Fred Barnes: Early Voting Was Crowded With "Poor Old People"
By Heather Monday Nov 03, 2008 5:30amFrom Talking Points Memo:
Liberté, Egalité, Better Parking
Early voting forced a crabby Fred Barnes to come into contact with "all these poor old people" who were trying to cast their ballots in a crowded building with limited parking in that third world outpost known as Alexandria, Va. How dare they.
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Poor old nutcase, you have got to hand it to him though, he's going down with the ship no matter what!
hang in there fred after you get so deep it's all over.
Good luck and good bye.
Let him have a coronary! Would anybody miss Fred Barnes?
... and I've always felt a keen animus toward this stuffy, haughty, little prima donna of a prick. He'll be whining a lot starting tomorrow night.
Hey, Fred: You're wrong. You're sick. And you're a miserable little jerk. Go away.
I remember listening to his BS 35 years ago on KMOX, the voice of St. Louis. He was a jerky right-wing mouthpiece even then. Sorry, that you had to sse all those "poor old people", Fred. Were they also "persons of color"? Oh, the horror. My daughter voted Saturday for Obama in St. Louis County and was thrilled to see how many infirm older people showed up to vote for Obama. It was a long wait and people happily conversed, helped the elderly and generally had a great time. Fred would have been horrified.
If it isn't Stossel saying young people shouldn't vote, now it's Barnes saying old folks shouldn't vote, IF they got hit hard by the recent market crash!
"If you ain't gonna vote like me, then you shouldn't vote - and I'm gonna do what I can to stop ya!"
Is Fred Barnes one of those "Both parties are indistinguishable" third party guys? He's a strictly Republican shill? Then he's probably hoping that the back half of the line shows up too late to vote because they had to work a ten or twelve hour shift while the polls were open.
That his party will dig up on the opposition, or maybe that last-minute bin Laden tape. That's why Barnes opposes early voting. I guess he would prefer even longer lines on election day to DISCOURAGE older voters who might be in no shape to stand for hours. What a crank and a hater of full American participation in the voting process. And how does he know all these older people were poor? I know a millionaire who dresses humbly, yet could be worth more than Mr. Barnes. If you show up before the polls close, they have to let you vote if you are in line. That's the law!
What a smug fucking prick.
I voted last Monday.
I"m volunteering to assist my local Democratic headquarters in whatever way possible tomorrow.
So yeah, let's make the lines even longer on election day. That way the "poor and old people might be discouraged from voting and that can only benefit the Repukes. Asshat.
Who the hell is Fred Barnes and why does he get to babble his stupidity on the public airwaves?
Barnes is a Republican hack (executive editor of the Weakly Standard.) - and being a Republican hack is enough to get you on most news shows to spew your ignorance and hatered for America.
Anyone who thinks more people voting will harm their party - must mean their party isn't very democratic, huh?
that some late breaking "news" may change your mind, therefore voting early is a bad idea. May be some validity to that point in some elections, but given the current election, the corrupt and broken voting systems across the nation, and the fact that NOTHING could possibly change my mind about which ticket is better, Barnes is wrong. I don't care if barack himself says he is gay, Muslim, socialist, or an atheist, I would still vote for him.
LOL,,
kudos to you
It amazes me that these assholes have a voice on MSM! We are all AMERICANS! Whether you are poor, back or white or brown, whether you are Muslim, Jewish or Christian. Damn, I hope Obama wins. I want to see these bigots demoralized and neutered.
I could'nt agree more
This wasn't on the MSM. This was fox. Just because we've been fed lies by Fox for the past 15 years, and Bill O screams about his rating doesn't make them Main stream forever. Past ratings are no guarantee of future performance.
P.D. writes, "We are all AMERICANS! Whether you are poor, back or white or brown, whether you are Muslim, Jewish or Christian."
This is a great example of how tyrants take power. It's an ancient rule: Divide and conquer. Divide the people into groups by race, religion, sex, money, regional accent, or whatever other differences they have, and make them fear and hate the other groups.
It's interesting to me that the word fascist comes from the Latin word fascis, meaning a bundle. The original word fagot (no, not the derogatory slang term for gays) comes from that Latin word too. It means a bundle of sticks tied together. When you read about someone being burned at the stake, the fire was usually lit using fagots.
Political fascists divide people into little groups and bind them together using fear, guilt, and hatred. They're (we're) much easier to control that way. When we're bound into little groups who hate and fear other little groups, we can be used to light the flames of race war, culture war, riots, and lynchings.
The Republicans (and even worse, the Neo-cons) have used and are still using these methods to divide Americans.
Barnes is exhibiting what the rightwing media behavior will tend to be for the next eight years, should Obama win. Whining, bitching, and pettiness, etc., but of course no plans of their own on how to solve any problem facing America.
I hope there are some bright, mouthy liberals out there who will begin making the rounds on these shows and who have the savvy and the schnutts to start telling organ grinder monkeys such as Barnes and Morton Kondracke to stuff a sock in it.
That'll shut most of these asshats down, or send them underground.
only against it if it favors someone else, other wise they don't care.
Even once Obama wins, he'll have to constantly put up with dumb shit coming from the many out of touch "rich old people" like this mindless bastard.
isn't that far removed from being one of those "poor old people" himself. I hope he has to wait in line six hours on Tuesday without a pot to pee in.
What an elitist tool!
early voting will bring down our democracy? what a douchebag.
Were all the shuffling negras there to block your quick line to the polling booth too?
Barnes is a jerk loser.
Old dumb fuck Fred will probably offer the colored people lottery tickets to hold his stupid elite ass a place in line.
...watta dog.
It seems that Fred is whining because the early voters will not have the opportunity to be influenced by the last minute smears and dirty tricks that have helped the Repugs in past elections. He must be thinking of all the wasted money on voter suppresion, robo calls, blatant lies and scare tactics that aren't investigated until it's too late after the election. He must have been counting on long lines at polling stations that would just force poor people back to work instead of waiting.
Fred's just upset that seemingly anybody that wants to, can cast their vote. I mean, how's a Republican supposed to get elected under these conditions?
Yeah, I guess it would suck if your a Republican to have all those poor, old people voting for Democrats. Fred, you and your kind are a disgusting example of bigotry and ugliness. Your days are numbered old man.
That'd be my guess....
From the like of Ed Rodgers (the guy with the preacher hair), Pat Buchanan (with none), Carl Rove (again) and the rest of the characters who would qualify for John Stewarts new segment "Who The F@CK is That Guy"?
"It applies to me but others aren't waiting long enough for Bin Laden to make a video tape"
Forgive my ignorance in this matter, but why are there such long lines and waiting times.
Here in Canada I have never seen this, our last election and the one before we had ballot boxes in the lobby of my apartment building and there was another near by at a local church.
It took me no more that 15 minutes from the time I left my apartment down to vote and back to my apartment again.
Ventis secundis, tene cursum
Same here.... At our last election, it took me 10 minutes from entering the polling place to cast my vote and leave. The line in front of me was three people.
I'll take your first sentence as an actual question and suggest that if something as relatively simple as voting is left in the hands of a mighty republic, the easiest way is never ever employed.
It doesn't answer why but it gives a reason, however unreasonable. That's how confusing and mistaken the system of voting is and since America is now an old and cranky republic, nothing will change.
Yet.....maybe.....Obama
In most places in America there AREN'T long lines and waiting times. I've been voting since the '80s, in different precincts and states, and have never had difficulty.
In the '04 election, I voted on my way home from work which was pretty much the peak time. My wait in line was only about 10 minutes. This year I voted early - also on my way home from work. The lines were really long - 45-50 minute wait, and I live in a low density part of the city. There were a couple of factors at play here. First of all, I really think there are simply a lot more people turning out this election - many of them people who never voted before. Second, there aren't as many early voting locations as there are on election day.
they're right aren't they? Early voting is very bad for the Republicans. What if the particular dog turd you've been waiting to have thrown at Obama hasn't been launched yet? You might lose the opportunity to lunch on it.That would be bad wouldn't it?
LOL thanks that made my day
If he wasn't bitchin' about this, it would be something else. I have listened to him for a while and I have to tell you, he really is just plain stupid. Knowing that he wrote a glowing book about geo bush tells you all you need to know.
There'a 112 copies of this deluded tract at Amazaon for sale at $.01 US:
http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Chief-Inside-Controversial-Presidency/dp/0307336492
Better hurry before they're all gone!
Liberté, Egalité, Better Parking
I heard a story that King Louis XIV of France was concerned with the amount of traffic in the Parisian capitol. He called an advisor over and asked what could be done about the number of carriages. The advisor suggested raising the driving age to 30. When the king asked why 30, the advisor said, no woman would admit to being that old.
What a cut-up.
Of course a tard like Fred Barnes would miss the point that all of these "poor voters" are voting early (just like he did) to prove a point that they can't be swayed by the dirty tactics that always show up in the last days of a desperate campaign.
Viva la poor people!!!!!!
Maybe those "poor old people" felt like I did, they just couldn't wait another day to proudly cast their vote.
... are on the wrong coast.
I have lived in California since 1963 and have never stood in line to vote.
I park my car nearby, walk into the polling place, check off my name, get my ballot, step into a booth, punch my holes, turn in the ballot and am out of there in less than 5 minutes.
What are they ddoing wrong over there?
BTW: Before I go, I have a little slip of paper with all my choices so I don't need to stand there and read all the stuff.
Old Fred "Treebeard" Barnes - Now, now, now, don't be hasty master voters, take your time too decide.
Yeah an election that lasts a fricken year, neeeeeed more time can't make up miiiiiind.
The UK laughs at our eternal process.
Look at freddies hair...old?....and when fox has to lay-off people like YOU.....you'll be 'old and poor?'....now go lay down and take your meds.
Barnes is fitting his cant to fit the direction of events. If the early voting were splitting 60-40 for McCain he'd have a different story to tell.
Transparent Baloney
Wouldn't that be fat?
I thought Fred Barnes had finally given it up. Hadn't seen him in a while.
The man hasn't been of any consequence in 2 or 3 years. I'm glad to see that there is still some kind of market for his shallow insights and dated opinions.
baby jesus considers poor old people his base
Hey baby j. Haven't seen you around here for a while. How's things in your neck of the world?
baby jesus does not like to be verified only clarified
baby jesus is too excited about tomorrow to stay away
Refer to himself in the Third Party?
Because when you are Baby J. you can do whatever you want. It's kind of a heavenly rule or something.
Bangkok Bob asks why Baby Jesus refers "to himself in the Third Party." Bob, you've been imbibing too many politics! You mean "third person," not "third party."
I know what you mean about the excitement tomorrow. I voted early but now I wish I could vote again. The next 48 hours are going to be anxiety filled.
It's quite funny watching dinosaurs like Fred Barnes stumble and spittle all over himself as he tries (but fails miserably) to make some sort of point.
If nothing else, it tickles me to see how much this election irks these clowns.
outright, just really chaps their hides.
Them chaps like their hides of boy-toys.
Barnes' keen perception that let's him assess other people's economic status with a single glance I wonder if it occurred to him that those "old poor people" might also anticipate being elsewhere. Perhaps they didn't want to miss a last opportunity to vote.
Won't Barnes be missing something by voting early? He should wait til then like everyone else. Hes just an elitest prick that doens't like waiting in line. Can't you see him screaming at a poll worker...DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM ?!?!
.... and some unfortunate poll worker looking back at him confusedly and replying, "Ummm.... no. Get back in line please sir."
Make no mistake. It’s not Early Voting that peeves Fred so much. It is the “Poor Old People” voting. That’s not Republican.
Fred would have no problem if "Rich" Old People were given the opportunity to Vote Early and Vote Often. That’s Republican.
Barnes knows his elitist, bigoted bullshit as usual will seem so "old" when the young colored boy becomes Prez.
Remember to VOTE. Remind friends, relatives, enemy combatants, fellow prisoners...remind everyone you see.
Well in Texas, I voted in my local super market, it took 5 min. Same is true for Nev.
I have a elder relative who has to get around in a walker as she's gotten more frail at least in body(but not in mind)and if there was an early voting booth where I live she'd have voted already, but as it is she has to wait till tomorrow.
Not only that, she has to be driven to the polling place as she can't even drive herself...especially in her condition.
So before you start picking on "poor old people", Mr. Barnes, you should stop and consider why they would elect to vote sooner rather than later.
A hack? Are you kidding? He doesn't have enough credibility to be a hack.
I am so sick of these gas-bags saying that voting will harm America, nothing has been more harmful to America then the Republican party, not Al Queda, not the Wall St crooks, not the ball players on steriods, none of them have been or could be as harmful to America as the Republican party has been for the last 30 plus years.
And now it looks like the thing that's going to hurt them back is the power of the polls, even Die-Bold can't help them this year. (I hope)
These two old popcorn farts need to retire to Paraguay with dumbya and his henchmen.
It's a beautiful thing to live in a time where on the eve of an historic election, the right wingers know their power is slipping away from them and they have to resort to suppressing voter turnout as a last ditch hail mary.
America First. LOL!
He looks like a poor old idiot. Are Fox News and the Republican Party this desperate? I guess only middle aged rich white men should vote in this election. Since young and old are not capable of making an informed decision. I love how he did not mention the Osama Bin Laden tape that came out two days before the 2004 election when citing examples of things that can happen right before election day. Pathetic!
My excuse is that I am a lying hypocrite with incipient dementia and the last original thought I had was the resemblance between a steamy shit I had just taken and my late grandfather as a young man.
I sometimes imagine that I remember that once very very long ago, Kondracke the Tool would occasionally take a viewpoint infinitesimally left of center back when he was on one of the shouting head shows, perhaps back in the day of the first Bush administration. Am I remembering this correctly?
Whatever the case may be, his mental processes are those of a battered child who has learned to agree with his tormentor, no matter how absurd the things are that he agrees with.
These people are turds, sticking their noses up in the air when they have to be around "real" people. I personally would love to see him and his kind get their comeuppance - financially and otherwise.
We have had enough of the divisiveness he and his buddies have brought to the country. It is time to fix the damage they have caused, before it further hurts us domestically and abroad.
VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN ON NOVEMBER 4 - OUR COUNTRY NEEDS TO THROW OUT REPUBLICAN RULE AND THE INCIPIENT FASCISM IT HAS BROUGHT TO AMERICA.
He has never worked a 9 to 5, eh?
I've been old enough to vote in the last 3 presidential elections here is Wisconsin and have never encountered a problem either. I've maybe had to wait a matter of two or three minutes in line to check in. We use the optical scan ballots and they work great. Voted on Saturday this year, just cause I couldn't wait!
We need a federal voting system in this country. None of this computer bullshit. I would never vote on one of those. Guarantees of adequate polling stations and accessibility. This waiting in line for 6 hours nonsense should be a crime.
last Friday. We had old people, young people, black, white and Hispanic. Everyone was HAPPY to stand in line for the ability to vote early.
Funniest thing was a guy passing out blue McCain, pink Palin stickers to people standing in line. I watched him walk down the line of about 200 people ahead of me. NOT ONE TAKER!
..white, Hispanic...everyone was in a good mood.
Driving past two schools this morning, there were scores of cars going 20 mph (school zone) while two people waved a flag and a sign "Honk for Mc Cain". The silence was deafening!
This guy has got to stop, he's much too much a stupid elitist dick to be given an audience.
Poor Fweddie has obviously decided that early voting is bad for the Republicans so it must go. I'd love to see "parallel universe Fweddie" explaining why early voting is absolutely mandatory to honor people's constitutional rights.
Where I live, we've adopted 100% mail-in voting. It saves money and gives people the option of turning in their ballots (either by mail-in or drop-off) any time after they are sent out and received. This year they were sent out on October 17 (although apparently they could have been picked up on Oct. 15). That means most people will have about two weeks to vote. There are no places where the spotless elite (aka Fweddie Barnes) have to come into contact with the disgusting old or the sickening poor (or heaven forbid, any truly nauseating old voters who also happen to be poor -- why do they get to vote anyway?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8oRf7SMEfo&fe...
All main-in voting also means it is harder for Republicans to steal an election since standard election day voter suppression techniques are neutralized. That probably really upsets Fweddie.
That leaves tampering with the mail or having the election officials themselves fix the vote count. Of course, given the horrendous threat that voter registration fraud poses to the very fabric of democracy, it's probably a good idea to allow all state election officials to operate in complete secrecy, because we know they would never do anything illegal, unethical, or undemocratic.
You know I played the video but when fred talks all I hear is "Wah wah wah wah wah wah where's my rattle?"
LOL!
The re-Thuglics have become a, kind-of, party of WHINERS . . . .
*
Nice of ole Fred to take his mouth off of George W's dick long enough to enlighten us with his views on democracy.
Now THAT'S funny!
*
takes the impact from the october surprise and all the rest of the smear tactics
such as alledging that an audio tape that has been sitting of the sf chron site since january was "hidden", as it presents shocking views of obama wanting to bankrupt the coal industry
fuck all the wingnuts
I would like to second the motion . . . .
*
Dibbs on Monica Crowley!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tAUDiS4rak
... I took a look in the mirror and I'm not old - but I'm working on it. I took a look in my wallet - and he's a little closer there - but I might survive with Barnes and his friends finally relegated to the peanut gallery.
*
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k127/Carado...
What kind of piss poor examples did he give? Carter/Reagan? that was a blow out landslide, wasn't even close. And GW's drunk driving record? who cares when the supreme Court will appoint you after you lose the populace vote anyway? What a babbling fool,...
that would mean that people who have to work on Election Day wouldn't be able to do so easily.
Which is why Election Day should be a national holiday in this country - shut everything down for the day so people *can* vote.
Like every other American holiday it would be an occasion to get drunk or shopping.
Don't they close the bars on election day?
republicans like this clown are unhappy that they cant control this election by only haveing one day to steal it! and steal it they will! even with early voteing, most of the friends i have left that are alive believe that its great that elections are stolen by the repukes, they will take it anyway they can get it, of course they are republicans, as i watch cnn and msn i can see were allready being set up the race is tightening , the polls say it is, dont be surprised when you wake up on the 5th and see john mccain pulls off a close one, barns wins again blim it on undecided voters at the last moment! yes lord fortunes smile on the repigs!
These people don't give a damn about America, All they ever cared for was their comfort and their own personal set of privileges.
You can also bet that they won't go away quietly if they lose tomorrow. Repugs are professional backseat drivers and they'll spend their time out of power bitching and moaning until they can sucker another majority of cretins to follow them. These people have been bitching about the New Deal- a series of programs that built roads, brought electricity to some of the poorest parts of the country, raised the overall standard of living, and provided most Americans a dignified retirement- for over seventy years now. They had their shot at steering the Ship of State and in eight years they ran us hopelessly aground. But don't worry, true to their history, as soon as a Democrat fixes things and gets us back on course, they'll be crying to take the wheel again.
Seriously, I don't think Fred Barnes has been right about a single thing in the last two years. I used to watch Fox just to see what they were up to but I don't do that much anymore, makes my brain hurt, but I cannot think of a single thing he has predicted in the last couple of years that has come true and his political analysis has become serious divored from reality. But we all know "reality has a decidly liberal bias" (Colbert).
Redneck riots after Obama wins. Check for times at your local Hooters or email your local Grand Dragon at the KKK for a schedule.
Bring a gun, sword, rope and a mace in case any innocent 'liebruls' go walking past while you are lynching black children and castrating arab taxi drivers.
Pack a lunch, everything will be burned to the ground in the name of Jay-sus.
Bring a radio so you can hear Limbaugh & Hannity bellow & squeal.
Don't forget to bring a clean pair of boxer shorts for the Rapture.
Gu-ud luck, y'all an' Gawd bless.........
i was able to VOTE early. early voting occured for the last two weeks in october without any excuse/reason. from start to finish it took maybe twenty five minutes.i disagree with barnes
all states should have some type of early voting.
I for one won't mind if you don't show up to vote.
Fred Barnea is actually upset because he understands that with people voting early, any suppression of peoples right to vote can be discovered early. With discovering it early something could be done to protect our right to vote. That is why he is upset.
...keeps proving that he is a fascist. Why do you hate America so much, Fred?
They have an excuse for themselves, but WTF is up with these other dumbasses who do the exact same thing I do?
Sometimes there are only certain words that should be used in response to a remark or comment, whether these words are considered offensive by others or not. These are the words I must use:
Hey Fred, FUCK YOU!!!
We all know that long lines help suppress voter turnout, well not turnout but stayout, if you are looking at waiting in line for 6-9 hours how many people are going to stay and vote. Early voting helps turnout, turnout = bad for republicans, therefore early voting is bad mkay! What's ironic is that Republicans have been big supporters of absentee ballots for years and years, it was their little secret. There is no legal excuse so any can be used to obtain an absentee ballot in many states. Now that absentee ballots have become mainstream in the form of early voting it's all of a sudden a big problem. Mainly since poor, hard working people who can't take time off work to vote are now given an opprotunity to fit voting into their schedule and lives without worying if they have a job after waiting in line for 8 hours on a day they were supposed to be at work.
Let's assume Barnes really is against early voting for the right reasons... Let's assume that he really thinks that voters (other than himself) should wait until the last minute to make their decisions.
WHAT THE HELL DOES 'POOR PEOPLE' HAVE TO DO WITH THAT ARGUMENT?!?!?
Fred Barnes sits firmy atop the pinnacle of douche-baggery.
I'm an Obama supporter and not a conern troll. Having said that, I think his statement 'poor old people' was taken out of context. He was immediately prior speaking of long lines and an uncomfortable situation. Saying 'poor old people' was probably meaning old people who were in a long line and not liking it, like 'you poor thing' doesn't mean you are in poverty. I'm saying this based upon his speech pattern which didn't at all stress the word poor. Listen to it again. I don't agree with his dislike of early voting though, but that's another story.
I'm an Obama supporter and not a conern troll.
---------------------------
if you have to put up a warning sign...more than likely you are a concern troll.
Laughing my rear-end off reading these comments. You guys are great!
Faux's fruity Freddie is such a desperate loser and like other Reslugs can't stop wetting his pink panties.
Fred Barnes is a joke. He wrote a pretty sickening "biography" about Dubya, fawning all over him. Even Pat Buchanan laughs at the The Weekly Standard.
Barnes is always making comments about the less fortunate, less educated. He's just pissed that he had to wait in line with what he considers "Riff Raff". On Wednesday morning he'll be part of the brain matter being cleaned off the wall, floors and ceilings over at Fox due to all their heads exploding after have to say "President elect Barack Obama." I will be laughing loud.
I didn't think he meant poor as in economically disadvantaged. I thought he meant poor as in "I feel so bad for them."
That said, yeah, it's BS.
.
When I saw Fred rant yesterday, my jaw fell open...
"This early voting has got to stop."
So, does Fred propose to make voting day a paid holiday to accommodate the 8 hour wait in line?
.
for voting early himself. Unlike all those unwashed old, poor people willing to stand for hours in line to make sure they voted and tie up all the decent parking for the elite like Fred, whose reason, it seemed is... he had something more important to do elsewhere on Election Day.
I got a better idea, Fred. Why don't you just not vote? Oh, that's right - it's because you're an American citizen, just like all those poor, old people, and you HAVE A BLOODY RIGHT to vote.
Shame, that.
This is all the more reason to make sure that even after this election, Americans need to continue to build on democratic participation in this democracy and to absolutely insure that every possible eligible voter is registered to vote and given the opportunity and encouraged to vote in not just this election, but every election, especially local elections since those are the ones that most directly affect us where we live. As a democracy, we should make sure that everyone who wants to participate, has the ability to do so. Of course, that's what barnes and his cronies do not want to happen. They like a lazy and apathetic electorate. That way they can run roughshod all over everything and do whatever is on their perverted agenda and get away with it scot free. As barnes has proved here, they hate to see "all those poor old people voting". Maybe he should also be concerned with the middle class voters who have been abused to the point that they are taking action, including a surging vote by youth who are embracing their civic responsibility to vote to free themselves from the failed policies of a failed ideology.
I was particularly taken by his idea that while he and Mort had an excuse to vote early, these old people do not have any reason to be there. They never "go out of town" or do anything like important people do, they just stand around being old.
"I have an excuse" and what I don't. I have a disability which makes it impossible for me to stand for long periods of time, like in a long voting line. The last time I had to stand in a line to vote was 8 years ago. I waited, on election day, for 4 and a half hours to vote. I can't do that now. For me early voting is the way to go. When I went to the polls this year I saw two older and somewhat frail looking gentlemen on canes voting. As Americans age standing in long lines is going to be more and more difficult or many. What about the person who votes early because they can't get off work to vote on November 4th? There are lots of good reasons to vote early. With the campaigns running for 18 months or more how long does it take to make a decision! If you can't decide two weeks early then by all means vote on November 4th. My pet peeve is jerks who think they are better than others and that somehow standing in line for hours on election day is some sort of important experience. What a load! What is important is voting and anything that gets more people to vote is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
I'm hoping that more of the country will go to a vote by mail system like we have here in Oregon. It works and it's relatively problem free. No one has to stand in line to vote. That seems totally barbaric to me now. Why even bother with machines that can be hacked and the vote manipulated and have there be no paper trail either? Avoid butterfly ballots, touch screens that make it very easy to make mistakes which can then not be fixed, and hanging chads, etc. Voting by mail works. And, compared to other systems, it's cheap and very reliable. Please, America, switch to voting by mail. And, make automatic voter registration on the 18th birthday that is portable for life (since we are a mobile society) a reality.
Just think, if everyone were automatically registered and could vote by mail, poor old people would no longer be inconveniencing poor barnes and his friends and he would no longer have to have any [disgusting] contact with them ever again. Now, shouldn't we make life better for barnes, mr. elite and self-important? The measures I propose would kill 2 birds with one stone.
I love how Barnes says his own early voting is perfectly fine, poor people voting early is "just wrong". It's like these people were born without a sense of hypocrisy.
...but I live in a suburban community outside of Philly. Over the past number of years, the only places that have long lines are urban areas (where a lot of minorites and financially disdvantaged people live) and in the so-called "battleground" states - the ones with high numbers of electoral votes.
We need to reform the whole election system over hte next four years.
The Electoral College should be eliminated, which would cut back on the ease of manipulating (stealing) elections, and the voting period should be extended in all states for up 10 days, for instance. Having only one day for voting is ridiculous in an time when the population has grown, most people work extended schedules - days, nights, weekends - and when business owners won't allow people time off to vote on election day.
You make election day a holiday, so people aren't stuck at work and are not able to vote. Problem solved.
Don't forget America is number 1. That's why old people feel forced to vote in third world conditions. It may be their only chance. How democratic.
That would have been worth it! Seeing him fume. He claims that he had an excuse, that he was going to be out of state. Is that a valid excuse? Couldn't he DELAY his trip? Should the state be in the business of determining whether or not someone's reason is valid?
The more people that vote the worse it is for the Republicans. Most of the people in line were probably black or otherwise he could tell mostly democrat. Too damn bad. He thinks only the elite should get to vote early?
We need a national voting system and there is nothing wrong with it including the ability to vote early.
If early voting is wrong, then why not make voting more efficient? Mail-in ballots perhaps?
Well, the entire premise of the thread is a knee-jerk reaction. So, I assumed that would extend to me.
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