Usa Thread

[gobbledonk]

Saw an interview with Levi Johnston on Dr Phil (!) yesterday : yet another in the long line of people willing to come out and say that Palin isnt the person she pretends to be when the cameras and microphones are pointed in her direction. I expect that there are two sides to this story, but the guy seemed more credible than many of the crazies they usually drag onto these shows, and his claims re threats and intimidation line up with a lot of the other 'kiss-and-tell' accounts of Palin's off-camera persona. The sooner she disappears entirely from the political landscape, the sooner Americans can get back to the real issues IMO.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Sarah_Palin

 

That reads like the CV for someone auditioning for the next movie about the Antichrist.

[Flashermac]

Foreign election officials amazed by trust-based U.S. voting system

 

 

For the head of Libya's national election commission, the method by which Americans vote is startling in that it depends so much on trust and the good faith of election officials and voters alike.

 

"It's an incredible system," said Nuri K. Elabbar, who traveled to the United States along with election officials from more than 60 countries to observe today's presidential elections as part of a program run by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). Your humble Cable guy visited polling places with some of the international officials this morning. Most of them agreed that in their countries, such an open voting system simply would not work.

 

"It's very difficult to transfer this system as it is to any other country. This system is built according to trust and this trust needs a lot of procedures and a lot of education for other countries to adopt it," Elabbar said.

 

The most often noted difference between American elections among the visitors was that in most U.S. states, voters need no identification. Voters can also vote by mail, sometimes online, and there's often no way to know if one person has voted several times under different names, unlike in some Arab countries, where voters ink their fingers when casting their ballots.

 

The international visitors also noted that there's no police at U.S. polling stations. In foreign countries, police at polling places are viewed as signs of security; in the United States they are sometimes seen as intimidating.

 

Sara Al-Utaibi, IFES deputy country director in Jordan, said that the fact that voting is done differently in different U.S. states is highly unusual. In Maryland, for example, electronic voting is common, whereas in Washington paper ballots predominate. If there are different voting procedures within another country, someone assumes fraud or abuse, she said.

 

"What's very unique about the way the Americans do it, it's not the process, it's the confidence that's placed in the process," she said. "This is what lacks in other countries. They say if this would happen in Arab countries it would not work the way it does in the United States."

 

Many of the visiting international officials noted that there were no observers at the polling places to ensure that proper voting procedures were being followed. IFES staffers explained to them that in the United States, election observers are sent by the political parties, which wouldn't use their limited resources inside the District of Columbia, where President Barack Obama is a heavy favorite.

 

Many of the visiting election officials were from emerging democracies, including Tunisia, Indonesia, Russia, Nigeria, and Yemen. The will spend a total of four days in the United States in a series of workshops and seminars.

 

"The point is to bring the highest-level commissioners and election staff here so they can connect and exchange ideas," said Ambar Riaz Zobairi, IFES deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. "The overall point is to highlight the very interesting electoral process that we have here."

 

Provisional ballots are also a source of puzzlement for international officials. American voters who don't find their names on the rolls can vote anyway and verify their eligibility days later, a system not often found abroad. Ballots in foreign countries are often not as complicated as ballots in the United States.

 

"Their ballots are simple. We have a range of things on our ballot, referendums and such. In most countries, it's just president and parliament," said Cindy McCormick, an IFES consultant with more than 30 years of election monitoring experience.

 

One observer from Lebanon who did not want to be quoted pressed staffers on how the ballots are handled before and after voting day. He was amazed that ballots are sent directly to poll workers and that the handling of those ballots after the voting ends is also entrusted to local poll workers.

 

In Morocco, the poll workers take the unused ballots outside at the end of the night and burn them, McCormick said. In Russia, unused ballots are piled up and a poll worker drives a spike though the pile with a hammer. In The Gambia, a country in West Africa, each voter is given exactly one marble, which they place in one of the large marble collecting jars that are set up for each candidate.

 

"The polls workers are listening because when the marble goes into the jar, there's a ding. And if there are two dings, maybe somebody came in with extra marbles in their pocket, so they call the police," she said.

 

Asked how Gambians do a recount with the marble-based voting system, McCormick said, "I have no idea."

 

 

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/11/06/foreign_election_officials_amazed_by_trust_based_us_voting_system

[Flashermac]

Bizarre ...

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Independent Angus King captured a Republican-held Senate seat in Maine on Tuesday, adding a dose of uncertainty to the fight between majority Democrats and the GOP for control of the Senate.

 

King prevailed over Republican Charlie Summers and Democrat Cynthia Dill in the race to replace Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, who blamed partisan gridlock in Washington for her unexpected decision to retire after 18 years in the Senate. The Associated Press called the race based on interviews with voters as they left polling stations.

[Steve]

Barring any unforseen acts of voter fraud (hehehe) Obama will win. The real election worry is not the presidency. That's a given. The real election(s) are the congressional races. That more than anything else will decide what direction we will go in the next few years.

 

The only big swing states I see Obama losing are Florida and Virginia and I think he may win the latter.

 

The Republican party needs a transfusion. They need to weed out the extremists. I was talking to a black guy who was a former Republican, now Independent. I know a lot of college educated Blacks who actually like what the Republicans 'say' they are about. The majority of these Blacks, like me, were the first ones to go to college in their families. Believed in and went for the American dream in thought and act. They didn't have kids as teens, they studied hard in school and vowed to finish college and become professionals. They are middle class income earners with middle class culture patterns. The '80s and '90s saw one of the biggest movements that went unreported. Millions of Blacks went into the middle class in the Clinton era. The Republicans could've gotten a large number of them. However, like my former Republican friend, they just dont' believe the Republicans like them as a people. That although they may share ideological similarities in terms of lower government spending, and a lot are against a lot of social welfare because they saw some neighbors who were on it and didn't need to while their families struggled trying to do it the 'right way'.

 

However the rhetoric out a lot of Republicans seems polarizing for them. They believe the members of the party actually do not like Blacks. Not true you may say but the perception is strong and its re-inforced on Fox News and comments heard by many.

 

I know many who don't like the Democratic method but don't feel welcomed in the Republican party and are now Independent. You'd be surprised at how many Blacks I know who like Ron Paul and Johnson. All of them are college educated, often holding advanced degrees. Grew up religious like I did and have some social conservative views but dont' want to legislate them. The Republicans could have reduced that 96% to the '80s in terms of percentage.

 

The same for gays. Having lived in LA, I was surprised at the breadth of ideologies in that community from people I worked with. The gays I knew were pretty much middle and upper income people and had upper income ideologies but felt unwanted by Republicans. Particularly the religious right.

 

The bottom line is the demographics are working against them. States such as Virginia and North Carolina, firmly Republican are now in play because of the the changing demographics. Nevada and Colorado would be Republican but they have a large influx and continue to have a lot of latinos coming in. The leaders aren't stupid. They don't like the Tea Party and are looking for ways to limit them in such a way that they will still vote Republican but won't have much power within the party. Not an easy thing to do.

[Flashermac]

Blame the Tea Party for part of that perception. It is ironic that before FDR, most Black Americans were solidly Republican.

[robaus]

Just out of curiosity, do politicians use the term "working class" in USA? Romney and Obama were constantly appealing to the "middle class". Is it just a euphemism for "working class" in an attempt not to relegate voters to the lowest rung. Or were they truly appealing to middle income earners?

 

[robaus]

Pres Obama re-elected! Hoorah. The USA and the world can breathe a sigh of relief.

 

Now that he has nothing to lose, I hope Obama can make some real changes in his second term...peace in the Middle East top of my personal list. If that happens the global economy will be revitalised.

 

As CS said, the Republicans need to do some soul searching and eradicate the far right wing looney element from their platform....Tea Party, Trump, Palin, Beck, Bach, Limbaugh etc.... if they want to represent ALL the American people.

 

[Flashermac]

The election went more or less as I expected - Romney was the top vote getter, but Obama got the electoral votes. Thus in the last four presidential elections, 50% of the time the "winning" candidate has lost! Ironically, a few years ago Obama was saying we needed to get rid of the Electoral College. I bet he changes his tune now. Still, I am sure more than a few folks will be hollering foul. Something just doesn't seem kosher.

 

The problem is that this time it helped the Democrats. The time before that it helped the Republicans. Both parties have a stake in keeping it unchanged.

 

Romney - 48,285,320

Obama - 48,160,095

 

Al Gore - 50,999,897

Bush - 50,456,002

 

 

p.s. Robaus, most Americans have an image of themselves as middle class. Thus they will identify themselves as upper middle class (even if they are worth millions) and lower middle class (even if they haven't a pot to piss in). Politicians recognise that in play up to it.

[cavanami]

So we have Pres. O for another 4 years...the USA can have him!

 

We will see more lies...just like the first 4 years...guess the US people enjoy being lied to, having their net worth reduced, huge unemployment, etc...up to them!!!

 

Obama: “You Know I Tell The Truth†– FACT CHECK

 

http://www.infowars.com/obama-you-know-i-tell-the-truth/

[robaus]

The election went more or less as I expected - Romney was the top vote getter, but Obama got the electoral votes. Thus in the last four presidential elections, 50% of the time the "winning" candidate has lost! Ironically, a few years ago Obama was saying we needed to get rid of the Electoral College. I bet he changes his tune now. Still, I am sure more than a few folks will be hollering foul. Something just doesn't seem kosher.

 

The problem is that this time it helped the Democrats. The time before that it helped the Republicans. Both parties have a stake in keeping it unchanged.

 

Romney - 48,285,320

Obama - 48,160,095

 

Al Gore - 50,999,897

Bush - 50,456,002

 

 

p.s. Robaus, most Americans have an image of themselves as middle class. Thus they will identify themselves as upper middle class (even if they are worth millions) and lower middle class (even if they haven't a pot to piss in). Politicians recognise that in play up to it.

 

Thanks for the info, FM... I didn't know that.

 

btw.. Fox News reports Obama winning the popular vote too...and they never lie! hehe

 

Obama 54,166,024

Romney 53,367,097