Just got back from voting

Jbird said:
At least now my phone will stop ringing off the hook from all the political ad phone calls.

I'm on the do not call list, but the government has decided that political campaign calls don't count as advertisements :facepalm:

Basically I have to turn my phone off during the week during voting season, since I work 3rd shift.
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just another way that big corps own everyone
 
I had four total races to vote for on my ballot. Governor, US Congress Rep, State Senator, and State Rep. And the State Senator was running unopposed. Talk about dullsville.

And I'm pretty sure the only one that I will get the result I want (and that's a relative term) will be the governor's race.
 
We did it! We got the crooked guy out of office. This is why I voted. A rare win for the underdog, who was out financed 2 to 1, but she won anyway.

Full story here for anyone that's interested, http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ne...cle_bd4cd927-f404-58b2-8e08-bad52fa90ce2.html

...but the key quote is here
In recent months, the county executive race turned into a fierce battle between prominent local figures, both of whom have experience on the Board of County Commissioners. Gardner's win came despite a formidable fundraising disadvantage. Young, 43, of Frederick, entered the executive race with a cash pile left over from an abandoned bid for Maryland governor and amassed more than $400,000 since then. By contrast, Gardner's campaign had taken in only about $189,000 by the time she filed her most recent campaign finance report in October.

"This proves that the citizens want to restore honesty and good government to Frederick County and that even a million dollars being spent against me didn't matter in the end. Money can't buy elections," Gardner said.
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Hopefully Young will go back to running his taxi business and stay out of politics.
 
Governor won by a landslide, Congresswoman won by an even bigger landslide, people are fucking morons. Water is wet, news at 11.
 
Flamencology said:
I think that a popular vote would accomplish that. :tongue:
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We need far more than to replace the Electoral College with a popular vote. There has been much talk about how the current system is destroying our Democracy but the fact is that we have never been a true Democracy. What we are and always have been is a Plutocratic Oligarchy in that we don't vote directly on issues but rather elect others to do that for us who inevitably come under the control of the wealthy minority. How do we fix that? Well, I've thought long and hard about it and have come to the conclusion that since we built it into the system from day one and the Oligarch's make and enforce the rules then we are basically totally fucked and can't do anything about it.
 
BEACHBUM said:
We need far more than to replace the Electoral College with a popular vote. There has been much talk about how the current system is destroying our Democracy but the fact is that we have never been a true Democracy. What we are and always have been is a Plutocratic Oligarchy in that we don't vote directly on issues but rather elect others to do that for us who inevitably come under the control of the wealthy minority. How do we fix that? Well, I've thought long and hard about it and have come to the conclusion that since we built it into the system from day one and the Oligarch's make and enforce the rules then we are basically totally fucked and can't do anything about it.
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you are forgetting the "R" word. messy and catastrophic as it might be....it WOULD change the system.
 
^^ I was trying not to go there. I don't really need men in black suits following me around. But yah, if it's legal, non violent and results in positive social change.
 
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I don't see the Electoral College going away anytime soon. So popular vote won't replace them...at least not in my lifetime. Being a geezer, that's not that long. :wink:

What we really need is campaign finance reform to limit the influence of special interest groups. That and maybe a law that required media outlets (TV, radio, etc.) to provide X amount of air time to each candidate equally so that advertising dollars had less of an influence. Ideally, each party/candidate would get the same amount of air time with none being for sale.

Will it happen? Unlikely since those with the power/money are profiting too much from the system as it stands.

As a side note, I'm a little surprised this thread hasn't been locked down yet, with the anti-politics policy Mark has in place. Thanks Mark, for letting us discuss this in a reasonably dignified fashion so far. Nobody has made this a "us vs. them" thread yet, so maybe that's why he's allowing it.
 
bsman said:
We managed to get a couple of insane people off our local school board, so that helps assuage my pain...
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Agreed, that's what my whole motivation was this election. Too few people (IMO) take interest in their local politics even though it's probably what has the greatest impact on their day-to-day lives.
 
shoeless said:
I don't see the Electoral College going away anytime soon. So popular vote won't replace them...at least not in my lifetime. Being a geezer, that's not that long. :wink:

What we really need is campaign finance reform to limit the influence of special interest groups. That and maybe a law that required media outlets (TV, radio, etc.) to provide X amount of air time to each candidate equally so that advertising dollars had less of an influence. Ideally, each party/candidate would get the same amount of air time with none being for sale.

Will it happen? Unlikely since those with the power/money are profiting too much from the system as it stands.

As a side note, I'm a little surprised this thread hasn't been locked down yet, with the anti-politics policy Mark has in place. Thanks Mark, for letting us discuss this in a reasonably dignified fashion so far. Nobody has made this a "us vs. them" thread yet, so maybe that's why he's allowing it.
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actually.....back in the 70's the campaigns WERE publicly financed and equal air time was the rule. somewhere in the 80's (IIRC) that got changed.

also, as to Mark not locking this thread.....i think that's because we're not flaming each other, and we're generally all on the same page. that the campaign adds are terrible and our votes don't really count for much.

now if we were to start into the "them versus those" and who's better....yadda yadda.....then it would get locked in 10 second.s
 
Wow, looking at the results in Texas, only 33.5% of the 2,044,361 registered voters voted yesterday, and 67% of those voted straight party ticket. :facepalm:

Every contested position candidate I voted for lost. messedup0
 
mongooz said:
now if we were to start into the "them versus those" and who's better....yadda yadda.....then it would get locked in 10 second.s
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How very true. I think that goes to the reason why our government has been grid locked for so long as well. Perhaps if we as a nation could become as rational as we here are as a forum we'd stop blaming each other and take a real look at our problems and their causes. There is no doubt in my mind that those in control are pleased as punch at having us split down the middle with each side believing that the other is evil while forgetting to keep an eye on them.
 
BEACHBUM said:
How very true. I think that goes to the reason why our government has been grid locked for so long as well. Perhaps if we as a nation could become as rational as we here are as a forum we'd stop blaming each other and take a real look at our problems and their causes. There is no doubt in my mind that those in control are pleased as punch at having us split down the middle with each side believing that the other is evil while forgetting to keep an eye on them.
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AND the play along media, who is just as responsible.

intentional??
 
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