२२ सप्टेंबर, २००८
There hasn't been a single Obama-McCain debate yet, but many people -- in key states -- are already voting.
Something like a third of the electorate will vote early this time, and the voting starts today in some places.
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I like voting by mail as an option, but the ballots need not be sent out in September (except perhaps to overseas voters).
Since it seems some folks feel like the only way to keep the election from being stolen (again) is to vote early and often, so lets get going.
I wonder how many people will find themselves in a comparable position to many Democrats whose states voted early in the primary season. They voted for Clinton or Obama, but then, later down the road, something came out about one candidate or the other that made them deeply regret their vote and wish they could do it over again. The difference is that with the primary, they had no choice, whereas here there's no unforced error. They might irrevocably cast a ballot for McCain or Obama only for something horrible to emerge about the person they voted for (or something terrific about the person they voted against). "Maybe I've forgotten, the name and the address..."
I really hate vote-by-mail because it destroys the essence of the secret ballot. With vote-by-mail there's no way to prevent people being directed or observed when voting (to verify they're voting the 'right' way).
Why is it better to wait for the debates? Do you really think the debates will tell us anything important about the candidates that you could not already know?
If past history is a guide, then the debates can swing the uninformed swing voters one way or another, based on gaffes and gotchas. But it's far from clear to me that that is a good thing.
I second what Jim Hu said--debates provide nothing of substance, are grossly overparsed, provide the candidates the opportunity to twist any question into one of their memorized talking points, and useful only for the moderators to display their gross stupidity and inability of follow up with pointed questions. It would be far better for the candidates to each other direct questions.
An utter waste of time and do nothing to further the democratic process.
I don't like vote-by-mail or absentee voting except in extreme cases. It's too open to abuse and I really think there's value in having everyone voting on a specific day AND having to make an effort to do so. (Which is also why I hate the notion of instant voter registration--if you're too damn lazy to do due diligence in registering to vote and finding out where to vote, they you shouldn't be voting.)
Oh, and the debates are idiotic since they aren't debates; they are mini press conferences.
When I arrived at my polling station where I was a Clerk in 2004, it was 3 AM. I arrived a full two hours earlier than I had to, to set up.
There were about 6 cars and pick up trucks waiting outside, and I thought, wow these pollworkers are very conscientious.
Turns out they were black Americans so eager to vote for Kerry, they wanted to be first in the queue. One guy in the pickup truck was aged 94.
I daresay the earliest of the voters will be 80% for Obama, for all the same reasons as above. Debates are meaningless for them.
I wonder how many of the people voting in the next couple of weeks are the non-existent folks registered by ACORN on behalf of Obama.
I wonder if that is the real reason behind the whole pushback against voter ID laws.
I don't like vote-by-mail or absentee voting except in extreme cases. It's too open to abuse and I really think there's value in having everyone voting on a specific day AND having to make an effort to do so.
My wife and I will be out of town on election day so we'll have to vote early. Early voting starts on October 20th in Colorado. If I could, I'd vote today. There is nothing on Earth that could get me to vote for Obama so the so-called debates aren't important to me. I'd vote today if they'd let me.
One benefit to early voting is that it weakens the "October Surprise" tactic of dropping a stink bomb on the weekend before the election (e.g. Bush DUI) where there is no time to respond. When people can vote early, it makes it harder to get away with the stink bomb tactic.
Yes, Lisa, it's hard to imagine that's not the reason. Here in California we have millions of people not eligible to vote and pollworkers aren't allowed to ask for ID.
I wonder if it would be such a blue state if voting was only done by actual, you know, voters.
I'm waiting for the debates to make up my mind. Alpha - I'm still open to voting for Obama if you can convince me.
Will early voting also mean early vetting of all the fraulent ACORN voters and the Democrat Army of the Walking Dead?
My call: Dems will get busted hacking into the voting machine, when they're done slashing tires of opposing GOTV efforts.
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