I think we should all just agree to not talk about the election in OT

Sure, there's nothing inherently wrong with political discourse, but when combined with certain attributes of internet debate (read: ignorance and belligerence), discussion about the upcoming election gets kind of unpleasant.

Honestly, what good does talking politics in OT do? Yes, discussing the merits of your chosen candidate and the flaws of his/her opponent can be very useful when attempting to influence Joe Swing Voter, but Joe Swing Voter probably isn't looking for election-day advice from OT. It's not like anybody's opinion on the presidential race is suddenly going to change because of a biased, ignorant post on Gamespot. If I want to read the opinions of partisan hacks who agree with me, I'll go to the Daily Kos (if you're Republican I'm sure there's a similar equivalent in terms of bias), and if I want to read the opinions of partisan hacks who don't agree with me... well I probably don't want to do that, and you probably don't either.

In real life I'm a rabid Obama fanboy, but in OT I try to put all of that aside and just have fun talking with people who are different from me in some ways but similar in others. When I see posts spewing hate and lies about Obama, that fun has a tendency to disappear. And I'm sure McCain/Palin supporters feel the same way about posts trashing their candidates of choice. So maybe we should just agree to keep our political views to ourselves and go back to the greener pastures of YLYL and girl advice threads.

i used to get all worked up over political threads, now i just like to wade into the middle of one and say something stupid. see what kind of response I get.

...that's actually the way i handle most OT threads, political or not, now that I think about it...

There's so much misinformation in those threads (on both sides) that trying to straighten people out about it is pretty much an effort in futility.

We really should just have a stickied Obama v. McCain thread and then have any conversation outside of it locked.

We could call it "Voicing Opinions for Deaf Ears".

Isn't this about the election?Zathic

No, it's about not talking about the election. :evil:

We really should just have a stickied Obama v. McCain thread and then have any conversation outside of it locked.

We could call it "Voicing Opinions for Deaf Ears".

-starman-

That's an awesome idea... let's get the mods on board.

Don't read the threads if they bother you. I can't see being excited about either candidate. *shrugs*

You make no sense.

The ends justify the means, if the means are talking trash on an internet forum and the ends are nothing then surely nothing is acheived and nobody feels any different. if you take things too seriously that's your problem.

Don't read the threads if they bother you. I can't see being excited about either candidate. *shrugs*

LJS9502_basic

Having so many election threads distracts the OT users from creating original threads. Its hard to not read the threads about it when a very large chunk of OT is talking about it.

I suggest we have an official election thread. Seriously.

Having so many election threads distracts the OT users from creating original threads. Its hard to not read the threads about it when a very large chunk of OT is talking about it.

I suggest we have an official election thread. Seriously.

THE_DRUGGIE

Nothing is stopping anyone from making a thread. And if it's good it'll last. But it is not the fault of political threads if no one is making threads that interest users enough to post in them and keep them up top.

[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"]

Don't read the threads if they bother you. I can't see being excited about either candidate. *shrugs*

THE_DRUGGIE

Having so many election threads distracts the OT users from creating original threads. Its hard to not read the threads about it when a very large chunk of OT is talking about it.

I suggest we have an official election thread. Seriously.

[QUOTE="THE_DRUGGIE"]

Having so many election threads distracts the OT users from creating original threads. Its hard to not read the threads about it when a very large chunk of OT is talking about it.

I suggest we have an official election thread. Seriously.

LJS9502_basic

Nothing is stopping anyone from making a thread. And if it's good it'll last. But it is not the fault of political threads if no one is making threads that interest users enough to post in them and keep them up top.

With the amount of political threads, even the most interesting topic would get drowned 2 minutes flat.

Even though the election's going to be over soon, there'll still be people whining/praising the reults in what could possibly be a flood of political threads that would smother the board to death.

And since the election is a temporary issue, it should have its own thread since discussion of it will eventually end and it'll curb the amount of monotonous political threads.

Let me put it this way:

If the election produces threads like Obama is a Communist and Al-Qaida Supports John McCain for President, its time for an official thread.

Sure, we could do it for religion and girl help, but the election is a temporary issue that would be a good candidate for a stickied thread.

I'm not American, but I enjoy reading the opinions of people on this board about the upcoming election. It one of the few areas where people make interesting comments. Like it or hate it, whoever gets the job is going to be a player on the international scene for a couple of years.

Although I was unimpressed with either candidate at first, Obama is starting to grow on me. I think he has the potential to be either a great or horrible president, but not a mediocre one. I'm impressed with the way he is always calm and measured in how he acts, unlike McCain who behaves erratically.

you have vaild points. But those vaild points would not exist if we had peace in the world. therefore no matter where or when we talk about election is going to come up.

If you do not like it do not click on the thread. is that simple.

Let me put it this way:

If the election produces threads like Obama is a Communist and Al-Qaida Supports John McCain for President, its time for an official thread.

Sure, we could do it for religion and girl help, but the election is a temporary issue that would be a good candidate for a stickied thread.

THE_DRUGGIE

Exactly.

Plus didn't we have an "official" girl advice thread for a while?