posted for cliffelam. Thought you'd like this.
This is an interesting election, because I think people are more motivated by fear and dislike of the other guy in this round rather than positivity for their guy. Of the people I know who are voting for Romney and those who are voting for Obama, it seems that most are really voting negatively. I wonder if this is a stronger factor than what is typical. Even '04, which was a particularly vitriolic election was a referendum on Bush, with some loving and some hating him. I don't think anyone was passionate about Kerry either way.
When I moved to the south people in Michigan asked me if I was bothered by some of the open racism down here. My response is that I would prefer someone to wear such a thing on their sleeve rather than to hide it. I sort of feel this way about the choice we have now. I'd rather have a person that I expect to be non-transparent, prone to war, and beholden to special interests than someone that claims to be the antithesis of these things but then never acts accordingly. I really don't like my options right now.