How biased are you?

Question

In regards to politics. Would you vote for a candidate from a different party? Would you watch a political news program that had opposing views? Do you ALWAYS support members of your party even if they are wrong?
Just curious.

Answer 1

I have no choice but to listen to watch news programs that have opposing views. WHY? Because all that is on mainstream television news is corporate conservative views. There's Fox news, obviously this has a very conservative bent. Then there is CNN or what we in L.A call "FOX II" because they are trying so hard to be like Fox. NBC, CBS, ABC and others are very corporate and pose a point a view that favors corporate interests. NPR and PBS are not much better since it has been proven they interview more people on the right and with a conservative point of view 75% of the time than another point of view. Where is the choice that supposedly good old capitalism is supposed to bring?
As to your question about voting for a candidate from a different party, I'd vote for someone from the other party if they had proven they have their head on straight and aren't afraid to tell the truth about the Bush adminsitration and it's corruption. And, if I agreed with what they have to say. So far there is only one candidate doing that in the GOP: Ron Paul. Even though Ron Paul is far too much of an economic libertarian for me. The rest the GOP candidates are way too looney and corrupt themselves. The GOP party has been basically hijacked by the extreme right and the military, oil corporate welfare advocates otherwise known as the neo cons.
I usually vote Green Party or Indepedent, so voting Democrat this time will already be voting for a candidate from a different party.
I'm always curious of all kinds of ideas no matter what party they come from. The problem is that both the GOP and the DEMS have become 2 branches of one party. That isn't real choice either.

Answer 2

would you vote for a candidate from a different party- yes if I believed in their platform. Being an Independent though, I suppose both parties ARE "a different party".

would you watch a political news program that has opposing views- yes as long as the news program was reporting on opinions and news which didn't go off on a tangent about the opposing sides, calling them names and saying they're completely wrong, with all their beliefs. This is a reason why I normally stick to the BBC and NPR programs, rather than the majority of conservative talk radio. If the conservatives were willing to give their viewpoint on issues and have that be that, rather than go into a battlecry over liberals and Democrats, I would be all for it. I have listened to a little right-wing radio but due to the blame game, I can't stick with it for too long.

do you ALWAYS support members of your party even if they are wrong- no. I support members of both parties, depending on what they stand for. I have no interest in a politician's dirty laundry, in their personal life.

Answer 3

I'm quite biased indeed. I'm biased towards those individuals or entities whom I would disagree with the least. That does not mean I base my entirely viewpoints on their stances on issues, but rather they tend to merely confirm my own views. Political parties, at their root, are merely about getting funding for their individual candidates. They can espouse a certain platform, but that does not mean every member has to follow each and every aspect of such a platform.

I do tend to watch programs that hold opposing views. After all, how else would I know what the enemy is being told? (The 700 Club makes for cheap amusement. LOL)

Regarding accountability of like-minded party members, I will criticize the next "Traficant" just as much as the next "Duke Cunningham." Wrong is wrong, regardless of party affiliation. Such blind loyalty and unwavering support of any candidate or party only limits one's overall knowledge base.

Answer 4

At least people are honest, I have to say that when it comes to political affliliation there is an obvious and apparent ignorance to the other side and the ability to see things from several perspectives. I used to have an ID on here called Another Perspective, I found that usually the only time I disagreed with a side completely was when it was a 1-sided opinion. If anyone thinks that Republicans have it all right or all wrong I call them a fool. If anyone thinks Democrats have it all right or all wrong they are again, a fool.

Bottom line, how can you be for anything or against anything if you don't understand the other side? Every international conflict and racial conflict are results of ignorance of the other side's view.

Answer 5

No. I learned a long time ago that no one party or candidate totally represents me. I just have to try to come the closest. I'm the old fashioned Green, but didn't like all the changes to it or that it was always accused of taking votes away from the second best Democratic candidate. So I switched to Democrat. But frankly would vote for any consistent candidate who I knew where they stood for real and did right by at least one of the issues. The only one I like for this is Kucinich and he doesn't have a chance.

Answer 6

Very biased. I would not vote for a candidate from a party whose platform I disagreed with.

Opposing views are everywhere - I don't avoid them.

As for supporting members of my party when they are wrong, I recognize that the probability that at every one of us has been wrong at some point. It's important to distinguish between being wrong and disagreeing, however. The probability of any of them being completely in agreement with all my beliefs is about zero. There are those in my party I disagree with and have voted against.

And I do not tolerate crime or even unethical or immoral actions by politicians in my party.

Answer 7

I have to say that I do disagree, sometimes strongly, with the political party that I am affiliated with. However, while I do keep an open mind, I don't necessarily give 'equal time' to the opposing views. I primarily get my news through CNN, NyTimes.com, etc, which has been said to have a liberal leaning. I don't make it a habit to go to FoxNews.com or watch Bill O' Reilly, but I also do not automatically dismiss the conservative viewpoint either.

Answer 8

Do I always support my own party? No

Would I watch a political new program with opposing views? Yes, and I do on occasion.

Would I vote for a candidate from a different party? No.. but not because of bias.. but rather because if they had the views I appreciated... they wouldn't be from a "different party" :P

Answer 9

As a rule of thumb, I never vote for an incumbant. Therefore, my vote is generally split between the two parties.

Also, I watch as many of the weekend political news shows as possible (Meet The Press, Fox News Sunday, John McLaughlin Group, This Week, Washington Week, etc.) regardless of political leaning or stance on issues.

Answer 10

Since I'm registered to a third party, I frequently find myself voting for another. And, my political views are odd enough that I don't often find political news programs that agree with them ('Uncommon Knowledge' on PBS is an occassional exception).