Do you judge a candidate by their supporters instead of their political platforms?

Question

"I'm not going to vote for __________ because his/her supporters are ______(enter any undesirable trait here)_____!"

I've been running across this more and more lately, and find it a bit disturbing. Personally, if a candidate has some solid and feasible ideas that I feel would greatly improve the way the country is run, I don't care if his campaign is cheered on by Nazis wearing diapers and riding porpoises. (Assuming of course that those folks aren't his apparent choice for cabinet members!)

Or, there's the flip side... people who vote for a candidate just because some big celebrity endorses him/her without really knowing what that candidate's platform is.

I'm curious as to why some people feel this is a valid reason to support or reject a candidate.

I suppose I should have given some examples of what I'd been hearing. I just didn't want to open the doors to offend anyone.

Examples: People who say they will vote for Obama only because Oprah endorsed him, or people who say they won't vote for Paul because they think his supporters are annoying.

Superficial, I know. But I seem to see a lot of this sort of reasoning on blogs and forums.

Answer 1

Close associates and the support of interest groups are an indication of what part of the platform really means something and what sort of people will be appointed to high position in government. The fact that Rudy has the support and advice of the people who were advocates of the Iraq war matters to me, but that someone working in Thompson's campaign was involved with drugs doesn't.

Answer 2

A candidate's supporters aren't going to be a major deciding factor, but I don't think they are irrelevant either. If candidate X's supporters include a large organization or group of people with whom I totally disagree philosophically or find scary in some way, then I have to wonder what they might know about the candidate that I haven't learned about yet. It would certainly make me want to dig deeper before deciding.

Answer 3

Because people who support a candidate tend to do so because they share common ground. Think about it, if a candidate was endorsed by Osama bin Laden, do you think that would affect the way some people would vote for him? I hope so, because if bin Laden believes that a specific candidate has his interests in mind, nobody who is an opponent of bin Laden will want that candidate in office.

I think the concept is pretty simple. I don't understand why you are having so much trouble with it.

Answer 4

This isn't a sound reason to refuse to support a candidate (unless there is another candidate who has similarly sound ideas, but without the baggage of questionable supporters).

The only supporters of a candidate who concern me are the base, not the fringes, as the fringes will not influence the candidate once in office. If a minority of a candidate's supporters are racists, conspiracy theorists, and similar trash, I don't care. If a candidate has outright trash in his/her inner circle, that does concern me a little bit and will influence my decision.

However, the issues should take precedence.

Answer 5

Buddhists would tell you there's only so much you can control in life. The only way I know of controlling who does/doesn't support you is to thank or reject an individual or an organization publicly. Of course, candidates rarely reject support since it might come back to haunt them if other people are offended by the rejection.

I would a judge a candidate on his attitude and sincerity, (try avoid listening to promises) who he/she is not afraid to anger and his history with a mixture of liberal / conservatism.

Oh ... one more thing. In case, it hasn't dawned on any of you - don't hold your breath waiting for another JFK. Would you want your head blown into several pieces for standing by your beliefs? See Ya, tw6382

Answer 6

yes the role of supporters is taken into account too. For example i hate Bush because his supporters were very mean to me. In 2003 when iraq war started, i expressed my doubt about WMD credibility, and the supporters of Bush at once accused me of being traitor and questioned my patriotism.

Fast forward few years ahead --- no wmd were found and huge flaws were discovered in WMD intel. Yet i was already accused a traitor in March of 2003 itself simply because i predicted truth.

Therefore since that day, i decided never to vote any repub again.

Answer 7

Seriously speaking i am not the one who chooses the Presidents and other Politicians.. They all make promises and never keep them! They just keep promising a good life, a good education, a good sports and nothing changes! You still got rapists, murderers, thugs, drug dealers all over the world. No one cares about the president, people care about the WORLD! And Let's make a change! For ourself and for our life! :-)

Answer 8

Yes. I think it's valid. I will not vote for anyone who abuses Christianity or appeals to a segment of the population which endorses theocracy or a state favored God.

Answer 9

I don't, but I can try to understand the rationale behind it -- that "those" are the types of people that will benefit most and be promoted to positions of power after having that candidate elected.

"Like" attracts "Like," so to speak.

Answer 10

Sincerity of the candidate to serve the people must be primordial consideration of the people to vote for a candidate.