Elections!!

**Wishin986** · Nov 9th, 2006, 02:00 AM

How bout those elections!

Democrats finally take control!! both the house and the senate! this is amazing.

OH and patrick won mass! he even won my town! (46% to 45% but thats exciting bc its a small republican homogeneous suburban town). first minority governor in Mass and second black governor in the US! (last one was in the 60s too) so this is quite exciting for us

now its just waiting two more years till the presidential elections...

**aubergine** · Nov 9th, 2006, 02:10 AM

And Santorum's been ousted. Oh yhea.

**karmadust** · Nov 9th, 2006, 03:48 AM

woo hoo!!!!! there is still hope for america!

**hollybee** · Nov 9th, 2006, 04:24 AM

It was a good feeling to finally be on the WINNING side. My kids helped me in the voting booth. I let them take turns pressing the buttons. My daughter kept asking "Is this one a Democrat?" "Are you going to vote for Hilary Clinton when she runs?" This was in the middle of a crowded polling place

. She very excitedly watched election returns until after 9pm (very late by our standards). She's very politically aware. A few nights ago she started asking about JFK, whether he was a good president. That blossomed into a discussion of Vietnam, the assassination, Lyndon Johnson....and she's only 7 1/2 years old!

**Kiran** · Nov 9th, 2006, 09:44 AM

karmadust

there is still hope for america!

In my (and many people's) opinion, its not the president who rules America! Its the CIA. The president is only a mere puppet. As long as the CIA are in control, America will continue to do what they are doing now, irrespective of who runs the government.

I'm glad of the election outcome though.

**rantipole** · Nov 9th, 2006, 03:09 PM

I actually think it's the corporations that run America. The Dems and the Reps are just two hand puppets and big buisiness has a hand up each of their asses. I vote Green as often as possible.

That said, I was gleeful about this election. Dems in both houses. Santorum and Pombo gone. A woman speaker of the house. A democratic governor of New York (1st time in about 25 years). The first Muslim in Congress. And Donald Rumsfeld resigned. Not a bad day at all.

Now if only all those states didn't make gay marriage illegal.

Cheers,
rant

**hollybee** · Nov 9th, 2006, 06:36 PM

My politics are definitely more in line with the Greens, but I have to be realistic about their chances of winning. If I vote Democratic, at least SOME of my values will be represented. Sad, but true.

**rantipole** · Nov 9th, 2006, 09:06 PM

Whereas, I say vote for the person you want to win. The Greens don't win because people don't vote for them because they can't win. It's a vicious cycle. If only 5% (nationally) of people voted for a third party, that third party gets federal funding, which allows it to be on a more competitive level with the two mega-parties. I think one of the major things that needs to change in America is that we only have two major parties. Voting for and campaigning for third parties will help with this.

Cheers,
rant

**karmadust** · Nov 9th, 2006, 09:31 PM

isn't the cycle awful? last presidential election i really struggled because i really loved kucinich's politics (he's vegan!), but i knew there was no way he would get presidency. i didn't end up voting for him, but now i really wish i had. i bounce back and forth between believing we should vote for the person we believe deserves our vote and believing we should vote for the lesser evil that can realistically take the place of a greater immediate evil....it's a crappy choice to make.

nervine · Nov 11th, 2006, 01:47 AM

In my opinion you shouldn't vote for someone if you don't agree with all of their stuff. Voting doesn't really matter if it isn't for local elections. Everything's corrupt anyway.

The CIA just makes sure that corporations can do business. Whatever it takes..

Federal funding for parties should be illegal. No wonder the major parties always win, massive corporations pay them billions for their campaigns so they can control them and keep doing business at the cost of millions of peoples lives, the environment, the animals, etc.

**John** · Nov 12th, 2006, 12:22 AM

rantipole

Whereas, I say vote for the person you want to win. The Greens don't win because people don't vote for them because they can't win. It's a vicious cycle. If only 5% (nationally) of people voted for a third party, that third party gets federal funding, which allows it to be on a more competitive level with the two mega-parties. I think one of the major things that needs to change in America is that we only have two major parties. Voting for and campaigning for third parties will help with this.

. . . But a socialist was just elected to the US Senate . . . with strong backing from the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders, Senator-elect for Vermont, won in a landslide. In the United States the candidate is more important than the party. The Democrats are willing to work with independents on the left but third parties competing with the Democrats only help the right wing.

One thing that is amazing is that Californians re-elected Schwarzenegger as governor. California is ranked as the 47th smartest state and it shows.

BTW, Vermont is ranked #1 smartest state in the USA and New Jersey #4. Hope I don't sound like a liberal elitist.

http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

**rantipole** · Nov 13th, 2006, 04:05 PM

John

. . . But a socialist was just elected to the US Senate . . . with strong backing from the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders, Senator-elect for Vermont, won in a landslide. In the United States the candidate is more important than the party. The Democrats are willing to work with independents on the left but third parties competing with the Democrats only help the right wing.

First of all, I'm glad there is a socialist in the Senate. However, I'm surprised the Dems backed him. If he is truly a socialist, his positions should be pretty different than the average Democrat's. They must've been desparate.

I completely disagree with your last sentence. Sorry. I think that if one of the two big parties don't fit you views or ethics, you shouldn't vote for them. If the Democrats want my vote, they have to earn it. Just being the lesser of two evils isn't enough. My voting Green, Socialist, or whatever may be helping the right wing in the short term (and I question even that), but in the long term it helps the viability of a smaller party. If I had no option other than to vote Dem or Rep, I probably wouldn't vote at all, which helps the right wing even more, as I'd be another disenchanted liberal nonvoter.

I think I've begun to hate the term "third parties." It's intrinsically biased toward the Dems and Reps and makes the other parties sound like they aren't as good/viable/important/etc.

Cheers,
rant