Mud & Mayhem, 2008 Campaign Final Days

Use this thread for commentary on the late-breaking news reports, quotes, and ads that cover the candidates typical rise in focused rhetoric and "mud slinging" typical of the final hours of a campaign.

See this thread for more information on the handful of special threads for the 2008 election results discussions.

Heads Up

SO's Political rules, as set out here

Preemptive ATS Strategies For A Smooth Election Day(s)

and here

A Call To Action: Ending The Political Game on ATS

Are still very much in effect.

Political trolling, name calling and bickering will not be tolerated.

It is possible to have an election and be civil with each other.

Play nice please

Awwww, you won't let us have any fun!

Trolling, name calling and bickering is as American as Mom, Baseball, and Apple pie. This isn't New Zealand you know!

[edit on 4-11-2008 by whaaa]

Alright guys,

Lets settle in for what's sure to be an exciting ride, personally I'm here in Dublin, Ireland ready to stay up all night until there is a President Elect in America.

I'n not American but have been glued to this campaign. (btw I'm for Obama)

Hopefully everything will stay civil & respectful on BOTH sides, the night of the third presidential debate was a good case in cause for this and was throughly enjoyable.

Lets keep it that way again guys huh? Much more fun & mentally stimulating.

As the late, great Tim Russert would say "Fasten your safety belts!!"

Marker

[edit on 4-11-2008 by marker3221]

I notice when a mod or an official ats thread occurs in the 08 forums no one replies.. could this be we are sick and tired of having our threads closed or moved away when they feel pertinent to us. Why couldnt one of us form a topic on this type of subject? You want us to have the mudslinging, but not troll??? Is that even possible....


Im sure this could be removed. Because complaining about a topic is off topic.

[edit on 4-11-2008 by bknapple32]

MSNBC have a nicely laid out electoral map on their homepage:


MSNBC MAP


Tells you when each of the polls close when you scroll over a state.

I'll be keeping an eye on this for the evening.

Good luck guys, whoever your rooting for.

I see this as Rocky 2, Apollo Creed vs Rocky. Rocky being McCain, and he is getting beat and beat all through the first ten to twelve rounds. The Rocky started to turn the tide and close the gap, and now we are in the 14 - 15 round. This is where they are both giving it their all. Who is going to get up off the canvas first, will it be McCain or Obama. If it is like the movies, then we already know don't we. But I'll be glued to Fox News on TV and tuning into Coast to Coast AM for the extra long election results show tonight. I am going to be tired tomorrow.

I was directed to use this thread for this post.

Broken voting machines fixed and used in current vote

Watching CNN I heard a report on voting turnout and and how fast lines are moving. One thing that caught my attention was the phase 'voting machines broken but fixed' and the machines were back in use.

In my county the machines are tested and certified for each election. I wonder about the broken and fixed situation. If the machines are not retested how can anyone be sure that they are working correctly. I have to believe the election officials understand the problem and resolution in relation to the machine and the failure could not affect the votes stored or new votes entered later. But do they know positively.

I also hear that some paper ballots were in place where machines have failed. That is allowed by law in the event of machine failure in some locations.

I would be skeptical of using a machine that was considered broken then fixed. Do those that stay broken have the ability to unload votes to be tallied.

Hopefully this will have no bearing on the outcome.

Thats actually a really bad analogy. If you saw Rocky I, you know that Rocky went the distance but lost by a split decision (highly debated that Rocky actually won). Hmm circa 2000 with Gore and the Dems losing by a split decision??????

This election is Rocky II but Rocky is Obama and the dems mounting the comeback from Rocky I.

ATS is not specialized on politics but on conspiracy-theories. There are many other places in the Internet you can take your mass-media stuff.

I found this post too hypocritical to not respond, but please don't take offense as I so much am a fan of yours and your posts, because we share many viewpoints and beliefs, but why is there a decision 2008 and AbovePolitics forum and SITE, if it's not about politics?

[edit on 4-11-2008 by -zeropoint-]

thank you. point well said. Sorry but mods are not the end all be all of opinions. And this is one time where they are VERY wrong on this one.

reply to post by bknapple32

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I see what you are saying, but I am spinning it for my own political us. As you could say that the Repubs. are Rocky for the beating they have had in the past four years in election for the house and senate. And not they are going for the knock out to hold some power.

reply to post by bknapple32

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McCain takes Kentucky
Obama takes vermont

so far its Obama 3 McCain 8

[edit on 4-11-2008 by TheOracle]

reply to post by Badge01

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Thats fine badge, I as many respect your opinion. But there are plenty of us out here who think some of the mods are getting out of control with the closing or moving of threads. the moving to BTS gen Chit Chat essentially gets it out of the mainstream of ATS.

I referred to the mods as them because as many of you have posted that you all back each others moves. So what else should I refer to you guys as besides you all or them. Remember ATS is here because of the users that love this site. Censorship knows no end. Once it starts, its hard to stop. I dont think my bringing the attention of subjects like this is whiny. Its simply calling the mods out a little. Is there anything wrong with that? Or are you all infallible. Of course you arent. And the vast majority of you guys are of the utmost quality of posters. But sometimes a couple of you tend to cross the line. You aren't one of them

So when I say to a mod that its hypocritical to say "take your politics somewhere else cause this is a conspiracy site", when ATS has a DECISION 08 section, Im calling it like it is.





[edit on 4-11-2008 by bknapple32]

reply to post by bknapple32

---

Hey bknapple32,

No disrespect intended, but can we keep on topic?

I agree with almost all your posts dude, but lets leave that discussion for another day.


Marker

The exact same whining has been going on in fits & spurts for years on ATS. Always the same. Mods are out of control. Mods are censoring information. Mods are Nazis. Mods mods mods mods mods.

Blah blah freakin' blah.

Take ten seconds and really think about what this place would look like today if it were the free for all so many people want. You'd go somewhere else to post, that's for sure, because ATS would be a CharlieFoxtrot on election day.
There are over 500 members logged in. At least half of those 500 (likely more) are very passionate about their chosen candidate, and as the night wears on the passion is going to get even more heated. It'll be ugly. People are gonna say things they shouldn't. You might agree with some of the things said, but what about the vitriolic posts that will surely be directed at the candidate you don't want to win?
If there wasn't some corralling of the sheer influx of information, a new thread posted would be rolled off the Most Recent page in but a couple minutes due to all the other new threads being posted at a furious, keyboard-pounding, passion-induced rate. How would there be any discussion then? How would ATS be any different than a politically driven /b/?

It wouldn't. Trust me, it wouldn't. You wouldn't want to be here if the chaos wasn't controlled in some fashion. It'd be a bunch of angry people drunk on rage bashing at their keyboards until the Y key goes flying across the room and puts out the cat's eye.

Please think of the cats.

So, as of 6:27 pm Central Time.

McCain: 8 Electoral Votes
53% 349,853

Obama: 3 Electoral Votes
46% 307,336

Barr:
1% 4,021

Nader:
0% 2,431

2 States Reporting in currently with full polls.
Sourcing:
news.google.com...

Alrighty then... anywho..... i havent heard any mudslinging from either campaign today