for each ballot measure.
Well, unless you count gillibrand and Schumer. But the Republican options are a no go for me so I guess I still don’t regret the vote. Still better than any republican option. President wise, no way. Kerry, Obama, Obama, HC, Biden, Harris. I’m happy with my votes.
I voted for Joe Manchin for senator twice, and I don’t regret either. He’s a damn sight better than either of his opponents were. We don’t get to make decisions based upon the world that we wish existed; we have to make decisions based upon reality. And, the reality is that he was not an asshole, unlike Raese or Morrisey. Not exactly progressive, but better than what I could expect otherwise.
I don’t think that this is like a cult at all. I’m looking at what are realistic possible outcomes and rationally choosing the one that I believe to be best. It would be much, much more cultlike if I were to denounce all rational, likely options in favor of a firebrand that identifies more closely with me and has no chance of winning.
Ask John Fetterman voters.
In the primary? Maybe.
In a general elections? No. Because I always vote Democrat, and Republicans have never put up a candidate (in any race that I have voted in) that I had any reason to believe wouldn’t be worse.
I take personal responsibility for the reasonably foreseeable things the candidate I elected did. If I elect someone who ran, pretty openly, on opening up drilling the Alaska, then of course I have to accept responsibility for the effects of that drilling. If I elect a politician who ran on a platform of defunding infrastructure to pay for education, then I have to take responsibility for the poor upkeep of the roads or the cancellation of the planned 4 lane expanse or whatever.
But if I elect a politician and it turns out they were bribing people to cover up their past running an illegal dog fight ring or whatever, some form of criminality or malfeasance that comes totally out of left field and I had no idea about, then no, I don’t take responsibility for that. Now if it turns out their opposition have been raising the red flag about their history as a dog fight ring operator on the campaign trail, but wasn’t able to quite prove it, and I did have some idea this might be the case but ignored it, then yeah, I would have to take responsibility for that.
I have the capability of regretting a vote, but I am far more likely to simply be disappointed in a candidate or to regret a primary vote than to regret a general election vote.
Example – Joe Biden
Joe Biden was actually a pretty effective president. He got a lot accomplished in 4 years, but was ultimately way too old and tried to hold onto power too long. He had a few missteps and policy decisions I don’t agree with, but I was for the most part pleased with his presidency. He telegraphed being a ‘transition’ candidate, but never outright said he was going to be a one term president. I get not wanting to be viewed as a lame duck too early, but he would have gone down as a legend if he came out and said he was stepping aside to allow a new generation to take over and then allowed an open primary.
Knowing what I know now, had I actually voted for him in the 2020 primary, I probably would have regretter that decision. But I will never regret voting for him over Trump.
I live in LA. I voted for Alex Villanueva for sheriff. At the time he ran as a reformer. He ended up being more corrupt and more right wing that the sheriff he replaced. The sheriff candidates are always “choose the lesser of two evils” situation, but this was especially bad. In my (and thousands of other LA voters’) defense, he did basically lie during his campaign. But I do regret that vote, and I try to be more suspicious of candidates whose main campaign promise is being an outsider.
I also didn’t bother to vote in 2010. I even was in a state where my vote really mattered. That turned out to be a huge defeat for Democrats who were just coming off of Obama’s historic win. I young and lazy is the only reason. I regret that and now vote in every election that I am eligible to vote in.
I voted for Obama twice, Hillary, Biden and Harris. I don’t regret any of those votes and given the same matchups I would vote for those people again. In each matchup the person I voted for was clearly the better choice and not just because three of the candidates I voted against were Donald Trump.
Every election I’ve been able to vote in has been against Trump. No
I voted for Ross Perot at least once because Clinton struck me as too slick, but I was wrong.
I only regret voting for George W. Bush in 2000. I was a more conservative person then. But as he went on, I felt that the Iraq War was unnecessary and based on propaganda, and also I ended up disliking a lot of his policies. I bought the “compassionate conservatism” shtick during the campaign and still feel badly about it. Now, I vote for the people whose policies I think are better, but they don’t always win. I haven’t seen much in the way of disasters from people I voted for, tbh. Sometimes some policy disagreement but that goes with the territory.
Not in so many words. I do my research and vote for the candidate who best aligns with what I consider important. There have been a few times where they don’t meet my minimum standards to earn my vote in subsequent elections but I don’t regret casting my ballot the way I do.
The only vote I regret is Edwards 2008. Whew boy, dodged a bullet on that one.
I’ve voted Demo since 08, can’t say I’ve ‘regretted’ my vote. I wish the people I had voted for did a little more with their position, but I still think it was the better choice than their more conservative opponents.
I’ve never regretted a vote, because that person has always been the better of the two options presented.
The only vote I have ever questioned is Clinton in ’92. I’m neither a Clinton lover or hater, but I’m not sure that HW wouldn’t have been better. And that’s pretty much a toss-up for me still today.
For president no. For presidential primary canidates, no.
For congress no. For congressional primary canidates, no.
Often times I’m trying to pick the person I think will be the best of either Republican or Democrat (Hint its always been Democrat). I’ll vote for a crooked Democrat over a crooked Republican. To put it out there I voted for Bernie during the last 2 Democratic Party primaries that counted in 2016 and 2020. I didn’t like Biden or Hilary, but I knew they were better than Trump who was known in my area already as a crook/con-artist.
>Do any voters on the left ever regret casting their vote for a candidate? Do you take personal responsibility for those you put into power?
Not me. I don’t recall anyone ever being extreme or divisive or a fraud that I voted for.
That is to say that perhaps I would have chosen differently in hindsight, but regret, no.
If the alternative is a Republican then no, I know for a fact that whatever happens under a Democrat will be better than the alternative. In primaries… maybe? it’s always an unfair comparison because you are comparing results to promises, but there is literally zero reason to ever EVER think “the Republican would have been better”.
For what it’s worth, I was not terribly pleased by the Houthi drone strike tweet on Friday. I remember when Barack Husein Obama was the one blowing up brown people without due process or even a congressional declaration of war, and the right criticized him for it.
With that said, my ideal candidate was not on the ballot, and I can bet yours wasn’t either.
No, I don’t regret “holding my nose and voting for Kamala because Trump is worse.” Fuck fascism and fuck fascists.
Sort of. I regret not voting in 2016.
The parties are so split, I can’t imagine a time in the last 20 years where any right wing candidate was preferable and the left wing opposition I was able to vote for was regrettable. Most of the time, both sides put up pretty standard political candidates who are interchangeable and purely represent their parties interests.
I would be curious on the details of your regretted votes. I would expect them to be at the local level. Or possibly ties to a change in political position causing you to change which candidates you prefer.
At the federal level it is rare the person voted for outside the President directly impacts most people. It seems like Trump may be the first president in a while to make moves to directly and significantly harm a large number of his voters, and go notably beyond the scope of his campaign promises to do so.
I’ve been fortunate enough that I’ve never had a candidate that I voted for win and then did something that made me regret my vote. I’ve had some local candidates be disappointing but never regretted the vote because the other option was observed to be much worse
I only regret voting Kristin Sinema because she lied to the people that voted her in and sold us out.
I don’t spend a lot of time worried about if other people regret their voting choices or not.
I voted 3rd party for president one time because I was upset over a specific issue (not that I expected everything I wanted, but there was one thing I felt progress on had been small enough to warrant losing my vote). I didn’t think it was going to alter the results of the election (live in a super blue district and it was during the general) but that if the candidate I voted for doing well would indicate that position was more popular. I’ve read research since that the smaller a politicians martin of victory is the more they tack towards the center regardless of who they are losing votes too so that was probably counter productive in hindsight. Since then I vote my heart in primaries and my head in the general.
I haven’t regretted voting for anyone I’ve voted for.
Yes I regret voting for Gary Johnson in 2016.
I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, and Al Gore lost and George W. Bush won—then Bush went and started two forever wars that cost trillions of dollars and killed hundreds of thousands of people, and destabilized the world in ways that are still being felt today.
I still feel Nader was the best candidate, but I wish things had gone differently, to say the least.
I regret voting for W in 2000. I regret voting for Hillary in the 2016 primary. That’s about it.
Sadly, the “lesser of two evils” dynamic makes it so I don’t regret any of my other top ticket votes. I would not have been ashamed if I had voted for McCain or Romney though instead. Also, I live in Indiana, so the primary vote never matters. I only regret voting for Hillary because it’s embarrassing lol
Never because I do not treat politicians as godly or elite.
I do my research, I am critical of my own party, my votes are a combination of my values and the reality that we are in a two-party system. I don’t throw my votes away to third parties who have not done the local legwork work to be taken seriously in federal elections, like President.
I’m a progressive, but show me some stable and functioning Green Party mayors, advocates, DAs, state reps, and federal reps, even governors, etc before I think about them for the highest office. 🙄
No one I have voted for has completely wrecked anything, most have made things better in the end. All have disappointed in some way or another.
The current politicians I hate: Orange and company, Adams, Hochul… I did not vote for and the ways in which they stink were completely predictable. They are all really clear about their trustworthiness and values if you have any social awareness and acumen.
I’ve always voted Democratic, so I don’t have any votes that I regret.
I voted harris and I regret it. I live in a blue state so it would have gone her way no matter how I voted.
I wish I had gone 3rd party if for no other reason than to express my extreme disgust and discontent with the party
A few of my friends went Stein or wrote in bernie. I wish I had thought of that
Not a single regret. I live in a county that voted 75% for Trump last election so its not like my vote does anything at the local level unfortunately
We exist in a flawed system. All we really have is who to vote against. But not voting is worse.
Also local elections are way more important on the day to day.
Out of curiosity, how long have you been politically aware? For almost a decade ‘the other guy’ has been Trump or Trump aligned (for the most part). IMO that is the perfect time to hold you nose and vote.
But I will say that I have not regretted a vote I’ve made. I’ve regretted votes I haven’t made much more. I was apathetic for far too long and didn’t take my vote seriously. I voted for 3rd party early on and then just became too disgusted with politics to even bother voting. The 3rd party votes weren’t great, but at least I voted – what I regret is the elections I skipped.
The primaries is the place you vote FOR people, the general election is where you hold your nose and vote for the least worst. If I don’t vote in the primary, I feel like I have no room to bitch about the candidates. If I did vote in the primary, then I don’t feel any responsibility for voting someone I dislike in office because I am only a small cog and I did what I could.
Not really, although I’ve only voted once, since I’m 21 (will turn 22 in a few months). Alsobrooks could be doing more, but I don’t regret voting for her necessarily (US senate), and I wasn’t voting for that turncoat Hogan anyways and wanted my first vote to actually count.
Also, you do know MAGA is more of a cult then the left is, right?
I regret not voting in primaries more
Let me tell you a story:
I was very young when Ronald Reagan ran for President, and I did vote for him (it was my first election). Yet, even though I now know a lot more about him both as a person and as a President that has turned me to greatly dislike the man, I still don’t regret my vote. I don’t regret it because at the time, I made the best decision I could with the information I was aware of, and I took it seriously.
That said, I am also the type that regrets very little about life, for similar reasons. Even if things don’t work out the way I had hoped they would, I don’t regret that I made the choices I did, because at the time I took the choices seriously and tried to make the best one I could.
Probably the best thing that has happened is that I’ve learned to be more informed as I’ve gotten older, so those instances of “poor choices properly made” become far lesser and less impactful.
The problem with the left is that many among us aren’t willing to hold their nose and vote and this we end up with a lot of votes going toward Jill stein and the like
I regretted not voting in 2000. That’s about it.
I regretted forgetting that i signed up to vote absentee in 2004 (bush v kerry). I showed up at the polling place like a dumbass on election day and got turned away.
2008 is all my fault 🤦♂️
I somewhat regret not voting for Hillary in 2016. I’m in a safe blue state and she won it so it wouldn’t matter anyway but my perspective has definitely shifted since then.
I was excited to vote Obama in 2012.
I was very unhappy to vote for Biden in 2020 but he was slightly better than I expected. I wish he hadn’t been our nominee but don’t regret voting for him in the general.
Definitely don’t regret my Harris vote in 2024. She was better than Biden even if she didn’t run a good campaign and it would have been infinitely better than the mess we are in now. I can confidently say we wouldn’t have a federal government that deported people who judges said were allowed to stay here, that’s for sure.
I don’t regret any of my votes. I think personal responsibility regarding voting is complicated. If you want someone to do bad things, or they tell you they will do bad things, and you vote for them in spite of that, you have partial responsibility. If you vote against someone who would do worse or the same things, while voting for this person, I don’t think you have responsibility for them.
Of course this all goes by my own moral reckoning – Trump voters may think they’re voting for the lesser of two evils with him but they’re obviously not, from my perspective. So they are responsible for what he does.
I also believe there is a moral responsibility to vote for less harm to be done, if your vote will potentially affect the outcome. i.e. People who didn’t vote for Harris (in non-solid blue states) have partial responsibility for what Trump is doing. Though I generally think this is less egregious than actively voting for the harm.
I haven’t regretted a vote that comes to mind but I did regret a donation that I did.
I was under the mistaken impression that Tulsi Gabbard was basically Team Bernie and made a small donation to her when she was an early candidate for president. Fortunately her campaign didn’t go anywhere that time and I saw enough to know she wasn’t who I thought she was then.
Who’s a candidate I should have regret voting for? Not Biden. Not Hillary. Not Obama. Not Kerry.
Clinton? Pre-Clinton?
I haven’t regretted any of my votes for candidates, because if you vote pragmatically, when there is clearly a better choice between the two, there is no regret to be had. Political candidates are flawed human beings like the rest of us. There is no perfect candidate. You can only make what you think is the best choice with the two options you have in front of you.
In general, my philosophy has been to vote with your heart in the primary and your head in the general election. You’re making a calculation based on who you think will do the most good/less harm. I can honestly say that up until this point in my life, that choice hasn’t been hard in the elections that I’ve taken part in.
I regreted voting for obama & my dem senator in my 1st election in 2012, but I wouldn’t vote for republicans, i would vote for greens instead
I don’t regret it considering the alternative
Independent here, in 2016 I voted Gary Johnson, thinking Trump had no way of winning. I was wrong.
I can’t say I’ve ever voted for a Republican, and my only regret for voting, ever, is that I didn’t vote in any midterm elections until 2018, only in presidential elections.
What I realized is that Democrats really need to hold Congress as well as the presidency, and the power balance can change in midterms. When they have enough of it – not whatever razor thin majorities they’ve had the last several decades – they can actually make change people want.
Either people seem not to realize that part, or the electoral imbalance between parties has been amplified and it’s become more difficult – if not impossible – for Democrats to win sufficient majorities (or any at all) against Republicans who have all kinds of electoral advantages. It seems to be getting worse and has allowed Trump a second win.
I haven’t regretted because it was there best choice I knew at the time I made the decision. I voted for the current mayor of my city even though I wasn’t enthusiastic about him. It was there best choice I knew then. I wouldn’t vote for him At the next election if there’s a better candidate
Well… I guess I could say I regret my Kirsten Sinema vote. But the alternative was worse, so in the end… no. But she sucked so badly.
May I ask OP: Which Democrat politicians do you think people should regret voting for and why? I am sometimes disappointed, like when Biden banned the US railroad strike. But I never wish I’d voted for a Republican instead.
Then again, I would have regretted voting for NYC mayor Adams.
I definitely feel like I’ve duped by a candidate, for example Obama was much more a centrist warmongering neoliberal that he let himself on to be (although I have in recent years been more forgiving of him because he was dealing with some hardcore racist obstruction during his presidency). but the Democrat has always been a better choice than the Republican in any race Ive been eligible to vote for.
I voted for Jill Stein in 2016, which doesn’t matter since I live in a red state, but in a vacuum it was most likely the wrong choice, if for no other reason that handing trump several Supreme Court picks. So I kind of regret that in a kind of internal way.
> I’d like a discussion around this topic, personal responsibility, and do you have any regrets?
Sure. I vote for people I believe are honest and have integrity.
I voted for Clinton twice and personally believe that his involvement with Monica Lewinsky was a horrible thing for him to do (as the chief executive he has no business doing anything like that) – but that ultimately, it was something between he and his wife and had little to do with his office. I think we all know that Clinton had issue with women – but given Trump’s current record, I don’t think it’s an issue at all anymore, as the bar has gone sub-grade at this point.
THAT SAID: If Clinton ever showed up in Jeffrey Epstein’s documents or was a ‘best friend’ of his (like Trump was), then he would lose my support entirely within a nanosecond.
Put that up against supporters of Trump who allow for sexual assault, tax evasion, banking fraud, insurrection, conflicts of interest and on and on and on…
Fetterman.
not particularly, the other choices were always leagues worse