Monday, November 01, 2004
Misc. Thoughts RE: Most Important Election of My Lifetime
Although, there is a good chance that the next election could be even more important. As you know, Goldberg is in Wisconsin, where by all accounts he is now a major player in Wisconsin Democratic Politics. I have been out of town doing my part for democracy as well, if you define "doing my part for democracy" as reviewing documents for a large corporate client, which is how I define it.
(1) While I was out of town, I had dinner with a friend who is one of the smartest people I know (although she tends to vote Republican). She is genuinely undecided about who to vote for. That made me think about the way people talk about undecided voters; calling them stupid, etc. In fact, I believe I saw one of the network news anchors (not Dan Rather, because I never watch him) openly mock them after one of the debates. Well, there are plenty of good reasons not to support either one of these candidates; especially if you are a principled conservative who does not agree with the Republican party's stance on social issues and yet believe that the Democrat's approach to government is fundamentally misguided. For that matter, if you are committed anti-war activist who truly believes that war should only be a last resort and that we should pull out of Iraq immediately, there is not a candidate for you. This isn't necessarily bad; we do have a two-party system. But I could see how a person could be undecided, and the media shouldn't be mocking those people. In fact, anyone who is undecided is a shitload smarter than someone who has decided to vote for Bush.
(2) I just voted in-person absentee in Chicago. It took about 5 minutes. I talked briefly with one of the poll workers, who indicated that she had worked there for many years and had never seen in-house absentee turnout anywhere close to this. The election in Illinois was decided months ago. I don't know what this means, but we could be looking at amazingly high turnout in this election.
(3) I know we've said this many times before, but I just went through the training last night to be a poll watcher in Wisconsin. One party is mobilizing thousands of volunteers to assure that everyone who wants to vote is allowed to. One party is mobilizing thousands of volunteers in order prevent people from voting. That's just a fact, do with the information what you will.
(4) Prediction: I know I shouldn't say this, but given that nobody reads this blog it shouldn't depress turnout too much. It will all come down to Ohio, and Bush will win Ohio. Final electoral tally: 286-252; Bush. More people will break for the incumbent than usual, because we are at war and people will be more scared of change than anything else. Having said that, this could very well be even closer than 2000. So if for some odd reason you're reading this and haven't decided to vote, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GO VOTE, and vote for Kerry, Edwards and a straight Democratic ticket. (Also, note that every prediction I've made about politics this year has been wrong. If we really see unprecedented turnout, who knows what could happen?)
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(1) While I was out of town, I had dinner with a friend who is one of the smartest people I know (although she tends to vote Republican). She is genuinely undecided about who to vote for. That made me think about the way people talk about undecided voters; calling them stupid, etc. In fact, I believe I saw one of the network news anchors (not Dan Rather, because I never watch him) openly mock them after one of the debates. Well, there are plenty of good reasons not to support either one of these candidates; especially if you are a principled conservative who does not agree with the Republican party's stance on social issues and yet believe that the Democrat's approach to government is fundamentally misguided. For that matter, if you are committed anti-war activist who truly believes that war should only be a last resort and that we should pull out of Iraq immediately, there is not a candidate for you. This isn't necessarily bad; we do have a two-party system. But I could see how a person could be undecided, and the media shouldn't be mocking those people. In fact, anyone who is undecided is a shitload smarter than someone who has decided to vote for Bush.
(2) I just voted in-person absentee in Chicago. It took about 5 minutes. I talked briefly with one of the poll workers, who indicated that she had worked there for many years and had never seen in-house absentee turnout anywhere close to this. The election in Illinois was decided months ago. I don't know what this means, but we could be looking at amazingly high turnout in this election.
(3) I know we've said this many times before, but I just went through the training last night to be a poll watcher in Wisconsin. One party is mobilizing thousands of volunteers to assure that everyone who wants to vote is allowed to. One party is mobilizing thousands of volunteers in order prevent people from voting. That's just a fact, do with the information what you will.
(4) Prediction: I know I shouldn't say this, but given that nobody reads this blog it shouldn't depress turnout too much. It will all come down to Ohio, and Bush will win Ohio. Final electoral tally: 286-252; Bush. More people will break for the incumbent than usual, because we are at war and people will be more scared of change than anything else. Having said that, this could very well be even closer than 2000. So if for some odd reason you're reading this and haven't decided to vote, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GO VOTE, and vote for Kerry, Edwards and a straight Democratic ticket. (Also, note that every prediction I've made about politics this year has been wrong. If we really see unprecedented turnout, who knows what could happen?)
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