A friend from North Carolina writes…
I got off work early today (12 PM) and went to one of Raleigh, NC’s early polling places to vote. There were 100 people there. Now this wasn’t a 2004 around-the-block-Presidential-election line, but that’s the point. This is a primary, and it was evident that many were really happy their vote mattered this late in the season.
The volunteers were a bit cranky; it was obvious they weren’t prepared for a bit of people. I joked to others in line that it might have been easier to vote on Tuesday. Voters were remarkably quiet and calm, considering people hate lines, The volunteers had to steer the line out the door, and when I left around 1 PM it was meandering down the sidewalk out the building, about 20 or 30 people stronger than when I got there. Early voting ends tomorrow.
It looks like Indiana is breaking records, and North Carolina seems to be following the same trend. I know people want to see a resolution towards the Democratic nomination, but there’s no better feeling than to know your vote counted in the primary. Outrage that the primary system doesn’t fully represent the voters of this country is understandable—poor Nebraska is July 12.
In addition to early voting, the LA-06 special election is today.
We’ll see if Democrat Don Cazayoux will be able to withstand the, Cazayoux=Obama+Pelosi ads – not to mention the illegally coordinated attacks of the NRCC and the shadowy front group Freedom’s Watch — to pick up this heavily Republican seat (R+7). brownsox at Daily Kos has a good summary of the race and there’s video and more on the DCCC’s FEC complaint against Freedom’s Watch and the NRCC for illegal coordination.
Speaking of which, Freedom’s Watch got their 3rd deceptive ad pulled from the air yesterday in MS-01. This is the second one pulled this week.
If you’re voting in Indiana, North Carolina or Guam today, let us know your experience in the thread below…
No Trackbacks To “Early Voting Turnout High in NC, IN, and Guam Primaries“
I had forgotten about those voter lines. We have a mail in ballot in Oregon. It’s so much easier.
And the question continues to be: Will the turnout be high enough to trump the election rigging?
So who are they all voting for
The butterfly?
Go Guam!
The Obama website said my polling place would be open until 7pm today. It closed at 3. I got there at 3:05.
Oh well, it will be wait in line time come Tuesday.
If you haven’t seen “hacking democracy” on HBO then you probably don’t know that voting is pretty much a f#$%$%g joke in this country. Diebold is satan in technological drag!!!!
By the way, I predict an attack on IRAN is Sept or maybe Oct. at the latest so Dick and George can cancel the general election and get on with the dictatorship. Just a guess. winkwinknodnod
wheres the colbert link from this morning? taken down?!?
Site Monitor: The videos aren’t playing, so it was taken down until we can fix it.
I voted this morning in my small NC mountain community. I saw several people registering to vote for the first time and there were several more waiting in line.
It’s rare to see even a few people at the polling place during the early voting in our rural area. It’s even more rare to see the minority voters I saw today taking advantage of the process.
I predict record turnouts for a primary.
Here is the video from democracynow.org.
http://www.democracynow.org/20.....nerability
What’s the problem. I can’t get my comment to post.??
democracynow.org and look up hacking democracy..
Clearly if Obama wins Guam its due to all the white college educated birkenstock wearing latte drinkers.
The polls for these two contests are all over the map . I have to subdue my inner conspiracy theorist and wait ’til Tuesday. Damn!
iraqhusseinconcilable @ 12:
Right now Obama in NC by 7 to 9 and it’s neck and neck in IN with still undecideds in the teens in both states. So we will have to just bite our nails. BTW, I’d like to register a complaint on how the media say Obama must win IN but don’t mention that Clinton must win NC, by a large margin to boot. They are not equal in delegates either, IN with 84 and NC with l34, 50 more than IN. And of course, if Obama wins NC, NC will be just another “small state” when in fact PA is not that much larger. 158, was it?
I voted in a grocery store in Lafayette. There was about a 20 minute long line the entire time I was there. Not a single Republican ballot requested in the 25 minutes I was standing there or finishing up.
Whaaa? @ 6:
Maybe I am blind and dumb; but, I don’t see it happening. I think this constant drumbeat of war is just a sophisticated PR campaign to keep Americans afraid of their government. The whole purpose of the Bush Administration from day one was to rob the treasury and the American people. If Bush broadens the war then he runs the risk of losing all the wealth and power that he has stolen from the American people. What good is that suitcase of money when World War III starts. Bush isn’t an ideologue; he doesn’t believe any of the cr@p that spews from his mouth. The guy is a crooked businessman, a con-man. He will say and do anything to get your money. He doesn’t care about spreading democracy, WMD, or terrorism. It is all a shell game to divert attention away from the great bank robbery that has occurred.
If Bush were truly interested in fighting World War III then he would not of created so much debt. Not only has he stolen what we have; but, he has bonded us with a huge debt that will take generations to pay off. He has set this up so that the gravy will keep flowing for years to come.
We have been had. Hook line and sinker. We focus so much on the minutia of his evil deeds that we overlook the bigger picture. The war in Iraq was designed to create debt. Torture, terrorism, and the drumbeat of war was designed to keep Americans from talking about the real issue of our ballooning debt.
Capri @ 15:
Is it an open primary, or must you be registered as a Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary? If it’s open, it’s open to “astroturfing”.
I live in Carmel — a Republican stronghold just north of Indianapolis — and it’s been a great day. Two Obama folks stopped by mid-afternoon. A doctor from Chicago came to our door Thursday night. My 19-year-old son went door to door for BO in Bloomington all week and he’s out in Westfield –even more Republican area– just north of us. He is fired up! He’s come across several BO supporters. I’ve seen four cars with local license plates sporting Obama signs — not bumper stickers — but signs today.
It’s actually fun to have Hoosiers involved in all of this!! We have four voters in our house — two voted early for BO; my wife and I will wait until election day to do so. YES WE CAN!
Obama is leading 53% - 47% in Guam with 95% reporting.
They still have to count of the largest village, but Hillary would need like a 80% majority to win there.
Obama’s great speech at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner last night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
Does anyone have a video of the crowd booing their Governor for supporting Hillary?
I work for the local government in a decently large Indiana county. I got pulled down to the election board to help with early voting and the turnout has been pretty impressive since we’re doing vote centers.
We had 5-6 locations open all this week (and this weekend). Our office saw the least with about…60-100 people a day, the others were seeing 300+ a day.
I only turned like 8 people away for not having proper ID’s…but like 6 of them were people who had simply forgot their driver’s license in their car, and they came back. 2 just didn’t have US or Indiana issued IDs, and welp, you gotta declare a residency to vote here. Part of that is turning in your out of state ID’s for Indiana ID’s.
I Like Pie @ 1:
…assuming the post office delivered it.
No one can say for 100% that the votes are being counted . . the elections are a sham . . concentrate on putting direct pressure on your senators and congressman.
No doubt Obama is getting all the votes. His historic bravery in disowning his paster has really energized and inspired all of us into voting for him. After Tuesday that ugly old witch will finally be slayed for good.
Andy K Jong Il @ 17:
I don’t think you understand what “astroturfing” means…
Big week for Obama here in Chapel Hill, NC. He spoke to about 20,000 people in the Dean Smith Center on Monday. Yesterday the town and the Obama campaign put on a rock ‘n’ roll early vote rally- 6,000 or more people came out to see the Arcade Fire and Superchunk play!
Capri @ 15:
I wasn’t at that location but I know the people who were. They were pretty swamped and ran out of some supplies (notably paper/toner I think for the printed form you had to sign). Also, depending on what day that was, a poll worker had to leave since a relative had a stroke.
Chill @ 26:
I was born in NC and lived in Chapel Hill for several years, (played in several bands as well) but moved to VA a couple years ago. Sure would have been fun to see Obama speak and hear some good music as well (I miss Superchunk!). Wish I was there (sigh). Go Obama!
I Like Pie @ 16:
You almost got it! …think of it this way…
George Bush’s puppeteers, are poised to take over our country. Although I dont think the puppeteers want (worldwide nuclear war)…but they do want war! …They want a war that will weaken our mighty military,(cut us off @ the knees so to speak) and they want the war to happen overseas (soldiers won’t be able to come back)…You have seen how our national guard is being used and abused w/ repeated tours of duty…many soldiers cant handle it and are committing suicide…and Blackwater grows…
The object/objective, is America, and the poorer we get, and the more troops overseas = easier job for Blackwater… and all the evidence = the new world order neo-cons (and undercover Neolibs)are gonna make a move on America soon…
Tyler Durden @ 25:
What’s the word then? Because, yeah, I may be stretching the use of “astroturfing”. But what do you call it when someone casts a vote in the primaries to get the candidate they’ll vote against in the general election?
obamarulesall @ 24:
What are you, 12 years old?
Can someone please explain to this poor, bewildered Canadian who has followed several US primaries as to why it is so spread out? Why not have it all on one day? What is the reasoning behind this turtle race?
A VERY GOOD DAY For OBAMA!
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo...../91/508419
I voted in Indiana on Friday. It took about an hour to get through the line, which is unprecedented. I didn’t hear anyone asking for a Republican ballot, although there must have been a view. (My city, Bloomington, is pretty Democratic, but the county, Monroe, is less so, and we were early-voting in one central location for the county.) Last week the voter board had satellite polling places on the campus of Indiana University to help students vote before they left town for the summer (graduation was today). They had amazing turnouts both times, and the BO campaign also had shuttle buses to help students get from campus to the central polling place on other days. If Obama wins Indiana — and I hope he does — I think Bloomington’s numbers may carry him over the top. We can hope.
Barack just barely wins in Guam.
Many of us at one point in time in our lives face denial. Denial that we might have a problem with our relationship with any of our loved ones, denial that we may be the problem simply because that is the easiest route possible without facing the facts. Alcoholism is one of the strongest points possible for denial of a problem you can not fix if you don’t face it head on. Addiction to politics when your entire life is and has been about politics is similar in nature.
One of the things that is most troubling to many moderate Democrats is the fact that we have a virtual 400 pound gorilla in our midst and it isn’t going to go away anytime soon. What is more troubling is the fact that moderate Republicans are also stuck in the same dilemma. While we face the facts that the gorilla is going about its business it is ransacking the house we live in. Declaring the possibility of a fairy tale outcome that only Hollywood could conceive for a made for television movie pushed on political junkies and party loyalists. Still in the back of the room is the simple reality of mathematics that constantly ticks out the numbers that can not lie. Numbers that scream at political reporters and pundits that cross the airways on our televisions and on our internet surfing of the latest news.
With the Democrat Party lining up millions of new voters from state to state it is a given conclusion that no matter who the primary winner in the Democrat race is, that person will be the next President of the Untied States of America. The current office holder made that possible by running a White House in need of fumigation of political thought that was not to strict adherence to the select few.
There was TRAGIC IRONY at the Kentucky Derby today.
The only female horse in the race that Hillary bet on won second place, broke both of its ankles after crossing the finish line, and had to be euthanized.
The horse took second place to BIG BROWN.
If that’s not irony then I don’t know what is….but I feel damn sorry for that horse.
Make sure the Republicans don’t cheat for Hillary.
Is it true that Obama only won Guam by 7 (seven total) votes?
I’m sure if this was a larger state with more delegates at stake then Hillary would fight the results. But why waste money in a contest that only has 4 total delegates and can’t vote in November? On the flip side, they do have 5 superdelegates and at least one has said they will follow the will of the people. If Obama nets all 5, then maybe should spend a few thousand out of her debt to get a recount.
I’m a Obama supporter, but 7 votes is way too close to not have a second look even though less than 6,000 people voted altogether.
vrk @ 12:
Doesn’t matter lol, HRC & her henchmen have stated many times that caucus states don’t count, soooo if Hillary is the nominee, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nevada, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Wyoming, & Texas will be the lucky ’cause HRC will not be campaigning in these states during the general election ;) especially since she won’t be the nominee …
Mark Shoup @ 18:
Right on, good to hear.
Vote Flick!!!
Canuckistanley @ 32:
“turtle race” … what a great way to put it…
i’ve wondered why the primary isn’t a single day - or at the least, spread out over a months time.
can anybody answer that?
it’s never been a problem before, that i remember, for 30+ years…
there’s NEVER been anything like this before…
this whole election is “historic” on many fronts!
Mister Anderson @ 37:
i just heard that on the radio, less than an hour ago… very tragic…
and i remember hearing hillary comment on that filly very recently.
all those facts… that’s not just irony (yet), but it could be weirdly prophetic…
So glad to see that small population of Guam (about 140K) gets their vote counted in this great historic primary election.
Meanwhile 1.7 million Democrats here in FL (my vote included), is lost in the miasma of “we told you so, who cares if your Republican-dominated state congress voted for the primary date which the FL Democratic party had no control over - and you have to follow the distastrous ruls of Dean & Brazile whether we lose FL in the general election - OR NOT” crap.
Guam, I stand envious.