Keeping it civil instead of returning to our dark ways

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
It was still raining very hard this morning when I woke up, and I was worried that the rain would keep people from turning up at the polls. When I got to my precinct around 8:15, the line to vote was all the way around the room and the person who checked me in told me that it had been much longer earlier this morning. I stood in line for about 45 minutes. For some reason, no one turned on the air conditioning, and there was a lot of grousing about it, but no one left. There were eight booths, probably 40 or so races and three city initiatives. We use the eSlate machines, which are electronic but not the touch screen machines. There's a little wheel that you use to make your selection, and I didn't have any problem at all casting my ballot.

Two or three people weren't on the registration list when they checked in, so they had to fill out provisional ballots, and the election judges seemed pretty busy. They kept on calling HQ to ask questions. One woman said that she'd checked the box to switch her voter registration when she changed her drivers' license after she moved, but she was still registered at her old precint. Fortunately, that wasn't too far away, and the people at our precint gave her all sorts of information so she didn't have to spend too much time explaining everything.

I was exit polled when I left.

I did early voting last week. Like any good date, it was fun and easy. My only regret is that it was over too soon. I was back to work in 30 minutes. I may need to vote again today,

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
I did early voting last week. Like any good date, it was fun and easy. My only regret is that it was over too soon. I was back to work in 30 minutes. I may need to vote again today,

Check with Bilmore. I think he has some names you can use.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
The only thing determined during that exchange yesterday was that you define "opposed" differently than 95% of the population, including the cat who edits the Oxford Dictionary.

The only thing determined is that you people never, ever, offered a definition of "opposed" that in any way corresponds to anything that Kerry has ever affirmatively stated. Which is to say, you people only showed that you have faith (ironic that, huh?) that you understood what he meant. Or, for the 100th time, someone can answer any of the numerous questions I posed yesterday. Except, nobody can, because the pied piper already walked yas over the cliff.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Early voting looks good. Blogling so you don't have to:

ARE EARLY VOTERS DIFFERENT? Reports from the early voting are trickling in and, at least in two make-or-break battleground states, show a pretty dramatic preference for John Kerry over George W. Bush. In Florida, the latest Gallup poll showed that about a third of the polled voters had already cast ballots and that Kerry led 51 percent to 43 percent among them. In Iowa, according to The Des Moines Register, 27 percent of those polled by Saturday had already voted, and Kerry was similarly favored 52 percent to 41 percent by the early birds. In both states, those who had yet to vote were more pro-Bush than those who'd already cast ballots. So what explains the difference?

http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archi...ex.html#004622

But see:

Furthermore, early and absentee voting has built up the President’s lead even before the polling places open. The recent CBS News/New York Times survey reveals that 20% of voters have already cast their ballots, and President Bush leads among them by 8 points, 51% to 43%.

http://www.hughhewitt.com/

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
I'll go out on a limb -- Daschcle by a whisker.

Combination of turnout and higher than expected vote for Kerry saves him.

Higher than legal, or higher than expected?

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Billy Joel is a crime against humanity.

OK, I love Bethlehem then. And Allentown.

Who is this Billy Joel character?

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Ty has a piece up about ABC producers who went to K/E04 and B/C04 events wearing the other team's tee shirts. The rules were that they were supposed to obtain tickets and act respectfully once inside. At the Kerry event, Kerry people surrounded the producers but otherwise didn't harrass them. At the Bush event, the producers were asked to leave and it was suggested that law enforcement could help them find the door.

There've been hundreds of accounts of this sort of thing. People arrested, women wearing nonpartisan "protect civil rights" tee shirts kicked out, loyalty oaths, a loyalty pledge....

Why? Why kick out people who hold opposing views? Especially since Bush has been directly addressing Democrats in the last week or so. Aside from Zell Miller and the members of the media, there aren't any Democrats in the crowd to address.

This is a very, very close election. Why alienate half of the constituancy? Why refuse to even address those people?

Obviously, I'm horribly biased against Bush, but this is something I truly don't understand. The practice has gotten a lot of press, and obviously the Rs think they get more milage out of it or they would have cut it out a long time ago. I just dont' understand why.

1. The Bubble Effect. Bush aides have not been very good at presenting Bush with contrary opinions in other contexts during his term, and I think this is another example of that.

2. The Presentation. Having a crowd of thousands that cheer estatically and boo on cue does, I must admit, make for good TV.

Maybe BC'04 concluded that thr power of rapturous crowds shown on TV would both energize the base, and generate the bandwagon effect, that Rove so wanted, and that the upside of this approach outweighed the effects of turning away and enraging hippie dippy Dems and independents who weren't going to vote for him anyway.

But, again, I'm biased as well, and this particular tactic angered me for reasons that I'm having a hard time articulating. So who knows.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Higher than legal, or higher than expected?

I recommend bifocals.

[dtb]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Predictions?

I saw an (old, I think) interview/"debate" by Tim Russert with the two of them over the weekend, and I have to say, if I were a SD'an, I'd be voting for Thune. He seems to be more in touch with his constituency than Daschle. (Then again, monkeys might fly out of my butt.) No, seriously; Daschle (how did he get elected, anyway?) seemed like quite the tool, and Thune seemed serious and representative of his fellow SD'ans.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Gattigap
But, again, I'm biased as well, and this particular tactic angered me for reasons that I'm having a hard time articulating. So who knows.

Maybe because this is the guy who said he'd be the Great Unifier?

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I'm actually a man. But with B-cups

The job will do that to you.

Now stop the dirty talk before you get Less and Sebby all fired up.

S_A_M

[sgtclub]

Take the quiz and see if you can identify who said what:

http://www.learnthat.com/quiz/

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Turnout in TExas

The turnout at my precinct was also enormous by comparison to past elections. The process went smoothly, but it still took me about 45 minutes. This is a purely safe state for the Democrats, and no real close Congressional races.

When I got to the first table at about 8:40 a.m., I was the 108th voter from my little 4-letter section of the alphabet.

S_A_M

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
The turnout at my precinct was also enormous by comparison to past elections. The process went smoothly, but it still took me about 45 minutes. This is a purely safe state for the Democrats, and no real close Congressional races.

When I got to the first table at about 8:40 a.m., I was the 108th voter from my little 4-letter section of the alphabet.

S_A_M

I just waited in line for two hours to vote. In Illinois.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Drudge is reporting:

And Ty is reporting

This statement just released by Marge Tartaglione, Philadelphia City Commissioner, the official responsible for overseeing elections in the city.

• "Recent press reports have stated that machines in at least one precinct were not properly calibrated to ensure an accurate accounting of the number of votes cast."
  "These allegations are completely unsubstantiated and have no factual
  basis whatsoever."