THE LAST ELECTION THREAD!! (I hope!!)

[Cheyenne]

My prediction for tonight is that whoever wins will end up serving for a maximum of four years, perhaps even less, and will probably do more to help the opposing party than their own.

Care to elaborate? Any plots to kill "him" that I haven't heard about?

 

[Laurel]

What is that supposed to mean, exactly?

 

[Cheyenne]

What is that supposed to mean, exactly?

That's what I was asking you. See your bolded phrase above. To serve less than four years, something would have to happen like a natural death, someone kills the pres, he gets impeached and actually thrown out of the office (but we all know how unlikely THAT one is based on the Clinton fiasco), etc.

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[Laurel]

Of course I meant that he might not serve out his Presidency, via stepping down for some reason. I just don't know where you got the killing thing. That's rather grisly and strange, and while I don't understand exactly what you were trying to say, I do think you were definitely trying to say something. I don't recall making personal attacks on you in this forum, but perhaps I missed something. If I did, I do apologize.

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[Cheyenne]

Of course I meant that he might not serve out his Presidency, via stepping down for some reason. I just don't know where you got the killing thing. That's rather grisly and strange, and while I don't understand exactly what you were trying to say, I do think you were definitely trying to say something. I don't recall making personal attacks on you in this forum, but perhaps I missed something. If I did, I do apologize.

Nope, nothing personal Laurel.
Death was just the first thing that popped into my head when I read your post. I'm in a grisly mood today, I guess, other than the fun I'm now having watching the returns. The rest of the day has been shit. I honestly didn't even consider impeachment, resignation, etc. as options until you questioned what I meant, as those are rare reasons for us to lose a pres. Death is much more likely I think. (And history major Lasher will correct me if I'm wrong on that count, I think.)

 

[Nicole]

Lasher I have Bush in front by a mere 1% would that be right?

I also have quite a few States still to be decided and I may have missed this while I was gone but it looks to me like they Have taken Florida from Gore, and made it undecided.

Okay now help me out please, Where is that State going by your calculations???

By my Map looks to me like Bush is the winner but there is way too much undecided yet and I have to go for a few hours, by the time I get back it will be over

Lasher Thanks for helping me out today, I have never had so much fun watching an Election Result and it still isn't over yet.

Really thanks for helping me, I believe I have learnt more about your politics today than I have reading any political thread on here before.

Lasher you really did miss your calling, You should be teaching this. Thank-you.

I'll let you all know when I'm back and by the way I think Bush will win. Not sure if that is good or Bad but, I think he will be your next President.

 

[Laurel]

Good night, all.

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[Juliangel]

CelestialBody

I meant to ask you this afternoon, How did you enjoy voting in your very first presidental election?

I did make it back to vote. I spent 2 hours in line but I did cast my vote.

 

[April]

How can a winner be declared in a state when not all the votes have been counted and not all precincts are reporting in? I just don't understand. According to CNN, only 21% of California is reporting.

I know from local news reports that a lot of people around the Little Rock area weren't allowed to vote. Some of the precincts ran out of ballots by midday and didn't get any more! Big oops!

 

[Juliangel]

How can a winner be declared in a state when not all the votes have been counted and not all precincts are reporting in? I just don't understand

I do not understand that either. There have been MAJOR PROBLEMS voting here in Georgia and we still have people voting at 12:30.

 

[Adoratrice]

maybe we should just light the candles all hold hands and chant "GOREGOREGOREGORE"


you never know.

 

[Ambrosious]

How it works (as I understand it) is the pollsters ask each person how they voted when they exit polling places. The answers are taken at the key precints. Her it would be All of Atlanta, savannah, macon, etc. With that raw data, pundits and news org. make their predictions. That is all tonight is, popular vote and predictions. The electoral college cast its votes in a couple of days. They are supposed to chose according to popular vote. Most of the time they do. If they voted for the loser, that vote would still count.

 

[Cheyenne]

maybe we should just light the candles all hold hands and chant "GOREGOREGOREGORE"

GEORGEGEORGEGEORGEGEORGE!!!! Oops, thought you had a spelling error. Nevermind....

 

[Juliangel]

The electoral college cast its votes in a couple of days. They are supposed to chose according to popular vote. Most of the time they do. If they voted for the loser, that vote would still count.

Not to make light of it but hey it is late and I am so tired but wouldn't it be funny if the popular vote went to one of them, it was announced he won, and in a day or so the electoral college elects the other one.

 

[Ambrosious]

It HAS happened before, if I heard CNN right, but never in the 20th century. And most electors are picked for party loyalty now. Take GA for instance. Bush won. All of the electors casting their votes will be Rep. The population doesn't directly elect the pres. We elect the people who do. Pretty much guarantees that the electors sent will ALL vote for the winner of that state, but they can change their mind.

 

[Lasher]

For about two thirds of the states, if not more, there was never a doubt for the outcome. For some of the closer states, the ones that have been called already, it's done through exit polling. Which is pretty effective, every state I've picked a winner in tonite has been done through exit polling (Btw, I haven't done the exit polling, I'm using other people's numbers). A couple of'em I picked 3 hours before the news sites picked a winner. The only one it seems I've picked wrong so far was New Mexico, and like I said when I picked it, the poll numbers were only about two tenths (.2) of a percentage point off. Way within the margin of error as I found out.

The Electoral College meets in December, its vote is revealed in January. Each candidate has a slate of electors pre-selected in each state. If Gore wins a state, his Electors get to vote, same for Bush. Only 7 electors in the History of the United States have cast their vote for someone other than they have been selected for. Last to do it was an elector from West Virginia in 1988 who had been selected for Michael Dukakis and actually cast his vote for Dukakis' running mate Lloyd Bentsen... A pretty smart move when you think about it.

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but so far about 78 million votes have been counted, and the difference in the popular vote is about 640,000... That comes out to a .8 percentage point difference between the candidates... That's pretty damn tight. There's some pretty amazing numbers out there when you really look at'em.

 

[Ambrosious]

Yeah, how are you going to get a "mandate" when the country is so evenly split. There is no "message" to read into this, as in "We're sending a message to Washington!"

 

[Laurel]

Sorry, had to share this one:

http://www.onion.com/onion3640/bush_or_gore.html

 

[Juliangel]

I have been up 19 hours I cannot stay awake any longer. I guess I will miss the final count and hear it tomorrow. Good Night y'all.

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[Cheyenne]

Wisconsin

FYI: Wisconsin tally normally swings heavily towards Democratic when Madison and Milwaukee city votes are counted. It is the counties of the north and the counties around Milwaukee that tend to vote Republican. While it is very very close, the votes from the northern reaches of the state are usually counted towards the end. My guess is that Bush still swings Wisconsin if traditional patterns hold true.

 

[CelestialBody]