MetaFilter posts tagged with primaries

The Heartbreak Campaign

kirkaracha — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:27:05 -0800

The Heartbreak Campaign. "Increasingly opposed to the Vietnam War, Robert F. Kennedy struggled over whether he should challenge his party’s incumbent president, Lyndon Johnson, in 1968. His younger brother, Teddy, was against it. His wife, Ethel, urged him on. Many feared he would be assassinated, like the older brother he mourned." Excerpt from Thurston Clarke's The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America, due to be published later this month. Morley Safer, The Burning of Cam Ne. LBJ said Safer's 1965 CBS report on Marines burning a Vietnamese village "shat on the American flag" and demanded a security check, which revealed that Shafer "wasn't a communist, just a Canadian." LBJ responded, "Well, I knew he wasn't an American." Robert F. Kennedy, transcript of November 26, 1967, appearance on Face the Nation. Eugene McCarthy, November 30, 1967, Announcement of Candidacy for President [audio link on this page] Robert F. Kennedy, January 4, 1968, What Do We Stand For? The Liberation of the Human Spirit [Google cache] Robert F. Kennedy, February 8, 1968, Unwinnable War speech Robert F Kennedy, March 16, 1968, Announcement of Candidacy for President

"Yes, of course he has the stuff to go all the way," John J. Lindsay replied. "But he's not going to go all the way. The reason is that somebody is going to shoot him. I know it and you know it. Just as sure as we're sitting here somebody is going to shoot him. He's out there now waiting for him And, please God, I don't think we’ll have a country after it."

The story of the Democratic primaries so far, boiled down to seven minutes.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:10:22 -0800

The Democratic Primary Season in 7 Minutes.

Brodner's Take on the Primaries

maryh — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:28:07 -0800

Cartoonist Steve Brodner sketches the American candidates for president as Odd Couples in a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Best. McCain. Evah.

Also, make sure to bring a number two pencil

Rhaomi — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:26:22 -0800

Something is rotten in the state of ~~Denmark~~ California. The California-based Courage Campaign is making noises about voter disenfranchisement in the Los Angeles area. For the 776,774 ~~independent~~ "Decline To State" voters in the primary there, casting a ballot for a Democratic nominee is a bit more difficult than you'd think would be necessary (the Republican primary is (un?)fortunately closed to independents). These "DTS" voters must request a Democratic Party ballot (as opposed to a generic nonpartisan one without a section for the Presidency), and then (somewhat redundantly) fill a bubble at the top of that ballot reiterating their intent to participate in the Democratic primary. Sounds simple enough. But the average voter has been confounded by less than simple procedures before. In spite of the potential for confusion, the local board of registrars has made the brilliant decision to have the scanning machines invalidate all ballots that do not have that extra bubble filled in -- without informing the voter of the mistake. Furthermore, poll workers will not be required to inform DTS voters of their right to a Democratic ticket unless asked, a policy which State Senator Dean Florez said "violates the spirit of the law" in a stern letter (scroll down to read) to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. While the issue at first glance seems purely local, the effects of any disenfranchisement will have great influence on Tuesday's results. It is common knowledge that independents are drawn to Barack Obama's campaign, and with them locked out of supporting John McCain in the state's closed GOP primary, he was counting on their turnout to help top Hillary Clinton's erstwhile formidable lead. With the ballot issue threatening that support, the campaign was quick to explain the problem. And for good reason -- the three quarters of a million DTS voters in Los Angeles amount to three-fourths of the votes cast in the all the Democratic primaries to date. Their influence can easily sway California, which itself will sway the media narrative coming out of Super Tuesday. For its part, the aforementioned Courage Campaign is hard at work spreading awareness with websites, (minor) celebrity radio ads, and cheesy YouTube skits. Here's hoping their efforts pay off, and that we can finally get through an election -- even one as crucial as SupercalifragalisticexpialaTuesday -- without an intractable struggle for recounts and justice.

A Brokered Convention, President Jeb Bush and southern Protestant prohibitionist

geoff. — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:01:42 -0800

The process and history of "brokered conventions," for both the Republican and Democratic parties: What if no candidate gets a majority (2025 delegates for the Democrats, 1191 for the much smaller Republican convention)? This is where "brokered convention" comes in. Actually, it is more like "All hell breaks loose." All delegates are now up for grabs. All the candidates try to grab as many delegates as they can ... but after the first ballot, the delegates are free agents don't have to obey their chairman or anyone. Some might not care about dams and bridges but might trade their vote for a promise to insert a plank in the platform to [ban voting machines, build a 20' electrified fence on the Mexican border, declare the chicken to be the national fowl, you name it].

IM IN UR VOTING MCHINS STEALIN UR PRIMARIES

dinsdale — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:29:15 -0800

Kucinich Asks for New Hampshire Recount in the Interest of Election Integrity. A little earlier in the election cycle this time around, many people are worried about serious discrepancies between pre-election opinion polling and exit polls, which both had Obama winning by a substantial percentage, and the official results. Obama also appears to have won in hand-counted precincts while Clinton seems to have dominated in precincts which counted the votes with the Diebold Accuvote TSx optical-scan machines, which have been shown to be susceptible to a memory card hack. Note: there is no reason for a vote-counting machine to ever run arbitrary executable code from a memory card. Voting activist Bev Harris thinks Kucinich is walking into a trap due to a lack of ballot chain-of-custody oversight.

Dirty laundry, out to get some air

snortlebort — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:00:51 -0800

Man down in the Great Democratic Upheaval of 2006. Paul Hackett announced yesterday that he's bowing out of the primary race for the Ohio senate seat. This race might have been the wrong fight at the wrong time, though it was hardly the only front. There have already been some bad ideas shot down, and at least one fantastical dream that seems to be stuck in the pipe.

But there are more promising battles brewing up ahead, and the fight is just now being joined. The first target -- marked by a kiss. As was the head that would be the most prized trophy of the season.
[reg sites abound, WaPo, NYT, LAT and more]

New Hampshire Crosstabs

alms — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 17:33:22 -0800

New Hampshire Crosstabs: Primary voter characteristics cross-tabulated with their candidate choice. Dean runs strong with PhDs while Kerry gets the high-school-only crowd. Veterans vote just about the same as everyone else. And, surprise surprise, there don't seem to be any African Americans or Asians voting in New Hampshire.

comeback kid

specialk420 — Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:34:36 -0800

John Kerry suprises Howard Dean, the pundits, and much of the nation with what looks like a solid win in Iowa after being counted out of the race. Perhaps its time to take a second look at Kerry.

Don't blame me, I voted for Vermin Supreme!

ph00dz — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 07:53:10 -0800

Don't blame me, I voted for Vermin Supreme! While the D.C. Primary hasn't attracted the same level of attention as the Iowa Caucus, one candidate continues to fight for what is right. Mr. Supreme understands the REAL threat facing our great nation -- poor dental hygeine.

Gore is set to endorse Howard Dean tomorrow.

jennak — Mon, 08 Dec 2003 14:33:59 -0800

Gore is set to endorse Howard Dean tomorrow. Does that mean it's already over for the other Democratic candidates? (Will you even get the opportunity to vote for a candidate in your state's primary? Heck, should we consider limiting the campaign period?)

blueshammer — Thu, 12 Sep 2002 12:37:49 -0800

Jeb Bush delivers Florida ... to Janet Reno's opponent in the primary. Not a repost of the trouble-at-the-polls brouhaha. Carl Hiaasen looks at the Bush team's "stupendous" backfire in targeting a second-tier candidate, eventual winner Bill McBride, in an apparently incessant string of TV ads that moved McBride from anonymity to a fearsome candidate. "Why else would the GOP buy so much TV time to slam him?" asks Hiaasen, and indeed, McBride's follow-up ads capitalized on this notoriety. By carrying the primary, the race against Bush gets more interesting: "Reno is a known quantity about whom most voters already feel strongly one way or the other," notes Hiaasen. "McBride is a fresh face with no Clinton baggage and a Bronze Star from the Vietnam War."

mkultra — Thu, 12 Sep 2002 08:24:32 -0800

Another election debacle in Florida. One year and $30m in technology later, the Reno/McBride primary is marred by late openings and other assorted and sundry glitches. I know, it's a CNN link, but I can't resist anything that includes someone delivering the grade "F-minus-minus-minus" (later determined to be merely an "F-minus-minus" and some Drambuie). Any personal voting horror stories from our Florida contingent? Will the state become a case study in how "throwing money at the problem" never works?

daveadams — Fri, 27 Oct 2000 06:40:17 -0800

A better way to select party candidates.
Instead of holding silly primaries that end up picking the worst possible candidates from each party, why not have party leaders pick the best 3-4 candidates and then have registered party members vote (by mail or at the convention) and announce the winner in August? [more inside]

mathowie — Tue, 25 Jan 2000 07:46:22 -0800

Bush and Gore won their respective Iowa primaries. Excuse while I let out an enormous yawn. I was talking about Bill Bradley to a friend the other day, and he thought I was a crackpot. So I dug up the old Select Smart URL, and made him fill out the form. Given his stance on issues, Bill Bradley came up as his first choice too. He went nuts, and said instead of punch cards with names in the voting booth, we should answer questions like the Select Smart site, and submit a vote for the candidate that most matches our stances on issues. Instead of pointless political advertising, candidates' positions on real issues would determine who would vote for them. Wouldn't that be great?