Here's what pisses me off about the Colbert thing. They deny him access to the ballot because:

“The general sense of the council was that he wasn’t a serious candidate and that was why he wasn’t selected to be on the ballot,” said Joe Werner, the party’s director.

But:

Colbert brought his “campaign” to South Carolina last week, speaking at events Saturday and Sunday, attracting a college crowd of about 1,000 people at the latter.

I mean, who are they to say he's not serious? I know he's not, but can't voters decide that stuff? I could see if he was a Republican, and they didn't want him messing with the integrity of the Democratic Primary, but he seems to be a Democrat. It's sort of a joke, but is it any more of a joke than including Mike freaking Gravel on the ballot? He's "campaigning" and talking about issues.

Thing is, isn't voting for Colbert, or just taking his campaign seriously, an admission that you don't care at all?

the point isn't to vote for him, it's to hype it as a farce

Hype the election of our president as a farce? Why?

Houshphandzadeh wrote:Thing is, isn't voting for Colbert, or just taking his campaign seriously, an admission that you don't care at all?

Eh, maybe in Pennsylvania. Living in DC, the Democrat always wins. Walter Mondale won 85% of the vote here against Reagan in 1984. For as little as one vote matters in a potentially competitive state, it matters way less here.

I think it would be fun to watch someone run and point out all the absurdities in the system. Colbert's smart enough that I think his jokes would bring out a lot over the course of a few months if it was the primary, or a year if he's on the ballot somewhere as an independent for the general.

And I've been working in politics for the last year and a half down here, so I care, but it's impressive how watching the process from (sort of) the inside can suck out most of the idealism involved.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:Hype the election of our president as a farce? Why?

It kinda is? Money rules, attacks win, issues lose. Why not have fun with a Doritos campaign?

Did I become the Philly the Kid of the politics thread? I'll stop.

I think the whole Daily Show mentality sucks. Instead of a revolutionary force or even a self-aware plebian, it takes such pride in being a benign tumor.

I've voted every time I've been eligible to, been a political intern, and majored in history, minored in poli sci....and I greatly enjoy poking fun at the system. One of the subtler ways to expose the problems of our messed up system is to first get people laughing at it and its eccentricities.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:I think the whole Daily Show mentality sucks. Instead of a revolutionary force or even a self-aware plebian, it takes such pride in being a benign tumor.

The Daily Show is setting the paradigm for the newscast of tomorrow. Jon Stewart is the Walter Cronkite for this generation.

Very strong Edwards anti-Hillary ad: "The Politics of Parsing"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggO5yY7RAo&eurl=http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/edwards_campaign_goes_after_hillary_with_attack_youtube.php[/youtube]

dajafi wrote:Very strong Edwards anti-Hillary ad: "The Politics of Parsing"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggO5yY7RAo&eurl=http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/edwards_campaign_goes_after_hillary_with_attack_youtube.php[/youtube]

At least in her favor, it can't be boiled down to a catchy sound bite like "I voted for the war before I voted against it".

VoxOrion wrote:At least in her favor, it can't be boiled down to a catchy sound bite like "I voted for the war before I voted against it".

So she still has your support?

Vote on Tuesday! Local races are important every year. Don't let the only regular voters (seniors) pick our leaders for us alone. Get out there and represent!

TheDude24 wrote:Vote on Tuesday! Local races are important every year. Don't let the only regular voters (seniors) pick our leaders for us alone. Get out there and represent!

Your vote is far more likely to have an impact on your own life in local elections than it will ever have in a Presidential election.

I don't care too much about Hillary, but I really didn't see the controversy there. Seemed like a lot of sound bits taken out of context.

But hey, what is real and what isn't is all up to your imagination.

dajafi wrote:

VoxOrion wrote:At least in her favor, it can't be boiled down to a catchy sound bite like "I voted for the war before I voted against it".

So she still has your support?

Absolutely! I'd be right up in there in the Dem primary if I lived in one of those crazy states that lets everyone vote in primaries.

I don't know what to make of these people anyway. Hillary strikes me as Howard Dean circa 2003 - except Dean didn't have more money than God and wasn't yet a Democratic insider - so what strikes me is probably wrong.

My gut tells me Edwards gets the nomination because, at the last minute, everyone will Go Kerry and vote for him because they think he's more electable than the shrew-bot Decepticon and the black guy.

I suspect he'd get beat, too. The only thing American's hate more than politicians are trial lawyers (unless his opponent has equally difficult to overcome attributes... like believing that God is from another planet...)

I doubt my vote will matter in the primary.


My vote WILL matter next week, when I try to outvote these old farts that elect based on the sos issues every year.

pacino wrote:I doubt my vote will matter in the primary.

Do you think it'll be settled by the April 22nd?

I just realized that my vote might matter for once - NJ's presidential primary was moved up to early Feb.

VoxOrion wrote:

pacino wrote:I doubt my vote will matter in the primary.

Do you think it'll be settled by the April 22nd?

I just realized that my vote might matter for once - NJ's presidential primary was moved up to early Feb.

If Rudy is still in the race, he's going to win the NJ primary in a walk. The NJ GOP changed it to a winner talk all format back in June to help out the Mayor.

http://www.politicsnj.com/giuliani-campaign-scores-big-victory-n-j-procedural-vote-9505

Not to hurt your feelings by saying your vote doesn't matter (assuming you're a Republican, though I think the same applies for Hillary).