What issues are the most important for you in a politician?

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Ok, I am just sort of curious what issues really get your vote and why. The more thought out your answer is and the more you compare your favorite issues to other major issues and long-run welfare of a nation, the more informative it will be to me.

I have divided these issues up into 3 categories for simplicity's sake. I know that there is some overlap between issues but I am simplifying. Here are the categories:

Economics: These issues are things such as tax levels, wage policies, regulation, tariffs, government programs, poverty, etc. Basically any issue that has to do with money, its distribution in a society, and the use of resources in a society. I would also include environmental issues here.

Foreign policy: These issues are things such as military deployment, treaties, agreements, and how active of a hand the US takes in the business of other nations, foreign aid and things of that nature.

Social policy: These issues are things such as abortion, gun control, homosexual marriage, race relations, free speech, privacy, drug laws, family issues, divorce, often crime, and so on and so forth.

I think that most voters are reactive. If the economy is bad, then the economy is The Issue. Whatever other emergency or hot-button issue is out there, it will trigger votes.

In the primaries, people are voting for their perfect candidate. Given 5 or 10 very different candidates in each party, it is possible for people to get a pretty good fit to their constellation of issues. Come the general election, many people usually have to settle for the least offensive candidate.

Equally. Honesty is extremely crucial too, except when it affects matters of urgent security and military operations.

I didn't ask for most voters though. I asked about individual posters and their reasoning. The average voter really doesn't concern me because I see the people as sheeple. Basically, I am asking people here because I would imagine that many have a consistent ideology of some form.

If you don't mind me asking, why are they all equal? Some fears seem more dangerous than others and some issues seem more hyped up than others.

I voted for Economic and Foreign Policy. That's what the government's job is. I think Social issues are best left up to society itself. Government's job is not to force things like religion, gay marriage, or whatever other culture things onto us.

So, you are afraid that the government is going to make you marry someone of the same sex? Marriage is a contract between 2 adults; to allow gays to marry is not forcing anything on anyone. And the reason that gay marriage is not allowed? Because the government is enforcing particular religious beliefs.

Ok, then my personal algorithm for choosing a candidate involves pair-wise comparisons of candidates to determine which one I prefer. If two candidates are about the same on an issue (regardless of whether it is economic social or foreign policy related), that issue doesn't affect my decision much.

Sometimes I decide I shouldn't throw my vote away, so I vote for the candidate that is favored to win. (kidding!) But game theory does sometimes enter into it - it can make sense to vote for a second choice to avoid the prospects of the worst candidate winning.

Hmm... let's just say that you have a candidate that supports your favorite social issue but is either moderate or against the other 2. A candidate who supports your favorite economic issue but is either moderate or against the other 2. And finally a candidate who supports your favorite foreign policy issue but is moderate or against the other 2. Who do you pick? This is very much theoretical, but still, I think most people do have issues that they tend to favor and I am trying to test for that rather than simply determine that people do not regard issues between candidates if their is no difference in position because logically that should be quite obvious.

Well, of course .... but.

What you are describing is so abstract, and it is not how I make my decisions. The degree to which any factor is more important or less important in my matrix weightings depends on many things.

I am not a person who has used the same litmus test for the last 20 years (ie, abortion or gun-control determines my vote, regardless of anything else). I don't think that (as a general rule) any of the 3 factors you mentioned are enough to decide things in isolation. I guess I am reactive as well - the degree to which I value economics depends on how I evaluate current economic conditions, and how the candidates have adressed those issues.

That's all I have to say about this topic -- I know you are trying to pry details of my proprietary algorithm out of me, but I won't let you.

I voted for economic and foreign policy issues.

Concern with social issues is important too for a politician I would support, but I view those two issues as essential.

Economic issues, but since I know very little about that sort of thing I vote mainly based on Social issues and Environmental ones. Which is unfortunate.

Bad economy and poverty= socio-economic decline. Bad society= crime, lack of standards, and moral decline, not to mention degeneracy. Bad foreign policy= risk to security, trade, and poor international standing.

Ideally, there should be a leader who can balance all the issues properly.

Of course, that's not the whole story. I would say that economic and social issues are the most important.

Are you tring to say there's such a thing as an honest politician??

No, I'm not afraid of that. I'm saying that the Federal government shouldn't legalize or abolish gay marriage for the entire nation. All of America isn't the same culturally, so why impose the same way of every social issue on everyone? If California wants gay marriage, that's fine. If Texas doesn't want it? That's fine too.

the canadite i'll be voting for wont care about policing the world, the middle east, or Israel.

and will get rid of the criminal organizations the federal reserve and irs.

basically im looking for a guy or girl that will lift our countrys nose out of everyones business and help people here, instead of over there