I’ve held to political neutrality for all my adult years, but always thought the Democrats were the lesser of two evils. After seeing Fahrenheit 9/11, I can’t even bear to watch either conventions.
Don’t plan on tuning into the election night coverage in November. I figure I’ll hide under the covers and refuse to come out until the recounts are over.
Is it just me, or do US elections take an enormous amount of hype for almost an entire year?? Sheesh, us Canadians have it easy. PM calls an election - within a mandated period of time (more or less than four years, whatever) - and a couple of months later we have a new or same PM. In my view, the best part of the US election campaigns and overblown b.s./rhetoric/shockingly stupid statements (which Canucks are not immune from, BTW) is watching Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. Americans have a real treasure there!
Get out and vote!!! (like the rest of the world does!!!)
My daughter and I watch The Daily show religiously. He’s absolutely hilarious - and while he’s obviously more liberal than conservative, I’ve heard him skewer the Democrats just as sharply as he does the Republicans. He’s great!
Susan
But doesn’t this Jon Stewart quote scare you?
“I’ve been to Canada, and I’ve always gotten the impression that I could take the country over in about two days.”
See http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jon_stewart.html
M
I am registered to vote, always have been since I became eligable. But I am very close to exercising my right not to. I am very tired of the campaign tatics (past and present) used by any and all parties. I am also weary of the seemingly endless coverage by the media. For this, I exercise my right to turn the toob off until it is over.
Wandering aimlessly through the forums of C&F, I am once again confronted with it…sigh… just when I thought I was safe. I suppose I can elect not to read the thread…whoops, too late.
I wonder, do representatives from non U.S. countries use these forums to promote their elections? :roll:
Hee hee. That the IMPRESSION. That’s a nice impression to give, albeit modestly wrong – but funny even to us 
BTW, there was a poll published yesterday that theorized that if the same two candidates were running in a Canadian federal election, Kerry would score about 80% of the vote. I guess that would be using the US rules of actually getting to elect your head of state - we don’t do that here.
Jon Stewart is my hero.
Well, no, its actually more than TWO years, counting all the pre-primary spending, posturing and hype. Actually, I believe the next election actually starts on the day that the previous one is held, but then I get sort of jaded by this point in the cycle.
The US has many good things about it, but our way of running elections is expensive, it alienates more of the electorate than not, and the results are generally bound to anger/disappoint a far greater percentage of the electorate than they satisfy.
The parties assume that they are representative of the People (as in “We the People”). In fact, I contend that the USA has survived for 228 years not because of them but despite them. Technically they may represent their constituencies, although that is pretty rare unless ‘constituency’ is defined as “people who give me money”, but practically I prefer actual prostitutes prostitutes to politicians - they’re a more honest class of whore.
Given the religious content of C&F, no doubt the you-know-whos will be after our mailing list.
You can find contact info for Utah election officials at:
Thanks to Dale for creating the voter registration page, and for starting this thread!
Bill Ochs
I am sorry to hear this. But I assume, as Dale expressed, that this is just a technical glitch. I hope in general that the online registration process goes smoothly. You could try another of the sites that Dale listed.
You can also register by downloading the National Mail Voter Registration Form from the Federal Election Commission’s website:
http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
Print out the form, complete it, and then mail it to the address for your state that is included in the instructions. Most states accept the NMVR form, but there are some restrictions:
N. Dakota does not have voter registration. Wyoming will not accept the form. New Hampshire requires that you register in person at your town clerk’s office. Ohio will only accept the NMVR form on 40 pound greeting card stock. You can have Kinko’s make a photocopy of the form on this stock.
(Edited, Aug. 9, '04: Actually there is some confusion about the weight of the card stock that Ohio accepts. The “Declare Yourself” site says 40 pound stock, but I was told that the Ohio Board of Elections says 74 pound stock. If you’re in Ohio, it would be best to check with a local community organization that’s involved in voter registration. Ohio ACORN can supply you with the proper forms. Here are e-mail contacts:Cincinnati ACORN, ohacornciro@acorn.org; Cleveland ACORN, ohacorncv@acorn.org; Columbus ACORN, ohacorncoro@acorn.org)
(Edited, Aug. 13, '04: Add Missouri to the list of states in which you can’t register online. They don’t accept the National Mail Voter Registration Form either. But you can get Missouri voter registration forms from Missouri ACORN or Missouri PROVOTE. E-mail moacorn@acorn.org or moprovote@mindspring.com.)
If you live in a state that is using electronic voting without a paper trail, consider getting an absentee ballot and sending it in via certified mail, return receipt requested.
Go to your state’s website for information on obtaining an absentee ballot. The secretary of state’s office often handles this, if there is not a dedicated state office of elections.
Bill Ochs
You made a nice voter webpage, Dale. I like the effect of the words scrolling over a stationary background. Haven’t seen that before. Have to learn how to do that…
There may be some reason to feel that voting is somewhat ineffective at the national level but it becomes much more important the more local the races become. Abstaining from voting just because you’re disillusioned about the presidential process hurts the local races. With less than 20% of the population participating in the average election, many of the local decisions, which can have a greater impact on you, are decided by a minority.
Get out and vote! Many in the world don’t even get the illusion of such an opportunity. Even with the archaic electoral college system, when enough people vote, you can still do things like claim that the majority of voters did not elect the current president.
Thanks. In FrontPage 2003 (I’m not sure about earlier versions, you do that by setting the background picture and then checking the box that says “MAKE IT A WATERMARK.”
I don’t know much about html, but I gather this is the relevant part of the code:
Since the US has taken such a strong involvement in world politics and policies maybe all the people in all the countries of the world could also vote for the US president. That might prove to have interesting results! Oops, my ears are burning… am I getting ready to be flamed? 
Kerry would win by a worldslide.
Funny how a simple, citizen registration incentive can take a subversive flavour…
I love the smell of subversion in the morning. It smells of victory.