1¢. I voted today. I took my sample ballot, they scanned it and that was it. I asked them if they wanted to check my ID and they said I'm fine and they let me in the booth. So now I can go to all my friends' homes, steal their ballots and vote for them too. Maybe I can find some in my neighbor's mailboxes too. JK obviously, but I was bothered by the lack of verification.

2¢. Unfortunately, elections nowadays are just over-glorified and over-publicized popularity contests. Whoever is able to run a better campaign will end up winning, regardless of views, agendas, issues, etc. So in this aspect I will give it to obama'08, they did run a much better campaign than McCain’s people. Not only did Obama’s people make all the right choices and push the right buttons, McCain’s people managed to make the wrong choices and push the wrong buttons. I think that maybe if McCain’s camp wouldn’t have done anything at all (except put up signs and ads with only his name and picture), they might have had a better turnout. I felt as though McCain had a campaign aimed at pleasing the conservatives, instead of winning the votes of the undecided voters and even some of the democrats. Starting with selecting palin - she did wonders for the R camp, but everyone else, the D and the independents thought of it and her as a joke, bad choice, hitler, evil, stupid, retarded, and so on. Then the attacks on Obama, although I find them relevant and important, and so do other conservatives, obviously the voters who needed to be won over didn’t give a shit about that and cared more about other pertinent issues. And when speaking of the economy (which mac touched on only briefly - another bad move) they pointed out what Obama was going to do and how bad that was, instead of pointing out specifically what mac would do (not that I believe that any of them can do shit). Obama's people ran a perfect campaign: they were able to push the smears aside and trivialized them, they hit mac skillfully exactly where it did most damage, and told the voters (democrats, undecided, and even some republicans) exactly what they wanted to hear. Bullshit or not, empty promises or not, he told them he would give them the world and they ate that shit up. Mac's camp tried to smear Obama but did so in a very unconvincing manner, focused more on Obama than the voters, and didn’t touch on the correct and necessary issues. The ads were poor, the speeches were bad, the interviews horrible, the entire campaign management deplorable.

Bottom line: Obama is a great salesman and, as cliché as it may sound, he just wanted it more. Therefore in McCain/Palin's name I concede the presidential election.

Re: my last 2¢ before election day

shosh in rational post shocker!!! :O

Re: my last 2¢ before election day

thats cool imo.

bummer they didn't check you out more. im interested to hear other stories now about what its like

Re: my last 2¢ before election day

[QUOTE=shosh;670215] Bullshit or not, empty promises or not, he told them he would give them the world and they ate that shit up.[/QUOTE]

...and at the end of the day, that's a really powerful thing. everyone has been saying obama is giving people false hope, hey, it's still hope, and that hope wether false or not is real and it instills confidence. confidence is something this country hasn't had in a long fking time, and we're way overdue for a big fking shot of it right in the arm. the illusion of happiness is powerful. sure, i want the pipe dream, the ideal independent candidate, the fresh ideas, the guy that's not a politician, but that isn't happening this election, so i'll take the guy that has a big brain, gets the country fired up, and makes everyone feel good again. say what you want about obama, but he has single-handedly gotten millions upon millions of young people interested in politics, and that's awesome. i'm sick of the elderly deciding elections. i can't wait to see what the final voter turnout is going to be- they're talking 150million. sweet. it's nice that people give a shit again. the fact that we argue like this is a good thing (minus a lot of the dumbass comments.) 8 years ago, nobody gave a shit, and that's why we ended up where we are now. never again imo.

Re: my last 2¢ before election day

I believe in Harvey Dent. There would be some great discussion on the parallels between Dark Knight and Obama in the context of wanting to give the city 'hope' and what the meant.

Re: my last 2¢ before election day

[quote=Jenks;670217]shosh in rational post shocker!!! :O[/quote]

[quote=chloe harris;670221]thats cool imo.

bummer they didn't check you out more. im interested to hear other stories now about what its like[/quote]

wait wat?

EDIT: nvm i didnt understand what you were referring to at first.

[quote=Jenks;670222]...and at the end of the day, that's a really powerful thing. everyone has been saying obama is giving people false hope, hey, it's still hope, and that hope wether false or not is real and it instills confidence. confidence is something this country hasn't had in a long fking time, and we're way overdue for a big fking shot of it right in the arm. the illusion of happiness is powerful. sure, i want the pipe dream, the ideal independent candidate, the fresh ideas, the guy that's not a politician, but that isn't happening this election, so i'll take the guy that has a big brain, gets the country fired up, and makes everyone feel good again. say what you want about obama, but he has single-handedly gotten millions upon millions of young people interested in politics, and that's awesome. i'm sick of the elderly deciding elections. i can't wait to see what the final voter turnout is going to be- they're talking 150million. sweet. it's nice that people give a shit again. the fact that we argue like this is a good thing (minus a lot of the dumbass comments.) 8 years ago, nobody gave a shit, and that's why we ended up where we are now. never again imo.[/quote]

and this is where i would normally start my shit talking on obama, but i give up! he's feeding us shit, we'll eat shit :D

also, i cant wait for the election to be over. im sick and tired of this whole circus freak show

Re: my last 2¢ before election day

[QUOTE=shosh;670215]1¢. I voted today. I took my sample ballot, they scanned it and that was it. I asked them if they wanted to check my ID and they said I'm fine and they let me in the booth. So now I can go to all my friends' homes, steal their ballots and vote for them too. Maybe I can find some in my neighbor's mailboxes too. JK obviously, but I was bothered by the lack of verification. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=chloe harris;670221] bummer they didn't check you out more. im interested to hear other stories now about what its like[/QUOTE]

At least in MO, the sample ballot that you receive from the Board of Elections constitutes confirmation that you're registered to vote, and the fact that it is addressed to you and you have it in your hand is evidence that you are the addressee. It seems ridiculous, but something like 5% of registered voters don't have a state-issued photo ID -- not a huge number, but enough to make a difference...

Re: my last 2c before election day

My ballot still goes to my parents house. Once my dad accidentally filled mine out and sent it in, so I used his to vote. The elections office actually contacted me because the signature (on my ballot) didn't match my registration card. I would have never expected them to be checking in the first place. Not sure if this occurs in every state but unless a mail thief knows what your signature looks like they've got a pretty good countermeasure in place.

Re: my last 2c before election day

[quote=neoee;670230]My ballot still goes to my parents house. Once my dad accidentally filled mine out and sent it in, so I used his to vote. The elections office actually contacted me because the signature (on my ballot) didn't match my registration card. I would have never expected them to be checking in the first place. Not sure if this occurs in every state but unless a mail thief knows what your signature looks like they've got a pretty good countermeasure in place.[/quote]

but you were able to vote in your dad's place with no problems, right? thats the issue im referring to.

Re: my last 2c before election day

someone has hijacked Shoshs [ms] log-in!!

Re: my last 2c before election day

[quote=Huggie Smiles;670236]someone has hijacked Shoshs [ms] log-in!![/quote]

lol, nope unfortunately.

i still think we are fucked for having obama as a president, but this race is over and obama just had a better run campaign :D

Re: my last 2c before election day

[quote=shosh;670215]

2¢. Unfortunately, elections nowadays are just over-glorified and over-publicized popularity contests.[/quote]

^win. nowadays, could it be possible to draw a hypothetical correspondence between the US presidential elections, to the elections held for the student body council in high schools? not sure who the administration at high schools would relate to though.

just a lil ponder. feelin a bit strange b4 i vote. :what

Re: my last 2c before election day

[quote=shosh;670231]but you were able to vote in your dad's place with no problems, right? thats the issue im referring to.[/quote]

Actually no, he was also called by the elections office. Sorry for not stating that, I thought it was implied. IIRC, it was handled on the same phone call since the number on my registration card is also my parents number. I just happened to over there for lunch when they called.

I have quite a bit of trust in the paper ballot system. I am far more concerned about the electronic voting machines.

Re: my last 2c before election day

^^yeah, here, your signature does have to match the one they have on file, too, so that's another cross-check.

Re: my last 2c before election day

how did I know that this oddly lucid post wouldn't, in fact, be your last 2c?

Re: my last 2c before election day

[quote=toasty;670571]how did I know that this oddly lucid post wouldn't, in fact, be your last 2c?[/quote]

i havent stated any more opinions on any matters, just posting some articles i found interesting. so yes these were my last 2 pennies

Re: my last 2c before election day

Great, Obama calls those who dont want to pay higher taxes "selfish". Biden calls them unpatriotic. 4 yrs of this shit to go. :(

Re: my last 2c before election day

obama didnt run a better campaign, mccain is a hapless twit. neither of them said anythign of substance and american stupidity reinged supreme for the third straight election.

Re: my last 2c before election day

[quote=thesightless;670582]obama didnt run a better campaign, mccain is a hapless twit. neither of them said anythign of substance and american stupidity reinged supreme for the third straight election.[/quote]

he ran a better campaign in the fact that he capitalized on the american stupidity and told the masses what they wanted to hear.

Re: my last 2c before election day

[QUOTE=thesightless;670582]obama didnt run a better campaign, mccain is a hapless twit. neither of them said anythign of substance and american stupidity reinged supreme for the third straight election.[/QUOTE]

think what you like of Obama's policy positions, but if you don't recognize that the campaign he ran -- from purely a horse race standpoint -- was run brilliantly, you're either being intellectually dishonest or you haven't been paying very close attention. The guy has shattered fund raising records, mobilized thousands of supporters, knocked off the "inevitable" and practically incumbent Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and has run a remarkably disciplined campaign. Both Clinton and McCain went through surrogates and campaign themes like most people go through underwear, but the same people and theme that Obama started this campaign with 20 months ago are the same as they are today.

Other campaigns going forward will be modeled after this one. Bank on it.

Re: my last 2c before election day

i love how this works, its like listening to rush limbaugh, if you dont vote for Obama youre a racist, but if vote for Obama you are stupid.

I highly doubt that the main reason peple are voting for Obama is because most of them are dumb or stupid, one of the things that ive noticed lately is now everybody is talking about "issues", now everytime youre in some kind of gathering, either with friends or family, somebody has to bring up something about tax cuts, or medicare.

So please, if you dont like any of the candidates, dont vote, or just go with a third party, the fact of you not liking the main two party candidates doesnt give you a higher IQ than most of US population.

Re: my last 2c before election day

ill give him MASSIVE credit on how he simply dismantled the clinton family, to the point where a former president, and one who is the champion of partisan politics, wont even campaign for him. he did an assasin's job with them. but again. both candidates did not give a hard plan based idea. they both just chirpped on how things will be different and typical pitch lines for theier consituencies. still, obama has yet to explain how he will be executing any of this nonsense, especially with the senatorial and representative nonsense that exists in the government. he says how he will get jobs going in certain industries like the auto, HOW> when more than two thirds of america prefers foreign autos. how will he implement market rebounds when the "rich" pull thier money out of the US markets and invest elsewhere (this WILL happen, i work in the feild and nealry all hedge funds are preparing for a mass deporation of high end capital) will he make it illegal to invest abroad>

how will he address the need for capital reinvestment into capitol(yes, read the words correctly, not typos) goods? will he force our industries to move forward beyond the oil/steel?> if so, where do those jobs go? etc etc etc

trust me, im on the side of mccain being a complete loss if he wins, and obama is better, but comon, niether of them are capable to implement any decent changes they speak of for a variety of reasons.