Despite persistently voting Democratic, MacKaye does not explicitly consider himself a Democrat. He has explained that he votes solely for the politician least likely to engage in war. He also noted that he had voted for Obama in the 2008 presidential election. When further probed for a summation of his political views, he explained: My rule of thumb in terms of voting for presidential elections always boils down to one thing. Whoever becomes the president of this country is what the people of this country deserve, because it was either they voted for that person or they allowed that election to be rigged, or they didn't put enough of a fight about it. However, the rest of the world does not deserve whoever our president is. It shouldn't be their problem at all. It's our problem. Our country has an enormous impression on the rest of the world. In my opinion at least, the most visceral effect on the rest of the world is war, essentially murder. This country has excelled in murdering people in other places, certainly in the last 10 years. So my rule of thumb in terms for voting is voting for the person who is electable and is least likely to engage in war. And that is it. It's a very simple equation.