I will try to directly address your post, then get back to figuring out how to come up with a poll that can cover all aspects of this discussion.
I am not questioning your motive, rather your methods. If my response did not convey the latter, that was my intent. To use a hasty analogy, if you want to call attention to a fire, you do not make it bigger to draw attention to it. Your subsequent thread/poll as to how to address the issue was certainly a more productive means of accomplishing your stated goal.
From a logistical standpoint, it is much easier to deal with those determinations on a temporary basis, rather than on a permanent basis. That combined with an invertible subsiding of political angst once the election is over makes a temporary restriction more logical than a permanent prohibition in my view. However I am certainly open to other perspectives, hence the request for other points of view.
There is no problem with removing those who wish to stop seeing threads in a particular section/New Posts. As a matter of reference, there is at least one forum member that requested access to the Corvette Babes section be removed for the sake of he and his family. We were happy to accommodate his request without restricting other forum members ability to participate.
My only point when addressing Kevin was that it might be premature or hasty to make such a decision prior to seeing how this all works outs.
However if he, you, or anyone else would like us to remove your access to the OT, it can certain be accomplished upon request.
At the risk of sounding redundant, I respectfully disagree with how you went about this. If your political view is in the minority, I would think your ability to express your opposing point of view would be something your appreciated and cherished on a forum like ours.
Instead, if I understand your reasoning correctly, you purposely exacerbated a problem in an effort to draw attention to it. That seems illogical at best. Now you are asking that the forum change it's policy to restrict other forum members from exercising their ability to post their perspective on political issues. That also seems counterintuitive to your expressed posts.
Regardless, this is not a decision I intend to make on my own, and have asked for input not only from the forum members, but also members of the BOD as well. Just because the OT has been reasonably strife free from a political angst standpoint, that is no assurance it will always remain that way. The question is how we can best accommodate your request, without over moderating the forum and restricting other members. Hopefully the upcoming poll will help us to figure that out.
