TXOHVTRI Primary Day

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by HatterDon, Mar 4, 2008.

  1. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    Well, today is the day. When we first started talking about 2008 primaries, I said that we here in TX never have an opportunity to make a difference, and then ... . WRONG AGAIN!

    So, around 0800, HatterMom and I will be off to the polls, and then -- around 7 this evening -- back we'll go for the caucus portion of the event. Yep, TX has a primary AND a caucus, and -- of course -- super-delegates. So, new stuff for the old guy again.

    Unlike more than 200,000 Texans, I chose to vote on election day rather than early. My reward? It's 40 degrees colder this morning than yesterday morning! :shock: But, then again, it took me until around 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon to decide, finally, who to vote for.

    Anyhow, I'll check in when I've done the first deed of the day. Da restayouse who are also voting today, check in with your view of the process. COME ON YOU DEMOCRACY!!!!!!!
     
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  2. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    talking to myself and feeling low ...

    ... well, after a record early turnout, things are slow this morning. HatterMom and I were numbers 12 and 13 to vote in the Demo primary this morning. Several parking places had been marked especially for "voters only" and we were the only ones parking there.

    Once again, the information provided from the County political parties to the volunteer workers at the polling places was sparse and conflicting. The young man working the Republican desk said that there was no information on where the Republican caucus was this evening. THAT'S CAUSE THEIR AINT NONE. And the democratic lady [his mother, I think], said that the Democratic caucus would be "somewhere in the building at 6:30 I think," even though all the websites say 7 o'clock when the polls close.

    About the campaign signs, well where as recently as two months ago, all the posters were for Ron Paul, there's no new ones for him that I can see. I have seen quite a few "Hillary" and "Obama" posters, but the most plentiful poster at the polling site was for Jimmy Wilborn! Who? He's running for one of Bexar County's 9 positions of constable.

    I'll be glad when today's over, though. I don't know how people in Iowa and New Hampshire stand all this media crap. After three weeks of saying how Texas would be critical, it was interesting to see on TV last night that the experts were saying that even if Clinton won all four states, Obama would still have the nomination sewn up. NOW you tell us?

    I must say, however, that it was nice getting phone calls from our old friends Generals McPeak and Clark. Nice guys.
     
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  3. FFCinPCB

    FFCinPCB New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2006
    Location:
    Santa Rosa Beach, FL
    Keep us updated, HD!!

    Interesting process in them there parts. Sounds a little too complicated for me, and a few Tejanos.
     
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  4. ChicagoTom

    ChicagoTom Administrator

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2004
    Location:
    Chicago
    Today is a big day for sure. As an Obama supporter I am a bit nervous about how things will turn out. I feel Hillary will win Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Allbeit, not by much and gain at the most 20 delegates today. I hope I am wrong though.
     
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  5. bearzfan4lfe

    bearzfan4lfe New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2008
    Location:
    DeKalb, IL
    I wonder what effect all of this focus on the Democratic primary will have on the general election in November...

    Will Democrats consider the winner their candidate or will supporter of Hillary/Obama not support the winner in the November election...

    I think a tough primary equals a half hearted effort in the general election...we shall see though....

    At this time I would like to inform everyone of a fun little fact that most people like to use when making fun of me...And that is...

    that while I am not that into politics, my dad is the Mayor of my home town, Elk Grove Village...a town just outside of Chicago that borders O'Hare airport.

    My brother told my dad that he will be running for Mayor as well once he turns 18...They have the exact same name so he thinks he will win based on name recognition.
     
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  6. pettyfog

    pettyfog Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Richie Daley Jr... figgers!
    Man you must LOVE being made fun of!
    ;)

    You have a point... people get weary, ya know {Cue 'Old man River!'}

    But I dont think so, this time.

    - - - -- - - - - -- -
    You know what.... I may not even vote.

    There's no issues I care about one way or the other, Dave Hobson's successor has the GOP rep race sewed up and I'm gonna vote for McCain in the general, and I see no reason to 'skew' things by crossing lines when I can REALLY skew it by not showing up.

    Thus making MSM think that Repubs are gonna stay away in droves.
     
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  7. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    "I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat." -- Will Rogers

    And that about sums up the caucus I just went through the first part of. Here's the most clear explanation of how this Texas-unique system works from, as my Libertarian brother likes to call it, the Austin UNAmerican-Statesman:

    http://www.statesman.com/search/content ... aucus.html

    The system is filled with holes, but the biggest problems I noted were:

    a. when they set up the polling places, nobody expected TX to make a difference in the presidential primary AND
    b. the Bexar County Democratic Party is no more coherent than the Texas Democratic Party.

    But, essentially, here's how it worked. At 7 o'clock, the nice policeman working the polling place ushered everyone in who was in line to vote and they mingled with those of us getting ready to caucus. There were several Republican voters who heard "no, the caucus is for Democrats only" and thought that this meant they couldn't vote in the primary. We have two precincts voting in 1/2 of a school classroom [separated by a soundproof accordian curtain]. The other half of the room was for the caucus. They further subdivided the caucus room into halves for each precinct. There was no soundproofing for us. Specific problems:

    1. There were about 12 times as many caucusers than the BCDP was prepared to handle. Each of us was supposed to sign up on the list for our candidate and then verify our eligibility. The problem was that my precinct's honcho was an idiot. There were so many people that they made multiple lists. On some of them he neglected to put down the precinct number. On others, he neglected to put down the candidate's name. After about 20 minutes, he realized that there were people still in the hallway who hadn't seen a list. He smiled nicely, though.

    2. Both precincts proceeded to call people up to verify lists AT THE SAME TIME and while there were still people -- who had already filled in their lists -- standing out in the hall. This was complicated in our case by the precinct honco's inability to make himself heard or pronounce names clearly and correctly.

    It's hard to make a projection, but in those two precincts it looked like Hillary about 2-1. Obama lists were passed back and forward with little action, but the Hillary lists took forever to get filled in. This was only the first part of the process. We could have stayed and voted for delegates to the state convention in June, or we could have even stayed and perhaps gotten selected as delegates ourselves. HatterMom was intrigued by the latter, but we decided that an hour of incompetent nonsense was enough.

    More than 75 years later, Will Rogers's observation is still funny and still accurate.

    I was really hoping to see other tales today from Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island, but ... . Perhaps in 2012.
     
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  8. timmyg

    timmyg Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2006
    holy crap that sounds convoluted.

    watching all this coverage about TX makes me think of you don. hopefully you all figure the right stuff out.
     
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  9. Clevelandmo

    Clevelandmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2007
    I totally failed today, sorry Don I was hoping to provide Ohio details. I didnt make it to the polls and missed my first chance to vote in a meaningful primary. I was at work until very late and then was greated by a horrific ice storm. By the time I got to my car and scraped off the ice, I didnt have enough left to make the treacherous drive to the polls - just wanted to get home, being the wimp that I am.

    I will be very curious to see the local reports about voting in my area. It was the source of controversy in 2004 and has been recently since they decided to go to paper ballots about 3 mos before the election.
     
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  10. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    timmyg, there was a lady this morning who wanted to vote in the primary but was incensed that she had to decide whether she wanted to vote for the Republican slate or the Democratic slate. So, we're not starting from a great level of intelligence here.

    But the system is convoluted, and the caucus results won't be determined until the state convention in June, so whatever CNN or Faux Noise says the TX delegate count is, they're wrong, because they flat don't know.

    Still, I just watched people who didn't get a chance to finish their voting until almost 10 o'clock [three hours after polls closed] and they were sticking around for the caucus, BECAUSE IT WAS THEIR VOTE, DAMMIT. Made me feel proud to have defended this convoluted nonsense for a good part of my life.
     
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  11. pettyfog

    pettyfog Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Heard as immediate hearsay:{3rd person}:

    - Neighbor gets call to serve as precinct judge due to illness of regular:
    He waits until morning rush is over, then ask for a Dem ballot to vote. Precinct captain says he cant because he's a Republican judge. He then says... okay.. I'll vote LAST as the poll closes. Captain calls BoE for advice, says 'Fine .. but you wont get paid as Judge' He takes off badge, gets Dem ballot votes and leaves.

    - My two {local} brothers voted for Hillary. 'just to be sure.' And ONE of them never listens to Rush, not sure the other does. I listen to Rush and I refuse to do that.

    Like I said.. the best trick is to confuse the media as to how Conservatives will turn out.

    Other news.. the local US Rep race has my choice easily winning, but he will be going against a woman I knew and used to work with at Lexis/Nexis. Sharen Shwartz Gage Neuhardt, Who lives about 1/2 mile from Mike Dewine's family home and farm.
     
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  12. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    Fog, did they do exit polling up your way? I've never been "exit polled," but if I ever am, I'm going to follow Mike Royko's advice and tell the polster THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what I actually did. As he said, lo these many elections ago, if EVERYBODY lied to the exit polsters, then they'd get it so wrong they'd never do it again!

    About your former co-worker ... good? bad? not sure? I try not to judge someone by their personality. There is a former US Congressman here in the city that I met through my old theater ties [I even did a play in which he made a cameo]. He's charming, he's kind, he's generous, and he's brilliant. The problem was that he left his judgment and compassion in the lounge of the SA airport everytime he flew to Washington. I'm pleased to have known him and to have been a guest in his home, but I'm even more pleased that he's no longer in Congress.
     
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  13. bearzfan4lfe

    bearzfan4lfe New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2008
    Location:
    DeKalb, IL
    Lying to an exit poller...now that's the American way!
     
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  14. Clevelandmo

    Clevelandmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2007
    Agree about exit polling. I wish they wouldnt do it or at least not report it. I especially dont like it when its reported b4 the polls close.

    As far as the part in bold. Maybe that is because he felt his conservative views were ultimately the most compassionate thing for people. Even democratic leaders here in Cleveland are now saying that this city is in need of some "tough love".

    Reports that I heard about voting in my area were typical. Many people had a ballot with a tab on it that said "do not remove" yet poll workers were removing it. Election officials insist all ballots will be counted regardless of whether the tab was removed or not. However, people still left the polls feeling unsure their vote will be counted.

    Have to wonder if dem race wont be decided by the superdelegates. Hopefully, they will base their support on how their state or region voted.
     
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  15. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    I think it's a given that the superdelegates will decide. I don't see how Obama can have a lock before the convention -- especially considering that Florida and Michigan [two very populous states] won't have any committed delegates. I would think a superdelgate from one of those two states would be "the most popular girl at the prom" in Denver.

    As for how their state or region voted, what's a mother to do in the case of, say, Nevada, where Clinton got most of the votes and Obama got most of the delegates?

    And, remember, that the delegates are only "committed" for the first ballot. If they have to go to a 2nd ballot -- for the first time since when? -- all bets could be off. Might actually make the conventions interesting.

    One more point, many pundits are making a big thing out of the Democrats being the losers here because they can't combat McCain one-on-one. Well, McCain has a disadvantage because he has to create a meaningful event in order to get camera time. Since his race is over, he might have to sit -- somewhat ignored -- while the "Decision 2008" crew concentrates on the race that's still going on.

    Could be interesting this summer.
     
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  16. FFCinPCB

    FFCinPCB New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2006
    Location:
    Santa Rosa Beach, FL
    Look for the movement for Michigan and Florida to re-vote. Not sure it can legally happen though.

    Republican governor here certainly will not want to promote such an idea.
     
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  17. Clevelandmo

    Clevelandmo Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2007
    yes, while it seems that McCain would be at an advantage, Bill Krystol pointed out a few cases in history where it wasnt.
     
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  18. pettyfog

    pettyfog Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Don nailed McCain's disadvantage. BUT it works both ways, everyone just MAY be so sick of both Dems...

    Sharen was Mead Corp Counsel and we were working on a project to wire Downtown Dayton for data through the Cable TV infrastructure.. before roadrunner and at same time as there was only ONE area that had it, and that was DEC's neighborhood in Boston.
    she seemed nice enough then but it was interesting to me she wanted to live in Yellow Springs... a hotbed of Marxist Culture in the fifties, now we say they are 'Progressive'. So I dunno.

    I'm betting Fla re-votes. Mich may, as well. But Mich cant really afford it, while the GOP Gov of Fla says the tab's on the state. Go figger!
     
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  19. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    Among the folks who ran for office yesterday in Texas:

    Sam Houston
    Daniel Boone
    Gene Kelly
     
    #19
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