Are you voting this November?

[Revy]

There's nobody socialist for me to vote for. And if I were thinking strategically I would be voting for the Democrat to keep the Republican out. Because Rick Scott is very right-wing. But voting Democrat makes me feel icky inside. So it doesn't seem all that important for me to vote...doesn't seem to be any Greens running either. Wow the Green Party is dead.

[Sosa]

I might vote locally instead of voting for national candidates.

[Widerstand]

There are no votes this November.

[Revy]

There are no votes this November.

Um, I know I should have said US elections, I thought people would see my location, or my post and infer that.

[Le Corsaire Rouge]

There aren't any votes in the US either: it's a sham to make you think you have a say.

[Sosa]

There aren't any votes in the US either: it's a sham to make you think you have a say.

Not entirely. If it was a sham, corporations and business wouldn't have to spend millions upon millions of dollars on it.

It's a sham in the sense that it practically doesn't matter much who wins, because they'll get bought out by lobbyists and companies. I wouldn't say the election is rigged

[chegitz guevara]

Rick Scott looks like he should be a Bond villain.

There are a couple of amendments that need to be defeated: 1 & 8. Vote yes on 4, 5, & 6. 2 isn't bad, a property tax exemption for deployed soldiers, but that should really be handled by the legislature. 3 & 7 were bounced.

[timbaly]

I plan on voting on a few local referendums.

[MellowViper]

I'm definitely voting for a bill that legalizes medicinal marijuana in my state, but I could care less about everything else.

[Sosa]

Two years ago I voted for two referendums; one legalizing medical marijuana and one legalizing (or expanding, can't remember which) stem cell research. Fortunately both passed. I was part of the movement that helped but medical marijuana on the ballot.

[Le Corsaire Rouge]

Not entirely. If it was a sham, corporations and business wouldn't have to spend millions upon millions of dollars on it.

It's a sham in the sense that it practically doesn't matter much who wins, because they'll get bought out by lobbyists and companies. I wouldn't say the election is rigged
The election's not rigged, and it does matter to individual companies within the system whether their particular corruption will be successful. But to anyone who's not bribed a candidate to corruptly pass or defeat a bill, it doesn't make any difference.


There are a couple of amendments that need to be defeated: 1 & 8. Vote yes on 4, 5, & 6. 2 isn't bad, a property tax exemption for deployed soldiers, but that should really be handled by the legislature. 3 & 7 were bounced.
Why should soldiers get a tax break but not nurses or teachers? What makes hired killers better than people who save lives and educate the young?


I'm definitely voting for a bill that legalizes medicinal marijuana in my state, but I could care less about everything else.
If you could care less, then you must care at least a bit. Which bit do you care about?

[Sosa]

The election's not rigged, and it does matter to individual companies within the system whether their particular corruption will be successful. But to anyone who's not bribed a candidate to corruptly pass or defeat a bill, it doesn't make any difference.


Basically what I just said

[The Red Next Door]

fuck no

[Ele'ill]

lol no

[Aloysius]

I would, but I'm not of voting age, so...

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

Already did. Voted Bill White for gov, chavez for lt gov, green the rest, and then yes to every infrastructure project. and oh yeah i voted dem against ken merchant, my congressman.

[9]

lol no
this.

[Summerspeaker]

Most likely. I take Howard Zinn's position on the matter. Might as well spend a few minutes on it because does have an effect. But the struggle continues regardless.

[iwwforever]

I voted today, in North Carolina it does matter, I voted against the candidates who think the earth is 6000 years old and that poor people who can't afford shoes should be pulling themselves out of poverty by their bootstraps.

[Stephen Colbert]

"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal"- Emma Goldman

I'm voting for Howie Hawkins because the IWW endorsed him, and a few local candidates who give a rats ass about public schol funding. That's it.

[Sosa]

"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal"- Emma Goldman

I'm voting for Howie Hawkins because the IWW endorsed him, and a few local candidates who give a rats ass about public schol funding. That's it.

I thought the IWW could not endorse political candidates? am I wrong?

[Comrade Marxist Bro]

Why should soldiers get a tax break but not nurses or teachers? What makes hired killers better than people who save lives and educate the young?

Because saving lives and educating children doesn't mean shit when it comes to spreading democracy and human rights on a global scale. Killing does.

[Robocommie]

I am, because while the Democrats aren't going to bring about socialism I see no reason to pretend that they're literally no different from the Republicans.

[Comrade Marxist Bro]

I am, because while the Democrats aren't going to bring about socialism I see no reason to pretend that they're literally no different from the Republicans.

Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.

[Barry Lyndon]

I am, because while the Democrats aren't going to bring about socialism I see no reason to pretend that they're literally no different from the Republicans. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, Barry Goldwater probably would not have. Let's not pretend these things don't matter at all.

The Democrats have moved much farther to the right since then, more or less completely embracing neo-liberalism.

Personally I am voting Green.

[¿Que?]

I'm voting for whoever CultofAbeLincoln votes for, because I don't know anything about the candidates, and I live in the same state as him. But one thing I've noticed is a whitening of the candidates. Is that just me or what?

[Red Commissar]

I'm voting for Dick Sandvich and Zombie Lenin.

Google Adsense helps me make sense of everything though!

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/imgad?id=CNaal87ShKLKlQEQ2AUYTzIIaWA7oDkp3Io
http://i54.tinypic.com/vpvr44.jpg

[Robocommie]

The Democrats have moved much farther to the right since then, more or less completely embracing neo-liberalism.

Personally I am voting Green.

It's true, but there's still some Keynesian elements. Naturally I'll gauge any candidate I vote for, but the GOP opponent of my Congresswoman is advertising himself as being the most tight-fisted son of a ***** there ever was, and this is supposed to be his appeal, so I'm comfortable voting against that.

[Robocommie]

Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.

That was over a century ago, before the New Deal, Truman's desegregation of the military, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent migration of the Dixiecrats.

[Ocean Seal]

Voting in New York almost makes me sick. I have a choice between Paladino and Cuomo :crying:. The rest of the candidates are reactionary also. There isn't even a socialist on the ballot.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Yes

[KC]

LOL this thread comes up every two years, and the exact same fucking discussion is had every single time.

[Reznov]

I'm definitely voting for a bill that legalizes medicinal marijuana in my state, but I could care less about everything else.

The American Leftist.
:laugh:

[Comrade Marxist Bro]

That was over a century ago, before the New Deal, Truman's desegregation of the military, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent migration of the Dixiecrats.

...before the same Johnson's napalming of Vietnam and the Democratic Party's defection to the Republicans' neo-liberal economic policies, before Clinton's 1994 NAFTA agreement, the 1999 US ("NATO") bombing of Serbia, and the Obama administration's continuation of Mr. Bush Junior's wars. (Trying to keep response a little brief.)

[¿Que?]

You know what's funny. There's 37 contested senate seats and only four Democratic candidates could be considered minorities in race or ethnic terms. One is a Japanese-American from Haiwaii, and three African Americans, no Latinos, btw. Out of those three African Americans, one was asked to step down by Bill Clinton, and the other is Alvin Green (if you haven't heard about this guy, check it out). All in all, it's a bad year for racial minorities. Seems like ever since Obama got in the white house, we're back to normal.

[Stephen Colbert]

I thought the IWW could not endorse political candidates? am I wrong?

They help run his site and Hawkins is the most friendly with labor, and openly supports living wage and such. The IWW might not have made a declarative statement, but they have their little union bug symbol on his website under "labor".

[chegitz guevara]

Why should soldiers get a tax break but not nurses or teachers? What makes hired killers better than people who save lives and educate the young?

Nurses get paid serious money and teachers get the exemption. Soldiers don't get paid squat.

[RedScare]

Yes. Not really expecting anything to come of it, I'd just rather get shafted less by the Democratic candidate for governor, in terms of tuition at my university.

[Blackscare]

I've been talking to a Trot friend of mine and we've resolved to vote straight party-line republican. I may register republican, because really what would I care about some piece of paper, and I really want to be able to influence the primaries and vote for the most wacky candidates. And I suppose it's good cover. For what I don't known though lol.

Anyway, this stems from discussions we've had recently centering around the dangers the liberals/soc-dems pose to the left, namely that they soften the blow of capitalism and prolong it's existence. We feel that the first baby steps towards reaching a revolutionary consciousness is for the American public to be subjected to the unadulterated class antagonisms and contradiction inherent in capitalism. Republicans do this best.


Also, Republicans would follow a much less tenable stance internationally and probably overextend our military and economy even more, hastening the demise of the Empire.



Generally I think the soft left are a bigger danger to leftism in the long run, any thoughts?

[black magick hustla]

i called my self a communist since i was like 15 so never voted ever i dont know how it feels

[¿Que?]

I've been talking to a Trot friend of mine and we've resolved to vote straight party-line republican. I may register republican, because really what would I care about some piece of paper, and I really want to be able to influence the primaries and vote for the most wacky candidates. And I suppose it's good cover. For what I don't known though lol.

Anyway, this stems from discussions we've had recently centering around the dangers the liberals/soc-dems pose to the left, namely that they soften the blow of capitalism and prolong it's existence. We feel that the first baby steps towards reaching a revolutionary consciousness is for the American public to be subjected to the unadulterated class antagonisms and contradiction inherent in capitalism. Republicans do this best.


Also, Republicans would follow a much less tenable stance internationally and probably overextend our military and economy even more, hastening the demise of the Empire.



Generally I think the soft left are a bigger danger to leftism in the long run, any thoughts?
This strategy really troubles me, although I'm not entirely convinced it wouldn't work. It's just a lot of shit to put people through, and a lot could go wrong. But like I said, it seems plausible it would work, and might even be more effective. People currently associate the establishment with the left, and so a lot of the criticism of the government invokes a lot of right wing, conservative ideals. If the government is conservative, then most of the criticism will invoke left ideals.

[Martin Blank]

i called my self a communist since i was like 15 so never voted ever i dont know how it feels

Actually, I would recommend you do it once or twice, just to know what it's like. It is an interesting experience, especially if you live and vote in an area that's largely African American. You can actually hear politically interesting discussions while standing in line (e.g., older people talking to younger people about their experiences in the civil rights movement), can see how rightwingers "intervene" at polling places, and can get a sense of what elections are like on the voter's end.

Until you know what it's like, you really can't be effective arguing against it.

[Martin Blank]

I'm not voting this year, and will probably not vote again until either I'm dead or there are workers' councils. If I could un-register to vote, I would.

[Fulanito de Tal]

There's nobody socialist for me to vote for. And if I were thinking strategically I would be voting for the Democrat to keep the Republican out. Because Rick Scott is very right-wing. But voting Democrat makes me feel icky inside. So it doesn't seem all that important for me to vote...doesn't seem to be any Greens running either. Wow the Green Party is dead.

I voted for Alan Grayson, all of the judges out, and against being able to redraw political lines. That's it.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I heard the rent is too damn high. To the polls, comrades!

[NoOneIsIllegal]

PS: If you ever have voted, you would know it's a dirty feeling. I couldnt scrub myself clean afterward.

[mlgb]

I've been talking to a Trot friend of mine and we've resolved to vote straight party-line republican. I may register republican, because really what would I care about some piece of paper, and I really want to be able to influence the primaries and vote for the most wacky candidates. And I suppose it's good cover. For what I don't known though lol.

Anyway, this stems from discussions we've had recently centering around the dangers the liberals/soc-dems pose to the left, namely that they soften the blow of capitalism and prolong it's existence. We feel that the first baby steps towards reaching a revolutionary consciousness is for the American public to be subjected to the unadulterated class antagonisms and contradiction inherent in capitalism. Republicans do this best.


Also, Republicans would follow a much less tenable stance internationally and probably overextend our military and economy even more, hastening the demise of the Empire.



Generally I think the soft left are a bigger danger to leftism in the long run, any thoughts?

fuck that

[Os Cangaceiros]

:lol: to the topic question

[Delenda Carthago]

Two years ago I voted for two referendums; one legalizing medical marijuana and one legalizing (or expanding, can't remember which) stem cell research. Fortunately both passed. I was part of the movement that helped but medical marijuana on the ballot.
You and George Soros too.

[Widerstand]

PS: If you ever have voted, you would know it's a dirty feeling. I couldnt scrub myself clean afterward.

I could never get the guilt of having given 70cent to the GREEN party off my shoulders. It's a weight that strangles me and haunts me in my darkest of hours.

Don't vote. Voting ruins lives.

And kills babies.

[Robocommie]

...before the same Johnson's napalming of Vietnam and the Democratic Party's defection to the Republicans' neo-liberal economic policies, before Clinton's 1994 NAFTA agreement, the 1999 US ("NATO") bombing of Serbia, and the Obama administration's continuation of Mr. Bush Junior's wars. (Trying to keep response a little brief.)

Well, yes dude, they're still capitalists. There's absolutely no guarantee that the Democrats are going to do what you want, and in fact there's a certainty they're going to pull some kind of bullshit, but the fact remains that the chances of them doing some legislation that is actually positive is far greater than the odds of the Republicans doing the same, even with all of their neo-liberal bullshit.

[Sosa]

You and George Soros too.

?

[Jimmie Higgins]

Well, yes dude, they're still capitalists. There's absolutely no guarantee that the Democrats are going to do what you want, and in fact there's a certainty they're going to pull some kind of bullshit, but the fact remains that the chances of them doing some legislation that is actually positive is far greater than the odds of the Republicans doing the same, even with all of their neo-liberal bullshit.There is a difference between the Dems and Republicans but it's in their means, not ends that there is a difference: Bush wants the US to have unilateral power for its imperialist projects, Obama wants the US to have the ability to lead other countries in supporting the US imperial project... they want the same things ultimately.

So I really think that as far as what will make politicians of either party pull or not pull some bullshit is how much pressure or lack of pressure they feel to not pull bullshit. In California's Governor's race, there is Dem Jerry Brown who wants workers to pay for their own pensions and there is Meg Whitman who wants to eliminate pensions - it's the same thing! Brown takes money from the major unions and one of his slogans is that he'll "be tough on the unions" and his other common refrain in ads is: "we have to live within our means". So in real concrete terms, the difference between the Dems and Republicans in cases like this is how fast or slow do they want to make austerity happen, how fast or slow do they want to break the unions. IMO, it would make more of a political impact for people to vote for a protest candidate in California than for Brown who will have no pressure and a green light to move to the right. I mean if unions will already give him money to not be as hard on them as Meg might, then there isn't much reason to move to the left once he's in office.

Compare that to prop 8 - the public pressure and a movement that is more willing than most to call out the Democrats as fake allies to LGBT people has actually changed the nature of the discussion about gay marriage - in 2004, leading Democrats blamed gay marriage for causing George Bush's re-election. The first immigrant rights marches were able to defeat a bill in the legislature without any help from any politician... they were just so frigtened by the hundreds of thousands of immigrants walking off the job that they removed the Sensenbrenner bill without any big vote. Like Howard Zinn said, it matters less who is sitting in office than who is sitting-in.

[Robocommie]

Once again a reasoned and intelligent analysis from Jimmie "Motherfucking" Higgins. Thumbs up buddy. :thumbup1:

[Barry Lyndon]

I've been talking to a Trot friend of mine and we've resolved to vote straight party-line republican. I may register republican, because really what would I care about some piece of paper, and I really want to be able to influence the primaries and vote for the most wacky candidates. And I suppose it's good cover. For what I don't known though lol.

Anyway, this stems from discussions we've had recently centering around the dangers the liberals/soc-dems pose to the left, namely that they soften the blow of capitalism and prolong it's existence. We feel that the first baby steps towards reaching a revolutionary consciousness is for the American public to be subjected to the unadulterated class antagonisms and contradiction inherent in capitalism. Republicans do this best.


Also, Republicans would follow a much less tenable stance internationally and probably overextend our military and economy even more, hastening the demise of the Empire.



Generally I think the soft left are a bigger danger to leftism in the long run, any thoughts?

No. Just no. If you think that playing with other people's lives like this is acceptable, I don't see how you can consider yourself a leftist.

Leftists should engage in the task of building an alternative to both corporate parties.

[Vendetta]

I'm voting Alvin Greene because fuck that man is a gifted orator. And because SC cant get any worse under him.

[Robocommie]

No. Just no. If you think that playing with other people's lives like this is acceptable, I don't see how you can consider yourself a leftist.

Leftists should engage in the task of building an alternative to both corporate parties.

Seriously. Just imagine if the working class were to learn that the Left had been engaged in a conspiracy to inflict all the miseries and horrors of unregulated capitalism on them solely to serve the Left's long term political agenda. Just how rosy do you think they'd be to socialism then?

Not to mention that you can't always control how people respond to privation. Sometimes they get angry and go to the Left, rejecting capitalism. Other times they get angry and go to the Right, and get involved in reactionary populism.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Once again a reasoned and intelligent analysis from Jimmie "Motherfucking" Higgins. Thumbs up buddy. :thumbup1: shucks :blushing:

[L.A.P.]

Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.

Back then the Republican Party wasn't a conservative party, they were a progressive party.

[L.A.P.]

If any of you live in New York I beg of you to vote in the Rent Is Too Damn High Party.

[Amphictyonis]

The illusion of democracy. "if voting could change anything it would be illegal".

I'll vote for direct democracy. Put that on the ballot. But then again, direct democracy under capitalism with the bourgeois MEDIA machine may turn out to be a nightmare? Vote for revolution?

[Sosa]

Voting has made some changes, even if they have been minimal. Not voting for specific candidates, voting for specific measures and referendums.

[Lobotomy]

Of course I despise the idea of representative "democracy" but yes I plan on voting this year for a few reasons. In my state there is a long overdue initiative to privatize the sale of hard alcohol, so I'll be voting yes on that. (currently, hard alcohol is only sold in government run stores like we're fucking Utah or something). And I kind of hate myself for doing so, but I'll be voting for the lesser of two evils: a Democrat for my state's senator, because the opposing Republican is the worst scum you could imagine.

[Sosa]

I'm thinking about voting in the Gubernatorial race...only because the Republican candidate is a snob businessman who was in charge of Gateway computers and laid off thousands of workers.

EDIT: ...and because I love to see Rebubli****s lose

[smellincoffee]

No one in Alabama politics is worth voting for: I could at least justify it if anyone running were serious about changing the state's constitution to make it less of of an aristocratic rag, but no one has mentioned it. I'll go to the polls, mostly to vote against the people whose TV ads really annoyed me. I'm also going to write in Debs, Goldman, various professors of mine, and myself.

[syndicat]

I don't support electoral politics as a strategy. however, it can sometimes make a difference in practical terms, or in terms of particular struggles going on, who wins.

in my city council election there is a candidate of big business (also supported by the SEIU-UHW bureaucracy who recently parachuted in to seize the union via dictatorship). we have instant runoff voting so you can vote for the more radical candidate as first choice, which I'm doing, and i'm voting for the left-social-democrat backed by most of the labor bureaucracy (I happen to know her personally from previous community organizing and can vouch for her honesty) as second choice. this district currently has a socialist in office, who i voted for before.

but mainly i vote for the ballot measures. some of them are nasty measures put on by the capitalists, and they need to be defeated. it's a matter of working class self-defense. i'm also voting for legalization of marijuana. as long as I'm voting, i may vote for the socialist candidate for governor (running on peace & freedom slate), tho i regard this as of no importance.

electing socialists to office isn't going to change the society.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Carlos Alvarez and the PFP/PSL got my vote.

Prop 19 i said yes


voted absentee too so hopefully it gets in on time.

[Magón]

Yeah, just for local stuff though, like Prop 19.

[TwoSevensClash]

Writing my name in

[syndicat]

Carlos Alvarez and the PFP/PSL got my vote.



okay, so i see Carlos is a PSL candidate. so i guess i'm not voting for him after all. i used to be registered peace & freedom and used to vote routinely for P&F candicates. but then it became clear authoritarian ML groups of various sorts had become dominant in it. so I de-registered from P&F and stopped voting for P&F candidates.

[Ele'ill]

I don't support electoral politics as a strategy. however, it can sometimes make a difference in practical terms, or in terms of particular struggles going on, who wins.

in my city council election there is a candidate of big business (also supported by the SEIU-UHW bureaucracy who recently parachuted in to seize the union via dictatorship). we have instant runoff voting so you can vote for the more radical candidate as first choice, which I'm doing, and i'm voting for the left-social-democrat backed by most of the labor bureaucracy (I happen to know her personally from previous community organizing and can vouch for her honesty) as second choice. this district currently has a socialist in office, who i voted for before.

but mainly i vote for the ballot measures. some of them are nasty measures put on by the capitalists, and they need to be defeated. it's a matter of working class self-defense. i'm also voting for legalization of marijuana. as long as I'm voting, i may vote for the socialist candidate for governor (running on peace & freedom slate), tho i regard this as of no importance.

electing socialists to office isn't going to change the society.

From what altitude?

[Peace on Earth]

Jimmy McMillan for NY governor. Because, as we know, the rent is too damn high. Other than that, no.

[Ele'ill]

Jimmy McMillan for NY governor. Because, as we know, the rent is too damn high. Other than that, no.


What do you think will come of it?

[syndicat]

From what altitude?

the area where i live is located about 30 feet above sea level.

[☭World Views]

I admit that I am voting this election. Not because I believe in the legitimacy of the election, but I do not want to see Rubio and Scott both win.

Rubio is the son of cuban exiles with strong support from the right-wing terrorist block in Miami, but his victory is almost guaranteed since the democrats are split between two other candidates, one of them is "independent" former RINO Crist, the current governor with support from teachers, don't know too much about Meek. All 3 are running for senate, and the democrat vote is evenly split between Meek and Crist, giving Rubio a huge lead.

Rick Scott and Alex Sink should have both been locked up a long time ago imo, they would make a good couple. According to the opinion polls this race, for governor, is dead-even. At least if Sink wins I won't have to put up with "big government" speeches every 5 minutes.

[L.A.P.]

I admit that I am voting this election. Not because I believe in the legitimacy of the election, but I do not want to see Rubio and Scott both win.

Rubio is the son of cuban exiles with strong support from the right-wing terrorist block in Miami, but his victory is almost guaranteed since the democrats are split between two other candidates, one of them is "independent" former RINO Crist, the current governor with support from teachers, don't know too much about Meek. All 3 are running for senate, and the democrat vote is evenly split between Meek and Crist, giving Rubio a huge lead.

Rick Scott and Alex Sink should have both been locked up a long time ago imo, they would make a good couple. According to the opinion polls this race, for governor, is dead-even. At least if Sink wins I won't have to put up with "big government" speeches every 5 minutes.

My mom is a liberal and she is voting for Charlie Christ and I can't really blame her because I'm just entertained watching the Republican Party get kicked in the nuts since we all know that was their guy. He does seem a lot more progressive than the other conservatives though which I guess is a plus. Overall though I just watch all of them debate and all I ever hear is

Marco Rubio: "I'm a Cuban exile because those evil Black Cubans are trying to steal my hard earned money so capitalism all the way!"

Charlie Christ: "I left the Republican Party because it makes me look cool."

Kendrick Meek: "Hey, I'm black."

[Rusty Shackleford]

okay, so i see Carlos is a PSL candidate. so i guess i'm not voting for him after all. i used to be registered peace & freedom and used to vote routinely for P&F candicates. but then it became clear authoritarian ML groups of various sorts had become dominant in it. so I de-registered from P&F and stopped voting for P&F candidates.


Oh c'mon, hes the only socialist.


if it makes ya feel any better id have voted for the SP candidate if he won the primary.

[Peace on Earth]

What do you think will come of it?
Considering I doubt he will win, nothing really. My other options, however, are voting for a racist and homophobic Republican or a weazel Democrat. I choose the man who would shake up Albany the most.

[Il Medico]

No probably not. But if I did, I would get there, look at the ballot, feel sick to my stomach at such shitty choice and draw a ninja turtle on the ballot with Big Bird as a write in vote.

[KC]

Voting in national politics is pretty pointless. Local politics are a whole separate issue, of course.

[Mood]

I don't vote, no.

[eyedrop]

Sometimes I think you "americans" should get one of your socialist in power so you can be screwed over by them instead of the standard democrat/republican.

[Amphictyonis]

I worked for and voted to get Matt Gonzalez elected Mayor against Gavin Newsom and call tell you without a shadow of a doubt Matt had popular support in San Fransisco. Gavin had the money behind him. Do the math. That was the last electoral boondoggle I took part in.I won't even pay attention to representative politics anymore. Certain measures and proposals I'll vote for or against but all in all we're damned if we do and damned if we dont under a representative democracy.

[gorillafuck]

I can't, but if I could vote I would not vote in national or local elections. I would vote on specific issue things though. Like, if I was in Massachusetts I would vote no on Question 3 because if passed it will be bad for the working class.

[Die Rote Fahne]

I like ike.

[Diogenes]

Voting for myself for U.S. Senate, figured that conway and paul were both going to screw kentucky over regardless. Too bad there are no socialist candidates here.

[Nolan]

Noop.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

Live in NY, so had to do the absentee thing, but....

If you're a Texan, please vote against Rick Perry tomorrow. I think it represents a lot for TX to not have Perry as gov, but instead someone who doesn't use racist undertones like Perry, doesnt want TX to form a seperate republic because of high taxes, didnt hook his buddies up nearly as much in Houston as Perry does from Austin.

I voted for White, though he is a dem I don't mind him yet. From what Ive heard, good record in Houston, and I give him props for setting up Houston as the largest city with a homosexual mayor in the US (maybe world?).

[Fulanito de Tal]

Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.

http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/pubs/color.pdf


People of Color and the Prison Industrial Complex Facts and Figures at a Glance

African Americans represent 12.7% of the US population, 15% of US drug users (72% of all users are white), 36.8% of those arrested for a drug-related crime, 48.2% of American adults in state, and federal prisons and local jails and 42.5% of prisoners under sentence of death. Statistical Abstract of the United States (1999), Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, (1998), National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (1998) and Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin: Prisoners and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1999.

African American women (with an incarceration rate of 205 per 100,000) are more than three times as likely as Latinas (60 per 100,000) and six times more likely than white women (34 per 100,000) to face imprisonment. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2000 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, August 2001).

The United States imprisons African American men at a rate four times greater than the rate of incarceration for Black men in South Africa. Craig Haney, Ph.D., and Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., "The Past and Future of U.S. Prison Policy: Twenty-five Years After the Stanford Prison Experiment," American Psychologist, Vol. 53, No. 7 (July 1998), p. 714.

In 1986, before mandatory minimums for crack offenses went into effect, the average sentence for an African American convicted of a drug-related crime involving crack was 11% higher than for whites. In 1990, four years after the implementation of harsher federal drug laws, the average increased to 49%. Meierhoefer, B. S., The General Effect of Mandatory Minimum Prison Terms: A Longitudinal Study of Federal Sentences Imposed (Washington DC: Federal Judicial Center, 1992), p. 20.

Due to felony convictions, 1.46 million African American men out of a total voting population of 10.4 million have lost their right to vote. Thomas, P., "Study Suggests Black Male Prison Rate Impinges on Political Process," The Washington Post (January 30, 1997), p. A3.

One in three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 live under some form of correctional supervision or control. Maurer, M. & Hurling, T., “Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System: Five Years Later (Washington DC: The Sentencing Project, 1995).

Latinos represent 11.1% of the US population, 10% of US drug users (72% of
all users are white), 22.5% of sentenced state prisoners convicted of a drug-related crime, and 18.6% of American adults in state or federal prisons and local jails. Statistical Abstract of the United States (1999), Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, (1998), National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (1998) and Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin: Prisoners and Jail Inmates at
Midyear 1999.

African American children (7.0%) were nearly nine times more likely to have an
incarcerated parent in prison than white children (0.8%). Similarly, Latino children (2.6%) were three times as likely as white children to have a parent in prison. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Incarcerated Parents and Their Children (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, August 2000).

Native Americans represent less than 1% of the US population. Over 4% of Native Americans are under correctional supervision (compared to 2% of whites). Native Americans are the victims of violent crimes at twice the rate of the general population and 60% of these victims describe the offender as white. American Indians and Crime, Bureau of Justice Statistics (1999), Statistical Abstract of the United States (1999), Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (1998) and Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin: Prisoners and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1999.

They don't seem too free to me.

[timbaly]

Just recently. I feel a little dirty. Other than referendums it seemed like nothing was worth voting for.

[apawllo]

Voted for La Botz for Senate and the Green Party for Governor. Those two are locked up for the Republicans, so just protest voted I guess. Didn't vote on anything else...

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I've been watching the news channels today and it is just ridiculous. They're saying things like "Voting matters! Without voting and midterm elections, you wouldn't have things like Women's Rights, Equal Pay, and Civil Rights."

Hmmmm, really? I mean, REALLY? The passing of these laws are only echoes and "legitimatizing" the social movements which fought for decades to gain them. They make it sound like people would get into congress and just by chance propose these things.... my ass! I would like to meet a politician who went out of their way to help the people without having a massive social movement behind it. They're probably going to start saying the Pure Food and Drug Act would of happened anyway without Upton Sinclair's novel, or Minimum Wage or Social Security would've just magically happen even if there wasnt strikes and uprisings in labor at the time.

Pundits are only telling half the story. I hate the mainstream media.

[gorillafuck]

I am getting annoyed by all the lefty activists I know who are on facebook getting so pumped up about voting for the democrats. Some people really just don't learn at all.

[RadioRaheem84]

It looks like it's going to be a right wing congress come tomorrow.

Dems might be leading in the Senate, but remember that the Dems threw themselves over to garner Tea Party support. Every Dem is trying to out-right the right wing!

[NoOneIsIllegal]

The House is more important than the Senate, considering the Senate is always bound to be more conservative then the House no matter what. If we have a republican house tomorrow, we're screwed. If we have a democrat house tomorrow, we're still screwed.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I worked for and voted to get Matt Gonzalez elected Mayor against Gavin Newsom and call tell you without a shadow of a doubt Matt had popular support in San Fransisco. Gavin had the money behind him. Do the math. That was the last electoral boondoggle I took part in.I won't even pay attention to representative politics anymore. Certain measures and proposals I'll vote for or against but all in all we're damned if we do and damned if we dont under a representative democracy.The Republicans were the 3rd party in that election:lol:. Actually a real 3rd party contender scared both mainstream parties so much that the Dems flew Bill Clinton out the week before the election to rally people for Dem. Gavin Newsom.

I really don't think Newsom would have authorized LGBT marriages if he didn't feel the need to secure his liberal cred. after almost loosing to a 3rd party progressive candidate.