Re: Election Day 2004
 

So, uh, how did you know that? I thought that voting was suppost to be a private thing?

(I voted absentee a month ago in 10th VA)

Wetzel

Re: Election Day 2004
 

And it's all coming down to Ohio:
From CNN.com

Blue-Democrats (Kerry)
Red-Republicans (Bush)

Just in case you weren't sure.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

I voted and so did my wife. It took us both about an hour.

Heck, I even had the day off to vote. Each year, at UAW-staffed manufacturing plants, a certain # of holidays are negotiated. This year, they chose to have one of those days as "election day". In Kokomo, there are about 9-10,000 UAW jobs. Oddly enough, the county went almost 2:1 in favor of Bush. Our local union populus must be old and conservative.

Andy B.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

I voted at 3:30 PM and there was no line at all. Most people were still working, I believe.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

She blatently said it out loud "Ahh I filled in the arrow and wrote in my candidates!! Why isnt this working?!"
while she freaked out when the machine wouldn't take her ballot

Re: Election Day 2004
 

I didn't vote (9 months to young :'(). I did vote in my school, however.


The funny thing about this is that we could only vote for Bush or Kerry. I wonder what happened to the other 7 candidates??

I can't wait til next election though...it'll be very interesting.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

I couldn't vote this year. I was exactly 5 months too young. 5 is also the number of years I will have to wait until there is new leadership and a new direction in this country. I was honestly surprised about how unclose that was. I would be surprised in a different way if it was unclose to the challenger, but that is just my opinion. In the morning, CNN said it would be an easy win for Kerry, and that he would win both Florida and Ohio, but they were COMPLETELY wrong. I was also surprised by Andy Baker's comments about the UAW workers in Kokomo voting for Bush 2 to 1. I guess I should lose my stereotypes. :yikes: I heard that there were two main reasons Kerry lost Ohio.
1. 40% of the voters were from rural Ohio, while the actual demographics is 77% Urban and 23% Rural (Journal and Courier)
2. The Gay Marriage vote attracted many conservatives and tipped the balance.
My teacher also said that the hurricane aid may have tipped Floridians toward Bush. I even heard (on 60 minutes) that there were 4 million Evangelicals (largely conservative) that didn't vote in 2000.
I still don't understand how Bush won by a 3.5 million margin.
On the up side, there is 2008, and it is never too early to make a difference.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

This election has been exciting to watch. I enjoyed watching the conventions and debates when I could. To me, it is much like watching a football game, where I find myself yelling at the TV at times and picking sides.

But... more importantly, I am excited to see that many of you students in FIRST are passionate and interested in politics. It is impressive that you know your issues and are willing to voice your opinions. Too many people are apathetic about politics, government, and voting, and it is good to see that the future leaders of our country, schools, and industry (aka: you students) have the ability and passion to voice your opinion.

Of course, no one agrees on all topics. Many of us disagree on broad political topics and sometimes debate issues. This is healthy, as long as we continue to respect each other. We all grow in this process. Another impressive thing is that while we do disagree, we can still get along in this little community here on the internet. This is a very cool thing, in my opinion.

Let's all hold hands and hum.

hmmmmmm.

:)

Koom by-yah,
Andy B.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

True true, Andy. I plead the case here, and the FIRSTers didn’t let me down. They truly rose above the kinds of rancor that gets threads closed.

It’s true that we all can’t agree on every issue; but we should agree we’re all in this together. Imagine how we’d feel if a regional or the Nats were canceled for fear of terrorist attack. Much worse yet, imagine us wishing that one would have been. Either man would have done his very best to protect the freedoms we enjoy. It’s up to us to unite behind the one who got the job.

Let’s all hold hands and sing – Dubya. [Open Bill throws up] :eek: [Close Bill throws up]

ON TOPIC:
My wife and I voted. My son gets to vote mid-term.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

Unfortunately some schools canceled their team's chances at regionals or even The Championship event due to the threat of terrorism.

Some good teams like the 2001 Nationals winner Team 69 were not allowed to compete Nationally in 2002 for fear of the color coded alert system.

In 2002 we almost were not allowed to go to NYC Regional for fear of the same system. The weekend we went to NYC from CT, the war in Iraq officially started - and continues to this day despite what you have been told by the government.

My team had to stay an hour away in NJ for fear of another terrorist attack in NYC during that time of uncertainty. Myself and a few Alumni of my team stayed right in Harlem, and had a great time. We took the subway each day and even though an attack was in the back of our minds (especially that Saturday when the protesters started to gather around Grand Central) we had a good time in the biggest, and busiest city in America.

In the end, no matter who you voted for, you can't plan on another terrorist attack. But you can plan to choose the right person to handle the Nations affairs, and even when your candidate doesn't win, I guess we all have to grin and bear it and support whoever runs the country whether or not you agree with everything that your government does for you, or on your behalf..

You can always move to Canada. I mean, hey.. There are FIRST teams up there to you could join - or better yet area's of Canada that haven't even heard of FIRST that you can start a team in. :)

On a side note, I always hated politics and steered clear of it. I have no idea why this recent election has affected me the way it has. Oh well.. only 4 more years till we vote again. Unless you move to Canada. :rolleyes:

Re: Election Day 2004
 

Well, maybe. A story on NPR's Day to Day today ;) mentions that it may not be so easy. They say it may take more than two years to immigrate (legally) to Canada.

They mention a Skilled Worker Self-Assessment test you can take on-line to see if you qualify for immigration.

Re: Election Day 2004
 

So, it looks like you need to become a Software Engineer or something to get into Canada. OTOH, as a S/W guy you can control your fate and just stay here to write programs for all those electronic voting machines. ;) ;)

Re: Election Day 2004
 

I must say that while I am glad the election is over, because many a time politics cause tension, I am also sort of sad about statements in the light of...

"dubya is now president, so I'm moving!"

Read the posts above, if you haven't already. The people in this thread such as Andy and Jack and Elgin have made very good points. Now that so many people in this country are more informed and have started voting and are registered for the next election, we should continue to inform people.

I hope the next 4 years will be happy and safe ones, for everyone, and that the next election will bring even more voters to the polls.

- Genia

Re: Election Day 2004
 

Re: Election Day 2004
 

I voted (w00t!) for the first time Tuesday. We had somewhere between 7 and 10 booths set up for filling out the ballots, so no lines. However, it took me a half-hour to fill everything out (I don't know, I guess I was excited and/or nervious). And I also didn't vote for Bush or Kerry (if you want to know who I voted for, PM me), though I did vote for a Kennedy as our Representative. It was a one-of-a-kind experience.