I just voted for Kerry

[Pekka]

DanS, Maybe some go door to door, but I have never seen it or heard about it. Basically I think it's good, I dont' want any intrusions to my privacy in any way. Just like I don't want people to come and sell me vacuum cleaners, I don't want politicians to come to my door to try to pitch me. I want to have the choice where I want to see them. I want to be able to say how much I want to be exposed to something. I dont' want to be forced to it. Not even answering a door and saying get out of here.

Confrontation is something we don't do in here. Even confrontational humour is not done in here. You simply don't do that. We are not extremely social, we don't do chit chat and ask how your day is. If you ring the door bell, you want something. So what is it you want, did someone had an accident? No? Then why are you here, what do you want! No I don't want to hear your best pitch, get out of here, I come to you if I feel like it and you give me your pitch then, get out of my home you politician. Why are you calling me? What do you want? I don't care how your day was what do you want and who are you? Selling? Bye bye. Someone had an accident? NO? Then bye bye.

That's it. Pure and simple.

I mean sure you can do it. But be prepared that it is counter productive and that you will mostly face hostile people.

[DanS]

Supercitizen is going to have a tough transition.

[Pekka]

DanS, I don't REALLY mind it that much. I mean I like the way it is here. But .. When in Rome..

[Pekka]

and more that I think about it DanS, it really is clear to me. I mean, I have made a lot of comments that the US presidential election debates were a huge joke, because they weren't real debates. However, our candidates.. jeesh.. they don't even do THAT much. You know, it's things like NATO, that is a big issue in here, to join or not to join, well the not to join group is far more bigger though the to join group is gaining a little but not decisevely,... it leads to a situation where BEFORE elections the candidates do not say what their position on this issue is! wtf!? They are just trying to save their butts from making unpopular decisions about their OWN position, which they damn well know or should know, so how do I know who to vote for? They don't put our candidates face to face and put them through hell. Basically we don't know anything about many candidates, because they refuse to say their own position on many IMPORTANT issues. They jsut say they will announce it after elections What a bunch of morons.

But we don't make them run the extra mile. If it was up to me, I'd be whipping them in live tv on every single issue that we feel is important. I'd make them sweat and kiss my ass, I'd make them cry and BASH each other but intelligently.

But then again I wasn't being hypocrite because I didn't say we have it much better debate wise .

[Ramo]

By Alan Abramowitz

I just received the following message from a colleague at another university who is totally trustworthy:

"I have friend who is a co-chair of the Bush Cheney campaign. Rove believes that Bush needs to have a 4 point lead going into the last weekend to win given the undecideds that will break againt the president."

http://www.emergingdemocraticmajorityweblog.com/donkeyrising/index.php

For what it's worth...

[VetLegion]

Pekka, I could Finnish politics perhaps be described as somwehat decadent?

The way I percieve it there is no danger of a military coup in Finland, no danger of voting fraud, no danger even in some coalition power pursuing a totaly unpopular policy. Country is in good shape, so no big fixes are needed. So it's just the annual budget left.

You need to invade something to get out of that slumber! See how USA has a vibrant political scene

[Gangerolf]

Originally posted by DanS


No going door to door asking for votes?

You would be in a for a very big shock if you were to go to Ohio right now. Let me tell ya.

Retail politics is a sight to see. It's extremely important when you have a lot of offices and issues on the ballot. Probably 30 or 40 offices and issues for each voter to vote on in Ohio.

That's a lot. How many pages is the ballot? Do people even know half of the issues before they enter the polling station?

[DanS]

Don't know how many pages it is in New Jersey. Here in DC, it will probably be two or four pages, but this is a one-party town.

If I were to vote in Ohio, I would vote for ~ 30 offices, 5 local tax issues, and 1 state constitutional amendment regarding banning gay marriage.

Of course, some voters know more candidates out of those 30 offices than others. That's why you have to get your name, face, and issues in front of peoples' faces! The tax and amendment issues are normally pretty well known before entering the voting booth.

[Pekka]

VetLegion, yeah I guess that's a pretty accurate assesment. I don't even know how it would be possible to do military coup in here.. I mean, everything is possible I guess but if something could be impossible, then that's one. We don't have a pro army, so loyalty to a leader of any kind would be quite impossible. Let alone arrange the build up secretly, uhh that IS impossible in here.

Yeah I figure we are in good shape. But I also figure we won't be in good shape in say 20 years if we don't start immidiate plans and execute them right now to counter some of the challenges of the future. There are few trends that will make our economy a lot weaker in the future as well as social structure and social security as well. Even if I was the most hardened socialist there was, I couldn't look at this situation and be pleased about the future. Reasons being we will be weaker and not be able to grow firmly in the future as needed. It'll take us back, not forward. This will cost a lot more cuttings in the social security, especially health care and pensions and important stuff like that. Not to even mention about public transportation and other things that are not so important, but essential to justify the high taxes. And the problem in the future is, while these services are being driven down to the gutter, the taxes are not dropping. Basically it means, that we'd still pay the taxes, but we wouldn't get enough in return. This means yes, that even the alcoholics that I don't feel like supporting if they don't want to be supported, that evne they won't be getting the support in the future, and also everyone else, poor, middle class, everyone will be left out of what's left today. So even when looking at it from socialist point of view, it still doesn't work. If the socialism part doesn't work then it doesn't work, it's simple like that.

How to make it work, that's another question, and I strongly feel that the current measures are WAY TOO light and also in the wrong direction. My views are supported by almost all economists and experts in oru country. They have been warning for few years and they are still warning and the trend is starting to show already. Yet nothing realistic has been done to meet the future challenges and demands. I'm not against all taxes. And if taxes are collected, I'd like them to be in health care, yes. But I want that healthcare to be effective and quality service and available.

[Theben]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Kerry and teh Reagan are not mutually exclusive

Yes, at the height of their importance they were both scary-looking old coots.

[Theben]

I just received the following message from a colleague at another university who is totally trustworthy:

The claim that discredits the lie.

[JohnT]

Glad I got that over with. Now I can officially ignore the campaigns as I've done my duty. We took Sophie and she got to press the green button that submitted my votes. They were the same machines as were used in 2000, so no differences there.

I wonder: do pollsters conduct polls of people who have already voted by means of some form of "early voting" program?

[MrFun]

Actually, JohnT, I would think that even after you have voted, you would still be interested in checking back every now and then in the news, as you are still interested in seeing the progress of the candidate you voted for.

[Al B. Sure!]

[Harovan]

I went through quite some elections in this country and have seen a plethora of campaign advertisements on the streets. Mainly posters. Or flyers distributed by the parties. And I have seen a lot of silly things in peoples windows and front gardens. Recently even a Ferrari flag. But I have never -ever- seen a private person advertising for a political party or a candidate on their private property. Not even party members do this. Same goes for people going from door to door. There are a lot of people doing this, be it from insurances, Jehova witnesses or similar nut cases. But never -ever- tried somebody ringing at my door to influence my decision for upcoming elections. If it would happen, I would probably be stunned for a short moment, and then do something very unpleasant with this person. And the party in question would be out for at least the next three elections.