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Open Thread: Every Vote Counts

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 01:02:50 PM EST
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Please don't forget to vote. In addition to voting for President, there are votes for members of Congress, state officials, including legislators and judges, and local ordinances. All are important. Colorado's ballot was the longest I can remember. If I wasn't sure about a particular issue, I read the booklet the state sent with the pros and cons, and if I still wasn't sure, or I didn't care, I skipped that question. But on the big stuff, I voted.

Good luck Kamala, Good luck Diana DeGette, and good luck to Denver County Court Judge Kelly Cherry. You all deserve much more than votes. You have invested years of your lives to trying to make all of our lives better. You have given your hearts and souls to provide us with the best governance you can.

We get the government we elect. You snooze, you lose. As I say about Donald Trump every year: "It's time to scrape his sh*t right off our shoes". (Sweet Virginia, below) [more...]

This is an open thread, all topics welcome. I'll be back here soon.

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    Open Thread: Every Vote Counts | 28 comments (28 topical)

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    Please vote to keep (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by Chuck0 on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 04:02:40 PM EST
    fascism out of American government.

    I am absolutely not advocating for anything here. But please note that dictators are rarely removed by an election. It usually takes something much messier. Do you want that chaos in the United States again (see 1861-1865 for context).

    I voted! (5.00 / 4) (#11)
    by Zorba on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 12:57:47 PM EST
    Yay, me!
    Now I've got to nag Mr. Zorba into filling out his ballot.

    Got Mr. Zorba (5.00 / 2) (#24)
    by Zorba on Sat Oct 26, 2024 at 03:40:39 PM EST
    To finish his ballot, and we took it to the drop-off box this morning.

    Parent
    Spineless Washington Post... (5.00 / 4) (#13)
    by desertswine on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 01:35:16 PM EST
    refuses to endorse a presidential candidate.

    The LA Times (5.00 / 5) (#14)
    by Zorba on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 01:54:36 PM EST
    Also didn't endorse. Owner Soon-Shiong forbade it, and several editorial staff quit.

    Parent
    Well, "Democracy Dies In Darkness" (5.00 / 3) (#16)
    by desertswine on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 02:32:07 PM EST
    Right?

    Parent
    Yes, (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by KeysDan on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 02:26:29 PM EST
    they are going back to their good old days when they didn't make presidential endorsements, except in urgent circumstances such as in 1952 when they endorsed Eisenhower.  Apparently, Adlai Stevenson, the governor of Illinois, and later, UN Ambassador under JFK, was enough of a threat to make an endorsement (more likely, the urgency was there has been no Republican president in 20 years)

    And, then that other exception to endorse Jimmy Carter because, Nixon was bad and Ford pardoned that bad man.  Of course, Trump the Hitler-curious, convicted felon, now out on bail, who orchestrated the attempt to overthrow the government, was twice impeached, adjudicated as a sexual offender, a fraudster, and promises to jettison democracy, does not warrant an endorsement.

    However, this may be all to the good. If they were to endorse, it may well have been Trump  Fear is hard to overcome when your $billions are at risk.

    Parent

    Washington Post owner... (5.00 / 3) (#17)
    by desertswine on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 02:49:17 PM EST
    Bezos and Amazon has government contracts worth billions of dollars.

    Parent
    During Trump's (none / 0) (#19)
    by KeysDan on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 03:37:57 PM EST
    term in office, he threatened to double postal rates for shipping  so as to punish Bezos. Trump pushed the Postmaster General to increase the rates it charged Amazon . Moreover, he would not support a Post Office bailout if rates were not increased.   Bezos  got the message.---challenge Trump, be punished, love him, be rewarded.  

     From  Hitler's playbook,  for example, Gustav Krupp went along  with the Nazis  and Krupp steel works became the center of German rearmament.  In 1943, his son, Alfried, became sole owner by special order of the  Fuhrer.  After the war, things did not continue to be so rosy for the Krupps, slave labor and all.  But, in the short term it was a profitable ride.

    Parent

    The WaPo (none / 0) (#20)
    by KeysDan on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 03:59:59 PM EST
    Editorial page editor approved the endorsement of Kamala, but publisher Will Lewis killed it, taking into account the order of owner Jeff Bezos.

    Parent
    WaPo editor (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by KeysDan on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 04:37:45 PM EST
    at large, Robert Kagan, resigned.

    Parent
    Well, that's the deal we have with.. (none / 0) (#22)
    by desertswine on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 11:16:20 PM EST
    the new breed of Western Oligarchs; we make them unimaginably wealthy and in turn they make us ___ and ___. (Fill in the blanks).

    Parent
    Kudos (5.00 / 3) (#25)
    by FlJoe on Sun Oct 27, 2024 at 08:26:23 AM EST
    to Jake Tapper, he was taking no guff from JD on his show.

    Actual journalism was committed.

    I've noticed something new (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 04:21:01 PM EST
    at least for me.  (Not the most observant of yard signs) Putting Trump signs on empty lots.  Possibly next door to your house but not necessarily.

    I noticed because it's the only Trump signs I've seen.  My little town is not big on yard signs except for local elections it seems.  But I've previously more Trump yard signs.
    The rare Blue yard sign has all but disappeared.  

    This is a weird election. I've seen a few overt things in the last few weeks like T shirts.  But it's always the hard core.  
    I am seeing very little normal overt demonstrations of political expression like yard signs and hardware store talk.

    It's strangely quite.
    They don't seem to want to talk about it.

    This seems like a positive sign.  Enthusiasm and all.

    Record turn out (none / 0) (#3)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 05:06:37 PM EST
    MSNBC just said 28 million + votes have been cast

    And that is 20% of the total turnout of the last election.

    That's why it seems so pointless (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 08:05:14 PM EST
    to keep writing about reasons to vote for one side or how bad Trump is. Most people have either filled out and/or mailed in their ballot.

    It's all tea leaves at this point.

    Who could possibly be undecided about Donald Trump? You either detest him, or think he's going to save you millions in taxes, or are delusional and think he cares about anyone outside his immediate family.

    Parent

    With the possible exception (5.00 / 3) (#5)
    by Zorba on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 08:35:16 PM EST
    Of Ivanka, I'm not so sure that he cares all that much about his immediate family, except for what they are doing and can do for him.

    Parent
    I agree that persuasion should no longer (5.00 / 5) (#9)
    by Peter G on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 08:53:55 AM EST
    be a significant objective; minds capable of thought are made up. What is important now is turnout, turnout, turnout.

    Parent
    IMO (none / 0) (#7)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 09:20:59 PM EST
    the undecided voter is largely a media creation.

    Parent
    They just (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by KeysDan on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 10:17:12 AM EST
    can't decide.  They don't like either one. Still looking for Ms. or Mr. Perfect. But, since they can't tell the difference between good and evil as it is, how would they be able to discern between perfect and imperfect, anyhow?

    Parent
    I am concerned, though, about how many (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by Peter G on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 01:00:33 PM EST
    are undecided between voting Harris and not voting (or voting Stein/Green) over Gaza. I have a recurring nightmare about 1968 (when thank god I was only 19 and not yet old enough, in those days, to vote), when a significant number of liberals and progressives (not a majority or plurality, but enough to make a difference) could not bring themselves to vote for LBJ's vice president, Hubert Humphrey, who was running for president against Richard Nixon, over Humphrey's refusal to speak out against the Vietnam War. Partially as a result of that bloc, we got Nixon. Had I been old enough, I might well have been one of them. I did not see that a presidential election is much more (almost entirely) a decision on which of two individuals would be the better president for the next four years, and not a referendum on whether either of the two deserves to be commended for their past positions or conduct.

    Parent
    1968 was my first vote in a (5.00 / 3) (#18)
    by leap2 on Fri Oct 25, 2024 at 03:20:36 PM EST
    presidential election. I will say, I wrote in Shirley Chisholm, because I was sick of the people running the Vietnam War. And I still wish she had won. Not a chance in hell, though. She was the smartest and most progressive of any of that bunch.

    Parent
    Long lines in places (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by MO Blue on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 09:16:00 PM EST
    Where you normally don't have to stand in line. No excuse early voting started here 10/22. Friends told me today that it is almost impossible to get into the parking lots for the local libraries let alone get in line to vote. I voted at the Board of Elections which is located in a large mall with endless parking. Still took over an hour to get through the line. Mixed bag of people queuing up to vote. Very diverse crowd. Best guess...Republicans are voting early right along with the Democrats.

    Parent
    Increased participation (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 24, 2024 at 09:27:15 PM EST
    seems to be the only silver lining for our stormy media environment.

    In 2020 Trump really did get more votes than anyone ever did.  Except Biden.

    Parent

    Go Ducks (none / 0) (#23)
    by fishcamp on Sat Oct 26, 2024 at 02:13:40 PM EST


    Wonder of AI (none / 0) (#26)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Oct 27, 2024 at 02:37:27 PM EST
    A friend suggested I might be obsessive about houseplants.  I might.  So I asked GOOGLE "name for a person obsessed with plants"
    AI Overview

    A person who loves plants and knows how to care for them is called a plantsman. This term can include botanists and amateurs who have a deep understanding of growing plants

    😄

    The second choice is what I was looking for, anthophile.

    But, I discovered (none / 0) (#27)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Oct 27, 2024 at 03:39:06 PM EST
    Plantsman is a thing.  I could be one of those too.

    Parent
    This is a members only post (none / 0) (#28)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Oct 27, 2024 at 04:50:01 PM EST
    at PWire

    Yeah, I been sayin


    The Polls Could Definitely Be Wrong
    October 27, 2024 at 5:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

    Most debates over whether the election polls are off focus on whether they're once again underestimating Donald Trump, as they did in 2016 and 2020.

    But there's a compelling argument that this time, the polls might actually be underestimating Kamala Harris.

    Actually the argument is more like they are over sampling Trump., IMO.  Overcompensating

    Open Thread: Every Vote Counts | 28 comments (28 topical)

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