orichalcum

First, words from the great Dr. Seuss: ( Read more... )

So, this is my report from my day of volunteering to do GOTV work in Pennsylvania today:
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( Greenwich Village Halloween Parade )
Anyways, hope you all had a Happy Halloween, and don't forget to vote on Tuesday! I realized that I've been mentally assigning the fate of various swing states to friends and connections I have in those states. Thus, Florida is now up to Sam. If we win Florida, it's because of Sam. Ohio is up to oelker and her family. New Hampshire belongs to Bailey Alexandra Kirn and her folks. I'll take blame or credit for Pennsylvania and Nevada, the two states where I've been directing my effort. Anyone else want to lay claims? Yes, I realize this is totally irrational. But it's also irrational to be happy that the Redskins lost!

I know, realistically, that tomorrow many, many people are going to vote for, and probably pass, irrational homophobic amendments aimed at "defending" their marriages from the likes of "Massachusetts liberals." As this editorial points ou,
Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the entire country. Vermont is one of the lowest. The states with the highest divorce rates? Nevada, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, and Oklahoma.
The religious group with the highest divorce rates? Jews and Conservative Protestants. Atheists and agnostics get divorced much less frequently.

So don't tell us that being a Massachusetts liberal, or, for that matter, a New York liberal, makes you value the sanctity of marriage less. The main study I'm looking at suggests that the reason for the Northeast's much lower divorce rate is its emphasis on education, which leads to later marriages, which leads to more people getting married for the right reasons. (I'd be pretty hypocritical if I said that early marriages were always a bad idea, but they do run a higher risk, statistically, because younger people tend generally to have less good long-term judgment skills. Obviously, I know lots of great exceptions to this rule.)

And if you live in a state where one of these amendments is on the ballot, think long and hard about what you're legislating, and who you're building a wall against, and whether that wall is really what's needed to keep your family life safe. 

A couple of last minute notes for anyone or everyone voting or doing get-out-the-vote work tomorrow:

1. You are allowed to give voters at the polls anything that costs less than a dollar, at least in PA and Ohio. So giving out, say, 50% off Halloween candy (I bought 3 bags) to folks who are waiting 2 hours+ in line is great; giving disposable ponchos to soaked people in the rain is plausible, hardcover books to pass the time is right out.

2. Somebody told me, and it did seem to really work, at least for them and others, that the best line of argument for an undecided voter, should you be lucky enough to find one, was the following:
"Well, what are the issues important to you?"
Because then you can tell them honestly what each candidate's view is on, say, Social Security, or Iraq, or whatever.

3. If there is any voting problem that you see, call 1-866-VOTE-411.