Do any of you get the feeling there is no point to vote?

[backwoodsnanny]

This is my very biggest complaint about elections. I can take all the back n forth before the election and even the meaness that surfaces even on this boardand the calls at dinner time. What I cant stand is the press determining a winner when I havent even had an opportunity to vote yet. It makes me feel like well I guess neither candidate needs my vote so why would I battle the crowds and try. Only a very few states that have allowed early voting have reported in yet on meet the press though they didnt say the words Obama has won they have said it phenominal and are giving Obama most states . So tht said why would I go to the trouble to cast a vote that would either make Obamas landslide greater or McCains defeat less of a gap. Does anyone else feel like the press is robbing them of the feeling that they have contributed?

 

[JourneysEnd]

No, I think the press may be suprised.

 

[Bassett]

Nita, you are so right. That's the way I ALWAYS feel but I still go to vote. I Personally don't believe in polls. I also think early voting is wrong. (Get more machines and stop busing people to the polls). If a person wants to vote they WILL get there. I do not think they should allow candidate signs as close as they do (100 feet). Also the electoral votes really is confusing. A candidate can have the most votes but still lose because of electoral votes. There have been a few times a person who was practically said as lost who actually won. I guess I'll never understand how it ALL works. And the media should STOP acting like it is over. JMHO

Good post.

 

[AppyLover2]

I agree Bonnie (guess that's no big surprise).

Since it's such a biased media one reason they're declaring a winner so early could be that they want the rest of to just give up and not vote. IMHO that's absolutely the worst thing we could do. We may lose but we've GOT TO make our voices heard!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

This may surprise you, but I agree! The media sets us up like it's already determined one way or the other, then of course it goes completely differently and those who were happy about it have their hopes dashed and the other group is left scrambling to adjust to the new situation they'd almost given up on. The race isn't over 'til the last horse crosses the line, people. Stop saying "So-and-so will be the winner!"

I have my hopes for this election (both Presidential and some of the local measures) and will cast my vote accordingly but after the last one I don't dare get my hopes up until all results are in and final. I couldn't believe the results in 2004 either.

Leia

 

[Laura]

The surest way to change anything "expected" is complacency....please go vote

 

[Cathy_H]

Does anyone else feel like the press is robbing them of the feeling that they have contributed?

DO NOT let the media take your right to vote away. This is what some of them are trying to do.... They have their own agenda and this is the result they want. To have enough of us to give up and stay home on election day because their person has already won! Psychological coercion at its best!

Don't believe the polls either.

They have been wrong................. It's reported that most of the early voters are democrat. Since Obama & his wife constantly encourage their listeners to vote early does that not make sense. The Pied Piper syndrome!

Please go vote! DO NOT let them mess with your mind!

 

[Cathy_H]

Remember the Bradley effect.

The Bradley effect is named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American who ran for California governor in 1982.

Exit polls showed Bradley leading by a wide margin, and the Democrat thought it would be an early election night.But Bradley and the polls were wrong. He lost to Republican George Deukmejian.

The theory was that polling was wrong because some voters, who did not want to appear bigoted, said they voted for Bradley even though they did not.

"People will usually tell you how they voted after the election, but we found in the Bradley campaign ... that people were actually not telling us who they voted for," said Charles Henry, who researched Bradley's election.

The Bradley effect is also called the "Wilder effect," after Douglas Wilder, Virginia's former governor. He won by just one-tenth of a percent, but as he pointed out to CNN, "people forget -- in the exit polls, I was still double-digits ahead." Watch how the Bradley effect could affect the polls »

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said last week that he thinks the Bradley effect could cost Obama several battleground states -- and possibly the presidency.

 

[Matt73]

Bush was re-elected in 2004. So, no, I don't think the media has that much influence over people.

 

[Marnie]

I think that if you're for Obama, it's very impportant to vote because with all the press, they assume he'll win and if everyone assumes this and doesn't vote, he won't win. And if you're for McCain, you need to vote as those polls can be real inaccurate too and every vote could count. I don't think it's over until it's over so just take the time to vote if you can.

 

[backwoodsnanny]

It just makes me soooo angry that the media elects our representatives. I have already been told this morning by someone who also watched Meet the Press see told you who would be elected and this was in reference to a local not the presidential race. I made it clear to the person that no one has been elected YET. I was not trying to say that I wouldnt go vote but do know that it will cause some to figure their vote doesnt matter since between the press and electoral college it seems the election is over before it has even begun for most of us. I think this should change in the media and they should not be able to come out with exit polls BEFORE election day.

 

[triedandtrue]

Its hilarious that I used to see these exact same arguments against Bush, Kerry, and Gore in 2000 and 2004. Especially given that Bush didnt win the popular vote, only the electoral (for the first time in history), I find it amusing people think the media didn't help him.

Its also amusing that until McCain chose Palin as his VP pick, he had far, far more positive media coverage than Obama did, and no one would listen to a complain then about who the media was covering better. I still have to sit through a newscast each morning about the virtues of McCain, with little or no mention of Obama, so I think its all a crock anyway. As with anything, it depends on where you live, what news you're watching, and who owns your stations.

The end point: stop believing that the American people are sheep. Just because the media presents something, doesn't mean it will actually happen that way. If you feel there is no point of voting, it is _you_ that has succumbed to the media.

 

[Pepipony]

Everyone should vote if they have the right. Doesnt matter one whit what the Press says, they have been wrong.

 

[AppyLover2]

Just had a lengthy political telephone conversation with a friend this morning. He said he knows 3 or 4 people who "aren't going to vote because they're so sick of it". I agree that it's gone on way too long but it's sad that people have made that decision.

 

[Jill]

I remember in 2004 watching the news carry "information" about the exit polls and I went to bed sure that Bush had lost. My dad called me around 2am and of course, he had not lost.

Ever since then, if not really before, I've known not to really trust all of what the "news" reports. Obviously, something shady was going on. I wonder if the media was hoping to influence voters to the west not to even bother?

Wild horses couldn't keep me away from voting in this election!

 

[HGFarm]

Maybe that is what the press would LIKE you to think, and to not vote???

 

[Jill]

Maybe that is what the press would LIKE you to think, and to not vote???

My suspicions as well

 

[nootka]

You know the press, they like dirty laundry....

that said, nothing a tv reporter or poll could say would keep me from voting.

I know of at least a dozen people who are voting McCain, and already have. Myself included.

The ONE person in our family who wanted to vote for Obama did not take the last six months' initiative (has been 18 since May) and register to vote so that they could cast their vote for Obama. Tough lesson for them. Every single vote does count, ESPECIALLY for those local issues and IMO, those are as important as the presidential race.

Liz

 

[horsehug]

I certainly do not let anyone make me think there is no point to voting.

I will be there voting on November 4!

Susan O.

 

[Marnie]

It's not to late for some one to register, or at least here in WI it isn't.