dagblog - Comments for "2011 Elections"

Here's a short piece

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:55:57 +0000

In reply to I had not seen it, thanks. We

Here's a short piece http://www.nationaljournal.com//member/hotline/glass-half--20111109

I had not seen it, thanks. We

Verified Atheist — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:23:01 +0000

In reply to You may have seen this but in

I had not seen it, thanks. We haven't lost the State Senate yet, by the way. There's a chance that Houck could still beat Reeves in a recount, although it's not likely. The piece is a bit biased against Moran (although to his credit, Rousselot divulges that bias openly), but it makes a lot of valid points.

You may have seen this but in

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:15:13 +0000

In reply to Thanks for the update, AD.

You may have seen this but in case not, crossposted at HuffPo as well as Blue Virginia, "Why the Virginia Democrats Lost the State Senate", by former Arlington County Democratic Chair Peter Rousselot: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-rousselot/2011-virginia-elections_b_1083901.html

Thanks for the update, AD.

Verified Atheist — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:05:07 +0000

In reply to Weather is beautiful here

Thanks for the update, AD.

Weather is beautiful here

AmericanDreamer — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:20:48 +0000

In reply to If you don't mind me asking,

Weather is beautiful here today, sunny, around 50 or so when I was there from 7:30-9:00. Our precinct goes around 60/40 Dem in presidential races lately. Local races where contested are typically more competitive. Local Democrats in these parts do a decent job overall, I feel. The Republicans are horrible. They would gut the tax base that pays for the services the people in the county value. When that comes out clearly they lose lately.

Our GOP counterparts, who with the exception of the sole, sourfaced male I found pleasant, were distributing their sample ballots on blue paper as were we. One of our workers was more sure than I was initially that that was very deliberate, intended to confuse folks. I thought it possible--after all, the GOP brand is in even worse shape these days than the donkey brand. And that's saying a lot. And in fact, a number of folks took blue sample ballots and seemed surprised when we would ask them if they would like a "Democratic sample ballot", thinking the blue one they had must have been the Democratic sample ballot because blue is the Democrats' color, right? One of the GOP folks pointed out that the Democratic-endorsed school board candidate had a red sign.

The school board member/candidate showed up, just in time for our crank neighbor who is constantly trashing our local public schools to let her know how bad his daughter's high school teachers were. He and his wife both have good-paying jobs and they have just one kid. So if the teachers in the high school are doing such grievous damage to their daughter--who from afar seems to us to be doing well--why are they sending her there? This is the question that seemed to beg for the response I chose not to ask for from him.

We didn't ask the school board member about her red sign.

So there you have it, a report from the front lines. A wee bit different than the typical dagblog thread exchange. I really enjoyed chatting with the four 5th-grade girls who were selling snacks and drinks for their Girl Scout troop. They were quite charming. One of them, from Britain and here for 5 years, asked me if she could distribute Democratic sample ballots, too.

Sure, although you might have

Verified Atheist — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:08:39 +0000

In reply to Sure, although you might have

Sure, although you might have berated me reasonably for not getting an absentee ballot to vote in Pennsylvania on Nov 8.

I've been thinking about this some, and I wonder since you're not living in Pennsylvania, would you be able to vote in the local elections? The reason I wonder this is because I have a friend who moved prior to the 2010 elections and was turned away from the polls because she didn't update her voter registration card and the voter registration card didn't match her current address. (Part of me also thinks this was a mistake on the part of the poll worker.)

That's ... bizarre, to say

Verified Atheist — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:02:28 +0000

In reply to You & Flav bringing that up

That's … bizarre, to say the least. I think* I'd love to see a surprise third-party candidate which takes advantage of Harold A Adler or Barbara Jaffe splitting the vote between their Democratic and Republican halves.

*Assuming it's not a Tea Party candidate.

Underneath the list of

Flavius — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:50:17 +0000

In reply to I imagine it would take some

Underneath the list of candidates in their voters' guide the League of Women Voters has a bar reading

"Candidates were asked to provide a brief paragraph describing their qualifications for this office,including their highest level of education".

Maddeningly, it doesn't appear.

Oh well.

BTW there are 21candidates, rather than 18 as I wrote above. . Eleven Republicans and 10 Democrats. .I think I got that right.

No double dippers as in artappraisers comment.

You & Flav bringing that up

artappraiser — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:57:18 +0000

In reply to So are there 18 candidates

You & Flav bringing that up entices me to produce more information. When I said it looked like there was a tiny bit of competition in the borough of Brooklyn, what it was is that one of the contests is something like "vote for 6" out of a roster of 9.

But in the other boroughs, it's like this: "vote for 8 from a roster of 8," but there are like 12 entries on the ballot because some of the candidates have nominations from both parties are are therefore listed twice, but others are just one party nomination unopposed. It's like a joke to some, I'm sure.

Here I copied the Manhattan borough listing so you get an idea of what I am talking about. This is what they will see on their ballots in Manhattan. There is no choice, the voter is just endorsing. Except that with a couple of your selections, you get to endorse whether you like the single candidate as a Republican or a Democrat (where one of the jokes might come in):

Justice of the Supreme Court - 1st Judicial District, Vote for 5

Democratic Laura Visitacion-Lewis 600 West 111 Street New York, NY 10025
Democratic Joan Madden 190 Riverside Drive New York, NY 10024
Democratic Analisa Torres 267 West 124 Street New York, NY 10027
Democratic Deborah A Kaplan 340 East 40 Street New York, NY 10016
Democratic Ellen Gesmer 761 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10014
Republican Ellen Gesmer 761 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10014

Judge of the Civil Court - County - New York, Vote for 2

Democratic Erika M Edwards 2225 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10037
Democratic Saliann Scarpulla 545 East 14th Street New York, NY 10009

Judge of the Civil Court - District - 3rd Municipal Court District - New York, Vote for 2

Democratic Paul A Goetz 55 West 11 Street New York, NY 10011
Democratic Tony Cannataro 350 Cabrini Boulevard New York, NY 10040

Judge of the Civil Court - District - 4th Municipal Court District - New York

Democratic Alexander M Tisch 215 East 95 Street 29L New York, NY 10128

Judge of the Civil Court - District - 5th Municipal Court District - New York

Democratic W Franc Perry 205 West 136 Street New York, NY 10030

Judge of the Civil Court - District - 6th Municipal Court District - New York

Democratic Harold A Adler 5445 Fieldston Road Bronx, NY 10471
Republican Harold A Adler 5445 Fieldston Road Bronx, NY 10471

Judge of the Civil Court - District - 7th Municipal Court District - New York

Democratic Raymond L Bruce 123 West 117 Street New York, NY 10026

Judge of the Civil Court - District - 9th Municipal Court District - New York

Democratic Barbara Jaffe 410 East 57 Street New York, NY 10022
Republican Barbara Jaffe 410 East 57 Street New York, NY 10022

The full pdf list is here:

http://vote.nyc.ny.us/pdf/documents/boe/2011GeneralElection/CandidacyLis...

the "counties" are listed in the left menu ("New York county" is Manhattan, "Kings" is Brooklyn, "Richmond" is Staten Island, and "Queens" and "Bronx" are self-explanatory.)

I imagine it would take some

Verified Atheist — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:02:57 +0000

In reply to That's it. Choose your

I imagine it would take some effort to make all 10 of those be well-informed choices.