***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[noskey]

I'm really worried that if Romney wins, he'll try and run the country like a business. I mean, I know he's smarter than that, but, he's just so shady and unpredictable. Thanks in part to his indecisiveness over EVERY issue except his Mormon faith.

Dropping my ballot off tomorrow after my classes. Try and avoid the Tuesday rush.

 

[superblytrife]

I'll be so glad when this is over, and I don't even live in a swing state. This whole election season has been mad draining.

I'm just hoping it ends tomorrow and not on some okie doke, 2 weeks later ****.

 

[heliumclinton]

NY Daily News endorsed Mitt

 

[lyonbc1]

I drove past a big sign the other day "Vote for Romney. At least he's not a commie!"

I don't think people know what communism really is.

people have no idea what communism or socialism really are...like they see the USSR and think that's all it is....in fact I'd say 80% of Americans believe socialism and communism are the same damn thing smh



On another note, I think the President has this election......especially if he can win VA then it'd be a wrap for Romney, already sent in my absentee ballot

 

[duba169]

Why is the media ignoring the story about mitt not paying taxes for years? You would think it would be big

 

[david bowman]

WASHINGTON -- Once again, Florida and its problems at the polls are at the center of an election.

Early voting is supposed to make it easier for people to carry out their constitutional right. Tuesdays are notoriously inconvenient to take off work, so many states have given voters the option of turning out on weekends or other weekdays in the run-up to Election Day.

But in Florida this year, it has been a nightmare for voters, who have faced record wait times, long lines in the sun and a Republican governor, Rick Scott, who has refused to budge and extend early voting hours.

"People are getting out to vote. That's what's very good," said Scott.

People are getting out to vote -- but many of them are having to wait in line for three or four hours to do so. One contributor to DailyKos claimed it took 9 hours to vote. In Miami-Dade on Saturday, people who had gotten in line by 7:00 p.m. were allowed to vote; the last person wasn't checked in until 1 a.m., meaning it took some individuals six hours to cast a ballot.

"We're looking at an election meltdown that is eerily similar to 2000, minus the hanging chads," said Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida.

Miami-Dade attempted to deal with the problem on Sunday by allowing voters to cast absentee ballots in person between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. However, after just two hours, the Miami-Dade elections department shut down the location after too many people showed up. People outside the locked doors were reportedly screaming, "We want to vote!"

"They didn't have the infrastructure," filmmaker Lucas Leyva, who was among those turned away, told The Huffington Post's Janie Campbell. "We read the press release and everything that went out this morning, promising we'd be able to get absentee ballots and vote. We got here and there was a line of hundreds of people all being told the same thing, that that wasn't true anymore. You could drop off [a ballot], but they could not issue one."

And if getting turned away from the polls weren't enough of an indignity, some of those 180 people ended up getting their cars towed from the parking lot across the street, according to a Miami Herald reporter.

On Twitter, former Republican governor Charlie Crist -- who is now an independent -- responded to news of the office's closing, writing on Twitter, "Let the people vote!"

“We had the best of intentions to provide this service today,” said department spokeswoman Christina White. “We just can’t accommodate it to the degree that we would like to.”

About 30 minutes later, a Miami Herald reporter tweeted that the Miami-Dade location was reopening its doors.

Palm Beach, Pinellas, Orange, Leon and Hillsborough Counties also opened up in-person absentee voting on Sunday.

President Barack Obama's campaign and some of its supporters were attempting to keep people's spirits up -- and discourage them from abandoning the lines -- by bringing in food, water and even local musicians and DJs as entertainment.

North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre brought 400 slices of pizza to voters in line at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night at the city's public library, according to an Obama official.

While many Democrats viewed it as a victory when a few offices opened absentee balloting on Sunday, the process is not the same as early voting -- and could result in more individuals not having their votes counted.

"Absentee ballots have a much higher rejection rate for minorities and young people, if you look at the Aug. 14 primary," said Smith.

A major reason there are so many problems at the polls is that last year, Florida's GOP-controlled legislature shortened the number of early voting days from 14 to eight, meaning all early voters are trying to cast their ballots in a shorter window. Previously, Floridians were allowed to vote on the Sunday before Election Day -- a day that typically had high traffic.

But losing that final Sunday isn't the only problem. Smith said that he and Dartmouth professor Michael Herron found that in 2008, voters 65 or older were much more likely to cast ballots in the first five days of early voting than members of other age groups, alleviating some of the pressure at the polls in the remaining days. Those extra days, however, are gone this year, leading to a compression that the system has been unable to handle.

Scott has refused to extend early voting hours, essentially arguing that there is no problem, despite calls from Democrats, independent groups and even a Republican elections supervisor. He is arguing that he can extend early voting hours only when there is a true emergency -- like a natural disaster -- that warrants it.

"I'm focused on making sure that we have fair, honest elections," said Scott. "One thing to know, these early voting days and on Election Day, if you're there by the time the polls close, you get to vote."

Scott has some of the lowest approval ratings of any governor in the nation. In recent Quinnipiac poll, just 39 percent of Floridians said they approved of the job he is doing. Scott, unlike many other GOP governors, has not hit the campaign trail much on behalf of Mitt Romney.

As Florida Democrats have pointed out, the state's previous two Republican governors -- Jeb Bush and Crist -- both extended the hours. A spokesman for Bush didn't return a request for comment.

A judge extended the hours in Orange County after the state Democratic Party sued for more time. The location was closed for several hours on Saturday when everyone was evacuated due to a suspicious package.

Democrats are traditionally more likely to vote early, which is why many in the party have ascribed political motives to Scott's restriction of the process. According to a report in the Miami Herald on Saturday, Democrats were leading Republicans "by about 187,000 early in-person ballots cast" as of that morning.

On Election Day, there will be fewer polling precincts this year than in 2008 -- due to redistricting and budget constraints -- meaning traffic on Tuesday could also be a problem.

Florida is expected to be tight in this election. According to HuffPost Pollster's average of polls in the race, Romney is now leading Obama in the state by less than one percentage point.

This article was updated with comments from Dan Smith.

 

[blakep267]

Why is the media ignoring the story about mitt not paying taxes for years? You would think it would be big

it wont make a difference. Ive come to find that alot of voters ( not everyone) could care less what romney does and they just dont want obama in office. Think about it. Romney, a few months ago was trying to win the nomination with all those other idiots. Now he's being touted as a legit candidate.

 

[deuce king]

How's your ground work in New York coming along ninjahood??  How many New Yorkers were you able to convert over to Romney's corner this weekend??

 

[Ace Ready]

its ****** up in florida boy.. its good seeing people still wait though. hopefully everyone get a chance to vote on Tuesday

 

[david bowman]

just checked my registration online. I am eligible.

Voting for the first time. Didn't get the absante ballot on time when I was in school last election

 

[Rootin4EverybodyBlack]

Went to vote early in Northern VA on Friday.

In VA they have people outside the gov't building who pass out party suggestion flyers (i.e. a Democratic list of people/issues you would vote for, and a Republican list of people/issues you would vote for)

So as I'm walking up to the building from the side the people passing out the Republican flyers looks dead at me and turns back around, but the person passing out the Democratic flyers, who's further away, nearly yells to get my attention to hand me a flyer.

Now, mind you I didn't have any candidate/party related apparel on. I'm 22 and black, and had on cargo pants, a hoody and foams.

Of course I'm sure some of y'all are saying "well of course they figured you're not voting Republican because you're black" and yeah you have a point. However, I just find it interesting how many prejudgements are made without me even saying anything.

Some republicans seem like they don't understand why their isn't more diversity in their party, it's because many of their lower-level representatives have already written certain demographics off before they even given them a chance. Considering how close this election is you would think in a state like VA, they'd be trying to get any and everybody to vote in their favor.

I know this isn't some major life changing example, but I just thought it was interesting.

 

[essential1]

Some republicans seem like they don't understand why their isn't more diversity in their party, it's because many of their lower-level representatives have already written certain demographics off before they even given them a chance. Considering how close this election is you would think in a state like VA, they'd be trying to get any and everybody to vote in their favor.
I know this isn't some major life changing example, but I just thought it was interesting.

It won't be this election, but there will be a time in the near future where the republicans will get demolished, and that's when they'll realize.

 

[lyonbc1]

PA GOP already setting up to mess with predominantly black neighborhoods here in Pittsburgh: http://www.seiu.org/2012/11/evidence-suggests-pa-gop-poll-watchers-systematica.php

We have received information that strongly suggests the Republican Party, under the guise of combating alleged voter fraud, has assigned Election Day poll watchers disproportionately to majority African-American precincts in Allegheny County. We are in receipt of a partial list of targeted precincts that was distributed at a poll watcher training conducted by the Pittsburgh Tea Party Movement. The Pittsburgh Tea Party Movement conducted this training, on behalf of the Republican Party, as part of its program to combat alleged voter fraud in Allegheny County. We understand the Republican Party has targeted approximately 111, out of a total 1,319 precincts, in that county. The partial list, which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, includes 59 of the total 111 precincts targeted by the Republican Party. We are unaware of any history of voter fraud at any of these 59 locations. We are concerned that these locations are being targeted for impermissible, racially-motivated reasons.

A comparison of the 59 Republican Party targeted precincts to the other precincts in Allegheny County reveals that the targeted precincts disproportionately contain African-American voters. Specifically, the targeted precincts are over 79% African-American. By contrast, the non-targeted precincts contain, on average, less than 11% African-American registered voters. Moreover, although the targeted precincts include only 3% of the total number of voters in Allegheny County, they contain 18.5% of the registered African American voters. The vast majority of these precincts are among those with the mostly highly concentrated African-American populations in the County. A statistical analysis of the 59 Republican Party targeted precincts is attached hereto as Exhibit B.

Sigh....wish they would come around Pitt and try this bs

 

[lyonbc1]

Some republicans seem like they don't understand why their isn't more diversity in their party, it's because many of their lower-level representatives have already written certain demographics off before they even given them a chance. Considering how close this election is you would think in a state like VA, they'd be trying to get any and everybody to vote in their favor.
I know this isn't some major life changing example, but I just thought it was interesting.

It won't be this election, but there will be a time in the near future where the republicans will get demolished, and that's when they'll realize.

If they keep on letting the Tea Party influence and destroy their legitimacy as a party then it'll def happen soon enough.....former leaders like Eisenhower, and Roosevelt would be extremely disappointed with this current incarnation

 

[thorrocksjs]

A lawsuit needs to be filed agains the Republican Party by black people

 

[ccastro02]

I can't believe democratic voters are being oppressed the day before the election!! Just let the people vote, damn.

 

[RustyShackleford]

The GOP is a disgusting bunch.

And a Romney victory will be a cosign to all this foolishness

 

[flacobey]

I'm really worried that if Romney wins, he'll try and run the country like a business. I mean, I know he's smarter than that, but, he's just so shady and unpredictable. Thanks in part to his indecisiveness over EVERY issue except his Mormon faith.
Dropping my ballot off tomorrow after my classes. Try and avoid the Tuesday rush.

America is already run like a corporation

 

[RustyShackleford]

America is already run like a corporation

No it is not

 

[Soleserious]

i hope that if romney wins he can fix everything within his 4 years because thats what was expected of obama, sad part is that bush left his muck obama is slowly getting it clean up and if romney wins he will get the credit

 

[foreverdecember21]

Felony, Bill bellamy... Cant vote..

At least til the next election in 4yrs once this **** gets knocked down.

If you dont plan on voting. Vote for me... Im a moderate leaning left

 

[i lax bro]

I have a feeling we won't find out who wins come Tuesday night.. Ohio is going to be too close to call

 

[af1 1982]

And this is why I hate the Republicans. Let the people vote dammit. The right to vote is something that no one should feel any pressure with. Or something that they can do in confidence and in confidentiality.

 

[160jordansdeep]

I have a question

who is not voting

i'm not

 

[cj863]

God this clown Rick Scott needs to be recalled. I am seriously disgusted with the GOP and can't understand how anyone could support them and their antics. First you shorten early voting by 6 days then you hold working Americans up from exercising their right to vote under your given days. The blatant attempts at voter suppression are sickening