I stand amazed when I listen to newscaster interview people and they say they are republican and will vote that way (or vice versa).  I listened to it no tonight's news.  I stand on conservative values...but that's not all there is to an election.  There are many issues to be taken into consideration....we NEED to study them all and vote accordingly.

Emily, As a middle aged American, I suggest that you don't write off the way's of the '80's, be it the 1980's, the 1880's or the 1780's. I do not subscribe to Democrats or Republicans either, and I agree with your opposition to "Party Politics". I also agree with term limitations, but not necessarily only 2 terms in Congress. Maybe a larger majority of votes after the second term, or some other show of popularity.

Don't discount the benefit of a historical perspective from the old and complacent, but never give up the challenge of the young, and fresh viewpoint.

I typically do not agree with the blanket support of REALTOR backed candidates. I have not supported the Wisconsin REALTORS Associations candidates for Governor in my home state, and the Association's candidate have been defeated in each of the past 3 elections. I think PAC endorsement is mindless.

 I say "DRAFT GORE"!!!

Draft Gore?? I really hope that was as much of a joke as he is!! The man is quite possibly the biggest hypocrite the world has ever seen. In the meantime there is a candidate out there who I really like - Mike Huckabee. I suggest you take a good look at him.

RE: A political topic,

Interesting perspective that Realtors are Republican. NOT TRUE, at least not all!  I am a progressive

registered Democrat that votes for the person Not the party.  I think you would be surprised at the number of Democrats, Independents, and Green Party candidates that hold real estate liscenses.

I was born and raised in Mobile Alabama  and moved to Oregon about 28 years ago. I must admit that I agree that it seems, at a distance, that most of the south is pretty Republican.

Regardless of your party affiliation, we need to ROCK THE VOTE!  This next election is a pivotal one, the future of the earth may well indeed lie in the hands of our next elected officials. So here is a challenge to everyone out there.  Listen to the candidates and decide who you support.  Then, get out there, talk to people, remind them that their vote counts.  The under 30 crowd needs to step up to the polls and let their voices be heard-no better way than in an election!

Not all AR members are Republicans.  And the "silent majority" is neither silent, nor a majority.

In the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan posed the question "are you better off today than you were four years ago?" and it helped win him the election.  Ask the same question today.  Are we better off than we were four (or eight) years ago?  Liquidity in real estate has become a thing of the past.  The dollar is falling.  Energy prices are putting huge pressure on American households.  

Term limits may make voters feel good, but they won't solve the huge problems we face.  And the chronological age of a senator or congressman isn't a very valid issue.  There are quite a few young candidates out there promoting some of the most failed economic and domestic policies of the 80s.

Brenda- If your comment "the future of the earth may well indeed lie in the hands of our next elected officials" was an environmental one, then it really belongs in the pages of a Superman Comic book which is where it sounds like it came from. How conceited do we have to be to believe that we can control nature? You do know it's warming on Mars right now - and apart from those two little cars we put up there, I think it is safe to say that Mars is experiencing some cyclical climate change - just as we are.

John Coleman is the founder of the Weather Channel. He had this to say on Global warming:

"It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long term scientific data to create an illusion of rapid global warming. Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the "research" to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a consensus.

Environmental extremists, notable politicians among them, then teamed up with movie, media and other liberal, environmentalist journalists to create this wild "scientific" scenario of the civilization threatening environmental consequences from Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical agenda. Now their ridiculous manipulated science has been accepted as fact and become a cornerstone issue for CNN, CBS, NBC, the Democratic Political Party, the Governor of California, school teachers and, in many cases, well informed but very gullible environmentally conscientious citizens. Only one reporter at ABC has been allowed to counter the Global Warming frenzy with one 15 minutes documentary segment.

I do not oppose environmentalism. I do not oppose the political positions of either party. However, Global Warming, i.e. Climate Change, is not about environmentalism or politics. It is not a religion. It is not something you "believe in." It is science; the science of meteorology. This is my field of lifelong expertise. And I am telling you Global Warming is a nonevent, a manufactured crisis and a total scam. I say this knowing you probably won't believe me, a mere TV weatherman, challenging a Nobel Prize, Academy Award and Emmy Award winning former Vice President of United States. So be it.

I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct. There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril. I am incensed by the incredible media glamour, the politically correct silliness and rude dismissal of counter arguments by the high priest of Global Warming.

As the temperature rises, polar ice cap melting, coastal flooding and super storm pattern all fail to occur as predicted everyone will come to realize we have been duped.

The sky is not falling. All natural cycles, drifts in climate are as much, if not more responsible for any climate changes underway. I strongly believe that the next 20 years are equally as likely to see a cooling trend as they are to see a warming trend."

Interesting huh?

Now if your comment was about the dangerous situation we face from militant Islamic terrorism and the fact that we haven't yet figured out how to deal with an enemy that wants to die as much as it wants to kill us, then you are in fact right. And I want a strong leader who will not be afraid to go and kick the crap out of someone for messing with us. I see maybe three candidates for the Presidency who currently meet some of those criteria. None of them are Democrats.

Simon I agree with you on every point except one. I say go ahead and draft Gore that will surely guarantee the next president will be a republican. The only thing green in Gore's private jet or 24,000 square foot house he lives in is the pot he is smoking. Now don,t get me wrong I've known alot of pot smokers in my day but none that I would have given a Nobel prize to or elected president.

The only problem with that Hugh is they gave him an Oscar and a flippin Nobel Prize. There are so many gullible people out there he might just be the Democrats' best chance!

Wow Hugh, That is a pretty conservative view.  I am not a Gore fan, but still, I hate to defame one's character.  Gore never was elected president and quite frankly, I voted for Bush because everyone else was more evil.  I am not happy with Bush.  I had really hoped that he would dig himself out of the mess he got himself into.  I support our troops, but not the reason they are there.  I am a young person who struggles with my liberal views and my Republican background. 

Emily - that makes you a RINO - Republican In Name Only. I'm not sure how Hugh defamed Gore. Gore uses more power in just one of his homes in one month than the average American household does in a year. He travelled by private jet - the most non-environmentally friendly form of transport - to pick up a Nobel prize for telling the rest of us to be Green and his little slide show contained so many inaccuracies it would not be possible to name them all here. I think that pretty much defines "hypocrite" and certainly if he actually believes that everyone believes him, then he surely must be smoking something!