It's gonna be a long night. Our dream of an electoral college surprise and a major sweep in that category look unlikely. But it's great to see Kerry breathing down Bush's neck. We can still look forward to an electoral college victory and hopefully a popular vote victory that is more resounding. But Florida and Ohio look really tricky as far as getting the results tonight: in Florida, the Republican election supervisor estimates it will be THURSDAY before they can count all the absentee ballots. Similar delays might occur in Ohio. That's a lot of coffee.
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Tuesday, November 02, 2004
A report from the field in Ohio...
From my wife:
I don't usually comment on here -- although I'm always up to speed b/c of my husband. In any case, I was in OH today (Hamilton County/Cincinnati). I worked the polls doing voter right protections (wore the "official" white coat of the voting rights team and everything).
Overall, I was relieved by what I saw. I worked 3 polling places, 2 of which were in low-income neighborhoods, and 1 that bordered lower and middle income neighborhoods. There were Repug challengers in the 2 low-income sites (of course), but the Ds had their own folks on hand to combat. They worked hard to ensure there was a lawyer in most of the polling places -- especially after the early morning Fed appeals court ruling. From what I saw, things ran smoothly in most cases, and folks cast their ballots unfettered.
There were of course some problems. In a couple of polling places in downtown Cincinnati, Repugs were challenging a lot, causing long lines, up to 4-hour waits, and resulting in some voters leaving before they voted because they had to get to work or pick up kids. I encountered an interesting problem --a woman who'd lived and voted in the same place for 13 years was told she couldn't vote. Why? Because her signature didn't match her name (in OH you don't have to show ID - just sign and they match the John Hancocks). Why? Because they had put her SISTER'S signature by her name and vice versa. They sent her away (crying). She came out and told me what happened, and I went in with her and told them legally they were required to give her a provisional ballot until the issue could be resolved. Of course, they never offered the ballot to her (even though legally they should have), but when I started reading the law to them and said I'd be happy to call the authorities, they decided they "could live with" giving her the provisional. Very considerate of them to "let" her exercise her Constitutional right.
On a happier note, there were many new voters -- and a fair number of folks in their late 30s and 40s. Many asked for assistance on how to vote, and, well prepared thanks to K-E Cincinnatti, we were able to show them how to vote and instruct them to swipe the back of the ballot to make sure there were no HANGING CHADS. Yes, still using chads in OH.
And that was my day in OH. Rain and all, moods were high and so was turnout. A big plus for our guy...now we wait...I just hope not too long.
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I don't usually comment on here -- although I'm always up to speed b/c of my husband. In any case, I was in OH today (Hamilton County/Cincinnati). I worked the polls doing voter right protections (wore the "official" white coat of the voting rights team and everything).
Overall, I was relieved by what I saw. I worked 3 polling places, 2 of which were in low-income neighborhoods, and 1 that bordered lower and middle income neighborhoods. There were Repug challengers in the 2 low-income sites (of course), but the Ds had their own folks on hand to combat. They worked hard to ensure there was a lawyer in most of the polling places -- especially after the early morning Fed appeals court ruling. From what I saw, things ran smoothly in most cases, and folks cast their ballots unfettered.
There were of course some problems. In a couple of polling places in downtown Cincinnati, Repugs were challenging a lot, causing long lines, up to 4-hour waits, and resulting in some voters leaving before they voted because they had to get to work or pick up kids. I encountered an interesting problem --a woman who'd lived and voted in the same place for 13 years was told she couldn't vote. Why? Because her signature didn't match her name (in OH you don't have to show ID - just sign and they match the John Hancocks). Why? Because they had put her SISTER'S signature by her name and vice versa. They sent her away (crying). She came out and told me what happened, and I went in with her and told them legally they were required to give her a provisional ballot until the issue could be resolved. Of course, they never offered the ballot to her (even though legally they should have), but when I started reading the law to them and said I'd be happy to call the authorities, they decided they "could live with" giving her the provisional. Very considerate of them to "let" her exercise her Constitutional right.
On a happier note, there were many new voters -- and a fair number of folks in their late 30s and 40s. Many asked for assistance on how to vote, and, well prepared thanks to K-E Cincinnatti, we were able to show them how to vote and instruct them to swipe the back of the ballot to make sure there were no HANGING CHADS. Yes, still using chads in OH.
And that was my day in OH. Rain and all, moods were high and so was turnout. A big plus for our guy...now we wait...I just hope not too long.
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Very cool election update map
You simply move your mouse over the state in question, and it gives you the most up to date numbers. Very cool.
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Bush Is Panicking!
In a huge, highly unusual step, Bush is inviting reporters into the White House to talk to the nation before the votes have been counted. ABC is speculating that Bush will be urging voters to go to the polls and say he is still fighting and so should they. (A number of battleground states have late poll closings, like 10 p.m. EST and of course then there's Hawaii.)
Really big break with tradition and certainly NOT a sign of confidence. ABC's Terry Moran describes the Bush people as "highly combative" and Dean Reynolds describes the Kerry camp as confident and very optimistic about Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida.
Bush is panicking!
Now Peter Jennings is grilling RNC head Ed Gillespie and finding out Ed has no idea what Bush is going to say and hasn't spoken to him in a while. Fascinating.
Bush is panicking!
HISTORICAL UPDATE: As ABC points out, Bush called in the media when Florida was called for Gore (how could it go to Gore? His brother had PROMISED him!) and said he didn't believe it and questioned the numbers. That of course was the beginning of his strategy of acting like the victor even when he clearly lost the popular vote. Bush didn't want anyone in the western states to think it was over. Hmmmm. Don't let the loser behave like a winner.
FINAL UPDATE: Truly bizarre. Bush seemed to just want the cameras to show him looking calm and smiling. Hey buddy, if you were calm and smiling, why would we need to see you looking calm and smiling?
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Really big break with tradition and certainly NOT a sign of confidence. ABC's Terry Moran describes the Bush people as "highly combative" and Dean Reynolds describes the Kerry camp as confident and very optimistic about Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida.
Bush is panicking!
Now Peter Jennings is grilling RNC head Ed Gillespie and finding out Ed has no idea what Bush is going to say and hasn't spoken to him in a while. Fascinating.
Bush is panicking!
HISTORICAL UPDATE: As ABC points out, Bush called in the media when Florida was called for Gore (how could it go to Gore? His brother had PROMISED him!) and said he didn't believe it and questioned the numbers. That of course was the beginning of his strategy of acting like the victor even when he clearly lost the popular vote. Bush didn't want anyone in the western states to think it was over. Hmmmm. Don't let the loser behave like a winner.
FINAL UPDATE: Truly bizarre. Bush seemed to just want the cameras to show him looking calm and smiling. Hey buddy, if you were calm and smiling, why would we need to see you looking calm and smiling?
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Interesting exit polls - NJ
New Jersey was called very early for Kerry. This is good news. The Republicans had thought that they a shot there. They didn't. Why? Check out these exit polls for New Jersey from CNN:
That's a lot of new voters...
That's a lot of younger voters. Read the rest of this post...
That's a lot of new voters...
That's a lot of younger voters. Read the rest of this post...
Tea Leaves Look Good For Kerry
Watching ABC News, all the subtle signs point to a Kerry victory. The Kerry camp is excited and confident; the Bush camp is defensive and talking a good talk but conceding it's really, really close. As we all know, the people in the media know a lot more about the polling data streaming in from all over the country than they can let on until the polls close. From the way they're presenting stories and pressing certain points, they seem to be laying the groundwork for a Kerry victory. Sure, this is like examining the photos of the Politburo for clues as to who is in and who is out, but it's still telling. How is the tea-leaf reading on the other networks?
UPDATE: Republican Gov. George Pataki walks into a "victory party" (the R candidate will be crushed by Chuck Schumer for Senate) and how does he start? By saying, "Regardless of who wins..." That's the theme of the Republicans tonight: it's very close and "regardless of who wins." Peter Jennings begins an interview with attack dog Rudy Guiliani by saying Rudy has been the most partisan attacker of Kerry and does he want to be a little more conciliatory tonight? Oops, more state voting booths closing, gotta go.
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UPDATE: Republican Gov. George Pataki walks into a "victory party" (the R candidate will be crushed by Chuck Schumer for Senate) and how does he start? By saying, "Regardless of who wins..." That's the theme of the Republicans tonight: it's very close and "regardless of who wins." Peter Jennings begins an interview with attack dog Rudy Guiliani by saying Rudy has been the most partisan attacker of Kerry and does he want to be a little more conciliatory tonight? Oops, more state voting booths closing, gotta go.
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Republicans Back Down On Plans To Intimidate Voters In Ohio
Yep, the GOP won its court challenges to go into polling areas and challenge voter by voter when they suspected fraud, creating a climate of intimidation throughout the state of Ohio.
But the eyes of the media were on them and they realized singling out black voter after black voter was gonna look more like Selma, Alabama in the 50s than America today and the GOP backed down and said they were just gonna "observe."
"Mark R. Weaver, the legal counsel for the Ohio Republican Party, said today that party officials had instructed the challengers to lie low at the polls and act more as observers than contestants," reports the New York Times.
""Given the Democrats' clear strategy of trying to turn each challenge into a ruckus," Mr. Weaver said, "we wanted to make to sure to preserve the right to keep our observers in the polling places."
"He added, "If there's litigation later, these will be contemporaneous notes about what happened at these polling places.""
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But the eyes of the media were on them and they realized singling out black voter after black voter was gonna look more like Selma, Alabama in the 50s than America today and the GOP backed down and said they were just gonna "observe."
"Mark R. Weaver, the legal counsel for the Ohio Republican Party, said today that party officials had instructed the challengers to lie low at the polls and act more as observers than contestants," reports the New York Times.
""Given the Democrats' clear strategy of trying to turn each challenge into a ruckus," Mr. Weaver said, "we wanted to make to sure to preserve the right to keep our observers in the polling places."
"He added, "If there's litigation later, these will be contemporaneous notes about what happened at these polling places.""
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My Brother Concedes! My Brother Concedes!
At least a little. My brother in Pennsylvania -- who abstained from voting in that swing state after endless hectoring from me (he agreed not to vote for Bush but wasn't about to vote FOR Kerry and hey I'll take it) -- my brother has just conceded...well, not the election. But he's said for the first time that he believes Kerry might very well win. I was chided for expressing any butterflies on election eve (even though I used it as an excuse to exhort people to vote, vote, vote). But now that's it's election night and seeing the massive turnout, I feel very excited and positive. So who's cracking now?
Any stories out there about ardent Bush supporters -- family or friends --who are now suddenly very, very nervous?
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Any stories out there about ardent Bush supporters -- family or friends --who are now suddenly very, very nervous?
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C.I.A. Shenanigans Over That 9-11 Report
Bush's politicized choice for the C.I.A. -- Porter Goss - is already hard at work doing a terrible job. (Hey, he's only got a few weeks to get things down, so who can blame him? :))
The C.I.A.'s director general was ordered by Congress to deliver a report about the C.I.A.'s performance surrounding 9-11 and specifically to determine who if anyone should be held accountable for its gross errors. The Bush people aren't too fond of accountability so no wonder Goss has objected -- he wants them to get rid of the section that names names and actually puts people's foot to the fire who let this president and this country down with their shoddy performance.
"The draft report was completed in July, but it has not yet been shared with the individuals named in the document. That step has been delayed for the last 90 days to allow time for Mr. Goss, who took office in September, and his predecessor, John E. McLaughlin, to review the document. In recent weeks, members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have complained to Mr. Goss about the delay. The disclosure of the request from Mr. Goss represents the first indication of how he intends to approach the issue," reports the New York Times.
"An intelligence official said that Mr. Goss had requested only that Mr. Helgerson "consider" making changes in the "formatting and presentation" of the draft report as he believed appropriate. "Ultimately, it is the call of I.G. to decide how to proceed,'' the intelligence official said.
"Congressional officials critical of Mr. Goss's request said they saw it as inconsistent with Congress's intent that the inspector general, not an internal board, determine who, if anyone, should be held responsible for errors related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Among the actions highlighted in previous inquiries by Congress and an independent commission have been the failure of C.I.A. and F.B.I. personnel to share information in summer 2001 that should have put some of the hijackers on a government watch list."
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The C.I.A.'s director general was ordered by Congress to deliver a report about the C.I.A.'s performance surrounding 9-11 and specifically to determine who if anyone should be held accountable for its gross errors. The Bush people aren't too fond of accountability so no wonder Goss has objected -- he wants them to get rid of the section that names names and actually puts people's foot to the fire who let this president and this country down with their shoddy performance.
"The draft report was completed in July, but it has not yet been shared with the individuals named in the document. That step has been delayed for the last 90 days to allow time for Mr. Goss, who took office in September, and his predecessor, John E. McLaughlin, to review the document. In recent weeks, members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have complained to Mr. Goss about the delay. The disclosure of the request from Mr. Goss represents the first indication of how he intends to approach the issue," reports the New York Times.
"An intelligence official said that Mr. Goss had requested only that Mr. Helgerson "consider" making changes in the "formatting and presentation" of the draft report as he believed appropriate. "Ultimately, it is the call of I.G. to decide how to proceed,'' the intelligence official said.
"Congressional officials critical of Mr. Goss's request said they saw it as inconsistent with Congress's intent that the inspector general, not an internal board, determine who, if anyone, should be held responsible for errors related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Among the actions highlighted in previous inquiries by Congress and an independent commission have been the failure of C.I.A. and F.B.I. personnel to share information in summer 2001 that should have put some of the hijackers on a government watch list."
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Ohio Bans HETEROSEXUAL Civil Unions
ABC has just announced that in the grand tradition of Jim Crow laws, the state of Ohio has decided that some of its citizens -- namely gays and lesbians -- don't deserve the same basic civil rights as other people. Lovely. Heck, they even refuse to recognize heterosexual civil unions.
This is the first of what should be a long, painful night of anti-gay measures that will pass in most if not all of 11 states. Take some comfort in this New Yorker article. Margaret Talbot went to an anti-gay rally -- I'm sorry, pro-marriage rally -- where everyone felt obliged to bend over backwards and say they really didn't hate gay people and some of their best friends were gay people and so on. As the article states, they may win the battle, but they're clearly losing the war.
"It was hard to find anyone at the recent anti-gay-marriage rally in Washington, D.C., who had a bad word to say about gays. Chandra Judy, who had come to the “Mayday for Marriage” rally on the Mall with her husband, Manford, and their ten-month-old baby, Eloise, “really wanted to say,” for instance, “that this was not about gay-bashing.” Chandra, who is slender and blond and wore jeans and shiny pale-pink lipstick, said she was a professional dancer in Washington, and knew a lot of gay people. She had no objection to civil unions. What she and her husband were worried about was the institution of marriage. “If the sanctity of one man and one woman is not protected, if we keep expanding the definition, then where’s it going to lead?” Manford wondered. “One man and ten women? A man and a child?” He did not add, as some people attending the rally did, “A man and a dog?” He wore a grave expression and appeared to weigh his words carefully....
"All this careful sympathy for the sinner raised the question of how much appetite Americans—even Americans who oppose same-sex marriage—really have for a long fight against it. According to Michael Cromartie, who directs the Evangelicals in Civic Life project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, in Washington, there is “a kind of ambivalence just beneath the surface of opposition to same-sex marriage, even among people of strong religious convictions,” an ambivalence that may mean it will not become the long-lasting social crusade that the anti-abortion issue is....
"Chandra Judy was certainly stressing the positives, as well as she could under the circumstances. “I do believe it’s a choice,” she said, clapping warmly for Dr. Dobson as he strode to the stage. “But if people choose to be homosexual that’s their right, and they should get legal benefits and all those things.”"
Cold comfort tonight, but a warming thought for the future.
UPDATE: Add Georgia and Kentucky and Oklahoma to the list of states attacking the basic civil rights of their gay citizens. Gotta love the red states.
Read the rest of this post...
This is the first of what should be a long, painful night of anti-gay measures that will pass in most if not all of 11 states. Take some comfort in this New Yorker article. Margaret Talbot went to an anti-gay rally -- I'm sorry, pro-marriage rally -- where everyone felt obliged to bend over backwards and say they really didn't hate gay people and some of their best friends were gay people and so on. As the article states, they may win the battle, but they're clearly losing the war.
"It was hard to find anyone at the recent anti-gay-marriage rally in Washington, D.C., who had a bad word to say about gays. Chandra Judy, who had come to the “Mayday for Marriage” rally on the Mall with her husband, Manford, and their ten-month-old baby, Eloise, “really wanted to say,” for instance, “that this was not about gay-bashing.” Chandra, who is slender and blond and wore jeans and shiny pale-pink lipstick, said she was a professional dancer in Washington, and knew a lot of gay people. She had no objection to civil unions. What she and her husband were worried about was the institution of marriage. “If the sanctity of one man and one woman is not protected, if we keep expanding the definition, then where’s it going to lead?” Manford wondered. “One man and ten women? A man and a child?” He did not add, as some people attending the rally did, “A man and a dog?” He wore a grave expression and appeared to weigh his words carefully....
"All this careful sympathy for the sinner raised the question of how much appetite Americans—even Americans who oppose same-sex marriage—really have for a long fight against it. According to Michael Cromartie, who directs the Evangelicals in Civic Life project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, in Washington, there is “a kind of ambivalence just beneath the surface of opposition to same-sex marriage, even among people of strong religious convictions,” an ambivalence that may mean it will not become the long-lasting social crusade that the anti-abortion issue is....
"Chandra Judy was certainly stressing the positives, as well as she could under the circumstances. “I do believe it’s a choice,” she said, clapping warmly for Dr. Dobson as he strode to the stage. “But if people choose to be homosexual that’s their right, and they should get legal benefits and all those things.”"
Cold comfort tonight, but a warming thought for the future.
UPDATE: Add Georgia and Kentucky and Oklahoma to the list of states attacking the basic civil rights of their gay citizens. Gotta love the red states.
Read the rest of this post...
China Roiled by Muslim Unrest
First, it's been VERY hard to post because of the massive traffic to our blog. Thanks for checking in and sorry there haven't been more updates. Your comments on the I Voted and Election Day story threads have been great.
But the rest of the world keeps on turning. In China, "ethnic" clashes erupted in a province, leading to at least 148 deaths (per the police) and much more according to others. Notable for two reasons. First, the "ethnic" clashes -- as described by the New York Times -- are really more evidence of Muslim unrest around the world. Second, the central government in China is admitting to the unrest, when normally news about massive strikes and unrest that regularly (yes, regularly) occur throughout that massive nation leaks out over weeks and is downplayed or suppressed by the government. More signs that the new head of China wants new openness as in their approach to the problems with SARS?
"The incident is the latest challenge for the authorities in a society that has become markedly prone to social unrest. A growing wealth gap and persistent corruption and backwardness in rural areas have fueled riots in the countryside and in secondary cities. Large-scale demonstrations, some violent, are no longer rare.
"Ethnic violence is less common. Hui Muslims, one of the country's 56 official ethnic groups, trace their origins to Central Asia. But they resemble Han Chinese, who make up about 90 percent of the population, and are considered well integrated into Chinese society.
"The details of the Henan incident remain sketchy and the number of casualties is in dispute. But it appears to have been one of the largest and most sustained ethnic clashes in many years."
Read the rest of this post...
But the rest of the world keeps on turning. In China, "ethnic" clashes erupted in a province, leading to at least 148 deaths (per the police) and much more according to others. Notable for two reasons. First, the "ethnic" clashes -- as described by the New York Times -- are really more evidence of Muslim unrest around the world. Second, the central government in China is admitting to the unrest, when normally news about massive strikes and unrest that regularly (yes, regularly) occur throughout that massive nation leaks out over weeks and is downplayed or suppressed by the government. More signs that the new head of China wants new openness as in their approach to the problems with SARS?
"The incident is the latest challenge for the authorities in a society that has become markedly prone to social unrest. A growing wealth gap and persistent corruption and backwardness in rural areas have fueled riots in the countryside and in secondary cities. Large-scale demonstrations, some violent, are no longer rare.
"Ethnic violence is less common. Hui Muslims, one of the country's 56 official ethnic groups, trace their origins to Central Asia. But they resemble Han Chinese, who make up about 90 percent of the population, and are considered well integrated into Chinese society.
"The details of the Henan incident remain sketchy and the number of casualties is in dispute. But it appears to have been one of the largest and most sustained ethnic clashes in many years."
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So far, no surprises
KY, GA and IN are red, VT is blue.
Real news soon.
We got great turnout today... I feel good...
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Real news soon.
We got great turnout today... I feel good...
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Post latest poll updates, numbers, news here
Please feel free to post the latest poll numbers, state races, Senate races, House, etc. I'm gonna be in and out all night, so feel free to post updates for everyone here (with links of course!)
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Latest update
From http://direland.typepad.com/, I'm told - no time to verify this, posting it raw. JOHN
November 02, 2004
ELECTION DAY
4:56PM From a source at the Democratic National Committee, numbers that are two hours old (but that contradict in some respects the numbers earlier from Daily Kos and Drudge):
Colorado - Kerry 48.7 - Bush 50.8
Florida - Kerry 51.7 - Bush 48.1
Iowa - Kerry 50 - Bush 50
Maine - Kerry 55 - Bush 44.4
Michigan - Kerry 51.5 - Bush 47.7
Minnesota - Kerry 58.5 - Bush 40.2
New Hampshire - Kerry 57.9 - Bush 41.4
New Mexico - Kerry 50.2 - Bush 48.8
Ohio - Kerry 52.2 - Bush 47.8
Pennsylvania - Kerry 59 - Bush 40
Wisconsin - Kerry 52.6 - Bush 47.3
Arkansas - Kerry 44.5 - Bush 55
New Jersey - Kerry 56.4 - Bush 43.2
....in addition, that excellent Wisconsinite John Stauber (whose books you should read) reports within the hour that Wisconsin Democratic headquarters tells him Kerry is up by 5 points in the state, which comports with the above DNC Wisconsin number....
4:27 PM From a senior source in the AFL-CIO's political operation: Kerry is down by 1 point in Virginia and Nevada, and down by 5 against Bush in North Carolina.....and the betting on 16th St. at the fed's HQ is that Daschle is toast... (trying to get absolutely confirmable numbers directly from my usual spies at the TV networks is like pulling teeth this election cycle--security is VERY tight...)
4:03 PM -- From a senior source in the Kerry campaign, exit poll numbers they seem fairly confident about:
National : KERRY 50%, BUSH 49%
Florida: KERRY 51.7 BUSH 48.1
Michigan: KERRY 51.1 BUSH 47.7
Ohio: KERRY 52.2 BUSH 47.3
Again, take these numbers with a grain of salt (the Ohio results seems a bit high to me even in the rosiest scenario)......and Drudge has what he says are exit polls in some Senate races (consider the source in your evaluation--sometimes Matt has the goods, sometimes he doesn't--his earlier post of presidential numbers he picked up from Daily Kos). DRUDGE'S Senate exit polls: Thune +4 Castor +3 Burr +6 Bunning +6 Coburn +6 Demint +4 Salazar +4...
12:08 PM: In Fallujah, Le Monde is reporting "chaos and panic," as 65% of the 250,000 residents flee in anticipation of the U.S. led assault -- which most observers think will begin as soon as the polls in the States close.... Read the rest of this post...
November 02, 2004
ELECTION DAY
4:56PM From a source at the Democratic National Committee, numbers that are two hours old (but that contradict in some respects the numbers earlier from Daily Kos and Drudge):
Colorado - Kerry 48.7 - Bush 50.8
Florida - Kerry 51.7 - Bush 48.1
Iowa - Kerry 50 - Bush 50
Maine - Kerry 55 - Bush 44.4
Michigan - Kerry 51.5 - Bush 47.7
Minnesota - Kerry 58.5 - Bush 40.2
New Hampshire - Kerry 57.9 - Bush 41.4
New Mexico - Kerry 50.2 - Bush 48.8
Ohio - Kerry 52.2 - Bush 47.8
Pennsylvania - Kerry 59 - Bush 40
Wisconsin - Kerry 52.6 - Bush 47.3
Arkansas - Kerry 44.5 - Bush 55
New Jersey - Kerry 56.4 - Bush 43.2
....in addition, that excellent Wisconsinite John Stauber (whose books you should read) reports within the hour that Wisconsin Democratic headquarters tells him Kerry is up by 5 points in the state, which comports with the above DNC Wisconsin number....
4:27 PM From a senior source in the AFL-CIO's political operation: Kerry is down by 1 point in Virginia and Nevada, and down by 5 against Bush in North Carolina.....and the betting on 16th St. at the fed's HQ is that Daschle is toast... (trying to get absolutely confirmable numbers directly from my usual spies at the TV networks is like pulling teeth this election cycle--security is VERY tight...)
4:03 PM -- From a senior source in the Kerry campaign, exit poll numbers they seem fairly confident about:
National : KERRY 50%, BUSH 49%
Florida: KERRY 51.7 BUSH 48.1
Michigan: KERRY 51.1 BUSH 47.7
Ohio: KERRY 52.2 BUSH 47.3
Again, take these numbers with a grain of salt (the Ohio results seems a bit high to me even in the rosiest scenario)......and Drudge has what he says are exit polls in some Senate races (consider the source in your evaluation--sometimes Matt has the goods, sometimes he doesn't--his earlier post of presidential numbers he picked up from Daily Kos). DRUDGE'S Senate exit polls: Thune +4 Castor +3 Burr +6 Bunning +6 Coburn +6 Demint +4 Salazar +4...
12:08 PM: In Fallujah, Le Monde is reporting "chaos and panic," as 65% of the 250,000 residents flee in anticipation of the U.S. led assault -- which most observers think will begin as soon as the polls in the States close.... Read the rest of this post...
Traffic on the site is out-of-control
Sorry it's hard to access - we're getting the most traffic we've ever had.
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BREAKING: Zogby predicting big Kerry victory - SO FAR
Zogby has just released a poll showing that with the information they have at the moment, Kerry will 311 electoral votes to Bush's 213
Check out the details here. Read the rest of this post...
Check out the details here. Read the rest of this post...
The latest: So far so good
The latest 4pm exit polls are looking good. And turnout is also looking good.
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OPEN THREAD: ELECTION DAY REPORTS
This thread is to report your experiences on election day, what you feel about turnout, what you're hearing locally, etc. Please try and provide some substance, not just Kerry's going to win please :)
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This is the "I VOTED" thread
Use Rob's thread above for substantive election day feedback. Use this thread to simply post that you've voted. I think it might be kind of neat just to see the number of comments grow as the day goes on.
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FYI - my DC electronic ballot
I decided to use the new electronic voting machine we had at my precinct in DC. It was cool, a lot like an ATM, had a "en espanol" option, and overall, wasn't bad, though it IS a bit confusing. It took me back a few times at some points, like when it gets upset if you don't vote for EVERY position on the ballot (some, like local school board, I just didn't feel up on the candidates enough to vote intelligently). It didn't like that. But in a way, that's good, because it made me double and triple check that I wanted to skip that vote, then it showed me how I voted one last time before submitting my ballot, which was also cool. The only thing it didn't do is give a paper readout of my ballot, that could then be put in a separate box just in case. Other than that, not bad.
You can see a bad picture of my ballot here:
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You can see a bad picture of my ballot here:
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Pennsylvania undecideds now going for Kerry 2-1
Campaign Extra! is reporting that in a late-breaking AP story Pennsylvania undecideds are now going almost 2-1 for Kerry. It's a small focus group, but an interesting one.
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Iraqi PM Alawi just handed Kerry the election
I think US puppet Prime Minister Alawi of Iraq just handed John Kerry the election. CBS News has just confirmed what Gallup's polls have already shown - namely, that over the past week Kerry destroyed Bush's lead on both terrorism and leadership issues. CBS is a bit vague in the story below, but in a nutshell I think the question was something to the effect of do you approve or disapprove of this candidate's handling of terrorism, and overall leadership.
It looks like the puppet got sick of having a hand up its ass. Read the rest of this post...
The CBS survey showed Bush's lead on who could best protect the country against terrorism down among registered voters from 70-62 (Bush-Kerry) percent recorded from Thursday to Saturday to 64-62 (Bush-Kerry) percent over the weekend.Let's not forget how this scandal got started. It was the Iraq government that went public, blaming the US for the lost explosives:
His advantage over Kerry on leadership capacity, the cornerstone of the Republican's re-election bid as a "war president," shrunk from 62-52 (Bush-Kerry) to 58-54 (Bush-Kerry) percent, according to the CBS findings.
A Gallup poll released Monday had Kerry halving a 22-point deficit on terrorism in a week. He cut a 14-point Bush edge on Iraq to four points among likely voters and inched ahead by a point among registered voters.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, presented the U.N. Security Council with an Oct. 10 letter from the interim Iraqi government reporting the loss of the explosives. Word of the letter was reported Monday by the New York Times and CBS News.So, for reasons unknown, Iraqi puppet Prime Minister Alawi thought it would be in his best interests to blast the Bush administration for the loss of these weapons. Pulling, in essence, a Sista Souljah on George Bush in order to firm up Alawi's own sinking credibility amongst his own people before the upcoming Iraqi elections in which the more religious parties (who we REALLY don't like) are leading in the polls.
The letter from Mohammad J. Abbas, a senior official in the Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology, said that nearly 215 tons of HMX, 156 tons of RDX and 6 tons of PETN had gone missing sometime after April 9, 2003, the day Baghdad fell to U.S. forces. The letter blamed a "lack of security" for the loss.
It looks like the puppet got sick of having a hand up its ass. Read the rest of this post...
Early exit poll results
Voter News Service 1pm exit polls
Format:
State/Kerry %/Bush%
AZ 45-55
CO 48-51
LA 42-57
PA 60-40 key state
OH 52-48 key state
FL 51-48 key state
MI 51-47
NM 50-48
MN 58-40
WI 52-43
IA 49-49
NH 57-41 Read the rest of this post...
Format:
State/Kerry %/Bush%
AZ 45-55
CO 48-51
LA 42-57
PA 60-40 key state
OH 52-48 key state
FL 51-48 key state
MI 51-47
NM 50-48
MN 58-40
WI 52-43
IA 49-49
NH 57-41 Read the rest of this post...
Turnout in LA looking good
Reader Daniel reports in from Los Angeles:
The wait in line in Santa Monica is one hour and twenty minutes. The poll workers (and several in line) couldn’t believe how long the lines were. From what I’ve been hearing, turnout is high in several precincts around L.A.Read the rest of this post...
The Lines Are Loooooooooooooong!
As you can see from the comments of all our visitors, the news on TV and anecdotal stories from all over the country (and not just the swing states like Florida), the lines are looooong today. It's a beautiful thing but if you swung by the polls and decided you'd wait till after work, you're going to be in even longer lines tonight. Go on your lunch break and tell your boss you WON'T COME BACK until you've voted. Take off an hour early from work to get a head start on the evening crush. Bring a snack and something to read. Call in sick. Take a sick day with their permission. Do whatever you must. But vote. It really matters.
Our fearless leader John in DC says the lines are long there and maybe some years he could understand why people wouldn't bother -- DC will clearly be going for Kerry. But no matter what state you're in, the popular vote is crucial. The larger the popular vote for Kerry, the more difficult it will be for Bush to challenge a few key states and swing the election. Kerry won't make the mistakes Gore made four years ago, but Bush won't have a ghost of a chance if it's 53% Kerry and 47% Bush. The popular vote matters. If you're in Texas or California or New York or wherever, you MUST vote. Regardless of the Electoral College, it could mean the difference between victory or weeks of court challenges. It will also mean the difference between a razor thin win and a popular mandate for change and a resounding kick in the ass for Bush as he heads out the back door.
Read the rest of this post...
Our fearless leader John in DC says the lines are long there and maybe some years he could understand why people wouldn't bother -- DC will clearly be going for Kerry. But no matter what state you're in, the popular vote is crucial. The larger the popular vote for Kerry, the more difficult it will be for Bush to challenge a few key states and swing the election. Kerry won't make the mistakes Gore made four years ago, but Bush won't have a ghost of a chance if it's 53% Kerry and 47% Bush. The popular vote matters. If you're in Texas or California or New York or wherever, you MUST vote. Regardless of the Electoral College, it could mean the difference between victory or weeks of court challenges. It will also mean the difference between a razor thin win and a popular mandate for change and a resounding kick in the ass for Bush as he heads out the back door.
Read the rest of this post...
America, FUCK YEAH!
An email I just got from a Bush voter regarding our ENJOYtheDRAFT.com site (ok, I'm guessing he's a Bush voter, but that doesn't take too much of a guess.)
HIS EMAIL
HIS EMAIL
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 23:25:55 -0800 (PST)MY REPLY
From: Steve
Subject: Enjoy the draft.
To: enjoythedraft.com
If you don't enjoy the draft close the window. Some of us AMERICANS have no trouble spilling our blood for a GREAT cause. Called freedom. The freedom that allows you to build a stupid website such as yours. You don't like American. Take the next flight out buddy.
"The mountain is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something"
Oswald Chambers
Mark 9:2 "...Jesus....leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before them...
Steve
Where are you from, Cuba? Spilling our blood for the fatherland? Oh I'm sorry, that's fascism, not communism. Whichever, you clearly weren't raised in a democracy. Putting aside your leanings towards dictatorships, are you crazy, stupid, or just lying? Where did you get this idea that everyone who disagrees with Bush's insane, lie, quagmire of a war is somehow not willing to "spill their blood" for this country? Only a moron is willing to spill his blood for a lie. To spill his blood for a leader who's a liar. To spill his blood in a war that is only making things worse. That doesn't make you a patriot - it's makes you an idiot. And a dead one at that.Read the rest of this post...
By the way, Steve, who would Jesus bomb? I'm just curious, since you have that nifty little quote at the bottom of the email. I never knew Jesus was big on killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Or is Jesus a pansy too?
JOHN
Kerry is a class act
From DailyKos:
So I'm watching the rally on C-Span. As Kerry walks the line after the rally, shaking hands and signing autographs, a young guy starts telling him all the things he's done for Kerry -- raising money, etc. Kerry hears the kid out, then takes off his tie and gives it to him. I had to rewind on TiVo to catch the exchange. It's the little, unheralded details that truly matter. Classy.Read the rest of this post...
A good omen
I just got the final get out and vote email from the Bush campaign. It's totally formatted wrong. Oops! Poorly planned and executed. Maybe it was just the fault of catastrophic campaign success. :-) The screen capture is below (I had to shrink it to fit the page, it's real).
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Arafat AIDS rumor
Actually, there have been rumors for years about Arafat being gay or bi. So this isn't out of left field. Then again, this also sounds like the kind of misinformation an unfriendly intelligence service would spread. So who knows...
As French doctors continue to run tests on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat some medical authorities not connected directly to his case are suggesting that he may have HIV/AIDS.Read the rest of this post...
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath Monday said that all types of cancer had been ruled out.
Arafat has been visibly ill for more than two weeks. Last Wednesday he collapsed and briefly lost consciousness. Initial blood tests performed in the West Bank revealed a low blood platelet count. The Palestinian leader was airlifted to France where he is undergoing more tests.
But, with leukemia and other forms of cancer ruled out, the list of possible diseases is narrowing.
A low blood platelet count is a sign of a weakened immune system. In addition to cancer, the low count could be attributed to bleeding ulcers, colitis, liver disease, lupus, or HIV. It is believed that ulcers and colitis have already been ruled out.
Arafat has lost a considerable amount of body weight. Hopital d'Instruction des Armees de Percy, southwest of Paris, also has some of France's best HIV/AIDS doctors.
For several years there have been suggestions that Arafat was bisexual.
Ion Pacepa, who was deputy chief of Romanian foreign intelligence under the Ceaucescu regime and who defected to the West in 1978, says in his memoirs that the Romania government bugged Arafat and had recordings of the Arab leader in orgies with his body guards.
US soldier may have been kidnaped in Iraq
We're denying the kidnaping, which means it happened.
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It's crunch time, vote!!!
After four years, today is the day. My vote was mailed out a few weeks ago (Kerry/Edwards in PA) and a group of us here in Paris are getting together to follow the news tonight. We used to be able to talk to people with opposing views but after 2000, Bush ran show as though he won by a landslide. Opposing views no longer mattered and Democrats were somehow un-American. Today my vote is for the America that I used to know where all Americans mattered and all views represented. What a novel idea, right?
I'm feeling reasonably good about a Kerry win today but it will all be won in the trenches. We need to make sure that everyone you know gets out to vote. It probably won't be until tomorrow morning my time that we know who wins but I think we'll know soon enough. It's doubtful that I'll be getting home until well into the day tomorrow so I probably won't be online until Wednesday afternoon, my time. Go vote!
Read the rest of this post...
I'm feeling reasonably good about a Kerry win today but it will all be won in the trenches. We need to make sure that everyone you know gets out to vote. It probably won't be until tomorrow morning my time that we know who wins but I think we'll know soon enough. It's doubtful that I'll be getting home until well into the day tomorrow so I probably won't be online until Wednesday afternoon, my time. Go vote!
Read the rest of this post...
FINAL THOUGHTS: Why I'm proud voting today
I believe that this campaign has shown the American public exactly what both parties stand for. The system has, in fact, worked quite well. This campaign has made for clear choices. For our side, we are going into an election up against a wartime President neck and neck in the polls - think back two years and try and imagine that. That we are here today is no accident.
The Republican Party in these last four years has shown itself for the closed minded, small thinking, backwards looking Party that it sadly has become. With both houses of Congress and the White House finally under their control, we've seen the true face of the Republican Party. People who once obscured their true feelings have been exposed. People like Bill Frist, one time moderates, have shown themselves as shills for an ideological agenda that would impose its small mindedness onto an entire nation. We've seen them pander with the best of them, blowing massive surpluses into record deficits, destroying whatever credibility they had on fiscal responsibility. We've seen them obscure truth to go to war in Iraq while the man who masterminded the attacks on 9/11 is still roaming free. We've seen Colin Powell destroy his reputation with shoddy intelligence that has left the public with no confidence in what its government tells them. We've seen Republicans in Congress fail to hold this administration accountable in any way shape or form for the mismanagement of Iraq once the war began.
In the last week we've seen Rudi Giuliani blame our troops for failing to find explosives in Iraq because he wants Bush to win (and get himself a shot in '08) more than he cares about what happens to our nation's soldiers in a time of war. We've seen John McCain, for reasons that I will never be able to process, campaign for a man who despicably sullied his reputation in 2000.
If the Republican Party goes down in defeat today, they will have no one to blame but themselves. They have been united in their folly.
But this is not the message I'm taking with me into the voting booth today. Instead, I'm walking into my local voting station proud as I have ever been to cast a vote for any candidate for office.
If we win today, as I believe we will, it will be because so many Americans came together and decided to change this nation -- to return it to our core fundamental principals. It took a unique leader to be able to accomplish this, and it took a citizenry to give of their time, their money, their energy, their hopes and their dreams to believe that one by one we could come together and change America. That's what makes me proud to cast my vote today.
So I have to say thank you to John Kerry for being who he is. I grew up in Massachusetts - I know where John Kerry comes from. I know that he could have made many easy choices in life but instead chose to stand up for what he believed in. I want to thank him for going to Vietnam in the first place, for having the courage to come back and tell it like he saw it, and for trying to make a difference. I want to thank him for being a patriotic Democrat and taking patriotism and the American flag back and giving it to ALL the people.
I want to thank him for the campaign he has run, for having the vision to put John Edwards on the ticket because it was the right answer to unify the Party and move us into the general election with a new and hopeful vision. I also want to thank both John Kerry and John Edwards for dismissing the politics of division and instead offering us an opportunity to join together. John Kerry and John Edwards have made me proud to cast my vote today and to imagine an incredibly bright future that seemed so dark just a year ago.
I want to say thank you to the Democratic Party primary voters for having their senses about them to give us John Kerry. But I too want to say thank you to Howard Dean for getting the base motivated and for saying out loud what we all knew was going on in Iraq. It was Howard Dean that got this all started.
Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone who has read this and so many other blogs, who has visited a battleground state, who is going to drive someone to the polls today, who is bringing their friends along just to get them to vote for the first time. Your involvement - getting informed, getting involved, and making your voice heard, is what a democratic society requires to renew itself. It has restored my faith in this country to see us all in action.
When you go vote today, hold your head high and dismiss cynicism. Believe in our nation, believe in your fellow citizens, and believe that they, too, see reality. When we wake up on November 3rd, it will be our nation once again.
-- Rob in Baltimore Read the rest of this post...
The Republican Party in these last four years has shown itself for the closed minded, small thinking, backwards looking Party that it sadly has become. With both houses of Congress and the White House finally under their control, we've seen the true face of the Republican Party. People who once obscured their true feelings have been exposed. People like Bill Frist, one time moderates, have shown themselves as shills for an ideological agenda that would impose its small mindedness onto an entire nation. We've seen them pander with the best of them, blowing massive surpluses into record deficits, destroying whatever credibility they had on fiscal responsibility. We've seen them obscure truth to go to war in Iraq while the man who masterminded the attacks on 9/11 is still roaming free. We've seen Colin Powell destroy his reputation with shoddy intelligence that has left the public with no confidence in what its government tells them. We've seen Republicans in Congress fail to hold this administration accountable in any way shape or form for the mismanagement of Iraq once the war began.
In the last week we've seen Rudi Giuliani blame our troops for failing to find explosives in Iraq because he wants Bush to win (and get himself a shot in '08) more than he cares about what happens to our nation's soldiers in a time of war. We've seen John McCain, for reasons that I will never be able to process, campaign for a man who despicably sullied his reputation in 2000.
If the Republican Party goes down in defeat today, they will have no one to blame but themselves. They have been united in their folly.
But this is not the message I'm taking with me into the voting booth today. Instead, I'm walking into my local voting station proud as I have ever been to cast a vote for any candidate for office.
If we win today, as I believe we will, it will be because so many Americans came together and decided to change this nation -- to return it to our core fundamental principals. It took a unique leader to be able to accomplish this, and it took a citizenry to give of their time, their money, their energy, their hopes and their dreams to believe that one by one we could come together and change America. That's what makes me proud to cast my vote today.
So I have to say thank you to John Kerry for being who he is. I grew up in Massachusetts - I know where John Kerry comes from. I know that he could have made many easy choices in life but instead chose to stand up for what he believed in. I want to thank him for going to Vietnam in the first place, for having the courage to come back and tell it like he saw it, and for trying to make a difference. I want to thank him for being a patriotic Democrat and taking patriotism and the American flag back and giving it to ALL the people.
I want to thank him for the campaign he has run, for having the vision to put John Edwards on the ticket because it was the right answer to unify the Party and move us into the general election with a new and hopeful vision. I also want to thank both John Kerry and John Edwards for dismissing the politics of division and instead offering us an opportunity to join together. John Kerry and John Edwards have made me proud to cast my vote today and to imagine an incredibly bright future that seemed so dark just a year ago.
I want to say thank you to the Democratic Party primary voters for having their senses about them to give us John Kerry. But I too want to say thank you to Howard Dean for getting the base motivated and for saying out loud what we all knew was going on in Iraq. It was Howard Dean that got this all started.
Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone who has read this and so many other blogs, who has visited a battleground state, who is going to drive someone to the polls today, who is bringing their friends along just to get them to vote for the first time. Your involvement - getting informed, getting involved, and making your voice heard, is what a democratic society requires to renew itself. It has restored my faith in this country to see us all in action.
When you go vote today, hold your head high and dismiss cynicism. Believe in our nation, believe in your fellow citizens, and believe that they, too, see reality. When we wake up on November 3rd, it will be our nation once again.
-- Rob in Baltimore Read the rest of this post...
VOTE!
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
please
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VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
please
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Why I'm Voting Today
I'm a registered Republican, though by now I guess I'd consider myself an Independent -- conservative on fiscal and foreign policy issues and what's considered liberal on social issues. I voted for Reagan and Bush Sr. (I actually really liked him and thought he was a great VP and good P but twelve years in power for the same group of folks was long enough) and Bill Clinton and Bill Clinton again. I was batting a thousand, actually, until Bush Jr. came along. I really didn't think much of Gore but couldn't possibly imagine Bush in the White House. I vote swapped with a friend in Florida and -- much to my amazement -- found myself voting for Nader in NYC where it was safe and wouldn't do any damage. For a few days, my friend and I thought maybe our vote had put Gore over the top and my gosh it almost did. But Bush became President.
And he has been far worse than I could ever imagine. As a fiscal conservative, I've been aghast at his reckless, wasteful spending, not to mention his squandering of an annual surplus. As an internationalist, I've been distraught to see Bush tear down the hard work of his father and disparage not just the UN but virtually every international organization and treaty the US is party to. As a respecter of law and order, I'm shocked that he would consider himself above both US and international law. As someone who is fond of oxygen, I've been choked up over his environmental record. As a social moderate, I'm furious that he has attacked the basic civil rights of Americans. As a Republican, I'm even more furious that he would toy with the Constitution of the United States for partisan advantage, turning a document that has always been a symbol of freedom into a symbol of division and hatred. As a believer in democratic capitalism, I've been in disbelief as Bush pretends to support democracy but continues to cozy up to corrupt monarchies in Saudi Arabia and military dictatorships in Pakistan and burgeoning empires in the Soviet Union -- I mean Russia -- while mocking and turning away from our historic allies and real democracies like France and Germany and Canada and Mexico and Brazil and so many others. As an American, I've been aghast that so many of my fellow citizens accepted Bush's decision to throw US citizens into a hole in the ground and claim he should never, ever have to justify to anyone anywhere and certainly not to a judge who he was holding or why. All in the name of freedom. As a human, I've been ashamed to see our nation directly responsible for the rape, torture, and killing of prisoners. All in the name of freedom. And not one person was fired or demoted or even reprimanded except the lowly soldiers caught on videotape and in photos.
But happily, my anyone-but-Bush attitude has turned into positive support for Kerry. He has a very good record on being a fiscal moderate that I find deeply encouraging. He is intelligent and thoughtful and strong. He represents Massachusetts, so naturally his voting record is liberal. But I believe as President he will lead from the center (despite the broad mandate he will receive :)) and do a sterling job. I hope he will announce a Manhattan Project to dramatically lower or end our dependence on foreign oil and develop the alternative fuels we need for our environment and our national security. I trust he will properly arm the troops in Iraq and send in more troops that are desperately needed to quell the insurgency and do a real job of training Iraqis. I'm sure he'll be able to reach out to our true allies and win their genuine support for stablizing Iraq and sowing the seeds for democracy. I'm confident he'll take serious steps to keep this country safer (like FINALLY getting a master list of terrorists to check against the airline lists of passengers coming into this country). I'm thrilled he will be selecting the next two or three Supreme Court justices.
Most importantly, I know John Kerry will restore America's dignity, hold true to the principles of decency and fairness for all our citizens and everyone we come in contact with (even prisoners), and work hard and intelligently to make this a better nation and a better world.
I know John Kerry will win. And then we all win.
P.S. My prediction: 300+ electoral votes for Kerry and a great inaugural ball with Springsteen as the house band.
Read the rest of this post...
And he has been far worse than I could ever imagine. As a fiscal conservative, I've been aghast at his reckless, wasteful spending, not to mention his squandering of an annual surplus. As an internationalist, I've been distraught to see Bush tear down the hard work of his father and disparage not just the UN but virtually every international organization and treaty the US is party to. As a respecter of law and order, I'm shocked that he would consider himself above both US and international law. As someone who is fond of oxygen, I've been choked up over his environmental record. As a social moderate, I'm furious that he has attacked the basic civil rights of Americans. As a Republican, I'm even more furious that he would toy with the Constitution of the United States for partisan advantage, turning a document that has always been a symbol of freedom into a symbol of division and hatred. As a believer in democratic capitalism, I've been in disbelief as Bush pretends to support democracy but continues to cozy up to corrupt monarchies in Saudi Arabia and military dictatorships in Pakistan and burgeoning empires in the Soviet Union -- I mean Russia -- while mocking and turning away from our historic allies and real democracies like France and Germany and Canada and Mexico and Brazil and so many others. As an American, I've been aghast that so many of my fellow citizens accepted Bush's decision to throw US citizens into a hole in the ground and claim he should never, ever have to justify to anyone anywhere and certainly not to a judge who he was holding or why. All in the name of freedom. As a human, I've been ashamed to see our nation directly responsible for the rape, torture, and killing of prisoners. All in the name of freedom. And not one person was fired or demoted or even reprimanded except the lowly soldiers caught on videotape and in photos.
But happily, my anyone-but-Bush attitude has turned into positive support for Kerry. He has a very good record on being a fiscal moderate that I find deeply encouraging. He is intelligent and thoughtful and strong. He represents Massachusetts, so naturally his voting record is liberal. But I believe as President he will lead from the center (despite the broad mandate he will receive :)) and do a sterling job. I hope he will announce a Manhattan Project to dramatically lower or end our dependence on foreign oil and develop the alternative fuels we need for our environment and our national security. I trust he will properly arm the troops in Iraq and send in more troops that are desperately needed to quell the insurgency and do a real job of training Iraqis. I'm sure he'll be able to reach out to our true allies and win their genuine support for stablizing Iraq and sowing the seeds for democracy. I'm confident he'll take serious steps to keep this country safer (like FINALLY getting a master list of terrorists to check against the airline lists of passengers coming into this country). I'm thrilled he will be selecting the next two or three Supreme Court justices.
Most importantly, I know John Kerry will restore America's dignity, hold true to the principles of decency and fairness for all our citizens and everyone we come in contact with (even prisoners), and work hard and intelligently to make this a better nation and a better world.
I know John Kerry will win. And then we all win.
P.S. My prediction: 300+ electoral votes for Kerry and a great inaugural ball with Springsteen as the house band.
Read the rest of this post...
A Day That Will Decide The Fate Of The World
That's the headline in Britain's newspaper The Independent. They're counting on us. Vote.
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