tagged w/ Presidential Election
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After weeks of seeing a huge McCain/Palin sign coming off the highway, I decided to believe in some change of my own for the Obama cause the night before our historic election. After weeks of seeing a huge McCain/Palin sign coming off the highway, I decided to... more
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In any other country this kinda thing is illegal.
But trust those Catholics, don't have abortions, have your kids and then we can abused them physically and sexually.
Lovely, well done Catholic churchIn any other country this kinda thing is illegal.
But trust those Catholics,... more
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The Obama campaign sent out an email Friday afternoon telling supporters in Arizona that the campaign is seeing a surge of support in states such as Georgia and North Dakota, states that were not expected to be close. The email called John McCain's home state "the latest battleground" and a "major opportunity." When Obama was boarding his plane Friday, someone shouted a question asking why he was running ads in John McCain's home state, and he responded simply
We want to win everywhere.
The Arizona co-chairman of the McCain-Palin campaign said the presidential race in Arizona
is a lot closer than we'd like.
While the Obama campaign is keeping its Arizona campaign positive, the Arizona Democratic Party sent out a press release attacking John McCain by tying him to convicted Senator Ted Stevens late Friday afternoon.
For nearly two years, McCain's camp sought special treatment from the telecommunications industry that he regulates. His wife pushed hard to have the companies put permanent cell phone towers on the family's land in Cornville.
The press release asked several pointed questions, including:
Have you ever worked so hard to get cell phone service for your constituents? As a senator with oversight power of the telecommunications industry and the Federal Communications Commission, did you ever push companies to build cell phone towers on friends' properties? Since so many of your staffers have been lobbyists for the telecommunications industry, did they advocate that you get free cell phone towers or use their relationships to get you free cell phone towers?
And finally these:
Did you file a gift disclosure for the cell phone towers? Did you try to use your wife to avoid the Stevens scenario? How is pushing for a cell phone tower to improve your private property different from accepting a gift of remodeling services to improve the value of your home, like Ted Stevens?
This is the first press release from the Arizona Democratic Party that focuses on John McCain in more than a month. The last press release from the Arizona Democratic Party that focused on McCain was August 25. It ridiculed McCain for being unable to break 50 percent in the polls in his home state -- not exactly a vicious attack. Before that, the last time the state party had attacked McCain was July 10 in a press release that criticized him for saying that Social Security is "an absolute disgrace."
Arizona Democratic Party Spokesperson Emily DeRose had this to say about the closeness of poll numbers for the presidential race in Arizona,
In Arizona, we know John McCain better than anyone else in the country - and these new poll numbers show that the people who know him best want change. Arizona is one remaining symbol in this historic election - a symbol not only of defeating McCain, but also repudiating the failed policies of the Bush administration and signaling to the country we're ready for change.
The (Prescott) Daily Courier reported this morning that John McCain was also stepping up his efforts in Arizona with a personal visit to Prescott Monday night at 9:00 PM. After the article was released, however, the McCain campaign spent the day in seeming confusion over whether or not McCain was indeed scheduled for an appearance in Prescott. After much back and forth with Arizona reporters, the McCain campaign finally confirmed that McCain will be making an appearance there at 11:00 AM on Monday, at the Yavapai County Courthouse. This may be a symbolic appearance for John McCain, as this is also the spot where he has wrapped up his Senatorial campaigns.
The Obama campaign sent out an email Friday afternoon telling supporters in Arizona... more
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Whether vote flipping or failures to record votes are deliberate design flaws or accidental defects, asserts Brad Friedman, Democrats and Republicans alike should demand the elimination of all touch screen voting systems. A federal lawsuit against the state of Pennsylvania, for instance, seeks to require that paper ballots be made available to every voter statewide.
Beyond design flaws, electronic voting machines are still subject to tampering, charge critics like Friedman. For instance, the standardized "smart card" that slides into machines like the Sequoia Edge are used by successive voters. If an early-morning voter brings in a smart card that's been infected with a virus, it would be easy to swap out a good card for the infected card when handing it back to the poll worker. That virus could effect the voting on that machine and all other machines for the rest of the day.
So, between voter suppression and voting machine malfunctions or else outright tampering, it's possible that Obama may lose the 2008 presidential election.
The only real safeguards for Democrats are to immediately verify that their voter registration records are accurate and intact, such as through VotersUnite.org. They can vote early as a way to reduce the long lines on election day. They can demand a paper ballot instead of using the machines. If challenged at the polls, Democrats have a legal right to demand a "provisional" paper ballot, which should be counted once their registration is verified in the days after the election.
The key, of course, is for Democrats to vote in such overwhelming numbers that even voter suppression and vote fraud will not be enough to resist the wave of support for Barack Obama.
Regardless of what the polls might say, unless Democrats take steps to ensure that every vote is duly counted, Republicans may retain the White House. The risk is real.
Whether vote flipping or failures to record votes are deliberate design flaws or... more
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Las Vegas, NV -- Actor Tim Daly, known for his roles on the popular Private Practice and Sopranos dramatic series, officially enlisted Sunday in the Barack Obama campaign to capture the state of Nevada and, with it, the U.S. presidency.
"I realized that my grandfather walked with Martin Luther King forty years ago. That was his dream. And in his little way he helped us get closer to where we are today," Daly said to a roomful of union-led campaign canvassers for the local Obama campaign.
Though a leader of the very political but non-partisan celebrity grouping, The Creative Coalition, Daly said that while he's been giving money to the Obama campaign, it's only this weekend that he's going out door-to-door for his candidate. "This is our time, right now," he told The Huffington Post.
Daly was drafted by the country's largest labor union, the Service Employees International Union, as part of its celebrity-centered "Guess Who's Knocking" campaign to directly involve high-profile entertainers in its last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts.
Daly made his maiden appearance as a canvasser Sunday morning in a "war room" meeting of the local pro-Obama SEIU ground teams. Along with scores of other union members and hundreds of other volunteers, they are continuing to blanket Nevada precincts in what appears to be a successful attempt to turn the Silver State a deep blue.
The final round of polling in Nevada shows Obama up by at least five points and Vegas oddsmakers rank Obama as almost a sure winner here.
But neither campaign is letting up as Nevada's five electoral votes could still prove pivotal if Tuesday's voting tightens up at the last minute.
Michelle Obama is scheduled to rallly thousands Monday morning at a North Las Vegas community college. Monday afternoon Republican John McCain comes to the vegas suburb of Henderson where his rival Barack Obama drew a crowd of 15,000 yesterday.
Las Vegas, NV -- Actor Tim Daly, known for his roles on the popular Private... more
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Terrorising the population is not the way to win friends and influence people, take not Republicians and McCain Palin in particular.
All you have suceeded in doing is getting people who may not have voted, so mad at you, they win stand in line for hours to vote OBAMA.
Nicely done John and Sarah...Terrorising the population is not the way to win friends and influence people, take... more
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PHILADELPHIA - "John McCain promised a decent and honest campaign," said Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell at a press conference in Philadelphia this morning, "but his campaign has been anything but honest; it is desperate and dishonorable." Rendell called the press conference, held at the Obama campaign headquarters in Center City Philadelphia, to challenge lies being spread by Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin in rallies across the Commonwealth. With Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter standing next to him, Rendell challenged three issues specifically: the Republicans' claim that Obama will raise taxes on the middle class, the accusation that Obama is a socialist, and misinformation about Obama's health care policy. While the polls continue to give Obama a lead, most recently a nine-point lead, McCain and Palin are waging an all out assault on Pennsylvania, small towns in particular, in an attempt to stage a last minute upset.
"Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been practically living in Pennsylvania," Rendell said, "They should start paying taxes."
For the past few days, Rendell has been on a bus tour across the state on Obama's behalf, correcting misconceptions about the Democratic presidential nominee along the way. "It's important to set the record straight," Rendell told the spacious, but packed room of volunteers, staff and media. He explained that he'd sent a letter to McCain requesting that McCain stop lying about Barack Obama, but that the letter had gone unanswered. Rendell didn't pull any punches in confronting the McCain campaign's mendacity, "They are trying to scare the people of Pennsylvania," the governor said, "Because they have nothing else."
He began by debunking the GOP claim that Obama's will raise taxes. "It is not true that Obama will raise taxes for middle class Americans," he said. Rendell went on to explain that according to a nonpartisan think tank [The Tax Policy Center], Barack Obama and Joe Biden will cut taxes for middle class families at least three times as much as McCain would. He emphasized that Obama will, in fact, cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families and that no family making under $250,000 will see their taxes increase. Rather, they will receive a $1,000 tax cut. Under Obama's plan, senior citizens earning under $50,000, including 430,000 Pennsylvanians, will not pay taxes; and the average family will pay tax rates that are 20 percent lower than they were when Reagan was President.
In contrast, Rendell said, "Under McCain's plan, 101 million Americans--including 4.7 million Pennsylvania households and 97 percent of Pennsylvania's seniors--will receive no tax relief."
Rendell talked about Exxon-Mobil's record profits, reported yesterday, "the largest profits of any corporation in the history of the world," and how McCain wants to give Exxon-Mobil a 1.2 billion tax cut at the expense of working, middle class families.
The audience robustly applauded the governor several times during his remarks. Addressing the cost of higher education, Rendell reminded Pennsylvanians that Obama will provide a refundable tuition tax cut for families with children in college, which will allow all middle class families to send their kids to college. For families with small children, Obama will extend the child care credit to $6,000.
Rendell tackled head-on McCain and Palin's accusation that Obama is a socialist. The governor, offering a brief history lesson, explained that the graduated income tax in which those who are in the highest income bracket pay more has been in effect for one hundred years--and started under a Republican, President Teddy Roosevelt, whom McCain has referred to as his hero. The governor explained that the earned income tax credit, which offers relief to poor families so that they can continue working, started under another Republican, Ronald Reagan who was hardly a socialist.
PHILADELPHIA - "John McCain promised a decent and honest campaign," said... more
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Ahhh
McCain not pulling the crowds, and no McCain signs, was this a vote Republican locally, but don't worry about McCain tactic by the RNC?
Something was missing from the first of John McCain's seven campaign stops today: the crowd.
Kicking off the last day of the election in Tampa, Florida, John McCain was welcomed by a roughly 1,000 voters. Compare that to the 15,000 people that President Bush drew to a rally in Tampa on the eve of the 2004 election. "What's up with that?" wrote Adam Smith at the St. Petersburg Times.
Even Fox News had a bit of difficulty spinning the whole thing. Carl Cameron, who is following the Senator at every stop on Monday, said the crowd size was likely "a little bit disturbing" for the McCain campaign. He added that organizers had set up the venue predicting ten times the number of attendees.
"Last night in Miami Sen. McCain arrived for a midnight rally and had more than 10,000 people in Miami. Today in Tampa, for a morning event, it's a small crowd, only about 1,000. And I can tell you is it looks like it was set up with the perimeter and all for about 10 times this crowd. In addition, you'll note that there are no actual McCain signs here. This is one of the events that is put on, ostensibly paid for by the Republican Party."
Later in his segment, Cameron tried to explain the empty venue as a byproduct of volunteers being dispatched for get-out-the-vote activities. But he couldn't hide the fact that the Tampa kick-off wasn't the best start for a long day.
"They believe that their 72-hour get-out-the-vote exercise will make the difference," he said. "That is one of the reasons why the size of this crowd is a little bit disturbing for the McCain campaign."Ahhh
McCain not pulling the crowds, and no McCain signs, was this a vote Republican... more
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CIA-linked private military contractor Evergreen Defense & Security Services offered to post sentries at Oregon election offices on Tuesday, "detaining troublemakers" and making sure voters "do not get out of control."
In an e-mail to local election supervisors, obtained by the McMinnville, Oregon News Register, Evergreen president Tom Wiggins said he "recognized the potential conflict" that could occur on November 4th. "Never has there been a more heated battle in the race for president."
The company, he said, 'proposes to post sentries at each voting center on November 4th to assure that disputes amongst citizens do not get out of control. All guards will be unarmed, but capable of stopping any violence that may occur and detaining troublemakers until law enforcement arrives.'
Evergreen's website describes its security arm as having "nearly five decades of experience working with the U.S. Armed Forces, the Department of Defense, the Department of Interior, the United Nations, NASA, and the U.S. Air Mobility Command. Many of our contracts include highly sensitive work-scope, and take place in locations ranging from the deserts of the Middle East to the jungles of South America to the highest peaks of Mt. McKinley in Alaska."
According to the News Register, Evergreen "exudes the gung-ho patriotism that is associated with the company founder, a political conservative who enjoys close ties with the federal government and military."
No kidding. Back in the late '80s, the company "acknowledged one agreement under which his companies provide occasional jobs and cover to foreign nationals the CIA wants taken out of other countries or brought into the United States." More recently, Evergreen's parent company flew Bill O'Reilly into Kuwait in 2006, according to SourceWatch.
But rest easy: The Oregonian reports that the company struck out with its sales pitch.
UPDATE: As several commenters have pointed out, Evergreen's offer is particularly weird, since the state does its voting by mail. Voters get ballots sent to them, and can then return them to county election offices by 8pm on Tuesday. Perhaps that's where Evergreen was looking to keep the peace.CIA-linked private military contractor Evergreen Defense & Security Services... more
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Ha Ha Halliburton!!!
Cheney is a creep
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It is a foregone conclusion that Wyoming's three electoral votes will go to Sen. John McCain. It would be easy for the Star-Tribune to simply agree with the majority of voters in this red state and endorse the Republican candidate for president.
But this isn't an ordinary election, and Sen. Barack Obama has the potential to be an extraordinary leader at a time we desperately need one. The next occupant of the White House will inherit a national economy that's collapsing and two wars our nation has been fighting for years, depleting valuable resources we need to fix a multitude of domestic problems. Far too many of our nation's citizens live paycheck to paycheck, worried about whether they'll have a job next week or if a medical crisis will bankrupt them.
What America needs most in these troubled times is a president who will move the country in a positive direction. The candidate who is most likely to chart a new course that will lead us to better days is Obama. Moreover, he is the best candidate for Wyoming ...
Two of the best ways to judge presidential candidates is by looking at how they conduct their campaigns and who they select as vice president. On both fronts, Obama wins impressively.
We may not always agree with Sen. Joe Biden's decisions, but Obama tapped him to bring valuable foreign policy experience to the ticket. There is no question that the longtime senator is capable of serving as president if needed.
McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, however, shows extremely poor judgment. She has shown repeatedly that she is simply not ready to fill McCain's shoes.
Obama's advisers are extremely capable leaders. It's good to know that he turns to the likes of Warren Buffett for financial matters and retired Gen. Colin Powell on military issues. With his emphasis on diplomacy along with a commitment to protecting America, Obama gives us our best hope of regaining the respect of other nations.
If the John McCain of 2000 saw today's counterpart, he wouldn't recognize himself. McCain is no longer a GOP maverick, or the war hero whose principles were unwavering. He has flip-flopped on issues ranging from tax cuts to torture in an effort to win over the conservative base of his party. He has waged a dismal campaign based on fear and divisiveness.
We don't agree with Obama on several issues. There is no evidence that raising taxes on any segment of the population has ever stimulated the economy. He should reject this part of his economic plan.
But his campaign has been an honorable one that has focused on inclusiveness and hope. The three presidential debates showed Obama to be a calm, thoughtful leader with a unique vision of the future. The contrast with his opponent, who seemed angry and erratic, could not have been more stark or more telling.
We endorse Barack Obama for president.Ha Ha Halliburton!!!
Cheney is a creep... more
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“I wanted to see the next vice president of the United States,” said Josh Simmons, Gators for McCain chairman.
Simmons said he voted for Obama about two weeks ago.
“I’ve seen a different John McCain than the one I signed up to work for,” he said.
Simmons said he submitted his resignation Sunday night and will no longer be chairman for the group, which has more than 1,000 members.
“I expect them to be incredibly pissed off,” he said. “I wanted to see the next vice president of the United States,” said Josh... more
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pop!talk recaps Barack Obama's political road to the White House. From Fox's "fair and balanced" death threats, McCain's anything goes campaign and Obama's controversial supporters, what a journey it has been. In spite of it all, Obama leads in the race, and with the future of the United States riding on his back he will cross the finish line victorious. OH YEAH! pop!talk recaps Barack Obama's political road to the White House. From Fox's... more
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THE NAVY BRAT
On campus, McCain's short fuse was legend. "We'd hear this thunderous screaming and yelling between him and his roommate — doors slamming — and one of them would go running down the hall," recalls Phil Butler, who lived across the hall from McCain at the academy. "It was a regular occurrence."
When McCain was not shown the pampering to which he was accustomed, he grew petulant — even abusive. He repeatedly blew up in the face of his commanding officer. It was the kind of insubordination that would have gotten any other midshipman kicked out of Annapolis. But his classmates soon realized that McCain was untouchable. Midway though his final year, McCain faced expulsion, about to "bilge out" because of excessive demerits. After his mother intervened, however, the academy's commandant stepped in. Calling McCain "spoiled" to his face, he nonetheless issued a reprieve, scaling back the demerits. McCain dodged expulsion a second time by convincing another midshipman to take the fall after McCain was caught with contraband.
"He was a huge screw-off," recalls Butler. "He was always on probation. The only reason he graduated was because of his father and his grandfather — they couldn't exactly get rid of him."
McCain's graduated fifth from the bottom — 894th out of a class of 899.
BOTTOM GUN
In the cockpit, McCain was not a top gun, or even a middling gun. He took little interest in his flight manuals; he had other priorities.
"I enjoyed the off-duty life of a Navy flier more than I enjoyed the actual flying," McCain writes. "I drove a Corvette, dated a lot, spent all my free hours at bars and beach parties." McCain chased a lot of tail. He hit the dog track. Developed a taste for poker and dice. He picked up models when he could, screwed a stripper when he couldn't.
In the air, the hard-partying McCain had a knack for stalling out his planes in midflight. He was still in training, in Texas, when he crashed his first plane into Corpus Christi Bay during a routine practice landing.
McCain's thrill-seeking carried over into his day job. Flying over the south of Spain one day, he decided to deviate from his flight plan. Rocketing along mere feet above the ground, his plane sliced through a power line. His self-described "daredevil clowning" plunged much of the area into a blackout.
That should have been the end of McCain's flying career. "In the Navy, if you crashed one airplane, nine times out of 10 you would lose your wings," says Butler, who, like his former classmate, was shot down and taken prisoner in North Vietnam. Spark "a small international incident" like McCain had? Any other pilot would have "found themselves as the deck officer on a destroyer someplace in a hurry," says Butler.
"But, God, he had family pull. He was directly related to the CEO — you know?"
McCain was undeterred by the crashes. Nearly a decade out of the academy, his career adrift, he decided he wanted to fly combat in Vietnam. He needed to secure a command post in the Navy — and to do that, his career needed the jump-start that only a creditable war record could provide.
McCain was soon transferred to McCain Field — an air base in Meridian, Mississippi, named after his grandfather — to train for a post on the carrier USS Forrestal.
That December, McCain crashed again. Flying back from Philadelphia, where he had joined in the reverie of the Army-Navy football game, McCain stalled while coming in for a refueling stop in Norfolk, Virginia. This time he managed to bail out at 1,000 feet. As his parachute deployed, his plane thundered into the trees below.
By now, however, McCain's flying privileges were virtually irrevocable — and he knew it. On one of his runs at McCain Field, when ground control put him in a holding pattern, the lieutenant commander once again pulled his family's rank. "Let me land," McCain demanded over his radio, "or I'll take my field and go home!"
THE NAVY BRAT
On campus, McCain's short fuse was legend. "We'd hear... more
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In recent days, both Fox News and the Associated Press have called out the McCain campaign for its hypocritical criticism of Sen Barack Obama’s (D-IL) tax plan. Both Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) have referred to Obama as the “Redistributor in Chief” or “Barack the Wealth Spreader.” Back in Alaska, however, Palin strengthened the state’s redistributive policies, instituting a windfall profits tax to ensure that Alaskans got their “equitable” share of oil companies’ profits.
Despite this, McCain campaign blogger Michael Goldfarb, maintains that Alaska does not redistribute wealth. Echoing McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds’s recent claim, Goldfarb told Fox News yesterday:
“This is not redistribution in the sense of you take money away from one guy who’s working real hard, and give it away to someone who’s not working at all.”
In fact, that is exactly what Alaska’s Permanent Fund dividend payments do. Each year since 1976, “[a]t least 25 percent of all mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sales proceeds, federal mineral revenue-sharing payments and bonuses” taken in by the state — predominantly from the oil industry — are “placed in a permanent fund.” A portion of that fund’s annual earnings are “transferred to the State’s dividend fund,” which is then divided among Alaskans in the form of yearly dividend checks.
As Sandy Parr at the Alaska Department of Revenue confirmed to ThinkProgress, every resident of Alaska, even “someone who’s not working at all,” is eligible for a dividend payment — this year totaling $3,269.
Palin herself recently explained the dividend program to the New Yorker, saying:
And Alaska—we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs. … It’s to maximize benefits for Alaskans, not an individual company, not some multinational somewhere, but for Alaskans.
By Goldfarb’s own definition, Palin is a “Wealth Spreader.”In recent days, both Fox News and the Associated Press have called out the McCain... more
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More lies and hypocrisy from the filth talk express
During the 2005 debate, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) was one such critic: “It is my understanding that the amendment, according to Charles River Associates, which analyzed its provisions, would cause the loss of 24,000 to 47,000 Ohio jobs in 2010. … The McCain amendment will put coal out of business.” Three years later — after unprecedented wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts — McCain has abandoned his brave stand. Instead, with the help of those of the far right he once challenged, he is now putting polluters firstMore lies and hypocrisy from the filth talk express
During the 2005 debate, Sen.... more
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Well she is busy having her hair, nails and makeup done for when she takes over the white house, erm, when she is a "team player" at the white house...
Well she is busy having her hair, nails and makeup done for when she takes over the... more
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The economy has gotten so bad in the past few months that it has overshadowed other issues in the presidential race, including terrorism. That's been bad news for the campaign of Republican John McCain, because polls consistently show that more voters trust him than Democrat Barack Obama to protect Americans from terrorists.
But voters are selling Mr. Obama short. He took an interest from the get-go in his Senate career in preventing terrorists from getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction. That well-chosen priority, and his work with a Republican leader on it, testify to the Illinois Democrat's sound judgment and bipartisan instincts on national security.
[more at the website]The economy has gotten so bad in the past few months that it has overshadowed other... more
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Well now, I did say it was easy to hack the vote, and so it is it seems.
I suppose they are doing the same right now.
Well now, I did say it was easy to hack the vote, and so it is it seems.
I suppose... more
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TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A former Apollo crew member will be knocking on doors for the Obama campaign this weekend.
Rusty Schweickart will join the Obamanauts, Space Coast residents who support Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, in their get-out-the-vote effort this weekend. He will be
Schweickart, who was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997, was the Lunar Module pilot on the first NASA mission to test the moon landing vehicle in space.TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A former Apollo crew member will be knocking on doors for the... more
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Don't be put off by long lines, they are intended to make you give up and go home...
Sit it out, bring food and water
And after this election, demand the paper ballot is returned, these machines make it harder to vote, not including the fact that they are flipping them.
Video your vote on your cellphoneDon't be put off by long lines, they are intended to make you give up and go... more
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