As you know, early voting is under way in Florida and the turnout has been impressive. Today Governor Charlie Crist ordered poll hours extended from eight hours a day to twelve. Great, right? More democracy at hand for the good people of the Sunshine State! But because nothing is not politicized these days, as Ben Smith points out, the move has angered some in the GOP, who see Democrats benefiting from early voting. From Smith's blog:
Crist, to the shock and dismay of Florida Republicans, just moved to extend early voting hours, a move likely to widen the Democrats' lead under a program on which the Obama campaign has intensely focused.
"He just blew Florida for John McCain," one plugged in Florida Republican just told me.
Some on the left suggest this is Crist's payback to McCain for picking Sarah Palin instead of him. I'd prefer to give Crist the benefit of the doubt and think that as the state's leader it's in his interest to make sure that everybody who wants to vote gets the chance. After all, the last thing Florida wants is any negative attention on Election Day.
And speaking of Florida, here's the state of the polls:
OK Florida, your poll hours are extended, so get out and VOTE. I did it. ORLANDO, GET OUT AND VOTE EARLY. YOU HAVE TWELVE HOURS.
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Carolyn
10:05PM Oct 28th 2008
Don't believe polls. One of the tactics Obama taught Odinga in 2006 election. pay pollsters, exaggerate,and skew the numbers to demoralize the opposition. too smart to fall for that and tellng everbody about the other tactics using race or ethnicity, and claims of rigging votes.
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Carolyn
10:09PM Oct 28th 2008
One more tactic was post election massacre and slaughter of the oppositon when Odinga lost. Obama was back in the US when that happened. Kenya has handed down an indictment of some of the offenders. The president Kibaki made a deal with Odinga where he became co-regent to stop the slaughter. Too bad they didn't name Odnga and Obama in the indictment but it's not over. The trial will be at the Hague.
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PCL
10:16PM Oct 28th 2008
I can hear the sound of all the lawyers sharpening their pencils.
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Keith
10:25PM Oct 28th 2008
Carolyn please!
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midwest susan
10:50PM Oct 28th 2008
I agree that Gov Crist is simply responding to the needs of the Florida voters - all of them - whether democrat or republican. Early voting at this point reduces chances for voter fraud because it reduces the crush on November 4.
I think the Governor deserves credit for putting the interests of Floridans over partisan politics.
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Mark
11:01PM Oct 28th 2008
Carolyn - sorry, the tactics you're referring to were taught by Rove to Bush in 2000 which were then successfully used on John McCain in the primary, then Gore in the general election followed by Kerry in 2004. They oughta try Rove at the Hague. Please don't tell me you think you can, or should, defend that sleaze bag.
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Grandpa Boy
11:06PM Oct 28th 2008
1) What good does it do to inflate your poll numbers? Rather then demoralizing your opponent, you may make your supports complacent. Does seem logical.
2) Maybe Crist is pissed that McCain over looked him for the VP slot!
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victorht
11:22PM Oct 28th 2008
OH, Carolyn, I know you'll be first in line in 2012 for what the McCain camp has newly dubbed whackjob Palin.
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misty
12:05AM Oct 29th 2008
Carolyn:
Isn't it amazing how the mainstream media just brushes over this information.
The polls are are really skewed and at this point I don't think anybody is paying attention. My own statistical information puts McCain at 51 and Obama at 48.
I think later polls are good for all the democrats that are voting for McCain.
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Daves99
12:18AM Oct 29th 2008
Do you care to share your statistical information? It's not based on the AOL straw poll is it?
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Wormy
12:42AM Oct 29th 2008
It's about time. Most states already have the polls or early voting lasting 12 hours.
This is a major reason everything stays messed up; no consistency in each state. To me this needs some federal intervention to ensure all states meet same criterion.
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PCL
12:46AM Oct 29th 2008
I'm with Wormy.
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misty
12:51AM Oct 29th 2008
No ... it's a retrospective method I devised to predict morbidity and mortality. I applied the basics using several different voter counts, inaccurate percentage information from past presidential races and weighting the combined total 39% in favor of the dems and 33% in favor or repubs. As I stated it's my own stats and we'll see.
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JanbittD
12:55AM Oct 29th 2008
I'm not really surprised if Crist has managed to help screw up something else in this election.
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misty
1:46AM Oct 29th 2008
Many people are negative voters ... they may not be motivated to vote for McCain...but they will be motivated to vote against Obama. The reverse isn't true to the same degree.
Keep those polls open!
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Mike
2:00AM Oct 29th 2008
Using Religion to Attract Catholic Voters While Denying Church Teachings Is Insulting Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke about his views on abortion in an interview with The News Journal of Delaware earlier this month. He told his home state’s newspaper “I know that my church has wrestled with this for 2,000 years.”
We saw a similar argument come from Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she charged that the Catholic Church has been “bipolar” over the centuries when it comes to abortion. She was rebuked by her bishop and now Biden has experienced the same response from his bishop, who answered him in a Letter to the Editor.
No one forces anyone into faith, but when one embraces it, one should be held accountable according to the tenets of that faith.
Biden and Pelosi are free to believe whatever they wish, of course. But they are not free to misstate doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. The church hierarchy is in charge of doctrine. If one doesn’t agree with those doctrines, one is free to leave that church. Using religion to attract the votes of faithful Catholics while denying church teachings is an affront. Serious Catholics will judge those who do such things accordingly.
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PCL
2:21AM Oct 29th 2008
Mike2:00AMOct 29th 2008 Using Religion to Attract Catholic Voters While Denying Church Teachings Is Insulting Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke about his views on abortion in an interview with The News Journal of Delaware earlier this month. He told his home state’s newspaper “I know that my church has wrestled with this for 2,000 years.”
We saw a similar argument come from Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she charged that the Catholic Church has been “bipolar” over the centuries when it comes to abortion. She was rebuked by her bishop and now Biden has experienced the same response from his bishop, who answered him in a Letter to the Editor.
No one forces anyone into faith, but when one embraces it, one should be held accountable according to the tenets of that faith.
Biden and Pelosi are free to believe whatever they wish, of course. But they are not free to misstate doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. The church hierarchy is in charge of doctrine. If one doesn’t agree with those doctrines, one is free to leave that church. Using religion to attract the votes of faithful Catholics while denying church teachings is an affront. Serious Catholics will judge those who do such things accordingly. ------------------------------------------------------- Oh for the love of all that is holy and unholy--get religion out of American politics. Religion is just messing up Americans. Lighten up already!
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buzzcut
5:11AM Oct 29th 2008
Maybe Crist was listening to the voices of the Floridians who stood in line for 5 hours in the heat, waiting to vote. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that people there really want to vote and are going out of there way to do so. He seems like a good guy to me, and McCain was a fool not to have picked him. My own statistics show that Obama will win over 300 electoral votes on November 4th, and will win over 50% of the popular vote. My statistics make me very happy. I guess everyone has their own statistics they like to look at.
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Demise of a great country
7:50AM Oct 29th 2008
Many Americans have been conditioned like Pavlov's dog to salivate at the ringing of the bell.
Obama has had humongous money poured into his campaign from so many unknown sources that he can an afford to plaster his face all over everywhere with an inundation of TV campaign ads. Plus, he has the liberal news media completely promoting his agenda, covering his behind, and denied all truths presented about him as LIES conjured up by Republicans.
Americans are so used to seeing Obama over and over again spewing empty promises that many of them have gotten used to him and decided he's not such a bad guy. They have completely ignored and/or denounced the truth about his unscrupulous history and involvement in anti-American activities and criminal relationships.
If you are in awe when you see Obama or hear him speak, then you have been conditioned to salivate at the ringing of Obama's bell (like Pavlov's dog).
Obama was born into an extremely liberal family,and his parents and their associations were radical and liberal. Also, they were muslims and atheists. Obama was programmed his entire life by anti-American mentors, extreme liberals, socialists and communists from childhood to adulthood.
His relationships with these groups and individuals can be traced to the very recent past and apparently continue. He embraced Chicago criminals who helped to promote himself into a prominent position with dirty money and illegal schemes. He has no repentance for his wrong doings and doesn't have the courage to be honest and confess to them.
Obama deeply lacks the integrity and moral principles that most patriotic Americans' set as their standards for living.
We all fear for the demise of the country that we have fought for over 200 years.
I can't comprehend why our nation has become so immorally unfit to be willing to continue to support a man like Obama. It's not like people don't know his past because it's out there for anyone who cares or wants the truth about him.
Dreadfully, it seems our country is on a downhill slide morally and we're going at warp speed so nothing short of a miracle will stop all of this.
I pray McCain and Palin will deliver us from evil through the Almighty God.
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