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Welcome to Backyard Blog, our group online journal for this election season. We've asked a broad array of people with deep ties to the region to share their views on politics during the 2004 campaign.
Send your comments to bbcomments@seattletimes.com. |
November 01, 2004
| An election eve thought |
| Posted by Carl Gipson at 05:09 PM |
For quite some time I’ve been sensing everywhere, and with everyone, a great sense of voter fatigue. What will happen tomorrow? Just how on edge is everyone? Do we really need or want all these damn lawyers to figure out which hanging chads actually count?
This country has always been divided ideologically. There have always been political parties and nasty campaigning and tricks and deceit. There have always been flip-floppers, stubborn ideologues, playboys and even drunkards serving as presidents. Every four years have been “THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF YOUR LIFE.”
My skills of prognostication are no better than your average political pundit so I won’t waste paper [or pixels - Ed.] making subjective electoral guesses.
Suffice it to say that tomorrow someone will win and someone will lose and since no one is going to flee the continent due to the results—save Alec Baldwin—we had all better learn to at least treat each other with some vestige of civility (at least until the mid-term elections).
However, if John Kerry were to win tomorrow’s election I am somewhat consoled by what the author Tom Wolfe has to say about the Massachusetts Senator: “[Senator Kerry] is a man no one should worry about at all. He is not going to introduce some manic radical plan, because he is poll-driven, and it is therefore impossible to know where or for what he stands.”
Not that a blowing-in-the-wind kind of administration is what this country needs right now, however.
Here’s to a relatively smooth transition into either another four years of Bush or a new Kerry administration. Please leave the lawyers outside the polling place. The American electorate doesn’t deserve another month of this bickering.
Respond |
| It's as if "Sex and the City" had an episode about elections |
| Posted by Stephanie Sanguinet at 04:00 PM |
The clock is ticking towards November 2, and all anyone can talk about at work is the election…both state-wide and Presidential. The non-stop talk of the elections makes me wonder: Is it appropriate and P.C. to talk of politics in the workplace?
Knowing that so many people have very different opinions, could voicing your opinion lead to a hostile work environment? Is it ok to voice your opinion knowing that what you say could very well offend a superior or fellow co worker?
No longer are we sitting in the safe confines of a University lecture hall or classroom where everything said is taken with a grain of salt and where your opinion could lead to a healthy debate. When today’s society is as divided as ours is, are our jobs secure if we are voicing our political and religious opinions in the workplace?
Respond
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| Ian's on the road |
| Posted by Ian Stewart at 01:52 PM |
I too have joined the crew of Bloggers on the road, first in LA for work and then on to New Mexico to help elect John Kerry as the next President of the United States.
As such, I’ve got precious little time to clean up the chaff my fellow bloggers have left on the site the last few days.
1. Hey Garrett. Fortunately, our blog offers us the opportunity to actually discuss issues that simply appear as sound bites from other outlets (I guess in this case, I mean you).
You’ve got an impressive list of weapons systems that Kerry has purportedly voted against. As Kerry himself has said, “Everyone knows you can play with these votes”, and lo and behold, (to borrow a phrase from one of your heroes) there you go again. Check out this article from Slate on the topic of Kerry’s voting record.
2. But more to the point, the “laundry list” of Kerry’s supposed votes against these weapons systems as THE reason for why we shouldn’t trust Kerry completely misses the mark and illuminates why the Bushies are the wrong choice to lead us in the war on terror…we don’t fight terrorists with Abrams tanks…we fight them with human intelligence, “drying out the swamps” of regimes who harbor terrorists (see my last post for why this is NOT Iraq ), and finally, lifting the standard of living or giving hope to people living where terrorists recruit.
An Abrams tank vote isn’t the issue. Applying pressure to Saudi Arabia to cut off terrorist funding and training centers, helping the reformers win in Iran, negotiating and disarming Kim Jong Il in North Korea, actually pursuing bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan…the list of the things the Bushies have ignored that actually are the issue seems to have no end.
3. Finally, hey William? An electoral college lead of 10 points is not a “decided edge.” In fact, your confidence should actually be something more akin to panic.
Bush continues to be stuck at 47% to 48 % in the battleground state polls. I refer you to these stellar sites, Mystery Pollster , Princeton Professor Sam Wang, and the ever-informative Slate , where you can get a laundry list of recent polls.
Take particular note of Mystery Pollster’s Incumbent Rule which is enlightening for all, and terrifying for Bushies throughout the land.
Respond
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| Get out and vote |
| Posted by Garrett Ryan Ferencz at 01:39 PM |
I have to echo Stephanie’s sentiment about feeling exhausted. My shoulders are literally sore from the stress of thinking about this whole affair, and my mind fried by too many attack ads. However, for those of you who are in a district that is uncompetitive, or thinking that since the Presidential election is decided in Washington there is no point in voting -- think again.
Recent polls show that the race for Governor is indeed tightening. Rossi who has been described by the Wall Street Journal as a "state-level star," was featured along with national newcomers like Democrat Barack Obama. The Seattle Times (endorsing virtually every other democrat save McKenna) gave the nod to Rossi. In other words, the battle for the Washington Governor’s mansion is far from over.
The impact the governor could have on our lives is potentially far greater than the presidency: how much we pay at the pump, sales tax, higher education, class room size, gun control, the future of Boeing and Microsoft will all be affected by our choice for governor.
Get out and vote.
Respond
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| Less than 24 hrs to go |
| Posted by Stephanie Sanguinet at 11:09 AM |
Election 2004 is almost to a close. It's less than 24 hours before the election ballots officially begin casting and I find myself exhausted.
I've read up on candidates, initiatives, given mini-lectures to those of my friends who have tolerated this mayhem, and now find myself worn to the point of exhaustion.
The older I become, the more I realize that the decisions we, as a people, make together do affect our lives. Will there be a Social Security to assist us when we are old enough to receive it? Will Washington State finally house charter schools? What will be written of this election in history books? The rest of the world looks on America for our sense of Democracy and compromise, but our inability to agree on anything of major importance, selfish tendencies and a "We're always right" attittude may reflect poorly on ourselves.
Will this election change our reputation among nations? So many questions that may be left unanswered.
The only thing that myself and fellow bloggers seem to agree on is that this election is an important one. Come Wednesday morning [in theory: Ed], we will have an elected President, governor, state officials and voted into effect different initiatives. Regardless of the outcome, I will respect the decision WE have made together.
Respond. Do you feel the same sense of election exhaustion? Will the vote be decided Wednesday? |
| Bin Laden tape response |
| Posted by Garrett Ryan Ferencz at 11:04 AM |
Buried in work from an utterly busy week, there suddenly seemed to be a quick migration to the water cooler (or actually the tv in the lunch room next to the water cooler). The work day stopped cold.
Osama Bin Laden had a message for America. A message to all of us purporting to prevent killing more of our innocent civilians. Bin Laden asks us to meet his demands, he asks the American people to abandon our ally, Israel. As I hear it, he asks America to allow religious fanaticism to prosper, genocide to continue; he asks us to no longer care.
This blogger must admit that I have rarely been moved emotionally more than after hearing these words. The emotions of everyone at my office were high this past Friday.
The timing of this message is unmistakable, and its aim is as clear. Bin Laden wants to affect the American election. He wants to destabilize us through fear, hate, and weakness. He wishes for a pacifist to take the helm of this nation and move its course.
The most outrageous part of Bin Laden’s message is its striking similarity to the criticism by Michel Moore that Bush did not do all he could during 9-11 to defend our people—the people Bin Laden wished to kill. There is no doubt that whether it was John F. Kerry or George W. Bush as president on September 11th, both men would have done all they could to protect us. Although my generation is one of cynicism, there is a time when we need to have a little faith.
The fallout from the Bin Laden tape is unclear. The Kerry supporters think it may help his campaign by demonstrating we have yet to capture Bin Laden. I and my fellow Bushites think that there will be a backlash.
I guess only tomorrow will tell. However, one thing is certain: the message to Bin Laden must be that the American People do not negotiate with terrorists, we will not negotiate with you, and we shall be unwilling to allow you to chose the next President of this nation. The hunt for you will continue, and Bush or Kerry we will not be deterred.
Respond
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