Here are a few of the things that I think were important for Barack being elected:
- Got out the youth vote
- Internet, Internet, Internet
- People sick of the mud-slinging politics as usual
- More people being educated about the candidates, and their records
- Republicans simply didn’t show up – McCain underperformed in many
republicans strongholds - Economy (of course)
- Polling never reached all the new young voters! (I have been saying
that one for a while now)
Now, we just need to stay involved in this process – educate ourselves as to how our government really works, and participate!
Many, many thanks to all who participated in this historic election. The world was watching, and we did not disappoint!
Don’t take my word for it. Do some searching on the Internet, specifically the senate.gov’s website for voting results. Someone took the time to compile links to all of McCain’s voting results for several issues affecting Veterans of the US armed forces. I really don’t understand how John McCain can stand up and say he supports Veterans, when his actual voting record is completely opposite of what he claims.
Please visit http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1973 which has a lot of links regarding John McCain’s actual voting record on Veterans issues. Many of these Veterans groups gave John McCain a “D” rating (out of a A, B, C, D, F rating scale). The “D” seems to translate in McCain voting for Veterans issues 20% of the time.
Many, many Democrats get “A” or 100% ratings on Veterans issues. Barack Obama voted with Veterans 80% of the time, and recorded a “B” rating. I would like to see that rating higher, like other Democrats.
I think what bothers me most about this, is that McCain is casting himself as a supporter of Veterans, but his voting record does not show that at all. Not even close. McCain thinks that using Tax money to fund programs is considering “spreading the wealth”. However, when it comes to Veterans, especially Disabled American Veterans (DAV), our country should never underfund Veterans programs. Veterans selflessly put their lives on the line for our freedoms, and in some case lose limbs, the ability to walk, and suffer from mental illness. We should try to spread as much wealth as possible to out Veterans.
One of the more recent Veterans groups, The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, gave McCain a “D” rating. http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?r_id=4227
Continue reading about John McCains Abysmal Voting record for Veterans
Does anyone remember Allen Raymond? He was a Republican operative that was convicted, and apparently reformed after spending three months in prison, for his “jam the phone lines” scheme in NH, back in 2002. Raymond was involved in other little tricks in an effort to keep people from showing up at the polls.
Now, others are involved, and apparently targeting college age voters by posting flyers around the campus of Drexel University that undercover police will be at the polls, looking to make arrests.
ABC News has the scoop on this one, and it looks like Raymond may be helping to turn his dirty deeds around, by trying to stop this sort of thing.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5963751
Continue reading about How to scare voters, and create a little chaos…
In our town, voting is quite simple; it’s a form that looks like any standardized test form, where you simply fill in a bubble of your choice. No hanging chads, no Windows computer meltdowns, no complicated procedures. Fill in the bubble next to the candidate of your choice, and you feed it into an optical scanning machine. Done. Simple. So, why do the swing states have to complicate things with computers? I work with computers all day, and the first thing I do when I write a program, or a script to solve a system administration issue, is to use “occam’s razor” or “All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.” Sounds simple, right? Ask the people of Ohio, which looks again to be the state that may decide the outcome of this years election for President.
These problems need to be laid out now, for all the American people to know about. Not when the election is over, and people a slapping their foreheads in a mea culpa outrage. We know these problems still exist, now lets let it be know to everyone, and have a solution to these problems BEFORE the election!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/18/voting.problems/index.html?iref=werecommend
