[Jane Sherwood]

And my solution is this - America should split into two countries ->

1. Hicksville.

2. The United States of Sanity

Tried it, didn't work. Plus you'd get a bunch of annoying people cheering about how "the South has risen again!" or some such crap...

I just can't believe this...I stayed up all night and missed my psychology class...for this? There was no point to keeping track of this at all, and I even already knew that bastard would win…my head hurts. It really, really huuuuurts...

(*curls up in a little ball and sobs pitifully, cursing Bush all the while*)

[Despondent]

Lone Bush vote in the Room.

Congratulations for the courage to admit that in a room held by Democrat supporters.

Seeing as we have heard a lot of arguments over the last few years against Bush, I would be curious to hear your reasoning behind supporting him.

I support the idea that people can make something of themselves, without requiring the government to give them something that their lives may be complete.

J m is quite correct in the quardary of a two-party system. I hold the South Park guys nailed it in their 100th episode spectacular. (And the Simps brought it up years ago...)

Actually it's surprising how many Democrats have come out of the South. Carter, Clinton, Gore, Edwards to a lesser degree. Scrap Edwards. Who's the Hick party again? (I'll give you Teresa is the furthest thing from a common southerner I've ever seen.)

Name calling? I'm surprised.
Ok, here's a shocker: When I was young I once switched and voted Democrat.

If today's youth vote was as energized as this community, we'd have nothing but a future of Blue skies, Job growth, and Kerry doing what Bush is doing already, but BETTER.

[Jordan]

It's so Taboo to shit on Americans. It's also now a popular past time to go back and revisit their so called good deeds and actions and view them as bad.

'americans are fat stupid hicks that shoot guns'. Boring.

If I had to choose one country in this world with absolute power, it would be the US. They've done a a pretty damn good job if you ask me. Their evils are probably a lot more watered down than that of most other countries.




Most of the US wanted Bush in Power. I say fine, whatever. It's nice to know that the people of the US did not fall into eye candy and pop culture when all the musicians, actors, and protesters tried to change people's minds about Bush. They made a decision and stuck with it. For some reason all the celebrity attacks on Bush almost made me like him more. Rock the Vote? ha. Idiot P.Diddy votes for the first time in his life and goes around telling people to vote kerry, good work P.Diddy.

Now that I think about it, the rappers who 'rocked the vote' are probably responsible for Kerry's demise. Eminem killed at least 1,000,000 kerry votes with that new music video of his. Man oh Man has his music gone to shit.

This post has been edited by Jordan: 03 November 2004 - 01:41 PM

[Laura]

Can I just say that I hate the electoral college?

The people who have said that "There are idiots everywhere"-- and Despodent's point that there are Democrats everywhere, too (not just from the northern states)-- are quite true. There may be some areas that are more democratic or more republican, but these are generally (with the exception of the small New England states perhaps) more localized than statewide. It's possible to count the popular vote, so what's the point of the electoral college? It just screws with the math and makes close elections less valid.

This post has been edited by Laura: 03 November 2004 - 01:44 PM

[Chefelf]

Can I just say that I hate the electoral college?

Yes you may. Unfortunately no one seems like they want to do a damn thing about it.

Most of the US wanted Bush in Power.

Mmmm, no. Not "most". Just a tiny, tiny majority.

It's possible to count the popular vote, so what's the point of the electoral college? It just screws with the math and makes close elections less valid.

Well, the point, as I understand it, is that the popular vote penalizes the voters in rural areas and strengthens the urban vote. Politicians would only need win over 8-10 major cities to capture the majority of the vote, thus rendering the rural areas powerless. In theory, this creates a system where major cities will not be the focal point of an election and rural areas will go greatly ignored. So (again, in theory) this system favors a candidate that has appeal in a wider geographical area.

Do I think this system works and is relevant in 2004? Not necessarily. Maybe not at all. Right now I think it's a stupid, stupid system.

[Laura]

The thing is, the reason the popular vote strengthens the urban areas is because THAT'S WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE.

Doesn't it make sense that 1 person should equal 1 vote? That your vote should matter even if you don't live in a "swing state"?

[Chefelf]

True, I agree 100%. I think the thought (as I understand it, and again I don't agree) is that the candidates will not have to focus on the needs of rural America. All funding and attention would be brought into the cities (where the people are( and the people in rural America could more easily be ignored.

So the idea of the electoral college makes sense if you think of it that way, however, a new system is needed. Badly. Not that it would have affected this election at all.

[Chyld]

Just in case you haven't all seen...

3/11/2004 4:44:23 PM  ( Source: Reuters) 
 
Kerry calls Bush to concede election

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator John Kerry has conceded the White House race to President George W. Bush in a phone call, ending uncertainty about ballot counting in Ohio and cementing Bush's re-election to a second four-year term.

In a dispute that evoked memories of the prolonged election recount in Florida in 2000, questions about provisional and absentee ballots in Ohio had delayed the final outcome of the presidential election for hours.

Kerry will make a public statement at 1 p.m. EST (6 p.m. British time) in Boston, a senior aide to the Massachusetts senator said. Bush is expected to speak publicly two hours later.

Ohio's 20 electoral votes were the final hurdle to give either candidate the Electoral College majority of 270 needed to win the White House after a divisive campaign that focused on the war in Iraq, the battle against global terrorism, and the economy.

Bush's election win sends him into a second term facing daunting challenges from a worsening insurgency in Iraq -- the aftermath of his decision to invade the country in 2003 -- and soaring federal budget deficits.

Republicans also celebrated expanded majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, building the president's mandate and easing Bush's agenda in Congress.

Unlike the disputed 2000 election when Democrat Al Gore lost the White House but won the popular vote, Bush captured the popular vote this time. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Bush had 51 percent of votes overall against Kerry's 48 percent.

White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card made a predawn appearance before Bush supporters at a planned victory rally to say Bush had a "statistically insurmountable" lead in Ohio and had won a majority of the popular vote.

"We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election," Card said, adding Bush would make a statement later on Wednesday.

Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, told supporters in Boston there would be no concession until all votes had been counted in Ohio.

"It's been a long night, but we've waited four years for this victory, we can wait one more night," Edwards said, adding: "We will fight for every vote."

PROVISIONAL VOTES

Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had estimated that as many as 175,000 provisional ballots could be cast, and counties reported as of Wednesday morning that 135,149 had been issued.

Blackwell on Wednesday asked 10 counties that had failed to report provisional ballot totals to complete their counts by 2 p.m. (7 p.m. British time).

Network projections showed Republicans would hold at least 54 of the 100 Senate seats, three more than they now have, and widen their slim majority of the 435-member House in the new 109th Congress, set to convene on January 3.

That will make it easier for Bush to push his conservative agenda through Congress, potentially making his tax cuts permanent and appointing more federal judges including possibly some U.S. Supreme Court justices.

"With a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting things," said House Majority leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas.

Bush also captured Florida, the biggest of the toss-up battleground states, and rolled up wins across the country to move within reach of victory. Kerry won Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes but New Hampshire was the only state won by Bush in the bitter 2000 election that the Democrat captured.

Long voter lines were reported nationwide and few major voting glitches were recorded in the final act of the long campaign.

Kerry had challenged Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq without adequate allied backing and his economic record of tax cuts, job losses and burgeoning budget deficits.

But Bush's argument that he could keep America safe after the September 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York, and his criticism of Kerry as an ineffective and flip-flopping leader, resonated with enough voters to put him on the verge of a win.

With 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, Bush had captured 29 states with 274 electoral votes. Kerry won 19 states and the District of Columbia and 252 votes. Bush held a lead of nearly 4 million votes over Kerry nationwide with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

Still undecided were Iowa and New Mexico, but only Ohio could make either candidate a winner.

Bush's projected win in Florida, where his brother Jeb is governor, gave him a giant boost in his bid for re-election and added 27 electoral votes to his column. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 stopped a vote recount in Florida, handing the election to Bush.

Taken from MSN News Thing.

Oh GODS we're doomed...

[Amber-Nicole]

so what's the point of the electoral college?

(Laura)

Nate pretty much has it covered. How it was explained to me was that if there weren't electoral votes, then the candidates would just cater to New York, California, Washington, some of the greta big populated places, and they'd have the majority covered.

[Despondent]

I'm curious about how long people waited to vote.

My polling place's wait was about 65 minutes. It was a pretty brisk line for the most part.

[Just your average movie goer]

You knew what I meant, Chefelf. These areas do have a very high concentration of gun lobbyists, wife beaters, and negro-haters.

[Just your average movie goer]

Sorry - that above post was a reply to something much earlier in the thread. Now...


I'd like to say shame on everyone who voted for Bush, including you Despondent. You're a good man and I like you... but you don't know what you've done.

From now on, all the innocent blood that is spilled in pointless wars will be on the hands of half the adult population of America... because they voted for Bush.

I don't know how the world will cope with another four years of the Bush regime but the problems he has caused are already escalating past the point where the damage could possibly be controlled.

This was the chance to stop it, take a breath and see how we could start fixing these problems. America won't get another chance for four years now.

And after four years of these problems getting worse and worse, I don't know.

Will America be a ruined economy? How many more innocent people will die in Iraq? Will the Korean peninsula be safe or is Bush going to turn this place into a war zone too? I don't know. But FOUR YEARS....

For shame, America*. For shame.



* No offence to the intelligent people of America who voted against Bush.

[Laura]

You knew what I meant, Chefelf. These areas do have a very high concentration of gun lobbyists, wife beaters, and negro-haters.

Are you serious? That's an extremely ignorant attitude. Do you even know anybody from the southern States?

[Vwing]

As I've said since the morning, they've dug their own grave. Unfortunately, all of us 49 % of Americans who hate Busy have to go down with them.

And people don't realize what they've done. They don't realize that by electing Bush, they didn't just vote for the next 4 years. They voted for the next 20 or more years. Because now Bush will get republicans, maybe even extreme republicans on the Supreme Court, and, along with strong control of the senate and house, can pass almost any law he wants. He wants abortion banned, boom, it's banned. He wants religion in school (and remember, this is the man who said creationism ought to be taught in schools), boom, it's in. Heh, separation of church and state? It's a myth. Just look, the founding fathers used the word God a lot, so obviously they wouldn't mind us devoting our schools and education to it. Freedom from religion? Nah.

It's very scary. But life goes on. We'll survive in America, you'll survive in the rest of the world. And hopefully we'll be able to reconcile in the near future (and hopefully the supreme court justices will reconsider retirement and death).

Maybe I'll move to Australia. It's supposed to be nice there, right JYAMG?

[Jordan]

Mmmm, no. Not "most". Just a tiny, tiny majority.

Lol, I was looking at the college electoral vote. It looks like a larger margin when you view it through that way.