College Students and the Vote

[Beetlenut]

What I would've loved to have seen is a Tim Russert (rip) moderated debate......

What I would've loved to have seen is Tim Russert interview Sara Palin!

 

[deadheadskier]

Man, this has got to be a record for not getting locked


Maybe we should kick it up a notch!!!! :lol:


Who's everybody voting for? Let me know so I can start flamin' and name callin'


Where's Greg and Bvibert to knock us unrulys down a notch :lol:

 

[ed-drum]

I'm voting for Mickey Mouse. I mean, what's the difference? Unless "they" pull an October surprise. Then the elections will be suspended.

 

[deadheadskier]

Dude, Mickey hates on gays and wants to bomb switzerland......how could you vote for that guy

 

[mondeo]

I have a pin on my camera bag that says: 'Didn't Vote? Don't Bitch!'

I hate it when people say that if you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain. Not voting is not necessarily apathy towards voting. In my case it's driven by the fact that I'm effectively disenfranchised.

The more appropriate statement is: if you don't vote, you don't have a right to expect anyone to listen to your complaints. Which I don't. I'm just a speck of dust as far as elections are concerned; Obama will carry Connecticut with a margin of victory of at least 10%. Why would I waste my time with (at best) a symbolic gesture? The fact is that on the micro level, voting does not matter; it's on the macro level that it does. I don't care what you say, the objective truth is that my vote does not matter, and I have better uses of my time than travel out of my way, stand in line for a bit, punch in a few choices that have no impact on anything, and then travel back to whatever I'd be doing otherwise.

And they can't even measure one vote. Case in point: look at Florida in 2000. No matter your view on the outcome, it shows that they can't even count votes down to the hundreds with accuracy. Even if there truly was a margin of victory of one vote, what do you think would happen? They'd argue, there'd be court cases, and at some arbitrary point in time the Supreme Court would step in and say 'That's it, it's over, now.' Even with electronic voting systems, what happens with that packet of data that gets corrupted? The person who was a little careless with the touch screen? The absentee ballot that gets lost in the mail?

What scares me more is get out the vote efforts. Honestly, they should tag the regristration of anybody who came through MTV/Rock the Vote and automatically have their votes reversed. Try to vote for Obama, you end up voting for McCain, and vice-versa. If you're a big enough of an idiot get your political motivation from Moron Television, you should be banned from voting for life. Have you seen what's on MTV? I swear, the average IQ of their viewership has to be in the mid-60s.

In the end, though, it doesn't matter. It's not like the two parties are actually any different.

 

[wa-loaf]

All the people who don't vote Obama are redneck racists, only clinging to their guns and religion.

Goodbye. Going to hang with all my rednecks.

Hawkshot, I know you're a good guy. But we definitely have different opinions regarding politics:

 

[Paul]

In before the lock!!!!!

 

[Dr Skimeister]

I hate it when people say that if you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain. Not voting is not necessarily apathy towards voting. In my case it's driven by the fact that I'm effectively disenfranchised.

The more appropriate statement is: if you don't vote, you don't have a right to expect anyone to listen to your complaints. Which I don't. I'm just a speck of dust as far as elections are concerned; Obama will carry Connecticut with a margin of victory of at least 10%. Why would I waste my time with (at best) a symbolic gesture? The fact is that on the micro level, voting does not matter; it's on the macro level that it does. I don't care what you say, the objective truth is that my vote does not matter, and I have better uses of my time than travel out of my way, stand in line for a bit, punch in a few choices that have no impact on anything, and then travel back to whatever I'd be doing otherwise.

And they can't even measure one vote. Case in point: look at Florida in 2000. No matter your view on the outcome, it shows that they can't even count votes down to the hundreds with accuracy. Even if there truly was a margin of victory of one vote, what do you think would happen? They'd argue, there'd be court cases, and at some arbitrary point in time the Supreme Court would step in and say 'That's it, it's over, now.' Even with electronic voting systems, what happens with that packet of data that gets corrupted? The person who was a little careless with the touch screen? The absentee ballot that gets lost in the mail?

What scares me more is get out the vote efforts. Honestly, they should tag the regristration of anybody who came through MTV/Rock the Vote and automatically have their votes reversed. Try to vote for Obama, you end up voting for McCain, and vice-versa. If you're a big enough of an idiot get your political motivation from Moron Television, you should be banned from voting for life. Have you seen what's on MTV? I swear, the average IQ of their viewership has to be in the mid-60s.

In the end, though, it doesn't matter. It's not like the two parties are actually any different.

I can see where your apathy might come from. No, our electoral system isn't anywhere near perfect. It is so easy to just give in to the feeling that any of our individual choices makes no difference.

I became eligible to vote in 1975. I know for a fact that I've never missed participating in a general election, and in those years I doubt I've missed a handful and a half of primary or school board elections. What drives me to cast my ballot is the fear of "them" making decisions on my behalf.

Of course, "them" have won some of these elections. I am able to take personal satisfaction in knowing that I did not enable "them". Certainly there have been times where "them" weren't as bad as I feared they might be. And likewise there have been times where the people or the referendums that I did support with my vote didn't turn out to be entirely to my liking.

I vote because I am not comfortable with allowing others make all the decisions for me. Voting for people or referendums that mimic my beliefs makes me feel like my voice does make a difference.

 

[wa-loaf]

I'd say the local elections are even more important than the national. These are the people who can most directly effect your life and some of them are on their way up. Pick the ones you like early.

 

[mondeo]

I'd say the local elections are even more important than the national. These are the people who can most directly effect your life and some of them are on their way up. Pick the ones you like early.

Local elections are a different story; if there's only a few hundred or a thousand voters, a single vote picks up a much larger importance.

But, as of yet, I'm not really settled down in a permanant residence. Heck, I just moved a month ago, and have no clue what's going on in my new town. And I'm not going to have the interest to learn about a town I'll only live in for another year or two.

Check back with me after I buy a house. I might vote then, but would probably still boycott the national level elections.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I don't really feel like my vote counts..I have a better chance of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning on the same day than my vote counting..lol

Obama is the first guy since Clinton who was worth voting for..I was always for Steve Forbes..I always felt a flat tax was the most fair..

 

[deadheadskier]

I don't really feel like my vote counts..I have a better chance of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning on the same day than my vote counting..lol

....don't forget to pass me your ticket before you get hit by lightening :grin:

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

....don't forget to pass me your ticket before you get hit by lightening :grin:

I'm giving it to Marty McFly..

 

[wa-loaf]

I don't really feel like my vote counts..I have a better chance of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning on the same day than my vote counting..lol

You live in a pretty big battleground state. I'd say it counts a lot more than those of us in all blue or red states.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

You live in a pretty big battleground state. I'd say it counts a lot more than those of us in all blue or red states.

Isn't it unfair that my vote means more than yours?? If we elected our Presidents based on a popular vote like every other office..We'd probably be finishing out our 2nd term with President Gore..

 

[wa-loaf]

Isn't it unfair that my vote means more than yours?? If we elected our Presidents based on a popular vote like every other office..We'd probably be finishing out our 2nd term with President Gore..

I'm all for doing away with the electoral college.

 

[drjeff]

when is the first debate?

This coming Friday evening, so add it to your soon to be created "what are you doing this weekend thread"

 

[mattchuck2]

Yeah, I can't really relate to this thread as I vote in every primary and every election (even school budget votes). I'm 28.

Although I am pleased to see a couple of nice opinions down in this thread before it gets locked. Voter Fraud? Reinstitution of the Draft as a possibility if a certain candidate is elected? That's the kind of talk I can relate to.

And as far as Marx goes, people always point to Scandavian countries as "proof" that social democracies don't work (>50% tax rates for most people). But free healthcare, childcare, and college through PhD (if you want it) sound like pretty good things to me.

I only bring this up because I was going to mention how I would like to ski in Sweden someday . . . I wasn't talking about the politics at all.

 

[mondeo]

I'm all for doing away with the electoral college.

I'm not. Do away with it, and Presidential candidates will never worry about North Dakota, Montana, Delaware, or New Hampshire again.

The big states have enough sway in Congress that they'll be taken care of no matter what. The only thing the small states have going for them is equal standing in the Senate and a disproportionately large representation in the presidential election. No electoral college, and focus is drawn purely to population centers, and results in a greater tyranny of the majority. Our founding fathers weren't dumb.

I do, however, like Maine's and Nebraska's take on it, where each congressional district gets its own vote, and the state has 2 at-large votes.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm not. Do away with it, and Presidential candidates will never worry about North Dakota, Montana, Delaware, or New Hampshire again.

The big states have enough sway in Congress that they'll be taken care of no matter what. The only thing the small states have going for them is equal standing in the Senate and a disproportionately large representation in the presidential election. No electoral college, and focus is drawn purely to population centers, and results in a greater tyranny of the majority. Our founding fathers weren't dumb.

I do, however, like Maine's and Nebraska's take on it, where each congressional district gets its own vote, and the state has 2 at-large votes.

valid points

one's I very much share as a NH resident where things are close.