Day: October 21, 2008

Early Voting Smooth in My Part of Florida

Trish

I did it! I voted today, and it went off without a hitch. Taking no chances, I voted directly at the county supervisor of elections’ office where, unlike my home precinct, they must have an upper age limit for poll workers.

One note of caution, passed along by one of the nice, lucid poll workers. Because there are so many presidential tickets (13 on my ballot), some of those oblivious types who only show up to vote every four years were mistakenly voting twice in the presidential race. They found their guy at the top, then drifted down the long column, and just above “Write-In,” they marked off another one. Most of these errors were being caught on the spot, thanks to the optical scanners, and the doddering fools were allowed to take another ballot.

Because there are so many presidential tickets (13 on my ballot), some of those oblivious types who only show up every four years were mistakenly voting twice in the presidential race

If you vote early, or if you know anyone who plans to, you might mention now that they should only vote once until they get down to “Congressional” or whatever comes next on your ballot. And if you vote later, remember.

My “I Voted” sticker got attention and questions everywhere I went afterward. Most people wanted to know if it was hard to vote early, and I assured them it was not. Some people, like the Lebanese guy at the cheap gas station, wanted to know who I voted for. I pointed to the Obama/Biden bumpersticker he has stuck to the safety glass protecting him and his cash register, and he lit up.

I was so stoked from the whole thing that I went by Obama headquarters when I got back to town and made a couple of hours’ worth of phone calls to registered Democrats. Only one woman hung up on me. The majority of the rest were voting for Obama but a few were, unbelievably, undecided. We were supposed to ask the undecideds what their main issue was, and they all said, “the economy.” Are you kidding me? What’s to be undecided about there?

Anyway, vote early and often. For Obama.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

I’ve done nine presidential campaigns and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I was even allowed — I won’t say welcomed — on the Clinton plane in the summer of 1996 after I was revealed as the author of Primary Colors.

— Joe Klein, quoted by Politico, on being banned from Sen. John McCain’s campaign plane

Socialists Say Obama Isn’t

Trish

The brain trusts on the McCain/Palin campaign, who decided that the same week Bush’s economic policies caused the government to nationalize the banking system was a good time to label Obama a socialist, should be kicking themselves. Instead, Sarah Palin and John McCain keep on kicking a McCarthy-era dead horse.

But even socialists scoff at the idea that Obama is one of them.

Palin just continues reading from her Campaigns for Dummies playbook

Local communists, rarely tapped as campaign pundits, say Sen. Barack Obama and his policies stand far afield from any form of socialism they know.

John Bachtell, the Illinois organizer for Communist Party USA, sees attempts by Sen. John McCain’s campaign to label Obama a socialist as both offensive to socialists and a desperate ploy to tap into fears of voters who haven’t forgotten their Cold War rhetoric.

“Red baiting is really the last refuge of scoundrels,” Bachtell said.

Smart people agree.

“Obama is about as far from being a socialist as Joe The Plumber is from being a rocket scientist,” said Darrell West, director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. “I think it’s hard for McCain to call Obama a socialist when George Bush is nationalizing banks.”

And this from Bruce Carruthers, a sociology professor at Northwestern University: “Obama is like a center-liberal Democrat, and he is certainly not looking to overthrow capitalism. My goodness, he wouldn’t have the support of someone like The Wizard of Omaha, Warren Buffet, if he truly was going to overthrow capitalism.”

I doubt Sarah Palin knows who Warren Buffet is, let alone the definitions of the various systems of government. She just continues reading from her Campaigns for Dummies playbook, throwing out whatever phrases make her rally participants cheer. After all, most of them don’t know the difference either.

Poll: The Early Line 10/21

Buck Banks

Obama/Biden: 47%
McCain/Palin: 41%
Undec 8%

–After opening an 8-10 pt. lead late last week, Obama’s lead has narrowed to 6 pts. Obama has a 7 pt. lead (49-42%) in the battleground states.

–McCain has gained 4 pts. among white men since last week (10/14), and now leads Obama among this group 53-36%. Obama’s 1pt. lead among white women (44%-43%) is virtually unchanged from last week.

–On the issue of the economy – the #1 concern for 65% of LV’s – Obama holds a 14 pt. lead (51-37%).

Today’s Diageo/Hotline tracking poll, conducted 10/18-20 by FD, surveyed 791 LVs and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%. Party ID Breakdown for the sample is 41%D, 36%R, 18%I.