The Choice of a New Denigration: the US Election Day 2012 Thread

Jill Stein wins, of course.

(Mods, rename as you see fit.)

or just spell it right

Sure, or that

It's a good portmanteau of a word, though.

We should change it to "Ned Raggett cleans up handily."

Is it fucking CRAZY that my polling site is a PUBLIC SCHOOL and it's handicap INACCESSIBLE?

Mine is too.

Seriously though, this whole process is at a point where I have no idea how to feel about anything.

At least y'all get to vote this year.

Security guard at my job predicts pandemonium and recounts and that "we won't know who won for three weeks"

http://www.nplusonemag.com/election-preview

I've been lurking on the election threads because ILX knows what's up and now that the day is here, just sayin' it's been a pleasure, gentlemen.

and good luck USA

As an avid reader of the previous threads, (tho not one for posting) I am disappointed that this one's title isn't
"THIS WILL SURPRISE MANY"

I do like that one.

I should have been... so many "should have beens"

I've been lurking on the election threads because ILX knows what's up and now that the day is here, just sayin' it's been a pleasure, gentlemen.

yea, it's extreeeemely hard to keep up but i have been steady lurking as well. thanks for the anxiety / entertainment

i've enjoyed reading ilx election threads too but i am also extremely eager for this election to be over

^
This

http://www.nplusonemag.com/election-preview

I’m trying to cultivate something I’ve started to think of as “post-democratic” subjectivity

man gtfo

hey man u go wherever *you* want

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Orders

http://www.nplusonemag.com/election-preview

ok i didn't know mark greif was so emo

The part where he talks about his dad seeing Biden's underwear is pretty funny.

love deleting Obama robocalls

Let's take up a collection for an Edible Arrangement bouquet for Morbs for tomorrow

Make sure to splurge for the edible bees.

do they do those with bourbon?

Okay, fifteen minutes to election day on the East Coast...

IT BEGINS

I've been lurking on the election threads because ILX knows what's up and now that the day is here, just sayin' it's been a pleasure, gentlemen.

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/23902350.jpg

have a good placebo.

how should one consider a dr who spends all his time studying only placebos

> snake oil

I'm confused about the ZERO discussion of the House/Senate outcomes -- same old shit expected, huh? Tell me how many seats, pronto.

does that '>' refer to placebos, or your running commentary on snake oil

No blood for snake oil!

test adventure, I assume.

>Snake oil
Oil snake

either 52 or 53 and a handful of pickups in the house. not very many. nothing changes.

Would love to occupy the house with a game of 52 pick-up.

FB post from an indie-media guy:

Wow. Just voted in Hoboken and it was an astounding exercise in geriatric-led chaos. Nobody had any idea which line to stand in, there was no direction or organization whatsoever. After a 45 minute line, they couldn't find me in the voter rolls, so they gave me a provisional paper ballot. I panhandled for a pen to fill it out, then had to almost cause a scene in order to find somebody to submit my ballot to. And this is what it's like in the heart of Obama country. It's gonna be a long night.

http://www.ep.tc/problems/53/

http://www.ep.tc/good-government/06.jpg

Damn @ Morbs' last post

Fun fun fun

I have a question as an outsider - bearing in mind obviously 95% of everything I've heard has been about the presidential election, but it seems like most of the rest of what I've heard has been for the Senate, which looks like it will stay Democrat.

In particular it seems like the majority of the "Republican candidate says something phenomenally ugly, Dem candidate starts to gain ground" has been for the Senate - is there something about the Senate races in general, or is it just that it's more in play so the races are more vicious?

not sure if anyone linked this Liptak NY Times piece about the boom in presidential "spectator states" ... up to 40+ now. In '76 most of the huge states were in the swing column (true, it was one of the closest elections of the century).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/sunday-review/the-vanishing-electoral-battleground.html

Voted, for the first time, before sunrise.

(Most days, I prefer the sequel.)

andrew senate races are local enough that some crazy not-so-vetted mofos can end up w/ the nomination but national enough that they make the news. when stuff like this happens in a house race it has to be proportionally more interesting to reach the national news.

The future looms:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/biden-dont-think-this-is-last-time-ill

Any prediction?

"Oh, I'm feeling pretty good."

Is this the last time you will vote for yourself?

"No, I don't think so," he said with a grin.

http://media.nj.com/entertainment_impact/photo/11698273-large.jpg

A wee bit of Jack Nicholson as the Joker there.

Did you ever dance with the Delawarean in the pale moonlight?

Just found out the BBC is going to be broadcasting election results from a local restaurant tonight. (In Cleveland Heights, OH? Weird.) Was going to hang out someplace else, but may go there instead.

always wanted to be on the newsies wewsies

the bbc coverage has been awful this year, but i'm pretty sure it's awful every time

Dixville Notch was a 5-5 tie btw.

there are only 10 people there now? thought there were like 15-20

In particular it seems like the majority of the "Republican candidate says something phenomenally ugly, Dem candidate starts to gain ground" has been for the Senate - is there something about the Senate races in general, or is it just that it's more in play so the races are more vicious?

Iatee's right, but also the the ultra-right wing Tea Party has been successful in usurping more moderate (and tactful) Republicans to put these yahoos up against the Democrats. The only reason the Democrats held on in 2010 was because of the inexperienced, crazy people who ran as the Republican nominee.

So the slick and smooth politicians who usually know better than to say anything nutty about rape (who knows what they're thinking) are on the sidelines while these rodeo clowns compete against what would have been vulnerable Democrats.

yup the filter isn't working so good

fwiw i have at least one FB friend (from HS) who is apparently voting No to the marriage amendment as well as voting for Romney---thank god at least some Republicans know how inappropriate it is to pass an ACTUAL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT that deals with something like marriage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpGd74DrBM&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpGd74DrBM

crossing my fingers on the house/senate races here. The redistricting means that a couple races are incumbent versus incumbent

the possibility of loss is starting to sink in for commenters:
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/332617/romney-s-path-270-robert-costa

Done, and done, and got the sticker. No line for paper ballot, so I chose that over the machine (which had a minimal wait, anyway). So much of the ballot was either uncontested or straight Dem candidates that I had to concentrate and make sure I didn't automatically and incorrectly check off the five or so votes that mattered.

the bbc coverage has been awful this year, but i'm pretty sure it's awful every time

last time they had an item, on election night, about how this election had been "more popular than ever, on the internet and in the blogosphere"

stopped just short of describing their blogging heads as "boffins".

Ricky Gervais used the word boffins on Letterman last night and I had no idea what he was talking about.

World at one described it as a 'Barn Burner', I'm not sure if I've seen anything described as a a Barn Burner before

how many shakes before an etch-a-sketch breaks?

http://news.yahoo.com/bob-dylan-predicts-obama-landslide-061628696.html

Are we sure it wasn't Morbs talking about Bam Burners? xp

bbc seems to be particularly good at confusing "close" and "uncertain" this year

lol:

Dear People Flipping Out,

I’ve mentioned this before, but about a decade ago I was in a sabermetric-oriented simulated baseball league with someone I’ll call “Sate Nilver.” I eventually quit that league because no one could defeat “Nilver,” because “Nilver” cared about nothing but being correct. His assiduous devotion to developing models that could defeat your models sapped all the fun out of simulating baseball games with a group of stats nerds. Now, sleep easy, because tomorrow he will “win” again.

I know Scott, who wrote that -- good guy, and he doesn't mess around.

how should one consider a dr who spends all his time studying only placebos

:( this is me, the neuroscience of placebos is one of my main academic interests

huge lol @ "239" bullet point in that NR piece

important work imo xp

239 — Romney has a summer home in New Hampshire...

can you even hear yourself

that biden stealth trolling is pretty A+

I've been lurking on the election threads because ILX knows what's up and now that the day is here, just sayin' it's been a pleasure, gentlemen

Makes me think of

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02359/blackader_main_2359885b.jpg

this is inarguably the worst facebook day of the year

you know what I realized, if mark zuckerberg wanted to single handedly push voter turnout in a certain direction, fb could do it

He could just turn it off!

yeah fb definitely has the power to swing close elections

it's true, there are an awful lot of people who actually think they're liberals on FB today.

http://www.nature.com/news/facebook-experiment-boosts-us-voter-turnout-1.11401

And I'm sure only today, right?

man why didn't I vote at 7am, hella lines here at the JCC

Yeah, showing up 15 min before polls open is going to be my forever thing now.

Seeing all of these stories -- here's another one! -- about robocalls and mailers from Republican campaigns and dirty-tricks operatives to Democrats giving them incorrect voting dates and polling places year after year just makes me want to burn things down. And allowing the campaigns to repeatedly get away with, "Gosh, we have no idea how this mistake happened!" instead of throwing them all in prison under RICO statutes makes it worse.

tried to vote in brooklyn this morning -- total shitfight. the polling place is a middle school gym. there were lines for different electoral districts threaded throughout the school, outside, down the block. no one even knew what line they were in. fuckin ppl with their strollers, older kids with their scooters . . . i'd allotted 45 minutes before i had to go to work; have to go back in the evening. and this in a state that supposedly isn't trying to restrict voting. (nb i don't think sandy had anything to do with this, and four years ago i voted at roughly the same time of day with no problems.)

also, what was the language on the bottom of the multilingual VOTE HERE sign? thai?

We got to our polling place at 8 (it opened at 7), had to go through some inactive voter nonsense because we didn't vote in the primary, and still were out of there by 8:30

there were maybe 15 ppl in line when we got there?

xp there was vietnamese on the one at my polling place

redistricting + sandy-affected-voters can vote anywhere are why its bad I think

also no lines, was in and out in 5 minutes

Do you vote on judicial ballots? How do you decide how to vote?

I'm glad I continued my tradition of voting absentee at City Hall the weekend before election day - I get brunch afterwards at least.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/11/06/wonkblogs-guide-to-watching-the-exit-polls/?hpid=z2

Are the exit polls predicting a winner in Ohio yet!

in some places there's party affiliation, which is better, in other places I think people just guess. what I think happens is all the people who guess cancel each other out and the people who 'actually know what they're voting for' are enough to push things in one direction or another.

xp

unless a judge is notably off in some way, always vote to retain, imo

yeah everything besides pres and senate is always uncontested dem on the ballots here so i haven't had to deal with not knowing what to do for local offices etc

Took 15 mins in my Brooklyn district to throw away my vote.

"For most of us, our day-to-day lives won't change a lick no matter who wins tonight. If we just turned off our cable channels and stayed off the net, it would take months, maybe years, for most of us to guess who won."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/election-day-is-finally-here-tonight-is-going-to-suck-no-matter-what-20121106

Anybody got any good polling info on House races? I'd love to think today is the last we'll see of Allen West and Michele Bachmann, but that's probably wishful thinking.

wait, now you like Taibbi? I need a scorecard to keep track

JF otm, I am hoping the redistricting in northern Iowa means douchebag Steve King gets rejected, hard

"For most of us, our day-to-day lives won't change a lick no matter who wins tonight. If we just turned off our cable channels and stayed off the net, it would take months, maybe years, for most of us to guess who won."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/election-day-is-finally-here-tonight-is-going-to-suck-no-matter-what-20121106

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 10:49 AM (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so true, russian prostitutes and cocaine will still taste the same, and i mean after all who are these people w/preexisting conditions has anyone even ever met one

matt taibbi ia one glib ass idiot, also a terrible writer

Fun fact, my city and state are ruled directly by the President and we don't have a governor or state assembly or mayor or anything.

ya I wonder if my little brother who has a preexisting condition and literally can only walk because of obamacare would be able to guess who won in a year

line is still down the street about a block at my polling place, not going out there until i can't see the line from my window.

"For most of us"

Reading Is Fundamental (TM)

kids at funerals in Pakistan might have a tougher time

Dems will save Orommacare from the R guy.

'for some vague number of people my ridiculous self involved argument would be maybe true'

Reading Is Fundamental (TM)

it's true, in a poll the bbc did of other countries, pakistan was the only one hoping for a romney win

so morbz do you agree with taibbi here

When push comes to shove, we all should know most Americans want the same things, but just disagree on how to get there, which is why it should be okay to not panic if the other party wins. If some foreign agent attacks us, I seriously doubt a president Mitt Romney would wave the white flag and invite the enemy in. Right? He'll try his best as Commander-in-chief, just like Obama has, and just like Bush did, and Clinton did, and Reagan did and so on.

That should be the way we think. We should be confident that whoever wins has our collective best interests at heart, even if we don't agree with his or her ideology, the same way we reflexively assume that the pilot of any plane we board doesn't want to fly us into a mountain.

But we don't make that assumption about our politicians anymore. We don't believe the other side would have our backs even in an emergency. People today on both sides are genuinely terrified of a wrong outcome in this election. They've been whipped into a state of panic – people everywhere are freaking out and muttering to themselves and firing off vitriolic emails. That's incredibly sad. As a member of the media, I feel sick about it. I think all of us in this business owe America a hug, or something . . . All of this has gone too far, and man, we'd better pray this doesn't end in a 2000-style mess tonight. Year 2000 America seems like a veritable Buddha of perfect composure compared to the already-terminally-pissed, stress-crazed populace that has been dragged to the final lap of this terrible contest. Like crime victims, we deserve closure. Can we at least have that?

i thought you were in the "we're fucked either way" slot, not an optimist like taibbi apparently is

oh no, via fb I just now found out that a girl I dated briefly a few years ago but has remained a friend is a GARY FUCKING JOHNSON supporter.

Is it me or is this rather out of character for Taibbi? I took him for a pessimist too.

Like Morbz I am voting for Romney because of his famous, bold pledge to replace all drone bombers with drones that drop food and medicine. Sick American kids should just move to Pakistan to await these cornucopias of Romnerican munificence. Trust us, we're both Doctors, we know about this stuff.

"If we just turned off our cable channels and stayed off the net, it would take months, maybe years, for most of us to guess who won."

so true if you didnt follow the news you would have no idea what the government was up to and would have a hard time divining what the effects of their actions if you had no idea what they did in the first place

in his darkest hour, matt taibbi remembered he is a successful white man and most of us will be ok

re Taibbi: That ppl are in a false state of panic? Sure. Not all the other stuff.

Re tonight, max chaos would be best, and I am def grabbing the popcorn if Dems have to become fans of the Electoral College.

Doc Casino, subpar troll even for this joint.

When push comes to shove, we all should know most Americans want the same things, but just disagree on how to get there, which is why it should be okay to not panic if the other party wins.

totally i believe in white male supremacy just like most republican voters, stay calm and carry on yall

Morbz, you spent a whole evening a few nights ago expressly refusing to say whether or not you thought the health care system would be better under a President Obama or a President Romney, so I'll troll you as lazily as I feel like

matt taibbi ia one glib ass idiot, also a terrible writer

yer halfway there

you believe that bombs are extra sweet when dropped by a biracial male just like most democrat voters #duelingassholes

haha u r racist

'he's not even black'

tbf I completely support transplanting morbs' brain into taibbi's supple young body should his own fail, continuing the rhetoric for another generation

rasism + attributing bizarre made up positions = classic morbs

duel in glass sholes

i hope morbz voted for the jewish candidate

A desperate plea: DON'T LET EXIT POLLS DETERMINE WHETHER YOU VOTE.

In beaumont tx a man has had to keep replacing his Obama signs due to them getting stolen, smeared with feces, or tagged with obscene graffiti. The signs are in his front yard, and he finally contacted the police and nothing has been done. We recently drove through Beaumont and Romney signs are everywhere, no Obama sings.

Damn

Clearly the solution is to poop on the Romney signs.

feel like a big part of redness in certain areas / states in the west is because natural gas companies own literally everything there. t/f

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c9R3god0xyM/UIrllGAfT3I/AAAAAAAAESc/PDY72VEUZ_w/s1600/Triumph-the-Insult-Comic-Dog.jpg

"I support this message"

xp

u know I did Mordy, and an African American lady for senator

I GUESS THAT PROOVS I'M NOT RASIST

fuckittybye

the economy = 90% energy companies in wyoming

right-wing industries definitely lure/spawn right-wing people but low density rural areas w/ white people are republican regardless of the local industry

except vermont

Voters in my state are crazy.

At Cabot's community center, Charles Beall said Tuesday he voted for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

"Just the way this country has gone the last four years," said Beall, 60, who works in law enforcement.

Beall said he voted for Scott Ellington, the Democrats' nominee for Congress.

"He's from an area of the state that I'm from, northeast Arkansas, and he's a prosecutor," he said.

Beall, a Republican, said he voted for the highway tax, saying it would improve safety.

"Our roads need improvement in this state," he said.

___

Steve Chamness, 36, a police officer who lives in Cabot, said he voted for Romney.

"The last four years haven't gone very well," he said.

Chamness said he voted straight Republican, including for U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford.

He also voted against medical marijuana.

"As a police officer, I can't see that going very well," he said.

___

Erin Teague, 32, who works for a law firm that specializes in debt collection, voted for Romney.

"I just don't like the way things have been going. People can't pay their bills," she said.

Teague said she voted for Republicans in all races.

"I don't like the handouts," she said. "I believe in working, earning a buck. The way it is now, it's hurting the people in the middle class that are trying to earn a living."

___

Michael Robinson, 47, who is retired from the military and now works as a civilian at the Little Rock Air Force Base, said he voted for President Barack Obama.

"I just think he needs more time to get everything straightened out," he said.

Robinson said he voted "mostly Republican, except for Obama."

"He had a bad start to run with. It's just going to take him more time," he said.

___

In Hot Springs on Monday, Robert Taylor, 34, said he voted for the president, citing his thoughtfulness.

"I like the way he's very assertive, sure of himself. He the type of person who gets the facts before he makes a decision," he said. "The other candidate ... I don't think he's very passionate."

Taylor, who works in sales, said he voted against medical marijuana.

"The vast majority of us have seen what it (marijuana) causes and what it does to people," he said.

___

Mike Laird, 58, who works in retail in Garland County, said he voted for Romney on Monday.

"I'm hopeful he can do a little better with foreign policy than this idiot we have now," he said, saying the U.S. shouldn't have been supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood during the revolution in Egypt.

Laird said he voted for medical marijuana.

"Absolutely. I know for a fact it works. It does help a lot of people with pain," he said.

looking forward to a long night of

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/hanging_chad.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Congressional_Districts_Kerry_Did_Better_Than_Obama.svg/500px-Congressional_Districts_Kerry_Did_Better_Than_Obama.svg.png

congressional districts where kerry did better than obama

xp

If we just turned off our cable channels and stayed off the net, it would take months, maybe years, for most of us to guess who won

it's true that if you completely cut yourself off from humanity, you porbably would have no idea what humanity was up to. (unless he somehow newspapers, people/neighbors/coworkers talking, etc. won't mention the results)

oh jeez xp

haha that map

the rest of the south only looks as good as it does because of the increase in black turnout

totally i believe in white male supremacy just like most republican voters, stay calm and carry on yall

shut up

that shit might fly on ILX but it's so dumb it makes me want to vote republican out of spite

it's your right to, as a white male

ha

http://i.imgur.com/Q1R3R.jpg

I requested an email ballot as a displaced NJ voter, but haven't received it yet. Apparently the county clerk's office has a huge backlog. These last-minute changes to a voting process that barely works at the best of times are wreaking havoc. Good thing NJ and NY aren't swing states.

i've been enjoying frogbs' crusading today

Justin Wolfers ‏@justinwolfers
Fun facts: In Australia, we vote on Saturdays. Elections are run by an independent commission. Everyone votes. Lines are short. (USA! USA!)

worth considering imho

I won't be voting at all because I didn't receive my absentee ballot by yesterday, which is the deadline for postmarking it back to Ohio. :-/ My own fault for not requesting it sooner, but I will offer the following excuses:

1) cursory examination of Ohio's BOE websites (which are horribly organized) had given the impression that you could send the request for absentee ballot by email (this only applies, it turns out, to overseas and military ballots but it's the first thing that comes up if you click for something that has 'absentee' in the name)
2) due to hurricane etc., had to delay printing and mailing the form until wednesday

bleah!

months, maybe years, for most of us to guess who won

but... but... even quite large changes in government policy would take months, maybe years to have real world effects large enough to see in daily life.

alert the oz ilxors that we're on our way

Just back from voting. We walk to our polling place since it's only 3 blocks away, and the middle school is on the way. There was a Romney-Ryan yard sign in the ground next to the middle school driveway, so my wife pulled it up and took it in to the school secretary on our way back home.

this will surprise many: some black people have voted Romney

not that I can explain why

this will surprise many: someone on my FB feed said that if Obama wins, many women will resort to "abortions as birth control"...and we all pay the price!

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/stacey-dash-mitt-romney-support-swimsuit.jpg

well there's my write-in vote

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/mitt-romney-has-zero-percent-black-vote

TWSM

"straight 90s celebrity butts ticket"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/11/05/final-early-vote-numbers-suggest-a-very-close-race/?wprss=rss_politics

And in almost every case, the 2012 early vote is either smack-dab in the middle of the 2008 and 2010 numbers or very close.

* In Colorado, Democrats won the early vote by two in 2008 and lost it by six in 2010. This year, they’re right in the middle, trailing by two. (Reminder: this is simply the number of registered Democrats and Republicans casting ballots and doesn’t directly reflect which party is gaining more votes.)

* In Iowa, Democrats won the early vote by 18 points in 2008 and by six in 2010. This year, they lead it by 10.

* In North Carolina, the 17-point Democratic margin is between their 2008 margin (21 points) and their 2010 margin (nine points).

* In Florida, Democrats’ four-point edge is less than 2008 (nine points) but significantly better than their 12-point early vote loss in 2010.

In basically every state, Democrats’ early vote edge is between four and eight points less than it was in 2008. Given that Obama won the popular vote in 2008 by about seven points, that would suggest a margin-of-error race.

Republicans in Ohio and Florida have limited the amount of early voting this time

Taylor, who works in sales, said he voted against medical marijuana.

"The vast majority of us have seen what it (marijuana) causes and what it does to people," he said.

I've seen what glaucoma and cancer causes and what it does to people too, who the fuck are you Taylor?

man i really doubt presidential and off year elections are comparable in that way xp

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/assets_c/2012/11/mcmahon-obama-shirts-cropped-proto-custom_28.jpg

woww http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/linda-mcmahon-sample-ballot-gotv.php

I was in ct this weekend and I saw lots of those flyers

took my ex two hours to vote in brooklyn

if the marijuana propositions pass in OR or WA, can we immediately light up in the streets? need to plan my evening

SCARY BLACK MAN SPOTTED HIDE YOUR DAUGHTERS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNXGAJX6KSk

"sweet potato red onion quiche!" "napkins!" "patriotic pumpkin bread! five dollars!" = phrases shouted by children at my self-parody of a voting location

took me an hour

which is basically what it was last time, in a diff bklyn neighborhood that just had cookies

how was the pumpkin bread tho

i must admit i was unpatriotic re: pumpkin bread

btw compare "black dude in Philly politely opening door for voters" to

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/2904078-74/outside-county-identification-judge-polls-order-asking-homestead-voters-allegheny#axzz2BSai8do7

[i]An Allegheny County judge on Tuesday issued an order to halt electioneering outside a polling location in Homestead.
County officials received a complaint shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday that Republicans outside a polling location on Maple Street in Homestead were stopping people outside the polls and asking for identification.
The order states: “Individuals outside the polls are prohibited from questioning, obstructing, interrogating or asking about any form of identification and/demanding any form of identification from any prospective voter.”
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Guido A. DeAngelis, one of two judges overseeing Elections Court, issued the order and said such actions by partisans “could have a chilling effect” on voting.
Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who also is overseeing the court this morning, said the only people permitted to ask for ID are the poll workers inside the voting locations.
Poll watchers will ask for photo ID, but voters need not show identification for this year’s election.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/2904078-74/outside-county-identification-judge-polls-order-asking-homestead-voters-allegheny#ixzz2BSo2LcZT
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook[/q]

the optical ballot scanner machine was all fucked up at my polling place this morning. one of the poll workers just unlocked the side of the ballot box and had us put our ballots in unscanned? hopefully the ballots are scanned later. eek

Took me roughly half an hour to vote, but that was because I had filed a change of address on the last day possible and my name ended up not on the regular rolls but on some kind of supplemental list. Two phone calls to the city elections board later and I had two election workers signing a sworn statement that they saw my valid registration card and that I was listed on the rolls. Nice people.

also, because this is Providence, we had this ballot question:

Question 17: Shall the Charter prohibit city officials from using their authority or influence to secure city employment for any person within his or her family or any business associates? Adds Section 1206(e).
This amendment seeks to promote a more honest and transparent City government. The amendment would prohibit the use of influence to hire family members or business associates and will specifically apply to the mayor, City Council and department heads.

because apparently this sort of anti-nepotism language hasn't been on the books here, ever

oh lil rhody

governing by amendement is shit

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/44526_4980000424677_1985372124_n.jpg

haha

Well it sounds like everything is proceeding normally today, at least

you'll all be happy to hear that I am shilling for the dem party atm doing canvassing in PA

good job mordy

Ordinary voters can do very little except report suspicious (or outlandish) behavior to the county clerk's office. The best alternative in the absence of obvious shit is not to worry unduly. If you really don't trust the system, then try to become a poll worker or else a trained poll watcher for the next election. In most parts of the USA the pollworkers are volunteers and their average age is about 115, so any new blood is welcome.

I fully expect my voter card to finally arrive tomorrow, finally

Meaning that I'm not able to fucking vote

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md2ntma8ur1qz4sljo1_500.jpg

In beaumont tx a man has had to keep replacing his Obama signs due to them getting stolen, smeared with feces, or tagged with obscene graffiti. The signs are in his front yard, and he finally contacted the police and nothing has been done. We recently drove through Beaumont and Romney signs are everywhere, no Obama sings.

― JacobSanders, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 11:21 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh my! do keep us updated!

That's my favorite photo of this election cycle

hey k3v what's up?

I guess "no Obama signs" = "voters will forget Obama exists or visualize an empty chair when thinking of him"

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/ultimate-guide-to-watching-the-election.html

Lawn signs have always been dickhead magnets.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/assets_c/2012/11/mcmahon-obama-shirts-cropped-proto-custom_28.jpg

woww http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/linda-mcmahon-sample-ballot-gotv.php

― GOOD LUCK USA! (lag∞n), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 12:00 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sort of want one of these shirts...

Yikes, hot thread; long line of xp-ing.

W/r/t voting for judges, it's one of the places where your vote especially counts b/c 1. Not many people vote re judges 2. These are elected officials whose work has the a really direct effect on the people.

unless a judge is notably off in some way, always vote to retain, imo

― d-_-b (mh), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 9:47 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Eazy posted this bizarre story about Cook County judges who are way, way off: http://abovethelaw.com/2012/11/judges-of-the-day-cook-county-kookiness/

In Cook Co. we have this guide as a useful starting place for deciding on judges http://voteforjudges.org/.

The president's remarks came after he made several calls to campaign volunteers working until the last minute to reelect him.

"Hi is this Annie? This is Barack Obama," he said to the person on the other end of the line in Wisconsin."This is Barack Obama. You know, the president?"

"She was very nice to me even though she initially didn't know who I was," Mr. Obama said when the call ended.

Stuff like this is next level CRAY

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/undecided-voter/1418227/

hey what was nate silver's prediction in 04? was he around?

if the marijuana propositions pass in OR or WA, can we immediately light up in the streets? need to plan my evening

A friend and I have been half-seriously thinking about when we'll be able to cheerfully wave at my cop neighbor while smoking in the back yard.

marijuana will pass in CO, pretty certain of that.

xp i think fivethirtyeight started up with 06 midterms but i might be misremembering

@RickSantorum
Today is the day for America to stop leading from behind.

Talk about an open goal.

up the arse corner

stop leaking from behind

trying to work the base up into a frothy mixture

hey what was nate silver's prediction in 04? was he around?

― homosexual II, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 1:10 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

started in 08

http://cdn.dealbreaker.com/uploads/2010/09/drudge-siren1.gif rick santorum is a bottom http://cdn.dealbreaker.com/uploads/2010/09/drudge-siren1.gif

okay. tried to soothe my sisters woes with nate silver wisdom, and her response was; "Wasn't he WRONG in 2004!?"

lol

HE WAS WRONG... not to have started doing this sooner, dems might've targeted their resources better if they'd been reading his blogs

"i think the blog named after the number of electoral votes in a presidential election started up with 06 midterms" is funnier than the '04 thing tbh

no i legit thought he started it up well before 08 since his model was super-tuned by then

tbf, Silver predicts republicans winning in senate races, it's not like dude's partisan. I'd imagine 2004 would have had the probability of either candidate winning being a lot closer

his blog name was a statistical projection of what his blog name needed to be

silver constantly fine-tuned his model throughout the last few seasons

He was pretty spot on with the Republican House surge in 2010.

i think im thinking of the primaries stuff he did then

he wrote about important stuff = baseball

Nobody talk about his UK General Election predictions! ;)

morbs otm

actually, did Silver ever go to that baseball number-crunchers convention you attend, Morbs?

he wrote about important stuff = statistics?

isn't that the point of statistics, you could be doing it about baseball or insurance and the underlying math is the same?

that's the point of modelling at least

SABR is the baseball convention but its not a number nerd thing. its a baseball history nerd thing.

http://sabr.org/

look its bob costas everyone.

oh, duh

I'm old enough to have turned 13 three times now, but still. How is that everything Santorum says can be turned around to be ass-related?

("Turned around…" I promise I'm not doing this on purpose.)

I saw Silver speak at Baseball Prospectus events (his former home) but not SABR.

frankly he is not that hot even for a gay baseball nerd.

I didn't know he is actually gay! I thought that was just right-wing talking heads trying to demonize him in their homophobic way

I think Morbs was referring to himself

zing

either/or

is that a cruise, poly?

bretmichaels ‏@bretmichaels
Make your voice heard by voting for Bret’s “Pets Rock” collection products in @PetSmart’s... http://tmblr.co/ZTLmbyWkA_eN

from my FB feed:

"Just saw Gandalf walking down Lyndale Avenue holding a sign that says "You shall not pass," in reference to both amendments on the ballot. Awesome."

sweet of ned to lend his support like that

please please fix spelling of "denigration," it drive meee crazeee

is that a cruise, poly?

I only cruise Roseanne Barr voters, sorry

http://votamatic.org/election-day-forecast-obama-332-romney-206

It’s been interesting to watch the forecasts of other poll watchers converge on the 332 estimate. Sam Wang, at the Princeton Election Consortium, also sees 332 as the modal outcome. So does Simon Jackman at the Huffington Post, and Josh Putnam at FHQ. Nate Silver, at his FiveThirtyEight blog, reports the mean of his electoral vote simulation at 313 – effectively splitting the difference on Florida, which he currently rates a 50.3% chance of an Obama win. But his most likely outcome is still Obama 332, followed by 303 and 347, just like me.

I expect 303, will be psyched if it's 332, will lol for the rest of the week if it's higher

(no contingency plans for an Obama loss because I don't believe he will lose)

MSNBC just put a national map of the TEAM ROMNEY SCHEDULE and the caption underneath the picture of Romney in the graphic said "LAST NAME"

In the event of a Romeny win, my blues CDs would go into heavy rotation. I would not move to Canada, tho.

Going to make my wasted vote (I'm in Georgia) after work. I hate voting late, it seems like everything's already over by that point.

Has this been posted yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpGd74DrBM

And does it have anything to do with this: http://www.salon.com/2012/11/05/ohio_republicans_sneak_risky_software_onto_voting_machines/ or am I jumping to conclusions?

In the event of a Romeny win, my blues CDs would go into heavy rotation. I would not move to Canada, tho.

2004, I stayed home for six weeks, playing four hours of GTA:SA every night.

essential reading re: voter fraud "sneaky software" concerns: http://www.theawl.com/2012/11/the-truth-about-voting-machines

& re: that specific video http://gawker.com/5958114/an-expert-weighs-in-on-that-viral-reddit-voter-fraud-video

xpost, yes

essential reading re: voter fraud "sneaky software" concerns: http://www.theawl.com/2012/11/the-truth-about-voting-machines

― max, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:08 PM (6 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That did calm me down a little. Thanks.

i am preeeettty sure i spotted nate silver in brooklyn heights today (admittedly a lot of people in brooklyn look like nate silver). if it was nate silver, he seemed a little anxious. but then a lot of guys who look like nate silver look anxious.

lol

I knew this already but yikes.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/533603_10151320015101514_2029825789_n.jpg

Morrissey can vote in the U.S.?

Fox News on Election Day really takes it to a new level

Peggy Noonan on talking about "something going on out there"

"Dynamism and joy"

Peggy: "Bartender! Sprinkles for everyone's ice cream!"

bomb threat at MN polling place

jesus

Well, if that is "something going on out there", I don't know what would qualify.

- "please fix spelling of 'denigration'"

Racist!

where gbx?

‏@DennisThePerrin
Wearing my "I Masturbated!" pin with national pride.

what a dumbass

http://live.mprnews.org/Event/Election_2012_The_MPR_News_live_blog/55922143

u know I did Mordy, and an African American lady for senator
I GUESS THAT PROOVS I'M NOT RASIST
fuckittybye
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 4:27 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he wrote about important stuff = baseball
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 6:33 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just want to acknowledge what may be the new "bye! hi!" record

Honestly amazed bomb threats don't happen more often.

So, did Perrin vote or not? If he did, he's having it both ways. If not, he's just gloating that he thinks he's smarter than everyone else. dumbass, indeed.

Calling a bomb threat into ILX.

Everyone get out of here.

http://gawker.com/5958170?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

TS: actual US citizens saying moronic stuff about obama Vs brits being massively patronising to our yankee bredren

Send them all into the sun.

Fox News with live shot of Tarmac in Pittsburgh where Romney's plane will eventually land

how amazing would it be if the pilot botched the landing and the plane burst into flames

Goodbye doesn't mean forever
Let me tell you goodbye doesn't mean
We'll never be together again
Though we may be so far apart you still will have my heart
So forget your past my goodbye girl
'cause you're so fuckin' dumb, da croupier

is that neil diamond or bill o'reilly?

http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/314186_10151313908245953_1994532525_n.jpg

Lou says vote Obama.

so was it a good nap morbz?

that doesn't even rhyme

Aww now it's Shep Smith, it'll be all factual and normal now

oh i dunno about normal

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/7426/nugetweet.jpg

come along if you dare

The morbs goodbyes aren't as notable as the "quitting" or "done with politics threads" comments

Amen to this:

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/problems-at-the-polls/

Peggy Noonan on talking about "something going on out there"

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, 6 November 2012 14:35 (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I just went out there, nothing, nothing except some geese migrating.

i hope the nuge remembered to get a little wang dang sweet vo-tang done himself

is that what Noonan calls herself these days

Aww now it's Shep Smith, it'll be all factual and normal now

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 2:01 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Eh, you never know. Might get another live suicide.

or another "y'all seen true blood?" tangent

FOX should start using this as their bumper music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=372436tJiaM

http://nation.foxnews.com/jay-z/2012/11/05/jay-z-raps-about-hoes-obama-rally

Remember this Noonan incident?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnn5vm6X6Y4

Jay-Z also used the words “hoes” and “ass.”

blatant sop to the rural vote

you got bruce talking about the factories, jay-z talking about the farms...well played, O.

What about the young boys bearing arms?

And "factory farms" ropes in a few Republicans!

I am disappointed I already voted, assgate would make me highly reconsider my vote

Not watchIng Fox til Ohio gets called for Obama. I realize this might take weeks

Christie said at a press conference Tuesday:

"I told Governor Romney at that time that if the storm landed as predicted that it was going to be catastrophic to New Jersey and unprecedented," Christie said. "I said to him, 'Listen, Mitt, if this storm hits the way I think it's going to, I'm off the campaign trail from here to Election Day.' And he said to me, 'Chris, of course. That's what you have to do. Do your job, don't worry about me. I'll take care of things.' So all this other noise, I think, is coming from know-nothing, disgruntled Romney staffers who, you know, don't like the fact that I said nice things about the President of the United States. Well, that's too bad for them."

http://livefyre-avatar.s3.amazonaws.com/a/164/890d10a9fcb0e76f6e8c43f409d1f0c8/50.jpgW1776 5 hours ago
Real class act that. But totally consistent with what I've seen during the past 4 years. Today is the day we terminate them!

I totally remember that Noonan slip, the first in a long series of rewards from '08 from the RNC on.

So what's the New Black Panther Movement been up to today? I don't have Fox, and wouldn't watch it if I did, but thank goodness those patriots are looking out for me.

they are holding doors open for old ladies in philly

Here y'are!

i still have no idea who dennis perrin is other than someone who tweets dumb shit that morbz reposts. is that his job?

he's an ex-librarian

He cast himself out of the elect and must be shunned, then.

so his job is ex-librarian?

Oh, so that's his problem.

I feel like this explains so much.

Hahah I see we're all on the same wavelength here.

Meantime, speaking of the formerly employed:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/giuliani-benghazi-most-important-election-issue

'twas a joke

for starters, he usta work for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and wote Michael O'Donoghue's biography, ie worth more than all of n/a's present & past lives.

xp

he was also a janitor, feel free to dump on that

Meantime, speaking of the formerly employed:

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/giuliani-benghazi-most-important-election-issue

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 3:53 PM (46 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

republicans v disappointed that one never got any traction

Meanwhile on the idiot racist front.

Said person just posted a classic weaselly apology.

@DennisThePerrin
Wearing my "I Masturbated!" pin with national pride.

Why does he own this pin, and what does it have to do with voting? Or did he mean to make a joke about a sticker? Or does his polling place hand out pins??? And if so, why do they say "I Masturbated!"?????

W/r/t The Non-Racist Doctor, the results on Google are surprisingly scant for this set of words

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22garbage+black+president%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

maybe he owns an actual pin that says i masturbated and hes wearing it as a wry comment on the i voted stickers

ie worth more than all of n/a's present & past lives.

Morbs admits he thinks some people worth more than others, links it to career?

think prob he just meant to say i masturbated sticker tho

https://twitter.com/brittd1178/status/250034236457885696

https://twitter.com/brittd1178/status/259632943868284932

what he doesn't know is that in one of my past lives i also wrote a biography of an overrated "shocking" comedy writer

lag∞n closest so far! u get a sticker

in one of my past lives i was a janitor

i did not receive an i voted sticker, have i mentioned this

in my past life i was a masturbating sticker

one of those stick hand things

sticky hand things I mean

Hopefully not a scratch and sniff.

he usta work for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and wote Michael O'Donoghue's biography

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z189/13SneakyPete13/emotes/th_jerkoff.gif

xpost o there was scratching involved

http://playpatterns.net/images/StickyStretchHandToy.jpg

janitor

custodian, dick

rip dennis perrin's past lives

Do they really hand out stickers anywhere? I've never received a sticker, only receipts.

Sounds like Perrin is uniquely qualified to help clean up Washington

XD

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRl7VoLtL_Gnny2Qz02wXS-NNav4upRXyn9S73Fv8b2i26ze_3B

That's what I think of when I see a "I Voted!" sticker.

how are the media doing the numbers tonight? are they doing the soft blackout until the west coast closes?

What's the score or stfu pls

no projections til polls close on east coast. then only for polls that have closed. i think there will be exit poll data available sooner though.

k, thx

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/ultimate-guide-to-watching-the-election.html

they have barrow as losing in ga but i'm not convinced, dude's a crafty weasel and has nra backing i could see him surviving. i'm not a fan fwiw, didn't even like him when he was a ultralib city commish here in athens, but i do hate to see any species go extinct.

what is a good website to track results on?

yeah he's the last white dem in the south isn't he?

also sorry jill stein but somehow you couldn't get yr shit together to get on the ballot here and i already had two write-in votes so obama got my vote. maybe 2016.

is obama's turnout supposed to be 'low' or just 'low compared to the insane highs of 2008'?

@DennisThePerrin
Wearing my "I Masturbated!" pin with national pride.

Don't be the one to go in the booth after that guy.

Already joked to a coworker earlier today that CNN was ready to call a few states

last in 'deep south' but you still have heath shuler, etc., yellow dog dems are still alive for better or worse.

heath shuler didn't run

(or pass, for that matter)

re: exit polls - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/11/06/wonkblogs-guide-to-watching-the-exit-polls/?tid=pm_business_pop

i'm ignoring them, somehow the past few weeks/months i've checked twitter every five minutes for election crap, today i'm too terrified to look. 2004.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A7DH1OuCQAELFZa.jpg

not sure what thomas vanek is doing there, but i approve

I still have answered a sum total of zero polls, pre-election day or otherwise. Make sure you add in my dozen votes when taking stock.

woah i didn't know that about shuler, i somehow can't imagine that dude is done w/ politics. also that guy owes ryan leaf a drink or something.

shuler's district got gerrymandered out of existence iirc

I really want this to be true: http://dailycurrant.com/2012/11/06/george-bush-accidently-votes-obama

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/06/biden-hints-he-may-be-on-future-ballots/?hpt=hp_t2_6

no projections til polls close on east coast. then only for polls that have closed.

Don't they say this every year? And then ignore it?

biden's totally running, he'll be more of a force than ppl think but the only way that nod's not hillary's is if she somehow actually decides not to run (doubtful) or if the left manages to unite around a single progressive challenger (i've heard brown mentioned), neither of these scenarios leads to biden.

Hillary will totally beat him out

but yeah I agree with yr prognostication

networks don't project anything until polls close though they have the exit polls and you can usually get hints in the commentary, or just go online and find somebody that's leaked them.

biden actually has kinda terrible approval ratings and nothing really to run on

neither of those hags will win in 2016, and you are gabbanned

xxxp

<3

It's not misogynist because he said about a guy too.

biden could prob just run for senate again. Im sure its a pretty dope job.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/nate-silver-accounted-for-20-percent-of-nyts

I hear he's running for pres/vp, one guy, two positions. How? Joe Biden.

i did not receive an i voted sticker, have i mentioned this

― GOOD LUCK USA! (lag∞n), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 4:07 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

neither did my wife, and she voted at the same polling place as me like less than an hour later! i guess i got one of the last ones

yeah his approval ratings are pretty poor, esp for a veep. i'm not crazy about the guy (i remember when it leaked that bayh was the pick in 08 i said to my sister 'well at least it's not biden') but ppl act like he's quayle or palin. dude was a capable legislator for a long time and had impressive foreign affairs expertise for somebody in congress (mind you he was a hawk). he'll have whatever weird inertia comes from being the standing veep (which could come w/ an obama endorsement depending on the field) and he's supposedly got a good relationship w/ the donors and powerbrokers, better than obama at least. ftr i will be voting for someone else.

i did not receive an i voted sticker, have i mentioned this

― GOOD LUCK USA! (lag∞n), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 4:07 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

neither did my wife, and she voted at the same polling place as me like less than an hour later! i guess i got one of the last ones

― Citizen Ship (some dude), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 4:04 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

BWA - HA- HA- HA!

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3838/36157e14284d11e2a684220.jpg

Biden's ok, kind of a good running joke while being actually competent due to the fact he's never let on that he's any different than how he's portrayed or his record -- he is consistently Joe Biden

voting for a 73 year old for president is so 80s

I feel like clinton sucks up that vp inertia cause she's been a big part of the obama era. xp

well and then there's also the whole "we elected a black guy, and now for our next trick..." angle

i can't see myself backing biden in the primaries ever but he would not be the worst the party has to offer

what about Schweitzer

he's supposedly got a good relationship w/ the donors and powerbrokers

I'd hope so! He spent years in Delaware being the recipient of the credit card companies' good will.

haha yeah plus all the fucking pumas would lose their shit if hillary didn't get it in 2016, i'd almost like to see someone else get it just so i can keep hearing about this fantasy hillary administration we could've had.

he would not be the worst the party has to offer

settin the bar low here bro

I wouldn't vote for either Biden or Hillary

if gore couldn't win in clinton's wake idk how bidester could even come close to the nom

cuomo's been running since before he sat down in albany

like there is nobody more surely in that race than him at this point

for some reason ohio gets to choose the winner? ¿

http://blogs.walkerart.org/centerpoints/files/2012/11/DSCF3745_bright1-1024x768.jpg

Biden with MBNA's fist up his ass

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100603181311/muppet/images/3/3c/Biden.jpg

grover is cool man

yeah cuomo's clearly gunning for it, will he run regardless of hillary though? have to admit nothing makes me like obama quite as much as thinking about our options in 2016.

not Norquist surely

xpost

don't think he could get the nom but he could put up a fight

I would/will volunteer for whatever campaign isn't his

def. see Biden more likely to go back to the Senate or just retire, write a book, be an ambassador somewhere. I mean, he probably thinks he has a shot at being President but he's always thought that and he's never been right. On some level, agreeing to the VP slot in '08 had to be some kind of "okay, these ambitions are over" moment.

that cuomo hunger is interesting considering his dad's hamlet routine, looking forward to reading that nyer profile in 2015.

y'know, I am still kinda bummed there was no right-wing third-party/Tea Party challenge/split after Romney got the nom. Playing field was too diffuse I guess, none of the wingnuts (Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Santorum) could consolidate the necessary support. well, that and maybe only a couple of them would actually desert their party...

xp

Biden more likely to go back to the Senate

has anybody ever gone back to the Senate from the WH? serious question

I think it would have happened if romney was far behind in the polls for a sustained period of time, but it was always close enough that the hope to take down obama was just strong enough xp

JQ Adams went back to the U.S. House. (Not Senate, but that's all I can pull up.)

Andrew Johnson

Adams a better congressman than president

tbf most dudes are pretty fucking old when they leave the white house

that's probably part of it. But I think his right flank's opposition cycling through all the alternatives and failing to do him in any real damage really took all the air out of the possibility. like, if any of them had really become credible alternative, I could see, say, Newtie going through with a floor fight and trying some third-party challenge etc because he really is that much of an egomaniac

xp to iatee

Johnson had Senate, other roles, VP -> Pres with Lincoln assassination, senate

Yeah, John Quincy Adams had an eighteen-year career as a Congressman post-WH. Can't imagine anybody seeing that as a non-humiliating career move today but he was apparently a busy bee in there.

Andrew Johnson better dead than red.

haha didn't know that about johnson, did he just spend his days walking around the chamber giving everybody the bird?

Andrew Johnson

lol real role model there

Adams also special envoy, senator, minister to Russia, secretary of state. The guy was no idler.

Hubert Humphrey was re-elected to the Senate in '70. I think Andrew Johnson is the only president to have served in the Senate later on.

xxxp

Johnson died not long after becoming senator again iirc

Lincoln dumped Hamlin for Johnson as a reward for Southern Democrat Johnson's staunch Unionism as governor.

One Ohio native's amusing take on his state's pivotal role:

To those who know it well, in a way the Census Bureau only could if it were based in Akron or Sandusky, the soul of Ohio is its utter soullessness... This explains why the state turns out such good rock-and-roll bands. From the Pretenders, whose bitter "My City Was Gone," (about Akron, singer Chrissie Hynde's hometown) may as well be Ohio's official anthem, to Devo, whose name is short for "de-evolution," to the Black Keys, whose thumping garage arrangements convey the very essence of bored delinquency, the driving force behind Ohio rock is the deep human need to feel something, anything, when surrounded by total tedium and depletion. Which is to say that Ohio rocks so hard because if it didn't, it wouldn't exist.

http://www.tnr.com/article/109623/buckeye-hate#

Taft became Chief Justice of the SCOTUS after being president.

haha I am all for justice biden

all giving Justice Thomas noogies

asking Who Farted during conferences

Just picturing him getting mano-a-mano with Scalito or Thomas.

Reagan developed Alzheimer's.

Obama is young enough (more than young enough) to be a sensible Supreme Court nominee

The days of nominating senators and elected officials to SCOTUS have passed, I'm afraid.

is that cuz the Scotus chooses presidents now

Tony Kennedy, most powerful man in Amerikay.

Can somebody fix the spelling error in the title?

yeah he also has the perfect background for it but the 'expectations' for what a SC judge's CV is supposed to look like are pretty limiting at this point

Can somebody fix the spelling error in the title?

as this has been requested numerous times, evidently not

nine out of ten degenerates prefer the current spelling

There. Happy?

I'm not, can you change it back

Obama's judicial experience is as limited as the other nine minus Sotomayor so it's perfect.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2012/11/is-paper-low-status.html

God, what a confirmation fight that would be to watch. But yeah. Who was the last person to take such a step, Earl Warren?

well, O'Connor was an Arizona state legislator.

I can only imagine the insanity that would ensue if Obama somehow finagled a permanent political appointment.

Warren the last governor though, yeah

o'connor had been a state senator

xpost

john tyler, after being president of the usa, was a representative in the csa congress

Nixon was on "Nightline" a lot.

would senate really block obama from scotus though? can't imagine they'd be able to dig up any new scandal on him and while he couldn't play coy about abortion stance if it's a dem senate this shouldn't matter anyway right? plus silver lining for gop it'd be a way to keep him off the stump for future dem nominees

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Peru-shaman-picks-Obama-via-AFP.jpg
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/05/ayahuasca-drinking-shamans-in-peru-give-obama-the-win/

I was waiting for someone to just come right out and say it:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-to-explain-romneys-loss-to-shocked-conservatives/

Namely the number one point:

Lots of Republican voters died, and lots of Democratic voters came into being.

reagan called some of the 89 mlb all star game, mispronounced julio franco's name

Whoa. Wasn't "denegration" an humorous comedy misspelling?

I think republicans would be less likely to compromise w/ obama as pick just because the thought of it would fill the base w/ so much hate

Hahaa

http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/theticket/mural.jpg

Granted, I would've lost my shit had George W. been towering over me in '04.

Remember this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Four_Presidents,_Reagan,_Carter,_Ford,_Nixon_1981.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Photograph_of_the_Four_Presidents_%28Reagan,_Carter,_Ford,_Nixon%29_in_the_Blue_Room_prior_to_leaving_for_Egypt_and..._-_NARA_-_198523.jpg

fox only stops talking about that mural to talk about the black panthers intimidating voters

where's gergen xp

Main problem with O on SCOTUS is just that the right would never ever ever accept a single supreme court decision as valid again, it would always be "obviously political from the famous left-wing Obama." I mean, they already do this anyway but I really think that even moderate Dem types might start to get queasy about the appearance/perception of impropriety.

CNN's exit poll says evangelical turnout in Virginia is down 7% from '08. Excellent--keep those folks distracted for another couple of hours.

they're all doing romneymegaprayer

majority of my ballot was unopposed Republicans. BARF.

why are you crazy people watching fox

bc they're waiting for the meltdown

who needs Gergen when Rosalynn is glowering in the corner of the second photo?

absolutely, let's ensure indefinite detention & secret assassinations are protected forever on the Big Bench

and Big Insure Control of healthcare ROBERTS & OBAMA FOREVAH

lol from Ned's link:

Finally: you didn’t like Romney that much either. So are you really surprised?

I will turn over to fox if BHO wins. Last time, I think Hume brought out a bottle of Scotch and the panel just started reminiscing about Bob Mosbacher.

Obama would have to recuse himself from a LOT of shit if he was on the bench. his getting on the SCOTUS seems like a pipe dream to me.

nixon reagan and carter were some weird looking presidents

yeah, love rosalynn.

twenty years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrw-wRSnGM4

how matt leaves ford off that list of weird looking presidents is beyond me

also come on guys I am totally watching Fox after I get home tonight it's gonna be AWESOME

haha does anyone remember when there was a rumor bill clinton might run for mayor of new york?

check out Jimmy's sassy pose!

http://www.dailyhaiku.com/testing/images/clinton_carter_bush_clinton3_nara_gov.jpg

like he's posing for a virginia slims ad

Poppy Bush posing for a Geritol ad.

GHW's shoes are too tight

Clinton's all "what?!?" Like stone cold Steve austin

so we on a Poppy Bush deathwatch? Dude not looking good lately.

He was out at an nfl game last week

Kentucky still not sold on Obama.

Poppy's gonna be on my celebrity death list next year definitely

how matt leaves ford off that list of weird looking presidents is beyond me

― balls, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 11:00 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I stand by it!

Pasta loading ppl

madonna has always been the fucking worst

Kentucky still not sold on Obama.

wait, we were expecting otherwise?

madonna has always been the fucking worst

when did she run for office?

Kidding, of course. He's losing like 80-20.

not sure why anyone here would watch anything BUT Fox!

Alfred, she's ALWAYS running for office.

i meant the video

this is pretty cool/interesting:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/victory_lab/2012/11/06/vote_fraud_can_the_afl_use_math_to_catch_election_officials_tampering_with.html

If I had it (and was reasonably sure Obama was going to win), I'd watch Fox. We don't get it here.

i like nixon no doubt offering some 'wisdom' in that second photo, reagan humoring him, and carter and ford shooting each other a look of 'so glad i don't have to deal w/ this bullshit anymore'.

i'm going to put this here because I don't know where else to put it, but it is kind of funny (also kind of not); I have a cousin who I don't really know but is constantly melting down on FB and appears to be suffering from some serious mental illnesses. Here are two status updates in quick succession.

Sheila * *
5 hours ago via mobile
I a proud REPUBLICAN.

Sheila * *
3 hours ago via mobile
Anger, depression and hate are overtaking my life

I listened to a Kentuckian yesterday on CSPAN explaining (still) how Obama was a Muslim intent on destroying America from within, and his how his reelection would be the signal for radical Islam to make their move against the US. (way xposts, this thread is moving fast!)

i like nixon no doubt offering some 'wisdom' in that second photo, reagan humoring him, and carter and ford shooting each other a look of 'so glad i don't have to deal w/ this bullshit anymore'.

haha this is exactly how their relationships worked

I a proud REPUBLICAN.

Dave. Stop. Dave. My mind is going.

Your 2008 Obama Cabinet/Appointments Speculation Thread

^^^ re: random speculation on future roles for famous people, forgot i started this thread.

Main problem with O on SCOTUS is just that the right would never ever ever accept a single supreme court decision as valid again, it would always be "obviously political from the famous left-wing Obama." I mean, they already do this anyway but I really think that even moderate Dem types might start to get queasy about the appearance/perception of impropriety.

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 4:54 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this for sure, the idea of Obama on SCOTUS is laughable in the extreme, barring a sea change in american conservatism

plus: aren't there plenty of lib judges waiting to be promoted?

Tons!

oh yeah if obama gets reelected can he get on that whole appointing judges thing

But ... if Obama were on the Supreme Court, he could change the law to get rid of term limits, and then run again! It's fool proof!

I was just fantasizing about O on SCOTUS earlier today or yesterday

I'm watching CNN by the way, home of the Virtual Senate

this is fun: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-most-important-election-since-1860/

this conversation is so stupid. why would obama want to be a SC judge instead of making tons of money at will and chilling with his kids.

CNN's exit poll says white turnout in Florida is down 4% from '08. Excellent--keep those folks distracted for another couple of hours.

this conversation is so stupid. why would obama want to be a SC judge instead of making tons of money at will and chilling with his kids.

if scalia's still alive he might enjoy being there when he dies

sc is a really good job you get a lot of time off and can't get fired and you are one of the most powerful ppl in the country

Obama just sitting next to him on the bench, staring, waiting xp

Scalia dying while chilling with Obama's kids?

and 25 yo Yale law kids do all your work for you

James Carville! In 2012!

being on SCOTUS is like being a teacher: you're off for the summer!

Obama just sitting next to him on the bench, staring, waiting xp

― Infamous dickbiscuits (silby), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 5:35 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just smiling, all http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/4783952_700b.jpg hey scalia....hey...whatcha doing

If you win a couple of elections, you're a sage for life (cf. Fox's weasely sometimes-panelist). (xxxpost)

haha CNN is hijacking the empire state building mast

Out of curiosity, how many of you flip to network news at all? I don't mind watching ABC News.

i'm watching the pbs stream right now.

is there anything to watch?

Dianne Sawyer drives me up the wall...sometimes I'll flip over.

david brooks, asshole, theorizing

ha -- CNN mole saying Romney's internal polling as of Sunday showed Obama up by five points after weeks of a tie or +1 advantage.

CNN's entire talent pool made up of subterranean mammals

(Cooper being some sort of mink of course)

Ladies and gentlemen....David Gergen.

y'know, I am still kinda bummed there was no right-wing third-party/Tea Party challenge/split after Romney got the nom. Playing field was too diffuse I guess, none of the wingnuts (Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Santorum) could consolidate the necessary support. well, that and maybe only a couple of them would actually desert their party...

Did we ever figure out why Palin didn't run?

she tested the waters and didn't get any traction

That would require her to spend money instead of make it.

http://www.teesforall.com/images/WWE_DGX_Pair_Black_Shirt.jpg

Just to clarify Alfred's post, that was for Ohio--if accurate, that could be important for Obama.

sc is a really good job you get a lot of time off and can't get fired and you are one of the most powerful ppl in the country

― iatee, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 6:35 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark

i'm pretty sure the best job on earth is "ex-president of the united states"

I thought the best job on earth was "Jann Wenner"

internal polls are just polls xp

btw this is the first Election Day in history in which I'm at home with wine and gin and not out :/

Drinking tea right now.

unfortunately i'm stuck at work and a teething 17 month old at home means i won't be celebrating and/or drowning my sorrows in a beer tonight after work.

This is where I go "Whoa, I missed where omar was Big Daddy Omar now."

oh look: Michael "Mitt Will Win By FDR Proportions" Barone next on FOX News!

idk if you are the type of person who actively seeks to be a president you are probably also the type of person who would enjoy being a SC justice

like you didn't go into politics to enjoy all the free time you could spend with your kids and the opportunities to give graduation speeches at liberal arts colleges

Okay--John King's at the magic wall, everything is falling into place now.

http://www.planetdan.net/pics/babies/wbcf1.jpg

Beardo.

MSNBC calls indiana & kentucky for romney

RIP obama

south carolina too early to call, RIP romney

19-3 romney RIP obama

Your Boring Election Night: Getting kids ready for bed, then making a big plate of nachos and settling in with beer, laptop, and TV. Bring it on.

like you didn't go into politics to enjoy all the free time you could spend with your kids and the opportunities to give graduation speeches at liberal arts colleges

Yes, but after 8 years in the job that'd be all you wanted to do.

chris matthews: it's good if obama wins virginia, ok if it's close, bad if he loses

if obama gets 270 or more electoral votes that'll be good for him

Your Boring Election Night: Getting kids ready for bed, then making a big plate of nachos and settling in with beer, laptop, and TV. Bring it on.

tipsy!

uh does MSNBC really have a reporter out in the rockefeller center skating rink

if obama gets 270 or more electoral votes that'll be good for him

so says His Gergenness

she looks comfortable xp

chris matthews: it's good if obama wins virginia, ok if it's close, bad if he loses

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:03 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He added, "Agriculture is important. Our rivers are full of fish. You cannot have freedom without liberty. Our future lies ahead."

uh does MSNBC really have a reporter out in the rockefeller center skating rink

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:05 PM (48 seconds ago) Bookmark

also they have an electoral map on it, if you can't tell

Is nobody doing holograms this year?

seriously though can we just keep this handy, i want to check actual results against it

Perhaps some of the most surprising states to some will be the following:

Colorado: 54-45 Romney -- a suprise for many still expecting Obama to carry Colorado

Connecticut: 51-47 Obama -- closer than expected, and probably an indication that Linda McMahon wins the state's U.S. Senate seat

Florida: 54-46 Romney

Iowa: 54-46 Romney -- many don't expect this

Maine: 49-49 Obama -- much closer than expected

Michigan: 51-48 Romney -- the surprise of the night, Romney's home state ties are more key than Obama's claims to have "saved" the domestic auto industry

Nevada: 52-47 Romney -- this will surprise many

Minnesota: 51-47 Romney -- this will surprise many

New Hampshire: 53-46 Romney

New Jersey: 50-49 Obama -- much much closer than expected, the Romney campaign will re-allocate resources to New Jersey if they believe this number

New Mexico: 53-46 Romney -- most don't expect Romney to win New Mexico

Ohio: 54-46 Romney -- Late momentum and great ground game win the Buckeye state for Romney

Oregon: 52-46 Romney -- major surprise

Pennsylvania: 53-47 Romney -- big time upset

Washington: 51-49 Obama -- closer than expected

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/545514_10151157492305959_1736603318_n.jpg

calling it for romney, although i believe both candidates tens of thousands more votes than the 270 that they allegedly need to win

The key is getting the right 270.

http://remote.lohudblogs.com/files/2008/03/hiddencylons.jpg

Pretty decent Florida lead for Obama after 300,000 votes. Maybe Alfred knows what part of the state reports first (and what was expected)?

MSNBC calls indiana & kentucky for romney

― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:01 PM (5 minutes ago)

anybody know percentages

ZS where did you get that from?

it's on http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ , if you scroll down just a bit.

what tv channel do you guys recommend?

60% Romney in Kentucky, 58% Romney in Indiana.

CBS is relatively un-shitty atm.

also if obama wins can somebody replace mccain/palin with romney/ryan in basketball.gif

thx tarfumes

chris matthews: it's good if obama wins virginia, ok if it's close, bad if he loses

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:03 PM (12 minutes ago)

sharpton says it's ok if he only loses by a couple

i'm watching the pbs stream right now.

Watching the pbr stream, brb

local cbs is showing wheel of fortune haha

we're down big, guys - 19-3. time to drink

Obama leading VA w/ 1% reporting

rip! RIP RIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

Doctor Casino, what's the provenance of those predictions ?

Some useful context here, if not already linked:

As most of the big eastern battleground states close at 7 and 7:30 p.m., be prepared for Obama to take an early lead in Ohio, Florida, and even North Carolina, where early votes will probably represent a disproportionate share of initial returns. As Election Day ballots are tabulated, Romney will begin to make inroads and perhaps ultimately overcome Obama’s advantage in early votes. Conversely, expect Romney to open up a big early lead in Virginia, where rural, Republican counties in western Virginia report quickly. Even if Obama ultimately wins Virginia by a modest margin, Romney will likely lead the state for most of the night. Obama won Virginia by 6 points in 2008, but it wasn’t called until more than 90 percent of precincts were reported because Democratic-leaning counties take so much longer to report. In 2008, Obama won the final 600,000 votes by a 170,000 vote margin. For that same reason, Senator Jim Webb didn’t take a lead until 98 percent of precincts reported in the closely contested 2006 midterm election.

As votes are counted across the Republican-leaning eastern two-thirds of the country, Romney is likely to take the lead in the national popular vote, perhaps even a large one. If Obama wins the popular vote, his margin of victory will come from the populous West Coast states and big cities that don’t report until later. In the case of the West Coast, mail-in balloting ensures that full results aren’t in for days or weeks. It is entirely conceivable that Obama could give a victory speech in Chicago while trailing in the popular vote, only to take the lead over the coming hours or even days in an extremely close race.

Think I'm going to listen to records and have whiskey, no TV

Having a beer now, have a bottle of whiskey at the ready. Made my wife a Planters Punch!

Livens up NPR.

Yeah, I feel like having some drinks and just avoiding the results for a while will help me to avoid ulcers.

Stormy Davis: http://unskewedpolls.com/unskewed_projection_2012%20president_02.cfm

Nelson and Grayson ahead in Florida.

Good to see Cleveland Heights on the UK telly, though if that place is a restaurant I want to go drinking in Cleveland Heights.

The trick tonight isn't the drink -- it's deciding how much to smoke.

in my case - so much

Have to laugh at this party-ID exit poll in Ohio: 39% D, 31% R, rest independent. That's pretty much the split that Republicans have been whining about in polls the past few weeks.

having beers. have to drive to cincinnati tomorrow morning to train someone. made sure that i will not be leaving home before 8am.

Cleeeeeveland
Definitely in the house

NBC calling WV for Romney.

"wooooooowww" —wolf blitzer

The trick tonight isn't the drink -- it's deciding how much to smoke.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:28 PM (2 minutes ago)

alfred!

24-3 ROMNEY

Romney dominating from behind the 3-point line

great read, thanks tipsy!

how are the rape senators doing

So there are no republicans on ilx, right?

god, can't we just pick a single thread for this? i don't even care which one, they are all the same

24-3 ROMNEY

― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:31 PM (1 minute ago)

RIP OBAMA

So there are no republicans on ilx, right?

― JacobSanders, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:33 PM (7 seconds ago) Bookmark

big jim swells

i guess this is the best thread for it, of course. my bookmarks for the other eleventybillion politics threads keep popping up, though

Fox news on at dairy queen, I don't know how you people can take this stuff

Freaking out right now

51-48 to Obama with 21% reporting in FL, apparently. No idea whether that's good or bad based on the precincts reporting.

33-3 ROMNEY

So there are no republicans on ilx, right?
― JacobSanders, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:33 PM (7 seconds ago) Bookmark

bill macgill

Feel so bad for Tamron Hall here.

my jam: http://election.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/geeks-guide-2012-b.pdf

My friend still in line to vote in Virginia Beach.

Bob Schieffer looks exactly like Hank Hill's dad.