Languish Presidential Election!

[mongers]

What?

If it harms both parties they're more likely to cooperate.

The 17th amendment was passed and that was a more radical restructuring of the government and that got passed.

Does it matter, they're just parties not the foundations of democracy.

Hard for you to believe it, what with the two having had a duopoly for so long, but eventually political parties decline, collapse and transform.

[jimmy olsen]

What?

If it harms both parties they're more likely to cooperate.

The 17th amendment was passed and that was a more radical restructuring of the government and that got passed.

Does it matter, they're just parties not the foundations of democracy.

Hard for you to believe it, what with the two having had a duopoly for so long, but eventually political parties decline, collapse and transform.

What does that have to do with anything?

Obviously they're just self interested factions, that's why I think they will get rid of the Electoral College if Romney loses. Because it will be in the interest of both parties to compete for the popular vote.

[Sheilbh]

I love the Electoral College 

[Neil]

I think that Tim is silly.  In your scenario, both parties might have been burned by the EC, but both parties have been helped by it as well.

At any rate, how do you intend to convince the smaller states to end their relevance in the federal government?

[Phillip V]

EC allows third parties the possibility of spoiling the election by winning some Electoral Votes and denying a majority. With the advent of Super PACs / unlimited money, third parties will be able to overcome the entrenched institutional advantages of Democrats and Republicans.

[Tonitrus]

I like the idea of the EC, as it works as a instrument for having federal/state influence on the Executive branch (like the Senate for the Legislative),  but it's not hard to argue that the instrument is flawed, or could use refinement.  And such refinement is not unprecedented, as Senators used to be selected by the State legislatures.

The people chosen as Electors in the EC, and the EC itself could definitely stand to get more attention by media/schools, so that people actually understand its role in our system, instead of just creating "WTFBBQ?" moments after an election, for the few times it does matter.

[derspiess]

I got seven emails from Ann Romney in the past week. 

[Syt]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/voting-already-mess-florida/58682/

The first election-related federal lawsuit has already been filed in South Florida, where some citizens waited over seven hours to vote early over the weekend. In an area that includes Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward County -- yes, that Broward County -- Florida Democrats scrambled to extend early voting hours over the weekend citing "inadequate polling facilities" in a complaint filed in a Miami federal court on Sunday. "The extraordinarily long lines deterred or prevented voters from waiting to vote," says the lawsuit. "Some voters left the polling sites upon learning of the expected wait, and others refused to line up altogether. These long lines and extreme delays unduly and unjustifiably burdened the right to vote." These three counties are home to 32 percent of the state's Democrats.

So far, local officials haven't seemed too sympathetic to the plight of early voters. In response to Sunday's lawsuit, election supervisors in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties said that they'd allow would-be early voters to pick up and drop off absentee ballots so that they wouldn't have to wait in line. The small concession came after another request for an extension of early voting was denied last Thursday by Republican Governor Rick Scott and state election officials who said that everything was running smoothly. Scott is the same governor who approved a measure last year that reduced Florida's early voting period from 14 to eight days, a crunch that many critics think caused the long lines this year.

It's not even Election Day, yet, but some people are freaking out about the chaotic situation in Florida. "We're looking at an election meltdown that is eerily similar to 2000, minus the hanging chads," Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida, told The Huffington Post. Smith also warned that attempted to bridge the gap with absentee ballots, as a number of districts across Florida are now doing, would disenfranchise minorities. "Absentee ballots have a much higher rejection rate for minorities and young people, if you look at the Aug. 14 primary." HuffPost's Amanda Terkel adds, "Democrats are traditionally more likely to vote early, which is why many in the party have ascribed political motives to Scott's restriction of the process."

Now, this is not the year 2000. After that election, though, everybody in America knows that Florida can make a big difference in a presidential election. Everybody agrees that Ohio is the state to win, but Florida is still a toss-up with a lot of Electoral College votes. It's also a state that could probably do without another big voting scandal. The Obama campaign, for one, is not going to let Floridians forget about that one.

[CountDeMoney]

Hey derfetus, you told us you were going to Romney's rally, not Obama's as well.  At least you were released on your own recognizance.

CINCINNATI – President Obama was interrupted by a heckler during his appearance here, which prompted a two-minute break in his remarks.

The heckler, yelling something incomprehensible about abortion and holding a sign with three photos of fetuses, marked a rare interruption to Obama's stump speech. He would be carried out of the arena by four police officers after they pried his fingers from the bars in front of his seat in the first row of the balcony.

Obama paused his remarks as the crowd drowned the man out while the crowd picked up the familiar a chant of "four year years."

[CountDeMoney]

I got seven emails from Ann Romney in the past week.

They were addressed to "You People".

[garbon]

I was very confused when I saw those long lines in Florida. Also sounds like many waited till last day of early voting so...

[merithyn]

24 hours until I get to vote. 48 hours until we know who our president is. 72 hours until I won't have to listen to another freaking election commercial for at least a year.

Yay!!

[garbon]

Hey derfetus, you told us you were going to Romney's rally, not Obama's as well.  At least you were released on your own recognizance.

CINCINNATI – President Obama was interrupted by a heckler during his appearance here, which prompted a two-minute break in his remarks.

The heckler, yelling something incomprehensible about abortion and holding a sign with three photos of fetuses, marked a rare interruption to Obama's stump speech. He would be carried out of the arena by four police officers after they pried his fingers from the bars in front of his seat in the first row of the balcony.

Obama paused his remarks as the crowd drowned the man out while the crowd picked up the familiar a chant of "four year years."

Is "four year years" a familiar chant for Obama supporters?

[Eddie Teach]

Is "four year years" a familiar chant for Obama supporters?

I think one year years are long enough already.

[merithyn]

I was very confused when I saw those long lines in Florida. Also sounds like many waited till last day of early voting so...

The reason so many working-class people do the early voting is because they can't fit regular voting times into their work schedule. So it stands to reason that if the early voting was shortened from 14 days to 8 days that there would only be one weekend in that time, and that's when the majority of those same people would go to the polls. It's not about waiting until the last second. It's about being able to vote on a weekend when they don't have to be at work.