The final push DEMS GET OUT AND VOTE!

[Atheon]

Voted Green Peace for president and the rest Democrat.

I hope you don't live in a battleground state.

[Hydra009]

I hope you don't live in a battleground state.

Even if that's not the case, the second to last thing I want to read in the papers is "Trump wins popular vote"

[Sargon The Grape]

I must be the only person who actually looks at the candidates instead of just a knee-jerk "vote Democrat" reaction.

Anyway, I'm still working through my ballot, but so far I've got a pretty even mix from the two big parties and a couple 3rd-party/independent candidates. The latter is mostly for local elections: much easier to kick out the Big 2 the lower you go.

[Atheon]

I look at the candidates (but I find that the Republican is almost always a really horrible person), and even once voted for a Republican mayor (who was running against a homophobic religious-right Democrat). But in this presidential election there's no comparison here. It's pretty good vs. unspeakably evil.

It's like being given a choice between a slightly overdone and inadequately seasoned chicken sandwich versus a festering, worm-infested shit sandwich. And any third choice that looks more attractive is just that same shit sandwich in disguise. And if you refuse to choose, you get the shit sandwich by default.

My primary concern is makeup of the Supreme Court. A Trump win will validate the Republicans' delaying tactic and ensure that Scalia's seat will be filled with another Scalia. Then if Ginsburg dies (she is over 80), we'll have a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court. Imagine the horrors that would result in. Packed with right-wing ideologues, they would rubber stamp all the outrages of a looney Republican Congress, tear down the wall of separation between church and state, and also commit what would be the ultimate nightmare in my opinion: the overturn of Roe v. Wade. America might as well be hit by a comet, because the country I love would be dead.

Oh, and if Trump wins, anti-Americanism would surge around the world, and for people like me who live overseas, that would have a devastating effect on our ability to travel. Look for great increases in the incidence of terrorism against Americans. Not to mention surges of racial and ethnic violence in the US itself.

The stakes in this election are yuuuuge. It's basically the life or death of the country. If Hillary wins, I will be ecstatic; it Trump wins, I will mourn the death of my beloved country.

[Cavebear]

Prefer to vote on the standard election day.  My voting place has no lines and I like to collect the I Voted sticker.  I will be voting for Clinton anyway, so there is no concern I would change my mind.

[Baruch]

Don't worry about the SCOTUS ... if the CFR doesn't like one of the judges, they get an exclusive hunting trip in Texas ;-))

[SGOS]

Prefer to vote on the standard election day.  My voting place has no lines and I like to collect the I Voted sticker.  I will be voting for Clinton anyway, so there is no concern I would change my mind.

I live in a place that doesn't have enough residents to form a line longer than 4 people, so going to my voting booth is far less hassle than voting absentee.  I'm not big on the "I voted" sticker.  I put if on so as not to offend anyone at the poll table, but I take it off when I get to my car.  Walking around with an "I voted" sticker all day is about as valuable as notifying strangers that I took a breath of air.

[Cavebear]

I live in a place that doesn't have enough residents to form a line longer than 4 people, so going to my voting booth is far less hassle than voting absentee.  I'm not big on the "I voted" sticker.  I put if on so as not to offend anyone at the poll table, but I take it off when I get to my car.  Walking around with an "I voted" sticker all day is about as valuable as notifying strangers that I took a breath of air.

I am starting to collect the "I Voted" stickers on my refrigerator.  A bit late, but why not?  I mean *I* know I have voted in every Presidential and midterm election (but not 1980 when I supported Anderson but the 3 hour long line back then made me stay home rather than make a meaningless vote).  But some stickers on the fridge look good.

[Mermaid]

I can't fucking wait to vote.

[Atheon]

I've never lived in an area where I had to wait to vote. My voting districts were always easy. Just walk in, sign your name and vote.

I remember John Anderson! I even met him on the plane. It was campaign season, and he was flying from Minneapolis to San Francisco. He was up in first class, but being the politician he was, he came back to greet the unwashed masses in coach. I still have the boarding card sleeve that he signed for me. (I was just a kid at the time, so I couldn't vote.)

[Atheon]

I can't fucking wait to vote.

I can't fucking wait for the election results to finally be announced. This is the most stressful election ever for me. The stakes are higher than they've ever been, and the number trends on 538 have me reeling with anxiety. (I prefer the numbers on the New York Times aggregator.)

[Cavebear]

I've never lived in an area where I had to wait to vote. My voting districts were always easy. Just walk in, sign your name and vote.

I remember John Anderson! I even met him on the plane. It was campaign season, and he was flying from Minneapolis to San Francisco. He was up in first class, but being the politician he was, he came back to greet the unwashed masses in coach. I still have the boarding card sleeve that he signed for me. (I was just a kid at the time, so I couldn't vote.)

I envy you meeting Anderson, though it is a shame you weren't older and could ask some good questions.

[Cavebear]

As I recall, the Simpsons started out brilliant, and then one day, I just realized I hadn't watched the show for two years.  I heard the show had deteriorated, but even though I had "mysteriously" lost interest, I refused to believe it had deteriorated.  How could that even happen?  I even refused to watch any later episodes for fear that it might confirm the unthinkable.

Oddly enough, I have rediscovered 'The Simpsons' and find them new and refreshing.

[Cavebear]

I can't fucking wait for the election results to finally be announced. This is the most stressful election ever for me. The stakes are higher than they've ever been, and the number trends on 538 have me reeling with anxiety. (I prefer the numbers on the New York Times aggregator.)

I can't wait for this whole mess to be over too.  Every few weeks, Trump does something so blitheringly disqualifying and  think the contest is other, but his supporters just shrug it off like water from a duck's back. 

I'm constructing a post on my personal blog basically saying that I have enough prepared food and wine to stay fed and drunk without the TV on until election day and I might just take advantage of that. 

[SGOS]

I'm constructing a post on my personal blog basically saying that I have enough prepared food and wine to stay fed and drunk without the TV on until election day and I might just take advantage of that. 

I've announced here before you came that I had gotten rid of my TV maybe 5 years ago now.  I thought I was the only one, except I started reading that "cable cutting" was becoming a major alternative lifestyle as compared to beating yourself over the head and cluttering your mind with chaos.  A major part of it was the news, which gets especially annoying during election years.  It's 90% press releases from spin doctors creating shit that networks might want to buy for the sensational value.  Everything seems so important when Wolf Blitzer is talking about it, except that it's not important at all.  It's a redundant waste of time.  Rewashed, repeated, washed again, done in a way that I felt I was a malicious attempt to force my will and my attention to someone else's needs.  And the political propaganda was only briefly interrupted for Excedrin and Bayer, which was annoying enough on it's own.

The internet is bad enough, but I can just read the headlines and a few sentences to get an idea whether it's leading to anything important without having Wolf Bitzer ringing in my ears between commercial breaks.  And the good thing about getting rid of TV is the slow realization that life can be not just endurable, but much more fulfilling without it.  And as a small perk, it's not costing me $100 a month for something I basically hate to begin with.