Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Bark louder, little dog.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

He really is that stupid.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

T R E 4 5 O N

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Republicans in disarray!

Not all heroes wear capes.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / Mid-Afternoon Open Thread–GOTVD

Reader Interactions

54Comments

  2. 2.

    mainmati

    Early voted. Even then, long lines because we have referenda on marriage equality and Dream Act in-state tuition among others; oh and a President too.

  3. 3.

    Face

    Can I Get Out The Budweiser instead?

    Gunna need a strong dose of the happy sauce to keep me from launching my remote at Wolf Blitzer and David Gregory tonite.

  5. 5.

    The Red Pen

    I am currently convincing my Republican friends to vote for Jonathan Dine. Successfully, I might add.

  8. 8.

    ericblair

    Oh good, a new post. The old one was getting very full and smelt funny, and was getting infested by insects. I like the new post smell and the warranty.

  9. 9.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    Voted, and don’t intend to watch or listen to any Legacy Media tonight. I may have to cut the soles off my shoes, sit in a tree and play the flute until this is over.

  12. 12.

    Schlemizel

    between the new job & my general well being (along with a distaste for Amy Klobuchar who will get re-elected without my help) I only put in about 100 hours this fall & nothing today. It will have to do.

    On the up side, turn out has been outstanding so far

  13. 13.

    peach flavored shampoo

    Winger at work asked me who the Dems would run in 2016 (assuming O wins). I honestly had no comeback. Is our bench that thin that I cannot think of a single person ‘sides Hillary?

  17. 17.

    Svensker

    Voted a few weeks ago, absentee. Been busy obsessively checking blogs all day. But actually also getting some work done because I’m glued to the computer.

    New posts, however, cause productivity to falter. :)

  20. 20.

    AC

    Serious question: I canvased for the first time over the weekend in VA. Started making a few calls thru the OfA site. First call was a voter who has already voted, but sounded really really irritated with all the calls. Similar experience knocking doors.

    Is there no risk of pissing people off? Isn’t this something better left to friends and family at this point? What do you more experience GOTVers think of the exasperated folks?

    We don’t live in a swing state, no tv, cell phones. I don’t know what it’s like to get calls on top of the donation calls.

  21. 21.

    cmorenc

    I spent the morning from 6am through 1pm as an OFA outside poll observer in a precinct in a small town a few miles east of Raleigh, NC where the voting location was at a church gymnasium. The half-dozen of us working the site were standing just outside the required 50-foot “no politicking” line. Although I wore an OFA badge, my job was not to hand out literature, but to call back to the OFA “boiler room” if the voting line got backed up or if any signs of voter intimidation occurred. Of the other five or six persons there, one other was a black lady from a democratic-affiliated organization handing out dem voter’s guides, and the rest were GOP volunteers handing out GOP voter guides, particularly in the local judicial races.

    The half-dozen of us, GOP operatives and we two Dem operatives got along fabulously, and spent most of the morning chatting amiably when not busy with individual voters. There wasn’t the slightest hint of attempt to discourage, misinform, intimidate, or cajole any black or otherwise likely Obama/democratically inclined voters, beyond the fact that the GOP operatives cheerfully attempted to hand out “conservative judges/GOP” voter guides to EVERYONE. When the dem operative accidentally dropped a bunch of her voter guides, scattering across the parking lot, the GOOPers politely assisted her in picking them up, and likewise I helped them the couple several of theirs blew out of their hands.

    I didn’t attempt to dive into substantive debate with them, but I did politely listen to their political scuttlebutt (hitting all the usual FOX News talking points), and one of them had a complete copy of the Affordable Care Act which he contemptuously referred to. I politely asked how they expected things to go in the Presidential election, and they all expressed the hopeful expectation that superior GOP enthusiasm would boost their turnout enough to win Ohio and Pennsylvania etc. Other than clearly being political wingnuts pushing “conservative” judges and political candidates generally, on a personal level they were all delightful to hang out with for a morning, and we shared the comeraderie of foot-soldiers standing together out in the cold. They were all locals, and when my shift was up and my replacement came, they gave me an excellent suggestion for a local diner I would have passed up as a dive as a non-local, and their recommendation held true; it was where the locals go to eat lunch, and it was excellent!

    This is the sort of civil mutual respect I wish prevailed in our political discourse and life. Everyone was helpful to everyone else, even while politely agreeing to disagree about the substance.

  22. 22.

    Culture of Truth

    Our bench is deep, with Hilary and Biden and possibly Cuomo, just to name a few. But that’s another time.

  23. 23.

    Robin G.

    The next person I talk to who says “Calm down, it’s not like it’s the end of the world either way” is getting kicked in the junk.

    The medications I have to take to stay alive would cost more than my rent without my husband’s health insurance. If Obamacare gets repealed, and he ever — ever, for the rest of our lives, and we’re 29 — loses his job, I will die within the year.

    So it IS the fucking end of the world for me, douchebags.

  25. 25.

    Bulworth

    Voted, did some work-related reading, worked out, watching The World At War on bluray, and on the stupid intertubes while awaiting election results.

  26. 26.

    Soonergrunt

    @peach flavored shampoo: That’s not alltogether surprising. We’ve been so focused on re-electing Obama and Biden that we haven’t paid attention to lower tickets that might generate a new candidate.

    @Keith: On lunch break at work–got cooking on a project and forgot what time it was–and my precinct is 18 miles away, so no time to get there and back. Will vote after work, but have done everything legal within my power to get other Dems to the polls here. Personally, I think VA ought to do registration drives.

  27. 27.

    MattR

    More of an effort than usual to vote in my town in Jersey, but really not that bad compared to some other areas. They consolidated polling locations so instead of going to the clubhouse in our condo I had to go to the local fire house which is about a mile and a half away. Drive took about 45 minutes due to downed trees and a line to get into the parking lot. Once inside it took about 5 minutes to find my district, get registered and vote. Then another 30 minutes to snake my way back out to a highway to head to mom’s place to work (since I still have no power and am not expected to get it back before Friday at the earliest – who the hell puts a substation in a swamp. As if coming home from Amsterdam was not going to be a slap in the face, having no power just magnified that – though I can’t really complain since I was able to escape that horror for 5 days). No issues at the polling place or during the voting process and I got a cute “I voted” sticker.

  30. 30.

    nellcote

    from the Tweet machine:

    Erin McPike‏@ErinMcPike
    According to GOP sources on the ground, Romney camp’s “ORCA” turnout app has crashed, so they can’t monitor their turnout operation.

    Erin McPike‏@ErinMcPike
    And of note: the Obama campaign’s app crashed in 2008. Romney’s camp modeled theirs after the old Obama system

  31. 31.

    JoyfulA

    So I can report that when I voted in this R area of south-central PA, there were no GOP GOTV people anywhere to be seen, but the Ds were fully staffed.

    I’m so proud of my peeps!

  34. 34.

    Splitting Image

    Why are you reading this? GET OUT THE VOTE, DAMMIT!

    I’m Canadian. No voting today for me. I’m just watching a sleazy 70s movie and waiting for the popcorn to get ready.

    Two hours until the fun starts.

  36. 36.

    gogol's wife

    @Robin G.:

    I’m praying as hard as I can. I heard this from someone before the Bush-Gore election (“Why does everyone get so worked up? They’re all more or less the same”), and to this day I have not forgiven him.

  37. 37.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @j:

    Why does everyone seem to think it’s always gotta be the same people? Who thought Obama would be the guy back in ’04? ’16 might be someone you either haven’t heard of or wasn’t considering at the time.

  38. 38.

    Capt. Seaweed

    Downton Abbey Season 2 marathon!! Nothing cheers me up like a Spanish Influenza epidemic.

    The Chief has this. He’s always had it.

  39. 39.

    The Moar You Know

    I’ve been doing GOTV for two months straight. Not for Obama; he’ll do just fine here in California without my help. Not for Feinstein, as she’s got it locked as well. Not for Tetalman, although I’d have liked to, the brutal truth is that he’s roadkill no matter what efforts are made in this district. Fucking Issa has the name and is closer in net worth to Mitt Romney than to me.

    I had bigger concerns this election. We’ve got a city council and a school board that are in imminent danger of wingnut hijacking, and my wife and I have been busting non-stop to stop it. It’s much harder than it looks. I’m going to leave work in an hour, go home, go across the street and vote and then go to fucking bed.

    I’d like to see far more of an emphasis on local races here, or by the Dems in general for that matter. The local level is where you form your future Hall of Famers, as it were. The GOP dumped a crapload of money this cycle into our local races, all the way down to the school board. Dems and indy liberals are self-funded or they don’t race at all. I think we’ll keep the school board but the city council doesn’t look good at all.

    So yeah, I did mine, and I get to do it again next year. Local politics never ends.

  42. 42.

    Splitting Image

    @catclub:

    Warren, Schweitzer, Hillary(mostly unlikely), Maryland Gov,
    Deval Patrick?, Gillibrand?, Villaraigosa?

    Don’t overlook Charlie Crist.

    Remember that by 2016 the Democrats will have had a chance to throw out Rick Scott, John Kasich, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Bob McDonnell, and a few others. That will likely add a couple of newcomers to the mix, which will keep the bobbleheads happy.

    The real question isn’t so much who will run in 2016, but whether the Dems will stay focused enough to make sure the ACA is fully implemented by 2014 and whether the Republicans are still focused on repealing it. If the GOP is still married to an increasingly unpopular position and fighting an increasingly popular piece of legislation, they will have an uphill struggle no matter who wins the Democratic primary.

    I think it will also make a difference whether Anthony Kennedy or Antonin Scalia slips on a banana peel between now and then. If Obama ends up making three Supreme Court appointments in his second term (assuming he wins), then the project of overturning Roe vs Wade by stacking the judiciary will be over and the GOP will lose that as a get-out-the-vote issue. If Kennedy’s replacement is still up for grabs, it will be business as usual for one more term.

  43. 43.

    HinTN

    @catclub: Too soon for Warren although good VP choice. Schweitzer would be a tough slog with the baggage. Hard to have all northeast ticket, though. The mayor needs to be governor first. Also a good veep possibility. What about Hickenlooper?

  44. 44.

    Culture of Truth

    Hickenlooper has a funny name. Americans will never vote for that.

    I must admit the idea of “Crist v Christie” debate sounds like fun

  46. 46.

    Joel

    @catclub: No way Elizabeth Warren runs for Presidency before her (presumably) first term in the Senate is up. Moreover, I don’t think she has the national appeal that, say, Hillary has.

    Although she has said she will not run, Hillary is my lead pick for the Democratic 2016 nominee.
    Everyone else is much lower profile, as it goes.

    Turns out that this the “shallow bench” was a wingnut talking point that popped up around late September, when Romney’s polls completely crumbled.

  47. 47.

    montanareddog

    Why are you reading this? GET OUT THE VOTE, DAMMIT!

    Because I am not an American?

    Seriously, if Romney is elected and tanks the world economy again like the previous Republican administration, the rest of the world, including me and my loved ones, are affected. We cannot vote to change that, but it does not stop us from following the poll obsessively

  49. 49.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Splitting Image:

    Charlie Crist is a Republican. A better Republican than most, but still a Republican. I’d actually love to see him or someone like him as the Republican nominee, but I know that’s not happening. But the Democrats aren’t so needful of right-wing votes that they would need to run Charlie Crist.

  50. 50.

    jenn

    @cmorenc: Awesome anecdote – thanks for sharing! Just got back from voting … I’d been going to vote early, but decided to join the hordes on actual voting day. No hordes, everyone checked in and out with great efficiency and cheerfulness, no one electioneering outside the precinct, and a few walled-off election observers observing, and probably incredibly bored!
    .
    @Robin G.: Yikes. I know ‘best wishes’ aren’t particularly useful, but I send them your way anyway!

  51. 51.

    karen

    I voted around noonish this afternoon, after I got my ride. I didn’t have to show my ID, they gave me this receipt that I had to sign to prove who I was then this guy led me to the booth like thing with a curtain that didn’t close all the way around. I am sooooo paranoid that when he waited there almost next to me for a little bit (this was after he was making sure I knew how to use the Diebold touch screen) I actually asked him in an icily polite tone if he was going to stand over me the whole time. He said that he was just putting the receipt in the envelope outside the booth then walked away. He was African American but I knew True the Vote could be anyone. I doubt it was because Maryland is a blue state but it shows how paranoid I’ve gotten.

  52. 52.

    Splitting Image

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Charlie Crist is a Republican.

    Rumour has it that he might not be for very much longer. Like I said, the Democrats are going to have a shot at taking out Rick Scott between now and 2016. If Crist decides that he wants to take him out and that switching parties will help him do it, he may very well join the Democrats. The Villagers will get a tingle up their leg if he does that.

    My main point though was just to second what a couple of other people were saying above. There are so many variables that can affect things between now and 2016 that it’s impossible to handicap the race this far out. Back in 2004 I remember people wondering if it might be worth giving John Kerry a second shot at it in 2008, and the first name I heard mentioned after the 2008 election (aside from Sarah Palin) was Mark Sanford.

    Hard to tell if there is another state senator from Illinois out there at this point, but there are a lot of people worth watching.

  53. 53.

    Herbal Infusion Bagger

    Our bench is deep, with Hilary and Biden and possibly Cuomo, just to name a few. But that’s another time.

    One thing for sure, we’ll know by December 2013 who our bench is based on who’s building up an operation in Iowa.

    But yeah, we have a lot of potential candidates, as mentioned above – Clinton, Biden, Booker, Patrick, plus maybe a dozen Dem governors that are more obscure. Also, depending on what Jerry Brown does in 2014, we’ll have either a Governor Newsom or Villarugosa in California, who should have a money advantage given that CA was pretty much the major ATM for the Dems this year, although I’d doubt either of them could stand the scrutiny a POTUS campaign involves. But given the respect Clinton has earned as Sec State I’d think it’d be a short primary season if she runs.

    What does the GOP have? Rubio looks like the favorite, but I’d expect given that the shivs will be stuck in at an early date, plus he’ll have a voting record in the Senate of occassional votes on the same side as Democratic dupes of the Kenyan Socialist Muslim Anti-Christ. Ryan’s viability depends on how well the GOP do today. If it’s a 320+ Obama EV rout, then Ryan looks like a loser and the GOP as kind with their former POTUS/VPOTUS candidates as the Dems are.

    Jindal is too weird, and the GOP ain’t gonna put someone with ladyparts like Haley at the top of the ticket.

  54. 54.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @MattR: Our PA poll workers must have been trained. They asked for ID, I told them I didn’t need it and they said, yes but they were required to ask and if I didn’t have it they’d hand me a flyer. Presumably explaining the law for next time.

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