Who do you know personallly who isn't planning to vote?

[pstokely]

Tell them the line will be short

[ThomWV]

1. Almost none of my neighbors will vote - or ever have

And there is nothing you can say to them that will entice them to go out and vote. Nothing. They take pride in the fact they don't vote, its something I've never understood. They are actually proud that they don't participate.

[pstokely]

2. At least they won't vote Repuke

nt

[Ikonoklast]

9. People are stupid, that's all there is to it.

If they could only see that there are real, tangible results from their actions, for both good and ill, they just might change their minds...but one first must have a functioning mind in order for it to be changed.

The arrogance of the willfully ignorant astounds me; I would be ashamed to tell someone that I didn't vote.

Many a brave person in this country's history, and many others around the world, gave their lives for the chance to have their voices heard through voting for their political leadership.

[Tippy]

3. I have been begging people to vote but

my daddy once told me you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. You would not believe the excuses I've heard. I've decided come next election I am going to begin workng on first graders, possibly just possibly by the time they come to voting age I might have them convinced. One time I was able to convinve a man who was 75 years old who had never even registered to vote to do so. My shinning moment....Poor ol fwellow passed on before the following election...but John Kerry got his vote.

[Teaser]

4. my wife wasn't going...

however, when I heard that I nearly had a seizure...and she seems to have changed course.

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. My husband wasn't going to either. He has had a change of heart.

:bounce:

[independent_voter]

5. I honestly dont think democrats have ever had less of a message

and i'm not saying that people shouldnt vote democrat, or that the republicans would be better, i'm saying that 'the republicans would be worse' is a message that has limitations and that's what you are seeing

Americans are suffering greatly because of globalism/free trade - and it seems the party is silent about this issue

[ixion]

12. The Dems message: "STFU and vote for us or the GOP wins"

which means nothing, given that there is almost no difference in their actions once they've won.

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. Yup. That's the exact same thing Nader told us in 2000. How'd that work out?

:eyes:

[independent_voter]

23. 2000 was lost by Gore, not Nader, and Perot gave Clinton 1992 in the first place

the economy was a house of cards, but people didnt understand that yet

the economy looked like success, but Gore was obcessed with distancing himself from Clinton over Monica, rsther than embracing what (looked like) economic success in spite of troubling globalism that they had supported (which came home to roost later)

what do you want to do - outlaw 3rd parties? make a rule that if democrats stonewall an issue, that no other candidate or entity is allowed to discuss it?

(and no, I didnt vote Nader in 2000, but I did vote Perot in 1992. I didnt vote in 2000, because i had to go out of state to get work after my field had been flooded with H-1bs, I didnt think I owed Gore anything, and it wouldnt have made any difference in my Red state anyway)

have you forgotten than clinton/gore got in in the first place in 1992, becasue Ross Perot address some of the same issues that Nader discussed, at Bush's expense?

3rd party giveth, and 3rd party taketh away - the real big picture here, is that independents have been punishing the incumbant regardless of party, who ignores their concerns about globalism for the last 18 years

[Joe Fields]

29. 2000 was lost by Gore's attorneys. Not Gore.

[BzaDem]

31. What does "who lost 2000" have to do with anything? The post simply said that you are making the

same argument that Nader did.

Of course, it is completely obvious to any non-comatose human being that Nader single-handedly gave the election to Bush. But even if you somehow disagree with that obvious statement, it has NOTHING to do with the statement that you are making the same argument that Nader did.

[ixion]

24. So you blame Nader for the SCOTUS decision to select Bush over the popular vote winner

gee, yeah, that makes all kinds of sense. :eyes:

Oh, and your 'team' didn't fight for a hill of beans, rather, they allowed the neocons to steal the election, and in some cases, they helped.

Nader had nothing to do with it, other than running on something other than "shut up and vote for us."

[Tarheel_Dem]

25. Ralph Nader, and by extension, his supporters have blood on their hands. (nt)

[independent_voter]

26. Congress declares war, not the president

not trying to let Bush off the hook for pushing for it, but CONGRESS declares war, not the president

it wa a bipartison authorization. The late sen Byrd correctly called the authorization unconstitutional

from wiki

Of the legislation introduced by Congress in response to President Bush's requests<6>, S.J.Res. 45 sponsored by Sen. Daschle & Sen. Lott was based on the original White House proposal authorizing the use of force in Iraq, H.J.Res. 114 sponsored by Rep. Hastert & Rep. Gephardt and the substantially similar S.J.Res. 46 sponsored by Sen. Lieberman were modified proposals. H.J.Res. 110 sponsored by Rep. Hastings was a separate proposal never considered on the floor. Eventually, the Hastert-Gephardt proposal became the legislation Congress focused on.

Introduced in Congress on October 2, 2002, in conjunction with the

[BzaDem]

30. Are you KIDDING me? You REALLY think that we would be in Iraq with a President Gore?

:rofl:

[independent_voter]

32. without dems cosponsoring the house and senate war authorization bill, it wouldnt have passed

when I say that, people say 'well they didnt know bush would do something like that'

but the nader voters (which I wasnt) were supposed to know?

cant have it both ways

not saying gore would have done it

but i am saying dems could have stopped it

again, you made this gore vs bush, and ignored my point that CONGRESS, not the president declare war

any war is the responsibility of congress even if they delegate that duty away

[ixion]

27. far less than ANY dem or rethug in office, though

far, far less... or their supporters.

[rucky]

33. Ted Strickland's running non-stop on that issue.

Taking a tough and smart stance that should be giving him a boost, but it's not.

Sadly, I think it's the voters that are silent on the issue.

[Change Happens]

6. Not one single person........

I am talking Dems. who I know voted for Obama and now say they won't vote at all.

[LaurenG]

7. Everyone I talk politics with is planning to vote. I work with a bunch of republicans so

I'm not mentioning a thing to them and hope they don't vote.

[CBR]

8. Everyone I know is voting. nt

[Iggo]

10. I know people who never vote and are proud of it.

Seriously. The kind of people who, when a conversation take a political turn, exclaim "Well, I NEVER vote!", like it's for the win or something.

I get the feeling they think it's like taking a test they didn't study for. Not only do I tell them how important it is, and how easy it is, I usually end with the comment that it takes longer to take a shit than it does to vote. Sadly, I know of exactly one person that line has worked on in the last thirty years. The rest of 'em keep looking for reasons NOT to vote, and they are too damn easy to find.

[BolivarianHero]

20. I may only vote in municipal elections as long as I live in this neighbourhood...

I live in an Ottawa-area riding that hasn't changed hands since before the Great Depression. There's honestly little point in voting in Canadian elections unless you live in suburban Toronto or the BC Lower Mainland, as those are the marginal seats that decide the election. And unlike your elections, I can't show up and vote down-ticket because all of those positions rely on hired civil servants rather than on elections (which is how it should be for stuff like coroners and judges and agricultural commissioners, but it's still a disincentive..lol).

[pintobean]

11. Six of my neighbors

who usually vote Democrat. I've lived here a long time and have never seen anything like this. The repug yard signs outnumber ours by about 3-1. It's usually the opposite.

[tjwash]

13. Just sent out my ballot in Cali

I voted for Brown, simply because Whitman passed up the 200 million dollar mark and I really don't think that she should be able to buy an election. Brown is a shithead, but Whitman is a union busting asshole that gave herself huge bonuses right before she riffed entire divisions of the company she was in charge of, into thin air.

I went straight green party on everything else. The dems have had a majority in everything for 2 years and we are still getting soldiers killed in the middle east, and all of the major money still goes to fill the coffers of megacorps, with no end of that in sight, and that is just plain unacceptable.

[Gaedel]

14. My wife

Every two years, I have to drag her kicking and screaming to the voting booth (I have given up on getting her to off-year elections and primaries). She just really does not want to vote or have me contribute (Obama should be sending me money!).

[elocs]

15. Taken as a group, the people that DUers know personally probably are likely to vote,

but off year election turnout is notoriously poor. That is why getting out the vote of the base is vital to election success.

[pstokely]

16. Getting out the base is not enough, we need to get out some infrequent voters

We can win if we get enough infrequent voters out. Don't have to get all the infrequent voters who came out in 2008 out but a lot of them.

[elocs]

17. Unless Democrats get their base out to vote the infrequent voters will not matter.

If you cannot inspire or motivate your base to turn out, then how on earth will the infrequent voters be inspired or motivated to vote for Democrats? Especially if they believe as we so often read here at DU that there is no difference between the 2 parties.

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. I don't know people like this, and I guess it's best. I don't hang out with selfish..

people.

[TBF]

22. We have a mom's group (with message board) in our area -

unfortunately it is South Texas. The repubs started the thread about going to vote early. I chimed in about being labor and voting for the most progressive folks possible, but I was one of the few dems who posted.

[Joe Fields]

28. Me.