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Sat 3 Nov, 2012 04:44 pm
If anyone cares, this is the thread in which I will be posting my comments as the election returns are reported.
Do me a small favor and spare us the partisan back and forth until then.
For now and until Tuesday night, I would like this to be a thread that provides advice for watching the returns and comments about how members plan on watching them.
For instance:
We invited a select group of likeminded out-of-state friends and family to travel to Texas and watch the returns with us. Understandably, most of them can't make it but we are going to host my wife's cousin and her wife (??? - I'm challenged on same sex marriage nomenclature) and we plan
drinking...either to celebrate or commiserate.
If Romney wins I will dance in the street, and howl at the moon.
Advice:
Early voting is clearly an Obama campaign strategy.
Most states report early voting results first and then the rest based on the size of the precincts.
So, if you are a Romney supporter and you see early returns favoring Obama, don't despair.
If, on the other hand, Romney is up early on, rejoice because it will only get better.
@Finn dAbuzz,
I'll watch television coverage until VA, OH and FL are announced.
Then I'll switch to the internet where I'll follow the IL and local returns. I'm as interested in a couple of our state-wide races as I am the Presidential returns.
I expect a mixed-bag with a few wins and a few losses.
@Finn dAbuzz,
Finn dAbuzz wrote:
Early voting is clearly an Obama campaign strategy.
Oops! I fell for it. In keeping with your request regarding non partisan back and forth, my vote will remain a secret.
i can tell you right now who's going to lose the election
the american public, they will once again have been duped into voting in to office one scumbag politician or another
when will they (and we here in canada, we do it too) ever learn
I can tell you that though I believe Romney will win, I'm a basket case and can't wait until this thing is over.
It's far too close a race for either side to be totally sanguine about their guy's chances.
Over the last few months I've come to realize that I am indeed a political junkie.
The coverage of the election is driving me nuts, but I can't stop watching it.
What I really hate is the lazy reporting of all TV sources that play extended clips from either candidate's stump speeches. Nothing they say is changing at this point.
If there is a major change in the next three days, it will have nothing to do with campaign strategy or candidate gaffes (Joe Biden notwithstanding)
@Finn dAbuzz,
I've stopped watching the coverage. It was making me nuts and I was getting stressed out that R/R might actually win (a disaster, imo). Now I follow the bookies who update their EC map daily. That's it. Once/day I get a new pulse of how intrade is trading on the EC tally (they were closer than any poll in 2008; 364/174 vs 365/173).
A few weeks ago Obama was in the 330s. He dropped as low as 263 recently when Ohio flipped for a day. He's only been under 271 that one day since I've been watching in early September.
Yesterday, VA was light red. Today it's light blue and Obama is up 303/235. I'm done worrying for today.
http://electoralmap.net/2012/intrade.php
I like checking out reporting from all sides of the political spectrum. I really don't think that I should do this. It is making me nuts. It is fascinating though, to see how the different media outlets report the same news, based on their own particular bias.
I plan to spend Tuesday night watching the returns, switching from Fox to NBC, to CNN, etc. I think that it will be a dandy show.
@JPB,
VA solidified a little more towards blue and FL solidified a little more towards red. Not much else changed except CO is coming back towards neutral. Still Obama 303/235. That's my election coverage watching for today!
http://electoralmap.net/2012/intrade.php
I've got an early morning phone conference with some Asian customers and I can't stay up late. I think I will probably go out for a jog around 10:00pm to burn off some energy, watch for a half hour to see that Florida, Ohio and Virginia are too close to call then go to sleep. In past years, I have gotten up at 3:00am, turned off the TV to see the winner then gone back to bed. Pour a symbolic beer for me at your election party.
I'm not going to stay up, as it's a tight race it probably won't be called when I get up on Wednesday morning, which will probably be about 2am on the East Coast.
It's bonfire night tonight, and I've just made a Mitt Romney guy, so I'll be doing my bit by throwing him on the fire.
@Finn dAbuzz,
Finn dAbuzz wrote:Early voting is clearly an Obama campaign strategy.
Most states report early voting results first and then the rest based on the size of the precincts.
So, if you are a Romney supporter and you see early returns favoring Obama, don't despair.
If, on the other hand, Romney is up early on, rejoice because it will only get better.
Not necessarily.
While Obama has been encouraging early voting, the states that allow early voting tend to be red states.
Nate Cohn wrote:Many of the large, Democratic-leaning states in the northeast and Midwest, like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Michigan don’t permit in-person early voting.
Illinois now allows in-person early voting, but the state still prefers to vote on Election Day, as just 10 percent voted early in 2008. The only blue states with more than 10 electoral votes casting an above average share of their votes in early voting were Washington and California. In contrast, the three largest red states of Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee each cast an above average share of their ballots early. So far in 2012, each of those states has reported higher early voting turnout than California or Washington, where millions of ballots will be cast by mail. As a result, "red states" are beating "blue states" in early voting by an 8.5 million to 4.9 million vote, according to figures taken [Wednesday] from Michael McDonald's indispensable site on early voting.
http://www.tnr.com/blog/electionate/109506/dont-focus-national-early-voting-numbers
Dumb Director wanted me and the World Editor to go to his barely watched cable-TV coverage show during the AAA hours (who'd make the newspaper, duh?), convinced him to tape our interviews at noon.
THEN, I'll be following just about every web source (big US papers, networks, Politico, RealClear, Huffington...) and will try to predict and call the TV-show just before the big networks do. Will be fun.
I will be opening my window as the polls in California close at 9:00 CDT/7:00 PDT to hear the unmistakable sounds of georgeob1's head exploding.
I expect I will be playing Guild Wars 2 with Fox News on in the background. I will be hoping that Romney wins, but will not be surprised if he doesn't.
If he does win, I will be switching to MSNBC to see if they are covering the riots though.
@JPB,
JPB wrote:
I've stopped watching the coverage. It was making me nuts and I was getting stressed out that R/R might actually win (a disaster, imo). Now I follow the bookies who update their EC map daily. That's it. Once/day I get a new pulse of how intrade is trading on the EC tally (they were closer than any poll in 2008; 364/174 vs 365/173).
A few weeks ago Obama was in the 330s. He dropped as low as 263 recently when Ohio flipped for a day. He's only been under 271 that one day since I've been watching in early September.
Yesterday, VA was light red. Today it's light blue and Obama is up 303/235. I'm done worrying for today.
http://electoralmap.net/2012/intrade.php
Wow, I didn't even know that map existed!
Cycloptichorn
I bought a fifth of good bourbon.
Rap
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:It's bonfire night tonight
on that theme,one of my favourite passages from the V for Vendetta comic books
Good evening, London. I thought it time we had a little talk. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...
I suppose you're wondering why I've called you here this evening. Well you see, I'm not entirely satisfied with your performance lately…. I'm afraid your work's been slipping, and...and well, I'm afraid we've been thinking about letting you go.
Oh, I know, I know. You've been with the company a long time now. Almost...Let me see. Almost ten thousand years! My word, doesn't time fly? It seems like only yesterday… I remember the day you commenced your employment, swinging down from the trees, fresh-faced and nervous, A bone clasped in your bristling fist... "Where do I start, sir?" You asked, plaintively.
I recall my exact words: "There's a pile of dinosaur eggs over there, youngster," I said smiling paternally the while. "Get sucking."
Well, we've certainly come a long way since then, haven’t we? And yes, yes, you're right, in all that time you haven’t missed a day. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Also please don't think I've forgotten about your out-standing service record, or about all of the invaluable contributions that you've made to the company... Fire, the wheel of agriculture...It's an impressive list, old-timer. A jolly impressive list. Don't get me wrong.
But...well, to be frank, we've had our problems, too. There's no getting away from it. Do you know what I think a lot of it stems from? I'll tell you... It's your basic unwillingness to get on within the company. You don't seem to want to face up to any real responsibility, or to be your own boss. Lord knows, you've been given plenty of opportunities...We've offered you promotion time and time again, and each time you've turned us down: "I couldn't handle the work, Guv'nor," you wheedled. "I know my place"
To be frank, you're not trying, are you? You see, you've been standing still for far too long, and it's starting to show in your work... And I might add, in your general standard behaviour. The constant bickering on the factory floor has not escaped my attention...Nor the recent bouts of rowdiness in the staff canteen. Then of course there's... Hmmmm. Well, I didn't really want to have to bring this up, but...Well, you see I've been hearing some disturbing rumours about your personal life.
No, never you mind who told me. No names, no pack drill... I understand that you are unable to get on with your spouse. I hear that you argue. I am told that you shout. Violence has been mentioned. I am reliably informed that you always hurt the one you love...The one you shouldn't hurt at all.
And what about the children? It's always the children who suffer, as you're well aware. Poor little mites. What are they to make of it? What are they to make of your bullying, your despair, your cowardice and all your fondly nurtured bigotries? Really, it's not good enough, is it? And it's no good blaming the drop in work standards upon bad management, either...
Though, to be sure, the management is very bad. In fact, let us not mince words ... the management is terrible! We've had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars and lunatics making a string of catastrophic decisions. This is plain fact.
But who elected them? It was you! You who appointed these people! You who gave them the power to make your decisions for you! While I'll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go on making the same lethal errors century after century seems to me nothing short of deliberate.
You have encouraged these malicious incompetents, who have made your working life a shambles. You have accepted without question their senseless orders. You have allowed them to fill your workspace with dangerous and unproven machines.
All you had to say was "NO." You have no spine. You have no pride. You are no longer an asset to the company. I will however, be generous. You will be granted two years to show me some improvement in your work. If at the end of that time you are still unwilling to make a go of it... You're fired.
That will be all. You may return to your labors.
@engineer,
Quote:watch for a half hour to see that Florida, Ohio and Virginia are too close to call then go to sleep.
That may be the thing that sends us all to bed at an unreasonable hour for a restless sleep.
ARE WE THERE YET!?!?!?!?!?!?!
<kicking from the back seat and poking my sister>
It's been a hellofa ride!
@JPB,
with any luck, dad will turn the car around and cancel the vacation this year
Stumble It!
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