The Election Thread

[Teo Torriatte]

I fuckin LOVE Rachel Maddow.

"Five days before the election and Goerge W. Bush is in the Cayman Islands?" *shakes her head derisively* "And now its time for the Last Word..."

*giggles*

[TheGlyphstone]

I fuckin LOVE Rachel Maddow.

"Five days before the election and Goerge W. Bush is in the Cayman Islands?" *shakes her head derisively* "And now its time for the Last Word..."

*giggles*

To be fair to the man, he probably wants to be as distant from the electoral process right now as he can get, and both political parties will be happy to keep him there, along with the voters from both parties.

[BCdan]

Ugh, voted for Gary Johnson and made the horrible mistake of mentioning it to my Aunt who immediately told my mom who says I basically threw my vote away and voted for Mitt Romney.  She was very angry and wouldn't talk to me at all.  :(

I am glad I didn't mention I also voted for a Republican in the House Election because the democrat has been in office forever and is under all sorts of ethics inquiries.  My mom would have possibly kicked me out of the house (seriously). 

It kinda sucks, but now I know I need to hold in my beliefs from my family or get punished.     

[Caremejo]

It kinda sucks, but now I know I need to hold in my beliefs from my family or get punished.   

I empathize. When I talk to my dad on the phone, he makes it sound like the country will grind to a halt if Obama gets reelected. And I'd never tell him that my brother (his much adored son) has been out there working with a lovely liberal, pro-democratic organization to register people and get out the vote. Mind you, we're in California so it doesn't really matter how we voted  for the presidency. But we've plenty of local issues that make it worth voting. Luckily, I've already voted and now am just waiting for the result (Obama gets reelected).

[Stattick]

Chilling, anti-Romney political ad, regarding climate change and Sandy.

Romney vs. Sandy

[Callie Del Noire]

Chilling, anti-Romney political ad, regarding climate change and Sandy.

Romney vs. Sandy

I'm willing to bet that the Governor of New Jersey.. Chris Christie isn't as blase about climate change now.

[Stattick]

Whoa... looks like Romney paid no taxes from 1996 To 2009.

http://newsone.com/2074186/mitt-romney-tax-evasion/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-29/romney-avoids-taxes-via-loophole-cutting-mormon-donations.html

[Iniquitous]

That means he is part of the 40 some odd percent he doesn't care about!

[gaggedLouise]

That means he is part of the 40 some odd percent he doesn't care about!

New math: The 47 percent no-gooders belong within the "top 1 percent" ?!

[Stattick]

Staffers refuse to let people leave Romney Event. Dozens of people try to leave to use the restroom... or because they're afraid that their children have hypothermia or frostbite, and aren't allowed to leave.

http://www.classwarfareexists.com/ny-times-romney-staff-refusing-to-let-frostbitten-children-leave-pa-rally/#axzz2BGrxZCZW

[Oniya]

Staffer refuses to let me use the restroom, staffer gets to deal with the biohazard.  Juuuust sayin'.  Not my kink, but apparently theirs.

[Valerian]

Frostbitten would have to be an exaggeration, if the temperature I found is correct (40 degrees Fahrenheit), but hypothermia can occur at temperatures as high as 50 degrees, so that's entirely possible.

[Callie Del Noire]

In the spirit of the events of the next two days..

Go OUT AND VOTE.. if you haven't voted already..

And.. SLAP anyone who says "My vote don't count" (well not really.. but you know..)

Yes, it might not IMMEDIATELY have an effect.. but the more folks who vote..the more politicians will start having to respond to others.

[Oniya]

I'm hoping Mr. Oniya's emergency ballot arrives in time.  I had to point out to him last night that he needs to have the hotel call his cell phone when it comes in, so he can take a two-hour break from work and get it over-nighted in time to count.  (It's 45 minutes from the work site to the hotel, plus time to fill it out, and then get it to the P.O.) 

I'm debating taking the little Oni with me to the polls.  She has off from school, and it would be a great educational experience, but she may have to see me get pissy if they don't take my photo ID.  (If they don't, I'm demanding a provisional ballot, no fear.)

[Valerian]

Take her along!  I loved going with my dad.  And it can also be an object lesson in the perils of some of these voter ID laws. 

[Vekseid]

Staffers refuse to let people leave Romney Event. Dozens of people try to leave to use the restroom... or because they're afraid that their children have hypothermia or frostbite, and aren't allowed to leave.

http://www.classwarfareexists.com/ny-times-romney-staff-refusing-to-let-frostbitten-children-leave-pa-rally/#axzz2BGrxZCZW

It was still extremely vague when I read about this, but apparently what happened was these were people behind the stage where Romney was, and they were trying to exit via the stage exit or something, which would have brought them closer to Romney than the Secret Service cared to allow, and Romney volunteers and staffers didn't know how to show them the proper way out?

Not so much malicious as stupid, as far as I understood it.

[Oniya]

I was under the impression that if you are having a large assembly, some sort of emergency plan is supposed to be in effect.  Maybe this is only for buildings, but knowing such simple things as 'where is the exit' can be critical when dealing with masses of people.  What if there had been a medical emergency, and someone had to get out quickly?  Or a fire, for that matter?

[Callie Del Noire]

Having had to sit in a crowded car of eight tired and hungry sailors trapped between two runways for 4 hours while FOUR candidates land and disembark for the convention. Add in the 'fun' of the secret service jamming the cell phones, no breeze and a nearly overheating car.

I KNOW the fun of the secret service shutdown. Odds were that the staffers didn't PAY attention to the directions and instead of DIVERTING foot traffic to other routes they locked them down.

Tempest in the teapot, could have easily happened to a novice group of Obama staffers as easily as novice Romney types. Who ever was coordinating the LOCAL event over reacted.

[Valerian]

Yeah, I'm puzzled about the whole thing.  There are normally site staff on hand at these sorts of events, too, people who normally work at the arena, stadium or what have you.  So there should have been several people around who would know things like alternate exit routes, etc.  Were they not there?  Was no one in the security detail or on Romney's staff briefed about any kind of emergency procedures (at least those involving anyone other than just Romney)?  If they had no procedures in place for dealing with people that close to the stage wanting to, you know, move, they shouldn't have been allowed to stand there in the first place.  Someone really dropped the ball.

[Stattick]

Well, as much as Romney and his campaign has lied, he gets NO benefit of the doubt from me. We know that Romney's a liar. We know that Romney lacks ethics. His campaign is spinning that those were Secret Service. Strangely, the press, who were sitting right there, didn't know or claim that those were Secret Service agents. I'm going with the assumption that it's just more bad behavior and lies from Romney, unless the Secret Service or some other official government source confirms Romney's story.

[Oniya]

Emergency ballot arrived, and Mr. Oniya is driving back to the hotel to fill it out *\ /*  I've downloaded and printed out the official statement from the PA BOE that I am not required to show a photo ID (although one may be requested), along with an affidavit that I don't have a PA ID at the moment (have one from Ohio, which I will show if they want, along with proof of current address - namely, a bill in my name.)

[Chelemar]

I know when Bush was speaking at Penn State, you could tell who were event staffers and who were Secret Service.  When Secret Service said "no."  You didn't argue. 

I think they have laser eyes behind those dark glasses.  I really do.

[gaggedLouise]

An extra day of voting in NY/NJ?

Read a couple hours ago that someone in charge  - no name given - had opened up for the possibility of extending voting in the states of New York and New Jersey to wednesday if it became obvious that weather conditions and their impact at home, on transport and on the voting stations were seriously bringing down the number of people coming in to vote. Especially as there's a new storm coming in within the next day or two, not as powerful as Sandy of course but it's going to hit an already disheveled coastline.

For voting to be extended in that way, the amount of votes would have to be a lot lower than expected - the brief article I read suggested below 25% of the number of adult citizens as the limit. Does anyone know more about this? And surely those 25% would have to refer to local voting districts, not an entire state? The idea that NY or NJ as a whole would get that low a voter turnout tomorrow is so implausible that it would have made the whole idea a non-issue.

[Oniya]

I would trust this as much as I trust the flyer I saw circulating that the voting day had been split:  Republicans vote on the 6th, Democrats on the 7th.

That is to say, no trust in it whatsoever.  Especially if no name has been provided for the 'someone in charge'.

[gaggedLouise]

Well, this article seems to confirm that the option is at least under discussion at the NY Board of Elections - no decisions or even demands for it yet though. And it does look like it's mostly about the boroughs of NYC plus Long Island - perhaps New Jersey too. Still have to see if it would come into action though, and if it does, there's nothing saying in the articles I've been ruffling that the extra day would have to be wednesday.

The new storm is scheduled to hit New York state and perhaps other places around on wednesday morning - not tuesday - so wednesday would not be the day to pick if an extra day is gonna be needed. And of course, the measure could have to be approved in Washington, so if it comes into effect, it might be a week later or something. Nobody expects Romney to take New York in any case, probably not New Jersey either, but there are other election runs on that day in NY that could be interesting and possibly get deferred.

Voters in NJ will be able to vote by e-mail or fax, too. That's official, it seems.