I'm calling the election: Romney will win

I have no real reason for this, but my hunch is that Obama will remain in office. I think he might get a small boost from the storm damage and some of the positive reports on his handling of it by people like Chris Christie. Also, if there is a halfway decent jobs number out on Friday, that would help too.

ETA: My absentee ballot also said Gary Johnson. Based on this thread he has 100% of the vote so far!

Anyone who votes for someone besides Obama or Romney is wasting their vote.  That's OK, I did the same thing when I voted for Perot in 1992 (the first time I was able to vote for President).

And I disagree.  IMHO, Obama wins.

Not sure how that could happen considering the initial "good one" in September was corrected to include "the biggest one-week percentage increase in jobless claims over the last five years".  But that wasn't front page news now was it?

IMO it's a waste of a vote to continue to chose the lesser of two evils and end up with the same crap in DC year after year.  It's a waste to vote for someone with whom you have major differences of opinion (both of them)

However, I made sure that my vote was offset by another as to not "steal" votes from one candidate.  If we got everyone to do that we could all meet in the middle and have Johnson elected. 

In a perfect world...

In the other thread that was easily explained by CA not reporting their jobs one week then the report jumped significantly the next to include them. That report however, is not the same as the NFP report that is for the month of Oct coming out on Friday. If it shows 125k+ jobs created in Oct, that would be a boost to Obama, IMO.

Oh I know it wasn't a conspiracy, rather a mistake.  Just stating that the #s were not as good as first reported.

 At some point that "wasted" vote will be the tipping point and the two party apple cart will be upset.

I disagree.  Go read his platform.  My beliefs align with almost all of what he says, unlike Romney where I disagree with his social policy and Obama where I disagree with his fiscal (and some of his social) policy.

Do you honestly believe that Romney or Obama is the best we can offer as President? ... I know the answer to the Obama part

Amen! I view this election as a downhill slope. Both are trying to convince me that they will go downhill slower than the other guy.

Hardly.  It might not make a difference *this* election, but vote for the candidate you would like to see hold the office.  If more people did this, we wouldn't be locked into the Dem/Rep dominated election cycle. 

Now...understanding how the electoral collage will deal with plurality votes and governing with "coalitions" that would be required with more than the two major parties present their own challenges...

When this country eventually collapses under the weight of the D's/R's, I will be able to say that I did not support it. 

Can you answer me this question. Why is Ryan considered a deficit fixer? His plan clearly states that he will continue to run a deficit EVERY YEAR until after he is most likely dead (2062). 

http://roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/appendix-ii-table.pdf

Then please by all means vote for Romney if that's the candidate that you want to lead the country (and honestly if I have to chose between Romney and Obama you know which I'll choose).  I support your decision. 

But to say that because I believe that Johnson is the right man for the job that I am...

"projecting their own hopes and beliefs onto a candidate because they are largely an unknown commodity"

... is a bit insulting.  I've done my homework.

I would even say the reverse is more likely. We've all seen what happens under the current two party system. Isn't it just wishful thinking, expecting them to suddenly change now?

I think it's a toss up.

I think it's more likely that those centrist democrats might just not vote at all.  There was a lot more interest spun up last election due to the primary contest between Hillary and Obama.  On the mid-right category, I think that'll come down more to personal needs and specific states.  Like it or not, many folks are in favor of the health care changes, esp. when they are out of a job.

No idea if that will be affected, but I spent an hour and a half this morning and 3 calls to the help desk in the HHS payment and financial reporting system trying to complete items that usually take 10 minutes.

eta: a Dept. of Labor spokesman announced the report will be released on Friday as planned.

Regarding 3rd parties: I think a new party will have to start getting traction in Congress first before such a candidate makes a successful run for the presidency.

The other way it might happen is if voting laws were to change - for example, if we switched to an instant-runoff system where you rank your candidates.  But that's a chicken-or-egg problem since the two party machine would never make that change.

Thanks...

Yes, some.  But I think plenty are voting for Obama and Romney with the same lack of basic understanding.

Like these people: http://nj1015.com/the-average-voter-exposed-by-the-howard-stern-show-audio/

maybe.  but when it really comes down to it...what is more important...healthcare or being employed.

Some good points on this thread for both sides.  I tend to agree with TriR, I think Romney will win.  Maybe because I live in an area with a large LDS population.  Seems for every Obama sign you see at least 6 Romney signs.  It wasn't that way the last election.  I've already cast my vote.  I'm not about to throw it away this election to someone that can't win. 

What would it take for you to switch to someone you actually believed in, that had no chance on winning? Would both candidates have to say "well, there really isn't a difference between us, we both are going to run up the debt and screw over all of the young people in this country" Why does it matter if they can or can't win?