2008 Presidential Election

[NatsAddict]

I always give my staff an additional 2 hours off (they can take it in the morning, with lunch, or leave early) on election days,    even the little local ones.  We have these "I Voted" stickers stickers that you get walking out of the polling places.  Everyone who comes back with one gets a $50 bonus.  It's been at $50 since 1992, I probably need to up that.

[nats2playoffs]

...We have these "I Voted" stickers stickers that you get walking out of the polling places.  Everyone who comes back with one gets a $50 bonus.  It's been at $50 since 1992, I probably need to up that.

1992 was a LONG time ago...

[spidernat]

We have these "I Voted" stickers stickers that you get walking out of the polling places.  Everyone who comes back with one gets a $50 bonus. 

What if they show up with more than 1?

[spidernat]

1992 was a LONG time ago...

(Image removed from quote.)

You have to inhale to hook up with that.

[nats2playoffs]

[sportsfan882]

I voted for Hillary. 

It's not as bad as it seems though.  It's not as much as a vote for Hillary than it is a vote against Obama.  I'd most likely not vote for Hillary in the general election although I am not sold on McCain either.  I figured it was pointless voting in the republican primary anyways because that is all but sewn up.  I wanted to make sure my vote was meaningful.   

[nats2playoffs]

I voted for Hillary.  It's not as bad as it seems though... I wanted to make sure my vote was meaningful.   

[nats2playoffs]

I voted for Mike Huckabee, for two very good reasons...



and to just say, "Yippee-ki-yay, m*******cker,"
to Senator John McLane...

[CALSGR8]

There was somebody who called in to a radio station today and was recorded as saying he voted for Hillary because in the fall she would lose against McCain.

In Virginia, you pick which party you want to vote for (regardless who you're registered as) .  Its weird that way.  You have to pick one party and vote accordingly and only vote once (which is why they check you off on their list).

[saltydad]

How many of us opinionated bastards had the stuff to put our money (OK, not money) where our mouths are and voted today? Don't have to say who you voted for, just if you did. If you didn't, it would be interesting to hear why not. (Obviously only for the residents of the Potomac Primary states.)

I took Mom and we voted. I went for Obama.

[CALSGR8]

How many of us opinionated bastards had the stuff to put our money (OK, not money) where our mouths are and voted today? Don't have to say who you voted for, just if you did. If you didn't, it would be interesting to hear why not. (Obviously only for the residents of the Potomac Primary states.)

I voted



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[natsfan1a]

1c and I both voted.

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[Ali the Baseball Cat]

We voted early and often.

[nats2playoffs]

...In Virginia, you pick which party you want to vote for (regardless who you're registered as) .  Its weird that way.  You have to pick one party and vote accordingly and only vote once (which is why they check you off on their list).

It's really not much different in Maryland.  If you registered as an independent, you can only vote for the nonpartisan school board nominations today.  (Polls close at 8:00 pm.)  If you wanted to vote in a Maryland primary for a Republican or Democrat, you had to have changed your registration with the elections board to that party (about 21 days before the primary.)  Just as in Virginia, you cannot vote for both parties' primary candidates.  But there is nothing to stop you from changing your party affiliation every year, or whenever a candidate appeals to you. 

It's not like they have a political party initiation ceremony, or require you to pay dues.

Animal House: Thank you sir, may I have another?


And yes, there is a voting smiley!

[sportsfan882]

Obama wins VA.   

[nats2playoffs]

[blue911]

If you didn't, it would be interesting to hear why not. (Obviously only for the residents of the Potomac Primary states.)

I think the door was locked 

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[nats2playoffs]

Md. Polls to Stay Open 90 Minutes More
 
Feb 12, 7:49 PM (ET)
By BRIAN WITTE
BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland's elections chief says polls in the state's primary will stay open an extra 90 minutes because of icy weather that has created traffic gridlock.  State elections chief Linda Lamone says the polls will stay open until 9:30 p.m.  Lamone says she asked for a court order Tuesday because accidents were reported along highways in central Maryland.

I would hate to be a Maryland election judge today.  They already have to be exhausted.  They had to work an hour last night, arrive at 6 am and now work until possibly 10:30 pm.  For low pay.

[CALSGR8]

Many times Public Service is for low pay. 

Jury Duty - $20 per day
Public School Teacher - didly squat


Its nice that the polls are staying open later considering that 395 was shut down!

I didn't have to change my party affiliation officially or anything.  I just had to walk up and tell them which party I was voting for today.  Like I said, VA primary system is weird.  It used to be that you had to vote the ballot you were registered as.  So if you're registered Republican, you had to vote in the republican primary.  Independents couldn't vote at all.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

In South Africa, it is a full stat holiday...and in a lot of other countries, voting is mandatory (you have a finger coloured after you vote so the coppers don't pick you up)

I always give my staff an additional 2 hours off (they can take it in the morning, with lunch, or leave early) on election days,    even the little local ones.  We have these "I Voted" stickers stickers that you get walking out of the polling places.  Everyone who comes back with one gets a $50 bonus.  It's been at $50 since 1992, I probably need to up that.

[CALSGR8]

When I was a government employee, you got a certain amt of time off on election day to vote.  You could come to work late or leave early if you lived so far you couldn't make it home before Polls closed.

With my company, Vote on your own time.  Even if you have to take Vacation time to do it.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

It sucks you don't get time off, but FWIW, it's still a pretty good problem to have (needing time to cast a ballot)...in most of the countries I've lived in, no one has ever voted (and beyond a shadow of a doubt never will).  But I wish your employer were a bit more savvy.

When I was a government employee, you got a certain amt of time off on election day to vote.  You could come to work late or leave early if you lived so far you couldn't make it home before Polls closed.

With my company, Vote on your own time.  Even if you have to take Vacation time to do it.

[NatsAddict]

Have they announced the voter turnout percentages?  I know the weather up there was a factor today, but I hope it was a high turnout.  I think it is difficult for anyone not to have at least one issue that is important to them, whether it be health care, the war, 401(K) woes, social security, current and long-term economics, stem cell research, trade/jobs, immigration, social security, the dollar, taxes/spending, future supreme court justices, energy  - something has to hit home and be important to you and you should vote accordingly.  If nothing else, voting should be especially important when we are at war.

[NatsAddict]

After VA and DC, but before MD according to MSNBC, in the pledged delegates, Obama now leads 1,017 to 942.  There is much talking head speculation that the super delegates will leave Clinton as one put it, like birds leaving a wire.

Apparently, the scoop inside the Clinton camp is that Clinton's former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, was fired.  Some appointed super delegate who's name escapes me (I'd never previous heard of the guy) changed his super delegate vote today.  Doyle, like this super delegate, is a Latino.  In his rant, he urged all Latinos to be aware that to Clinton, loyalty is a one way street.  I'm actually on Hillary's side on this one - Doyle consistently showed a gross incompetence only equaled by Hillary's judgment in choosing her in the first place.  As someone who has fired my sister's husband and my wife's brother, I agree with Hillary that loyalty does not mean accepting ineptitude.  Regardless, the timing of the alleged firing may not have been the best with the heavy Latino vote in Texas.  Of course, with the average attention span of the media only rarely exceeding 24 hours, it may well be forgotten by the Texas primary on March 4.

[nats2playoffs]

I've paid very little attention to the presidential races so far.  But I did look at the state-by-state results and noticed a few things:

1) The races for BOTH parties have been polarized, with the front-runners losing by strong margins in numerous states.  You don't often see this when someone is crowned the winner.

2) Hillary Rodham Clinton has seemed to maximize her delegate count, even when Obama has won states.  The Republicans have a number of winner-take-all races, or at least they're designed to have that effect.  McCain understood this. 

3) Both Clinton and McCain have strong negatives with their own party.

4) Romney did a real disservice to Republicans by quitting so soon.  He shouldn't have run at all, to allow Huckabee a two-person fight early.



EDIT - and probably the most important point:
5) The total votes cast for Democrats in the 2008 primaries has swamped totals cast by Republicans in states that have been carried by Republicans in past presidential elections.  This may foreshadow a landslide victory in November for the Democrat.  But the elder Bush, George H. W., was supposed to get blown away by Governor Dukakis in 1988, and it was the other way around.