All of you who plan to "write in" your candidate's name

[Maddy McCall]

You need to check with your Secretary of State's office to see if write-ins will even be counted.

In most states, write-ins are disregarded unless the candidate is not declaring a party and has filed papers to be a "write-in" candidate.

Therefore, while a symbolic gesture, in most states your vote won't even count or be counted.

Just a heads up, so you know what you're doing.

Edit to clarify: IN THE GENERAL ELECTION

[FloridaPat]

1. That happened in Florida in 2000 - any ballot with writing was

discarded. And I had plans on voting for Mickey Mouse too!

[Maddy McCall]

46. god knows we want NO REPEAT of Florida 2000

My prayers are with you. :-)

[bryant69]

2. I'm pretty sure they do know what they are diong

"Hey the country needs to suffer for rejecting Candidate X. I mean Candidate X was clearly the man for the job, and his rejection just shows the total corruption of the American people. If President Bush wins a second term and runs the country into the ground bringing suffering to Americans at home, and people throughout the world, well that's a small price to pay to punish them for their rejection of Candidate X."

Myself I plan on voting for my favorite candidate, Anybody but Bush.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[trotsky]

12. LOL

Perfectly stated.

[Tinoire]

3. Good info.... So it's a meaningless gesture in the end...

Well-intentioned but totally meaningless.

[dae]

4. Clark's still on the ballot in LA. Don't have to write him in...

:)

[Lefta Dissenter]

6. Note the edit in the OP

to clarify - General Election.

In the meantime, I can tell you, it feels GREAT to vote for
****General Wesley Clark**** ! :bounce:

and whoever I see with a D next to his name on the ballot in the GE, well, he's getting my vote!

[Maddy McCall]

8. Yes, if the candidate is already on the primary ballot, your vote will be

counted. I clarified General Election, because there will only be one Dem candidate's name on the ballot in the GE.

[dae]

10. Sorry, no GE when posted. It's THE(D) then. n/t

:dem:

[Lefta Dissenter]

11. dae, I figured as much :) (eom)

:toast:

[Guaranteed]

5. Oh, so you mean that even if I vote for Dean, he won't win?

Gee...maybe I should just forget all my principles then and vote for someone that doesn't deserve it.

[Maddy McCall]

7. I didn't make the laws...and I insinuate NOTHING

Take it out on your legislature if you don't like it--I only take credit for bringing this to your attention.

But if you insist on writing in, but all means write away.

[LuLu550]

9. There is no reason why someone who has strong feelings

for a candidate who has dropped out should not vote for him in the primary. It will help keep that candidate's agenda alive at the convention.
I'm voting for Clark. After the convention, the ABB strategy kicks in, even if I have to hold my nose to pull the lever.

[salin]

13. No offense

but these discussions really ought to wait a little while - out of respect for those who are just regrouping after investing emotionally in a cause that just ended. Just as there was a period of something akin to mourning needed for some Clark supporters after the General left the race... there is a time that should be given to the Dean supporters. This is about as relevant as a three dollar bill given that it is about the general election which is 10 months away - and could be discussed a week from now - five weeks from now up until election day.

Right now it reads as a good McDonald's salt package cracked open and poured on an open wound to other duers. It seems pointless (the election isn't immediate, and peoples' comments about maybe writing in a candidate - when their favorite has just dropped out - is probably not an indication of where the heart/head will be in November) - and cruel. There is enough cruelty and harshness exchanged between different groups on DU on a daily basis, that it frequently breaks a small piece of my heart. So many feel that because representatives of another group said something that was perceived to be heartless and cruel that there is a righteousness in serving the same back. Who cares if many others are slapped as well who have not engaged in the battle. The first step to cleaning up the mess and eventually unifying again, is to stop trying to score points at others expense when they are at their most vulnerable. That may not be the intent of the thread - but given the content and timing... it is easily read in this vein.

[Maddy McCall]

14. No salt intended...just information to people who plan to write in

any candidate's name in the general election.

Not geared only at Dean supporters. If I planned to write in, I would want to know that my vote didn't count.

[salin]

16. If you were talking about primaries... it would make sense

but tone and timing... make it read otherwise. The general election is ten months away. This public service message isn't exactly an urgent one...

[Maddy McCall]

18. I'll admit, the plethora of "write in" posts today prompted me to look

at the law, and this is what I found. How long would you have me sit on this before posting it?

Aren't we all adults here? Is this factual info so hurtful to one's psyche??

This is a political forum, no? Not self-esteem underground.

[salin]

19. It was tacky and classless when hours after the General made his

announcements that some duers were gleefully making pleas to his supporters to gangup with them on another candidate (that came from a couple of directions, but too much from one particular direction.)

This, and other threads, are just as tacky and not helpful.

The ongoing dynamic here between different groups has continued to be damaging - in ways that will, I expect, have an impact upon folks willingness to get active on local levels where we really need it (congressional campaigns, local campaigns where we need to take back state legislatures, etc.) I don't believe that we will win a damn thing if we continue to push and pull at each other to the point where folks only commitment is to "hold my nose and pull the lever." The way we are currently out fundraised by the GOP (at most levels, not just the presidential campaign)... our only chance is to be more activated and mobilized up and down the line.. going door to door, engaging people in conversation, etc.

The dynamic here - plays into a larger dynamic. A single candidate supporter gets aggressive, crosses the line and gets more than obnoxious... a supporter of the target candidate gets equally aggressive to "counter" the first person... maybe even gets more nasty... and does so self-righteously... But, suddenly two other supporters of the first candidate are fueled by outrage of the response of the second person and jump in and make it even nastier - and they are justified... and those reactions reach five supporters of the second candidate - who are offended to the core and now read any neutral statement by the candidate through a poisoned lens and read much more in and start taking those comments in different (always negative/nasty) ways and start really over the line smears... and of course because of the behavior of the others... feel completely self-righteously justified in doing so... and in response... ... ... Now the animosity is so great that people take great glee in participating... and can no longer recognize that they have any personal responsibility for their part in the drama... and of course that there could be no negative effects of the overall dynamic... but - there lies the rub... there is a big potential negative effect that lies in more than a few votes being written in for a third party candidate... it lies in moving folks - who could be front line actors in bringing in many, many more votes - to a point of such anger and disgust that they move to inaction - and we, collectively, lose the bigger battle - not just for the White House... but for congressional seats, for state house seats, for local school boards and/or town/city councils. Oh, thats right, we are just talking about self-esteem. I should just be quiet again, because it is a political board not a self-esteem board, and clearly I have no sight of any bigger picture.

[Maddy McCall]

20. Please tell me how I am making pleas for anyone to gang up with me

I am presenting information. Period. If you don't like it, so be it.

But it is a fact with which voters have to deal, like it or not, and (as many Dean supporters said when they gleefully celebrated the Kerry rumor) it is better to know now the laws by which they will have to play than later. Therefore, they can decide whether or not they want their vote to be counted.

That's all, and I couldn't give an acrobatic copulation whether they decide to support my candidate or not. It's THEIR decision.


Next...

[salin]

21. I leave my point

as made. Accept it or not. I think we have already lost some from the General's camp who might have greatly contributed to the larger picture to which I speak... and expect we will see more from the Dean camp. Not a great way to "take back America", imo. But here in the forums, this thread and many are in great company to the greater cause and as we lose folks who were on the cusp of becoming politically motivated and activated due to petty rancor at the point of initial political engagement... I sigh deeply at lost potential and opportunties... and the short-sightedness that spurs the whole cycle along.

Frankly - I don't take anyone's comment about their vote - voiced within a couple of hours of their candidate's departure from a race - as an indication that they are in need of a civic lesson... because they ought to know the law. Rather I suspect that it is the expression of disappointment that follows the announcement. But hey - the salt is more fun, isn't it... because they really ought to know before for it is too late.. ten months from now.

[Maddy McCall]

22. LOL! Your diatribe should be posted somewhere where it might be

applicable. Just reread your other post...glad to know that my post about state and federal voting laws will bring about the downfall of western civilization. LOL!

You are insinuating vile intent where there was none. I am not responsible for the hypersensitivity presented in your thread.

Can you give me your email address so that I can check with you before I schedule any future posts? :eyes:

[salin]

28. right

I am far and well known for unreasonable diatribes and posts. I have worked long and earnestly to try to taunt others... I am the worst of the worst and request that all send their proposed posts to me first because I am so unreasonable and irrationale that I might just go off on a completely pointless diatribe if not cleared first... {/sarcasm}

Probably a quick first response that just acknowledged that maybe the timing of the post was a bit tacky might have sufficed. But when instructed that this isn't a self-esteem forum - it seemed germaine to give the explanation as to why I perceive the ongoing GD04 dynamic as having a bigger issue than self-esteem - one actually related to a political board. I only state this to explain why I went into a longer explanation- and that a lot of folks whom I respect seem to have moved into this dynamic ... and personally I think the end dynamic - with folks in cycles of hostility - make future discussions, be they about policy, strategy, local actions, etc - less likely to occur due to the built up animosity which tempts folks to always look for another poster's agenda rather than to engage in action discussions.

[Maddy McCall]

29. But your whole problem is that you misjudge my post as hostile

Did I state ANY opinion in my post? When other smartass remarks were made on this thread, did I reply? The answer to both questions is a resounding NO.

Why don't you take your lecture to the truly hostile threads and quit trying to interpret my agenda?

Or better yet, just keep on lecturing me. :eyes:

[salin]

31. I pointed out that given the timing and content (about GE) that it

was read as hostile. It is the context of the often hostile GD04 forum that makes it more likely to be read that way (meaning that so many threads are direct and indirect taunts.)

[Maddy McCall]

32. Please don't use passive voice...say that YOU read it as hostile.

Remarkably, some Dean supporters said thanks. Amazing the difference in people's perceptions, isn't it!

[salin]

35. next time I start a thread

that you read as potentially hostile - please call me on it.

[Maddy McCall]

40. If I really believed that, I would handle it with you through PM.

But since you saw fit to castigate me here, I responded as I saw fit. And since you are as firm in your belief that I intended hostility as I am in my KNOWLEDGE that I did not, then it looks like this discussion will go nowhere.

In all honesty, however, I can't recall ever having correspondence or dialogue with you so I am perplexed as to why you now feel the duty to be my internet nanny.

Lecture on, if you wish.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RetroLounge]

15. Here, let me open the wound deeper.

Does Heinz Catsup own Morton Salt too?

Here, we rub salt in wound now. There.

Ahhhh. Now we feel better...

[Maddy McCall]

17. So when would you prefer to know that your write-in vote doesn't count?

Take it up with your Sec. of State if you have a problem.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

30. LOL!

Should I post the...nah, it isn't worth the warning.

[jonnyblitz]

23. I am glad to get this info.

how can it be bad to know these things? thanks. :thumbsup:

[Maddy McCall]

25. You're welcome...I had heard this rumor during our gubernatorial election

this past fall, but never checked into it. I checked into it today, and surely enough, it's true.

Thanks for the thanks. :-)

[Cleita]

24. It doesn't matter.

That will be a vote that won't go to a "hold your nose" candidate and it may make a bigger difference than you might believe.

[Maddy McCall]

26. At least you are making an informed decision.

:-)

[Adelante]

33. Never planned to write-in for the GE

However, I didn't know this, jchild, so thanks! :)

[Maddy McCall]

34. You're welcome!

I have considered voting Clark on the primary, but I am about to decide to go ahead an vote Kerry, because every vote will count in Mississippi--OPEN primaries.

[Adelante]

36. Those open primaries are scary things

I'll transfer my primary vote to Kerry if it matters, too. We'll see when the time comes, but I am hoping to be able to cast my primary vote for Wes.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

42. I stand by my post...

I can't help that there is hypersensitivity in this forum today. Perhaps those with raw wounds should give it a rest for a day or two. Then maybe nonaggressive posts like this one won't rub them the wrong way when they come back.

Just a suggestion...

[madfloridian]

39. Dean is still on the ballots, and asked for our support.

QUOTE:
DEAN: I am no longer actively pursuing the presidency. We will, however, continue to build a new organization, using our enormous grassroots network, to continue the effort to transform the Democratic Party and to change our country. And I...

(APPLAUSE)

And speaking to all of you and all of the hundreds of thousands of people around America who are going to get this word, either by the establishment media...

(LAUGHTER)

... or the Internet, I have some things that I specifically want to ask of our supporters.

First, keep active in the primary. Sending delegates to the convention only continues to energize our party. Fight on in the caucuses. We are on the ballots. Use your network to send progressive delegates to the convention in Boston. We are not going away. We are staying together, unified -- all of us.

[Maddy McCall]

41. I believe Dean asked for you to support the Dem nominee in the GE

and that is what I am addressing in this post. I have no problem with anyone voting for whomever in the primaries.

[burning bush]

44. Dean has a political future to worry about

I don't.

And, since my vote doesn't count, I'll use it to promote the guy I think has the biggest, hairiest yellow ass in the entire race.

Where I come from, big hairy yellow asses make you electable. It's a real mark of power and priveledge. Might as well be, as the word of the year seems to be "arbitrary."

Now if each of the candidates could please bend over...You already were? Hey, just makes my job all the easier...

[burning bush]

43. In that case

I'll be writing in Kerry's name I suppose.

45. touche!

ah a sense of humor.