Election Day Special

It's Election Day on Tuesday.

May your favorite candidate whoop some serious ass (as long as he/she ain't whooping my favorite candidate's ass)!

Don't watch too much TV coverage while checking live feeds on Twitter and Facebook.  There is such a things as being too plugged in.

Don't let the psychics influence your vote...vote...vote (did you hear an echo?)

But what ever you do.  Show up and Vote!

A public service announcement brought to you by Comic Mashup Theater.

WA Election Round Up

Well we had a measly 28% turn out for our off-year election on Tuesday.

And it looks like Ref 71, the Everything But Marriage Bill, will pass with a slim 51+% margin.

Most counties west of the mountains voted for R71.

Most counties east of the mountains voted against R71.

A win is a win. Although the loss of Equal Marriage Rights in Maine was sad.

Tim Eyman's 1033 was solidly rejected with a 55% No vote.

That's good because the state won't have to waste money overturning it in the courts.

In Snohomish County, all the incumbents won. What a surprise!!! Not.

Onward and upward, citizens.

There is no V in Commercial

Here is an interesting statistic from the NY Times:

"Against almost every expectation, nearly half of all people watching delayed shows are still slouching on their couches watching messages about movies, cars and beer. According to Nielsen, 46 percent of viewers 18 to 49 years old for all four networks taken together are watching the commercials during playback, up slightly from last year."

Almost half the people with DVRs are still watching the commercials while watching shows they have recorded. I am proud to not be in that percentile, but I think I know why.

1. Half the TV watchers are passive couch potatoes. It's too hard to reach for that button.

2. The money spent on ads means their production values are better than the shows most people are watching. A Jack in the Box ad has way better special effects and soundtrack than most "reality" shows.

3. Did I mention it takes effort to reach for that button all the time?

On a similar note: It is election day today and ABC is launching the pilot of a new (old) show, V. What does that say about the expected interest level of Americans? It is a mid term election, so less than 50% of registered voters are expected to vote. That is only about 18% of eligible voters. And I have no idea what percentage of TV viewers are also eligible voters, but it has to be less than 18%. And of that percentage, how many of them will care enough to watch election returns on TV instead of the relaunch of V? How many people will be more interested in governors' races and civil rights and tax issues instead of sexy aliens invading earth?

The fact that V is launching tonight says that election coverage is not considered to be a major factor in getting eyeballs attached to the V pilot. Probably because people like me who will watch election returns also have DVRs and can watch V later (and half of us will skip the commercials).

Life is always entertaining. And the new V has to be better than its 80's ancestor! But that ain't saying much.

Glad I’m Not a Pundit

I’m glad I’m not getting paid to give my opinion about the election. I’m not sure what it all means. I’m not even entirely sure what I am feeling right now. I keep swinging round and round from one thing to another:
I’m afraid it’s all a dream and I am going to wake up to President McCain.
I’m so happy, I want to skip and jump.
I’m really impressed with Obama and his family.
I’m so afraid he will be just another politician after all this.
I feel lots of sympathy for the conservatives that got hosed by Bush & Co. then got disappointed by McCain and Palin.
I’m also afraid that the rightwing media (especially talk radio) will whip up a bunch of hate and anger right when the world could use some cooperation.
I’m so disappointed that all those Anti-Gay-Marriage propositions passed.
We make two steps forward and one step back, but always forward again.
I wish I could see Martin Luther King Jr’s reaction to all this.
I’m so happy my daughters could see this and that I got to see their reactions of delight.
I’m so looking forward to January 20th.
This is what a peaceful revolution looks like.

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Picture from: http://www.patrickmoberg.com/november-4-2008.jpg

The Polls are Closed, America is Open for Business Again

Excuse me for a second:

WHOOOOO HOOOOOO !!!!

Wow! Talk about a home run.

Congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama.

I am truly moved.

I watched the returns come in with my girls.
And I feel like we have just helped write a new chapter in the history books.

Did I say Wow?

Now the real work begins for all America and all Americans.

Election Day and Beyond

My Election Day To Do List:
1. Vote! Mail in your ballet. Stand in the huge line. Do what you have to do to cast your vote. It is one of the concrete things that citizens can do in this country. VOTE! If you don’t vote, don’t complain afterwards. Oh, and did I mention, VOTE!

2. Help other people Vote. Drive people to the polls. Cover for coworkers at work. Let your employees go and vote.

3. Don’t fuck with other peoples’ votes! Too many times our elections have been tainted because people have put up barriers and not let people vote, have interfered with the count or the recounting of votes. (Ohio 2004, Florida 2000, and lots of less publicized instances). If people are asking you to actively or passively get in the way of people voting, get the fuck out of the way. Go back to Step Number 2.

4. Watch the results come in. Cross your fingers. Pray. Rub your rabbit’s foot. Hope things go your way. Hope your candidates make it in to office. Hope the Propositions go your way.

5. If the results are unclear or very close, let the system work. We have methods for counting and recounting elections. There is no constitutional guarantee that all results will be in by Tuesday night. Sometimes it takes a few days or a week or two. Nothing bad will happen to us as a people if some districts or states need to be careful and recount things. Be patient.

6. If your candidates and issues lose, be cool, regroup and get busy working on the next election cycle. And make sure the winners represent you as well as those who voted for him/her.

7. If your candidates and issues win, be cool, regroup and get busy working on the next election cycle. And make sure the winners represent everyone, not just those who voted for him/her.

8. Make sure your new representatives at all levels of government are aware of your informed opinions on issues. Make sure your new representatives are representing you and your neighbors.

9. Make sure the people, parties and issues you are supporting are good for the country, the environment, and future generations.

10. Go back to step 1: VOTE!

America is Waiting

America is waiting for an answer of one sort or another.

Go VOTE!

Ode to the Undecided

This is a critical situation
You must be considering things deeply
Weighing issues from multiple angles
To still be undecided at this late date

Or there is another explanation
For your continued consternation
You may be lacking the critical faculties
Needed to make decisions

I would hate to be the clerk
Who helps you to pick shoes
Or have you even decided yet
Whether you need shoes or not?

Shrug your way through the emergency
Most times it is useless
To show a gold piece
To a cat
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Credits: Poetry and Collage by Jay Larsen

Freudian Scarf?

Many people are making lots of noise about Gov. Palin’s RNC sponsored shopping spree.
I don’t want to talk about that. Joe, John and Barack the Senators are all wearing $2,000 suits.
But has anyone asked Sarah the Governor why she is wearing a scarf encouraging people to vote Democrat? Unless those are moose and not donkeys.

No perfect choices, yet choices must be made

I had some interesting feedback from my last post.
Just for the record, I do not believe Barack Obama is a perfect candidate.
The Democratic Party is not a perfect party.
I consider myself an Independent Voter.
We don’t always get perfect choices, but we do have to make choices.
With that said, I am casting my vote for Barack Obama.
I hope you all make the best choice you can.

What I am most interested in is this: What are you going to do after the election?

I think much of what has gone wrong with our government in my life time is the result of an uninterested, under-informed, unengaged population of citizens. We have allowed the institutions and representatives of the people be influenced and purchased by corporations. It is going to take a lot of work for us to reassert the rightful place of the people in this representative republic of ours. But it is work that must be done to protect our lives and the future of our children and generations to come.

No matter who gets elected in November, we have to commit ourselves to the same task: We have to strive to be better informed and more active in monitoring the actions of our representatives, and we must do a better job of informing our government of our core beliefs, interests and desires. Only then can we hold government accountable to the will of the people.

I have my preference for who gets elected this November. I doubt everyone I vote for will be elected. But all of those elected, be they president, governor, congressman, or city councilperson, have a responsibility to represent all the people who voted. And we have a responsibility to be aware of what they are doing and what they plan on doing. We have a responsibility to communicate with our representatives as clearly as we are able.

And that means you have a responsibility to know what your core beliefs, interests and desires are. If you don’t, then you need to figure it out. And if you don’t share those things with your representatives, how can you expect them to represent you?

So no matter who is president in January. I hope that we can all be better citizens than we have been.
---------Jay the Citizen

Meanwhile, check this out: http://www.conservativesforchange.com/

What Does It Mean?

What Does It Mean?

Hillary wins Indiana by less than 1 percent.
Barack wins North Carolina.

What Does It Mean?
It means Obama picks up 13 more pledged delegates, erasing Clinton's Pennsylvania win by the way, and increases his delegate lead to at least 166.
It means Obama still has at least a 700,000 vote lead in the popular vote.
It means there are only a few contests left with only 217 pledged delegates up for grabs.
It means Clinton would have to win 77% of the remaining delegates.
It means that Hillary had to loan herself another 6 million dollars (for a total of 11) to stay in this long.
It means that Obama built up a big enough lead that even if Michigan and Florida are counted (and they should be) Obama is still in the lead at the end of this process.
It means Obama can’t get enough pledged delegates to put this thing away either.
It means that Hillary still has every right to stay in the game until the end.
But it also means that the Clinton Camp can only win by dropping a bomb on Obama (some have been hinting at some “dark secret” yet to be revealed) or by getting super delegates (and even pledged delegates) to switch their votes at the convention.
It means that unless Hillary gets really, really mean, Obama has wrapped this nomination up.
It means that Hillary Clinton is probably playing for concessions and a chance to pay herself back while the campaign fund raising machine is still in full operation.
It means we will be playing this game up till the convention this summer.

What Does It Mean?
Heck if I know what it means.
Political math seems to be different from the math I learned in school.

Corporate Media plays by its own unpublished rules and shines its spot light on the strangest aspects of this situation.
And unfortunately it seems to be coming down to predicting the voting pattern of the key demographic in this contest: Middle-aged, under-educated, working-class, white voters.
The question seems to be, since Obama can get the votes of most other demographic groups (young people, college educated people, people of color), will the trailer parks of America vote for a black man?
And since I am not in that demographic, I can’t tell you what it all means or how it will turn out.

But I can predict that the Corporate Media will be aiming its rhetoric at that demographic.

Another Good Candidate Drops Out

Dear Jay,

Let me start by saying, "Thank you."

You have stood with Elizabeth and me throughout this campaign. Your support has sustained us as we have traveled across this country.

Earlier today, I suspended my campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. I made this announcement from where our journey began just over 12 months ago: New Orleans.

I began my presidential campaign in New Orleans to remind the country that all of us -- as citizens and as a government -- have a moral responsibility to each other, and what we do together matters.

Now, it's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to the White House -- but what we do know is that our Democratic Party will make history. And, along the way, all of you who have been involved in this campaign and this movement for change and this cause, I am asking you to continue speaking out for those who have no voice, just as Elizabeth and I will continue to do. We need you.

Do not turn away from the great struggles before us. Do not give up on the causes that we have fought for. Do not walk away from what's possible, because it's time for all of us -- all of us together -- to make the two Americas one. We need you.

I hope you will take a few moments to listen to the video clip of my speech in New Orleans earlier this afternoon or to read it below. In the meantime, Elizabeth and my family join me in thanking all of you for your support and for working so hard on my behalf. We are truly blessed to have such friends.

Thank you.

John Edwards

January 30, 2008

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Personally I am sad to see John Edwards drop out of the race. He has done more than any other candidate to change the focus of the conversation toward social issues of poverty and inequality. If America were to focus on building a humane and sufficient social safety net, if America were to focus on eliminating poverty, on reducing inequality, then we will be able to lift our heads again. If we take care of our own we will be able to better take care of others overseas. If we are humane and just to our own citizens our foreign policy will change and we will not need to pour so many lives and resources into war and occupation.

I don't don't think we have heard the last of John Edwards. I wish him and his family good luck.

Early Dropouts.

Statistically speaking very few delegates have been selected for the party conventions. Any candidate who did well in a couple of the upcoming primaries would almost instantly become the front runner. But more and more candidates are dropping out when only a tiny percentage of the American people have voted (or caucused, or pretended to vote*) so far. Mathematically the race has barely started.

So why are candidates dropping out?

Especially candidates like Dennis Kucinich who should be in the race just to broaden and deepen the dialog?

Probably Money.

Money and the lack of exposure provided by the main-stream media, which has been blocking candidates out of televised debates for an ever shifting list of reasons while allowing other poorly performing candidates like Rudy Giuliani to participate.

So I wish a sad farewell to Dennis Kucinich who has pulled out of the race. He told the truth. He was willing to fight for America. But he was not a friend of the corporations that own the networks. I am also sad to learn that Dennis' brother died recently. His voice will be missed in the presidential campaign. I wish him Good luck with his Congressional reelection campaign, because his voice is still needed in the Congress.

The end result of the current party controlled process is that a tiny number of people get to limit the choices for the rest of us. And when there are no good choices we end up using our votes to try and stop the worst choice from getting elected. Tweedle-Dumb vs. Tweedle-Dumber is not a real choice.

*I have discovered that our local Washington State Primary results will be "ignored" by the Democratic Party who will send delegates to the convention based on caucus results. So we only get to pretend to vote in the presidential primary here in the Washington. The national parties have also chosen to ignore the votes in several other states as well and will not allow delegates from states like Michigan who disobeyed the Party and set their own dates for primaries without permission. Any remaining illusions of democracy are quickly fading away in this country.