According to the NC State Board of Elections, about 67% of those who have voted so far (absentee and one-stop) are registered as democrats. If people have been voting along party lines, then that is a very good sign.

10/23/2008 12:18:20 PM

Doesn't reporting numbers like this affect the final outcome?

Wasn't that one of the criticisms from 2000, with the media calling districts before the polls closed?

10/23/2008 12:21:11 PM

i'm not registered with either party, and voted Obama, and i'm guessing that there are a lot of other unaffiliated voters out there doing the same thing... this thing is gonna be a landslide

10/23/2008 12:30:56 PM

Stating the party affiliation has nothing to do with who they voted for. They are required by law to make it available what the party affiliation is and also to publish who has applied for an absentee ballot before the election so, if someone believes someone is voting illegally, it can be challenged.

10/23/2008 12:34:32 PM

Democrats make up 56.1% of the early voters, Republicans 27.4%. Others 16.5%. The voters are also 67.4% White, 28.7% Black.

See, I keep trying to look at this stuff from several different angles, but it always ends up the same way - Obama's just motivated so many people to vote that his numbers are going to be staggering. I'd think that the anti-Obama sentiments would at least equal that, but they just don't seem to. I'm proud that our country is not only on the verge of electing a Black liberal with a funny name, a Muslim father, and an atheist mother. I think that, despite all of the racism and insinuations of terrorist ties and Islamic faith, enough people realize that it's because of his multicultural background that he's the perfect representation of America. He's a representation of what America can become, in that sense.

Keep in mind, however, that in NC a lot of registered Democrats (Dixiecrats) vote Republican a lot of the time, and there's still a lot of racism here, so it's possible that a good portion of those Democrats in those polls voted McCain. It's still very promising.

Most exciting is just the sheer number of voters that we'll probably see at the polls this year. CNN says it will be a new record turnout.

10/23/2008 12:38:27 PM

Quote :

"Wasn't that one of the criticisms from 2000, with the media calling districts before the polls closed?"

yes, the problem was that they were using exit polls throughout the day to guess or estimate how the race was going, and potential voters would see those estimates and decide to vote or not if they thought their vote would or wouldn't matter.

e.g. at noon they would give an update of what the exit pollers were saying they voted for, then again at 3:00. Then someone leaving his office at 5:00 would see "hey, my guy is up 10% according to exit polls, so i don't really need to vote before I go home". So that was a major problem, and I think there was more or less an agreement that exit poll data would be kept quiet until after the polls closed (not sure if this was legally mandated, or just agreed upon)

So publicizing who is voting in early voting is not exactly the same thing, but it could have similar consequences. If people assume early voters are voting on party lines, then it is possible that Election Day turnout could be affected.

10/23/2008 12:41:06 PM

Not a big fan of early voting. Election day is the first Tuesday for a reason, everyone should vote on the same day, barring something like absentee voting. Look at all the nefarious things done with ballots on even just one day, now ballots are going to be held for a month? Really?

Obama has been pushing early voting hard, watching a show on Hulu every commercial is Obama telling you to vote for him early.

My mom and grandmother are registered Democrats, they have been for decades, neither has voted Democratic(except for some local elections) in decades.

10/23/2008 2:41:17 PM

the ballots aren't sitting around in a box somewhere. They are locked up tight in the machine.

10/23/2008 2:49:40 PM

I'm not a fan of the idea of early voting either, but if they offer it I'll do it.

10/23/2008 3:35:35 PM

^^^Actually, the original system allowed you to vote for an entire month, but the first Tuesday of November was the last day. So technically this whole vote when you want to ahead of time is how the system was meant to be.

From Wikipedia:
By federal law since 1792, the U.S. Congress permitted the states to conduct their presidential elections (or otherwise to choose their Electors) any time in a 34-day period before the first Wednesday of December, which was the day set for the meeting of the Electors of the U.S. president and vice-president (the Electoral College), in their respective states

This date was changed to the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November in 1845.



[Edited on October 23, 2008 at 4:20 PM. Reason : ^]

10/23/2008 4:18:58 PM

Quote :

"and there's still a lot of racism here"

Yes you are right.....almost every single black person is voting for Obama.

10/23/2008 5:07:03 PM

It's only racism if it directly effects you.

10/23/2008 5:11:27 PM

Quote :

"^^^Actually, the original system allowed you to vote for an entire month, but the first Tuesday of November was the last day. So technically this whole vote when you want to ahead of time is how the system was meant to be. From Wikipedia: By federal law since 1792, the U.S. Congress permitted the states to conduct their presidential elections (or otherwise to choose their Electors) any time in a 34-day period before the first Wednesday of December, which was the day set for the meeting of the Electors of the U.S. president and vice-president (the Electoral College), in their respective states This date was changed to the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November in 1845."

Yeah, and why did they change it? durr.. The wiki article you quote even says that it was changed due the rise of communications and the problems that arose when states voted at different times.

There is NO reason to have a months time to vote. I don't want to sound like some crazy alarmists, but I have this feeling that it s somehow undermining the Republic, but it's just a feeling and I can't really pin point why I feel this way. I guess it is the same reason why I detest get out the vote drives. One, while they claim to be non-political, there is a strong progressivist vibe. Two, if people can't take the responsibility to register and go vote for themselves, I don't want them voting in the first place. I have never understood the push to get large numbers of uninformed people to vote.

10/23/2008 5:21:29 PM

oh, the push for uninformed voters is obvious. they don't know what the hell is going on, so they are easily swayed

10/24/2008 3:26:54 PM

Quote :

"Yes you are right.....almost every single black person is voting for Obama"

Almost every black person voted for Kerry, Gore and Clinton so how exactly is that racist?

10/24/2008 3:31:17 PM

Quote :

"oh, the push for uninformed and uneducated voters is obvious. they don't know what the hell is going on, so they are easily swayed"

10/24/2008 3:31:47 PM

^^What African American choice did they have?

10/24/2008 4:14:34 PM

There is nothing racist about blacks voting for a black democrat if they vote democrat anyway. Now if Obama was a republican and getting most of the black vote then you would have a point but you don't because blacks vote blue regardless of who is running.

10/24/2008 4:24:03 PM

Quote :

"There is nothing racist about blacks voting for a black democrat if they vote democrat anyway. Now if Obama was a republican and getting most of the black vote then you would have a point but you don't because blacks don't vote blue regardless of who is running."

Fixed it for you. Blacks are normally very apathetic when it comes to voting, with a historical voting average below 50% I believe.

This year black voter turnout way up.

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 4:44 PM. Reason : 2]

10/24/2008 4:41:53 PM

This is an important election. No other election was america in 2 wars, a depression, gas prices, healthcare prices and coming off 8 straight years of a bad red president whom "stole" one of his elections. I expect turnout to be high overall for this election and can fairly say it would be high even if Obama wasn't running.



[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 5:05 PM. Reason : of course people don't turnout as much when things are going well]

10/24/2008 5:04:05 PM

black voter turnout has been going up since black people could vote

10/24/2008 5:06:34 PM

Now if in 4 years black vote goes down...then we can call racism....haha.

Bullshit. We all know that america is still racists, and minorities are just as racist, if not more, than the white people.

Anyways..i don't like the early voting reporting because it can sway people's intent to vote and their actual vote in some instances....fuck that.

10/24/2008 5:09:38 PM

wow, wetthebed is still bitching about the SC declaring Gore had to stop cheating in florida. amazing

10/24/2008 5:15:57 PM

Quote :

"This year black voter turnout way up."

This is true, but it's because Obama is a historic candidate that's very symbolic to their community, at the least. It makes perfect sense turnout out be up. A black person isn't "racist" for being endeared by Obama, and this is a different phenomena that someone voting for someone because of skin color. It's not the skin color they're voting for, it's the experiences of the person that happen to be correlated with skin color.

This is different that a white person voting McCain because they don't like black people.

It's more similar to a former POW voting FOR McCain because of what it represents for someone to be tortured in a cage to then rise up and be president. This is not necessarily a good reason to vote for someone, but it's a very understandable reason.

10/24/2008 5:18:50 PM

^ I like how you are trying to divorce racism from one side but tie it to another. Maybe the whites don't vote for Obama because he "doesn't have the same experience as they do." Did you think of that? nope, they must be racist

10/24/2008 5:30:39 PM

Fill in the blank

You're only racist if you're _________.

10/24/2008 5:43:02 PM

Quote :

" It's not the skin color they're voting for, it's the experiences of the person that happen to be correlated with skin color."

What the fuck does this even mean?

moron, you gotta be joking with that line of reasoning. It's not racist for a black person to vote for Obama because he's black, but it IS racist for a white person to vote for McCain because he's white? Really?

It's shit logic like that that makes liberals such a joke in this country.

10/24/2008 5:45:04 PM

^ Uhh... that's not what I was saying at all.

You realize an entire other paragraph (sort of) follows the sentence you quoted?


[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 6:09 PM. Reason : ]

10/24/2008 5:46:12 PM

OK where is your basis for this statement, besides trying to maintain cognitive resonance in an otherwise untenable argument?

Quote :

"A black person isn't "racist" for being endeared by Obama, and this is a different phenomena that someone voting for someone because of skin color. It's not the skin color they're voting for, it's the experiences of the person that happen to be correlated with skin color."

Please show me how you came to that conclusion.

Or better yet, don't. I don't want to see a video of you pulling shit out of your asshole.

10/24/2008 5:50:23 PM

^^ you conveniently ignore my question too, moron. One again, fitting your moniker perfectly

10/24/2008 5:52:31 PM

^^

Quote :

"It's more similar to a former POW voting FOR McCain because of what it represents for someone to be tortured in a cage to then rise up and be president. This is not necessarily a good reason to vote for someone, but it's a very understandable reason."

10/24/2008 6:04:38 PM

ignoring my question, moron? tell me, why is it not acceptable for a white person not to vote for a black person due to the very same "lack of shared experiences?"

10/24/2008 6:07:16 PM

Quote :

" I like how you are trying to divorce racism from one side but tie it to another. Maybe the whites don't vote for Obama because he "doesn't have the same experience as they do." Did you think of that? nope, they must be racist "

Wow are you really this dense? You are seriously suggesting that the racists like the woman who cut her own face are thinking that maybe Obama just can't understand the things white people have to face? Are you seriously arguing that's what's behind the racist statements we've heard from McCain supporters are based on?

10/24/2008 6:09:10 PM

nope. you are the one arguing that blacks will vote for Obama because of some "shared experience." I'm asking why it's not racist for blacks to do that, but it is racist for whites to do the same.

10/24/2008 6:11:30 PM

You're reaching badly moron.

10/24/2008 6:24:37 PM

^^ If this election were between 50 Cent and John McCain that would make sense.

But you're the first person i've seen seriously suggest Obama can't relate to white people.

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 6:31 PM. Reason : ]

10/24/2008 6:31:18 PM

HA! i like it. you make the claim, then say I made it. good work, man. strawman of epic proportions.

10/24/2008 6:36:21 PM

^ I accept that as your concession.

10/24/2008 6:39:11 PM

how do you figure? YOU are the one who said "blacks vote for Obama due to shared experience, not racism." I posited why whites can't do the same for McCain and not be racist.

YOU then turned around and claimed that I said whites have no shared experiences with Obama because he is black. That, my friend, is the DEFINITION of a strawman.

So yes, I'll take THAT as your concession of stupidity

10/24/2008 6:42:01 PM

I will gladly concede stupidity to you, you seem to be a collector of the stuff.

But from my perspective, it seems you realized your argument was dumb, and now you're trying to change the argument to something else.

I was talking about THIS election for THIS candidate. Therefore, when I say that the increased blacks voting now aren't doing so because they wouldn't have voted for a white person, they're doing so because of what it represents for their community.

And YOU'RE saying that the whites defecting from Obama aren't doing so because they hate blacks, but because of what McCain newly represents for THIER community. I'm saying it's obvious McCain doesn't represent anything new for whites, and judging by some of the racist comments coming out from the McCain supporters, their problem is not that he doesn't know their experience (which would be an absurd accusation anyway), but because of him being a "negra'" as one of them put it.

If you're asking conceptually about whites not liking a black person's experience, then I ALREADY answered that question. But as I also have noted, this scenario is not applicable to this election, which you seem to be agreeing with, but you can never tell with someone as delusional as you.

10/24/2008 6:49:00 PM

Quote :

"And YOU'RE saying that the whites defecting from Obama aren't doing so because they hate blacks, but because of what McCain newly represents for THIER community."

FALSE.

I asked why it must be that whites are racist when they do the same thing that blacks do, namely "voting with shared experiences," something you VERY MUCH said blacks were doing. And you are throwing strawmen around left and right.

10/24/2008 6:52:50 PM

Quote :

" I was talking about THIS election for THIS candidate."

10/24/2008 6:59:13 PM

Because blacks understand what its like to be raised by racist white grandparents in Hawaii and then come to the mainland to attend Harvard after spending part of their life in indonesia.


No race can relate "shared experiences" with obama

Like I said, blacks are simply voting democrat as they always have. If Condy Rice was Mccains running mate it would be the same. Obama's skin is just an added plus to all the people black and white who are voting for Obama anyway.

"I'm voting for Obama. why? because he has great tax, economic, and international policies on his platform and o by the way he will be a symbol of unity between blacks and whites" is what the typical obama voter that thinks about race is thinking.

vs

"omg don't let that black guy be president he is probably muslim and looks like an arab style terroist. I bet Osama hired him to become president. he's a communist and wants to help those kind"

- what the typical mccain voter that thinks about race is thinking

[Edited on October 24, 2008 at 7:00 PM. Reason : point]

10/24/2008 6:59:14 PM

^^ and I am doing the same. that should be patently obvious, fucktard. quit playing semantics, asshole.

10/24/2008 7:04:02 PM

Quote :

" I asked why it must be that whites are racist when they do the same thing that blacks do,"

Before you accuse me of throwing around strawmen, can you clarify this?

Because if you're talking about THIS election, then You're saying that the whites voting against Obama because he's black, are doing so because they feel Obama can't actually understand the problems and challenges white people face?

10/24/2008 7:05:57 PM

most people register democrat so they can vote in local/state elections that usually have two democrats running.

10/24/2008 7:07:37 PM

again, stop putting words in my mouth. the thing on which you quote me is posted IN REFERENCE to your original claim: that blacks can vote for Obama and not be racist because they are doing so based on "shared experience." I shouldn't have to spell out the connection to you at this point, but I will, because you are a fucking moron. I then asked why whites can't do the same and vote for McCain without being racist.

now, stop being an idiot and stop pulling out scarecrows

10/24/2008 7:10:02 PM

^I answered that question many times in this thread already.

A white person could make that claim, if their "shared experience" were being in a POW camp, or having a retard as your running mate. There is not a generally accepted "white experience" as many blacks would describe a black experience (this goes for any majority group-- you could go to Africa and they'd laugh in your face if you asked about a universal black experience in Africa). Whites were never oppressed or had to fight for their suffrage like blacks in America have. And there are still blacks living today that can remember not being allowed to vote.

So if a white person said they didn't feel Obama could understand white people, that would be an absurd accusation, considering Obama's background. The same doesn't stand in the opposite direction.

It's clear at this point though that you are not really interested in truth or objectivity, but you are digging for a reason to bash Obama and blacks.

10/24/2008 8:25:10 PM

Man oh man...

You guys are going to be sooo sorry that you voted early once something comes out later this week regarding Obama and his US citizenship.

10/24/2008 8:30:03 PM

so then, at least you agree that I did NOT say the thing that you have said I said.

but, if whites are so privileged, why can't the white experience exist as that? why can only the blacks have a "shared experience?" I am, once again, calling bullshit on you.

10/24/2008 8:35:18 PM