Voting information to college students

With so many new voters in this election coming from college ranks, the issue of residency and where they are to vote is becoming a big issue. There is an article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the controversy in Virginia. You can find that article here.

This makes me wonder what students in Michigan universities are being told, and how accurate the information is. Comments? 

Congratulations President Dukakis!

Michael Dukakis, Forty-First President of the United States

Okay, so he's not President yet, but he's gonna win, because it's the end of July and he's dominating George Bush, 55-38%! So you might as well call him our next President!

In the aftermath of the Democratic National Convention, the party's nominee, Michael S. Dukakis, has expanded his lead among registered voters over Vice President Bush, the probable Republican nominee, according to a Gallup Poll.

This was among the findings of a national public opinion poll of 948 registered voters conducted late last week for Newsweek magazine by the Gallup Organization. The telephone interviews took place on July 21, which was the last night of the convention, and on the night after that.

Fifty-five percent of the 948 registered voters interviewed in the poll said they preferred to see Mr. Dukakis win the 1988 Presidential election, while 38 percent said they preferred to see Mr. Bush win. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

This represented a shift in Mr. Dukakis's lead from the 47 percent to 41 percent advantage he held in the last pre-convention Gallup Poll, taken by telephone July 8-10. In that poll, 1,001 registered voters were interviewed.

It's refreshing to know that after eight long years of Republican rule, we will have a Democrat in the White House!

--------------------------------------------------

Except, of course, that Dukakis lost.

Granted, the poll was taken 15 weeks before the 1988 election, and we are less than 14 weeks from the 2008 election. Plus, this poll came on the heels of the Democratic National Convention, before the Republican convention started.

And yes, the Democrats are viewed in a much more favorable light than Republicans in 2008, something that couldn't be said two decades ago. And the Republicans are nominating a less-than-inspiring McCain to succeed an unpopular Bush, twenty years after an uninspiring Dukakis was nominated to succeed Mr. Likable.

However, Obama's lead over McCain is considerably smaller. And this poll form 1988 showed Dukakis above the all-important 50% mark.

My point is that so much can change in so little time. The election is 96 days away, which leaves plenty of time for fraud, Willie Horton-style attacks, and the like...

...and plenty of time for you and me to do something about it. Register some voters. Talk with your neighbors, friends, family members, etc. Write a letter to the editor.

Our nation - really, our world - need Barack, and Barack is counting on you and me. So please don't allow complacency to creep in.

I Was There as Edwards endorsed Obama

Wow! People talk about being "Fired Up and Ready to Go" at Obama rallies, but I must say I never imagined seeing what I just saw in Grand Rapids, in the heart of conservative West Michigan.

An endorsement from John Edwards.

I arrived at Van Andel Arena (named for a conservative cofounder of Amway) around 5:15. The line to get in moved quite rapidly, probably because there were plenty of metal detectors to keep people moving in at an efficient pace. I sat in the upper level of the arena, but I was closer to the stage than many people there. Besides, given who we knew was going to be there, I wasn’t complaining.

A disabled veteran led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. The crowd cheered as they saw the young man in crutches approach the podium. After that, someone from the field office had everyone get out their cell phones and text 'MI' to 62262 to stay involved with the campaign.

A little while later we saw the "Yes We Can" video by will.i.am. A little later, The Wave.

I reflected on the people there. They were diverse in race, age, and surely walk of life. I saw middle-aged white men. I saw black women. I saw kids - plenty of kids! Many of whom won’t be old enough to vote this November. Still, they were witnessing history. Sure, school was out for the day. But these kids were getting a hands-on education, just as I did when I saw Al Gore at Calder Plaza in October 2000.

Around 6:35, a worker at the Lear factory in Walker - which will be closing in a few months - spoke about his struggles to get by as the cost of living increased but his paycheck didn’t.

He had the honor of introducing the man who would be President.

At 6:38 PM, Barack Obama - one of the smartest and most beloved people in modern politics - stepped up to the podium.

He started by telling us he had a treat. And a treat it was as he introduced a young man who has dedicated his life to tackling the many issues ordinary Americans face.

Once Barack uttered the words "John Edwards," the place went nuts. We all knew what Edwards’s presence there meant. I was hopping up and down like I’ve never done at any political function in my 20 ½ years. Hell, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so excited at a sporting event!

Edwards spoke of the major themes of his campaign: Poverty, social justice, healthcare, and of course making the two Americas one. "The Democratic voters of America have made their decision," he added, "and so have I."

In his remarks, Obama made the solemn promise that Edwards would find in President Obama a fierce comrade in the fight against poverty. He then touched on what he has discussed throughout his campaign, including the many important issues we face in this country and the importance of changing the way Washington operates.

There seems to be general agreement that Senator Obama will be our Democratic nominee. He pointed out that both Edwards and, yes, Hillary all stood for a much-needed change in Washington. On more than one occasion, Obama called out McCain as someone who simply offers more of the same. Obama, speaking in a conservative region of battleground Michigan, was in full general-election mode.

At one point during the speech, we got a glimpse of what kind of human being we'll have as our President if this man is elected.

At one point, Barack saw that someone in the crowd had fainted. He interrupted his spiel for a moment to alert the EMTs that someone had fainted. He then took his bottle of water and asked people to send it back to the person who had fainted.

I'm not sure many politicians would interrupt their own speech to do that - much less give up their bottle of water.

When the speech was done, the crowd dispersed, and I made my way to the car. As I got in the car, I looked in the mirror and asked myself: "Did I really just see Edwards endorse Obama?"

Oh, yes, I did.

And I hope that you too have the privilege of being there to see and hear Barack Obama bring out your emotions and move you to action.

Primary results and musings

• Hillary won an underwhelming 55% of the vote, while 40% voted Uncommitted. The Democratic National Convention delegate counts are as follows:
  
  • Statewide: Hillary 73, Uncommitted 55
  • At-Large: Hillary 16 (8 men, 8 women), Uncommitted 12 (6 men, 6 women)
  • Fourth District: Hillary 3 (two men, one woman), Uncommitted 2 (one man, one woman)
  
  
• I call Hillary's win underwhelming because she was supposed to dominate this election. As John Nichols of The Nation writes:
  

  As the only leading Democratic contender to keep her name on the ballot after Michigan officials moved their primary ahead of the opening date scheduled by the Democratic National Committee, Clinton was perfectly positioned. She had no serious opposition. She also had the strong support of top Michigan Democrats such as Governor Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow.
  
  Usually, a prominent presidential contender running a primary campaign without serious opposition and with strong in-state support from party leaders can count on winning 90 percent or more of the vote. That's how it went for George Bush when he was running without serious opposition in Republican primaries in 2004, and for Bill Clinton when he was essentially unopposed in the Democratic primaries in 1996.

• On Michigan Liberal:
  
  • Mark Grebner tells us how each district voted.
    
  • Phil offers an analysis of West Michigan numbers.
    
  • Nirmal crunches the exit poll data.
    
  • Laura analyzes the youth vote numbers. Uncommitted actually outperformed Hillary among young voters!


• You gotta love it: The Michigan Republican Party erroneously sent out a press release congratulating McCain on the victory he didn't have. Oops.
  


• One more bit from Michigan Liberal, written by yours truly. Did holding the primary early have the desired effect of giving Michigan more influence in the nominating process? No.
  

  Had we held a February 5 caucus - an idea which I supported even when the caucus was set for February 9 all the while other states were moving theirs to February 5 - Michigan would have been the fourth-largest state with a primary or caucus that day (and the second-largest not including the home states of the front-runners). Candidates would have come to Michigan, and their campaigns - as well as our Party - would have been better for it.
  
  Yet some people decided that it was better for Dems to break DNC rules (arcane as they are) and base our delegate count on a primary that would not have gone on if not for four extreme conservatives on the state Supreme Court. MDP leaders knew that some of the candidates would not be campaigning if they decided to go with a primary, yet most of them chose to go ahead with it anyway.
  
  The result? Instead of having more influence in our nominating process, we have at the moment pretty much no influence (and it is uncertain whether we will have influence in the end). Instead of unity, as the LA Times put it, we have rancor. Instead of Michigan issues being at the forefront of the campaign, we are once again seen as a laughing stock to the rest of the country.
  

Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing, baby....

I cast my first ballot as a democrat in kindergarten. One morning in early November, the Weekly Reader challenged us to vote for a presidential candidate. The first picture shown was of a grey-haired, elderly man, with his mouth wide open, presumably yelling at a large body of people, and the second a younger, dark-haired man smiling and waving at the camera. To a five year-old, Michael Dukakis was the clear winner. Too bad the country didn’t agree.

The idea of voting for someone for their charm or charisma is often sneered at, but irresistible nonetheless. Our current President doesn’t have much to offer in achievements or experience, but he has folksy charm. Most of us like to think of ourselves as more sophisticated than just kindergarteners perusing the weekly reader, but are we? Should we be?

I’ve spent the last few months trying to pick a democratic candidate to support, this time the way I’m supposed to: studying the issues. But for all the importance we place on them, the issues have gotten me nowhere.

While examining the issues and where the candidates stand, I’ve learned two things: 1) I don’t know enough about the issues to pick a candidate on the issues, and 2) I don’t actually care about them.

Take global warming. How should we regulate carbon emissions? Cap and trade? Carbon Tax? Carbon Credit? Quite honestly, do most of us understand the differences between these systems? I don’t. And even if I did, am I qualified to decide which one is best for our nation? Then consider the Iraq war, education, same-sex marriage, or health care. The answers are too complex to be determined in a wikipedia search or a candidate soundbite.

What I really want is to have the same sensation I did in kindergarten – to look at a man and feel a good feeling. It sounds dumb, I know, but maybe if you knew my favorite president, you’d understand.

Yes, President Josiah Bartlet. If you don’t recognize his name from the scrolls of history, you’re looking in the wrong genre. President Bartlet served for eight years as the on NBC’s The West Wing. Chuckle at my naiveté, but when I see Martin Sheen, I quietly hum hail to the Chief under my breath.

On the show, Bartlet’s staff describes him as “the real thing.” He makes mistakes, big ones even, but you know he cares deeply about the nation and its people. This is what I want from a president. That even if I don’t agree with what he decides to do, I know that he’s a thinking person, a trustworthy person. Not a saint, but not a swindler – someone with integrity.

Can what I’m looking for be only found in the realms of fiction? Today’s candidates read stump speeches with meticulously tested language, bow to endless polling data and perform at scripted public events. It’s impossible to know who the real candidates are behind the duplicitous masks of the well-crafted campaign.

As an American citizen, my vote is the most personal thing I have to offer to our democracy. It may be a fool’s errand in this day and age, but I’m going to keep watching each debate, listening to each interview, searching for the “real thing." If you find it, let me know.

Note: I wrote this blog for gather.com's election 08 people's press corps blogger competition. If you're a member there, look for my article under mmcottrell, and leave a comment or rate me if you like. Thanks for reading....