Wow, what a pleasant surprise. In my town of 19,000 (with its 2,187 churches and 2 bars) the voting has been fast and furious. I voted yesterday, expecting to pop in city hall, and get back to work. Nope. There were 25-30 people ahead of me, waiting for one of four booths. The pleasant voting clerk was advising people after me that the wait was more than an hour. (it turned out to be 1.5 hours) Yet, every time she mentioned the wait, PEOPLE STAYED AND VOTED.
The idea that there was some enthusiasm gap is clearly a media concoction, and bears no relationship to reality. People were not only excited to vote, they were determined to vote.
What was even more surprising was the discussions I overheard. This is the reddest part of Cook County, the largest county in Illinois. People supported McCain almost 2-1 here in 2008. Yet, it seemed that people were voting Democratic at the same pace as Republican, a major shift to the left. Reports from the South Side of Chicago also show extremely strong turnouts from Chicago’s black wards.
In a year where a deluded, misinformed and certifiably crazy Sharron Angle seems to be winning in Nevada, where a raving lunatic like Rand Paul can survive his gestapo beating up and stomping on Move.On members, and where Eric Canter (R-Va) gets the local police to arrest Democrats at open house meetings – for the crime of being Democrats, it was easy to predict that Democrats and liberals would be demoralized. Add to that, every MSM was proclaiming a blowout by the GOP, and repeatedly claimed that the Democrats had no interest in this election. Perhaps, if only they had stayed on that message longer and louder, they could have turned off people from this election. Then again, the presence of Tea Baggery has had several impacts on this year’s election.
First, it mobilized a group of functionally illiterate, unread, misinformed, and willfully ignorant christian conservatives.
Second, Tea Baggers forced an already rabid GOP even further to the reich. Right. Whatever.
Next, The noise and constant free coverage that MSM provided the Tea Baggery movement also shook up someone else. Like the undecideds, the liberals, the progressives. Seeing just how insane, ludicrous, and ignorant the Tea Buggery movement is was one hell of an incentive for voting this year. We owe them all a vote of thanks.
Voting is important, even when, no, make that especially when the US Supremes foolishly lifted the cap on corporate interference in our political system. Citizens United will go down as being one the worst decisions made by any Supreme Court, following closely on the heels of Dred Scott.
Not only does the Citizens United decision make a screwed up system even worse, not only does it invite the wholesale purchase of desperate politicians, and not only does this decision allow one large corporation to have a voice a million times stronger than any individual, CU also shows that corruption in our political system does not stop in congress, but exists just as much in our Supreme Court.
Get out the Vote, folks. It is important. Vitally important.
7 thoughts on “Early voting report – Illinois”
My district, Ohio 15th District, gets to vote for one of four candidates this year. Steve Stivers (R) and Mary Jo Kilroy (D) are the major party candidate, with Mary Jo as the incumbent that rode in on Obama’s coattails in 2008. Steve is a globalist banker. Mary Jo is a globalist that voted for Cap & Trade and Obamacare. Obviously Main Street can’t afford either of these two. Lucky for us we have a Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates running, or else we would have no choice at all. Anyone that would like to follow the race can find some OK interviewing by the local CBS affiliate here.
I’m leaning towards David Ryon (C), mostly due to his audit the Fed and foreign policy stances. And I very glad to have a choice other than those old D’s and R’s that have squandered our future and wasted the sacrifice of our ancestors.
It is the most important that early voters do not have to provide an excuse for submitting their ballots before Election Day. The state must first implemented early voting before the statewide general election.
Hmmm. One problem. If you don’t get the ballot in the mail you cannot vote. And who is most likely not going to get the ballot in the mail:
Those whose houses have been foreclosed upon and who have no mailing address because the Postal Service computer does not extend PO Box status to the cardboard box under the Fifth Avenue bridge. Homeless people are probably the most likely to be disenfranchised by mandated mail ballots.
Your thoughts have some merit GHL, but I highly suspect that anyone reduced to cardboard box status living under a bridge doesn’t have voting on their minds and possibly didn’t vote when they lived comfortably in their homes either.
Many people that are pending foreclosure or have been foreclosed are still living in their homes except they no longer send in their payments. I’ve talked to a number of people that are in this status and haven’t made a payment in almost a year and are building a cash position at least those with jobs. They simply keep the property tidy etc. They’ve also filed for a loan modification which seemingly has put them into ‘limbo’ status with the banks. It seems the banks don’t want to negotiate with them, but simply want to seize the property and kick them to the curb if possible, but its not happening. The entire foreclosure process has turned into a ‘chinese fire drill’ relative to banks vs. homeowners.
You can also have your mail forwarded to family members or friends that care to do so or pick it up as a function of “General Delivery” at the post office. They just pitch your mail into a cardboard box and you pick it up at least once a month.
Carl Nemo **==
I don’t want to risk catching the flu or cold in one of them polling places Bill…just joking. : )
My endorsement for mail-in ballots is that it’s reasonably secure and atmosphere friendly for people taking the time to read their voters guide and fill out their ballots in a civilized fashion, then casting them via mail or to one of the drop boxes.
To me, mail-in is iinfinitely safer and more accurate than traditional polling places either of manual or electronic nature.
Maybe it’s preference, but I surely see a greater degree of safety and integrity to the system along insuring a ballot is sent to “all” eligible voters giving the election a broader base of participants. There’s also a cost savings to citizens who pay the tab for this ritual of candidate selection.
Carl Nemo **==
Voting in a Polling Place as opposed to electronic or mail-in balloting is like the difference between reading a real newspaper or reading news online. I prefer the physical environment that reinforces feelings of being part of a great American process, i.e. casting my vote by flipping levers, punching cards, or marking x in the appropriate box. I not only prefer the physical act, but don’t trust the electronic voting. We have lots of retired people who I am sure would volunteer to man the polling places. Let’s use them.
Sorry to hear that Illinois hasn’t taken the enlightened route of switching to postal voting. I surely don’t miss the general milieu of the polling place. Washington has been doing so since 1993 now with 38 of its 39 counties doing so. Oregon changed over by mandated statute in1998. It’s pleasant to receive your voters guide several weeks prior to the election along with your ballots, then simply vote in the privacy of your home, office setting or wherever and drop them in the mail. Also drop box locations are provided too.
I really think the reason many states cling on to the old ways is to hopefully discourage folks from voting due to inclement weather, physical disability issues and the long lines as referenced in your article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_voting
We have a host of non-candidate related ballot issues this year. After having been traumatized by the Obama bust debacle, I’m sorely distrustful of any candidates other than those that provide perfunctory tasks for our county, such as the Country Treasurer, Assessor, judges etc. who’ve been in office for many years, so why change if no scandal has been associated with their office. As for the rest they are all “suspect” and to be quite frank I don’t know them personally except via the glossy propaganda they crank out prior to election day so I’ve deferred from voting for any of them. I simply don’t want my vote associated with the enfranchisement of some new disappointment from local to the federal level. Yes, someone will win; but I won’t have the foul taste in my mouth as I do now relative to my wife and I having voted for our current ‘disappointment in chief’ that we find in the White House. Of course that’s for the next round of voting; ie., if we survive as a nation? : |
Carl Nemo **==
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