2016 elections - because it's never too early

[CountDeMoney]

Coal Democrats still win in WV--a billionaire coal owner (D) is up by double digits in the WV gubernatorial race this year.

I'm sorry that it's looking increasingly doubtful that you will be mobilized and deployed by First Consul God-Emperor Trump for the War on Spic Terror, Otto.  I know you were looking forward to some trigger time. 

[Valmy]

Well I voted.

[CountDeMoney]

Did you make Texas great again?

[The Minsky Moment]

Is that because Weld has actually done something great or is it just because he isn't lame/crazy like Johnson?

My recollection is that he was a pretty good governor.  Can't recall anything bad said about him, except from Jesse Helms, which is extra credit in my book.

[dps]

Did you make Texas great again?

Why think Valmy might succeed where Charlie Strong has failed?

[jimmy olsen]

Looking good for Clinton in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-female-voters-hillary-clinton-sexism-remarks-comments-presidential-election-2016-latest-a7378246.html

Donald Trump's words inspire 'surge' of female voters to cast early ballots for Hillary Clinton

News emerges with just two weeks left of the presidential race

•James Smith                 

A disproportionate number of women Democrats have turned out to cast early votes against Donald Trump in the US presidential election, analysts believe.

Data shows that in Florida and Georgia, more women than men have voted early overall, and in North Carolinan female Democrats cast nearly 50 per cent more early ballots than Republican women. Early male voters, however, cast a similar number of ballots, whether Democrat or Republican.

Experts said the upsurge in Democratic women voters casting early ballots was likely caused by Mr Trump defending his televised misogynistic comments, in addition to a string of sexual assault and harassment allegations made against him by former associates and journalists.

Michael McDonald of the United States Elections Project wrote in the Huffington Post: "In Georgia and North Carolina, there was a surge of women requesting absentee ballots towards the end of the week of the first presidential debate.

"In Georgia, the surge began on Thursday and in North Carolina the surge began on Friday, and in both states it persisted through the following week."

"The percentage of women among those requesting absentee ballots peaked to their highest levels in the week from Monday, 3 October through Sunday, 9 October. In Georgia, 59.3 per cent of requests came from women and in North Carolina it was 59.4 per cent."

Michael Bitzer, an expert in southern US politics from Catawba College, North Carolina said he had seen a third more women voters than men, with around 87,000 of them Democrats. By comparison, 60,000 Republican women are said to have voted, versus 50,000 male Democrats and 52,000 Republican men.

In Florida, Daniel Smith, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida reported similar figures, with 55 per cent of early voters being women as of Wednesday. The state is often considered a 'bellwether' that has consistently predicted election results in the past.

Equally, while Donald Trump is leading in Georgia, an early bump in women voters initially saw Clinton five points ahead, in a state that has not returned a Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992.

"That's certainly an energy and mobilisation indicator this early for the Clinton campaign and Democrats down ballot," said Professor Bitzer.

Footage emerged a fortnight ago which threatened to derail Mr Trump's campaign after he was shown appearing to discuss sexual assault of women more than a decade ago. He has dismissed the comments, describing them as "locker room banter" but a number of high profile Republican politicians have distanced themselves from his campaign after the footage came to light.

In response, Trump accused Ms Clinton of standing by her husband Bill amid accusations of sexual harassment and assault, holding a press conference with some of Mr Clinton's accusers prior to the second live presidential debate.

US states have different election rules, with postal 'absentee' votes cast between four and fifty days before election day. In 20 states an excuse for not voting in person is needed.

[Valmy]

Did you make Texas great again?

I said I voted, not that I got Charlie Strong fired!

[Ed Anger]

Hearing Elizabeth Warren screech makes me want to see a military coup. What an annoying psychobeast.

[jimmy olsen]

More good turnout news for Dems

http://www.sltrib.com/news/4502030-155/in-early-utah-turnout-twice-as?platform=hootsuite

In early Utah turnout, a third more Democrats than expected have voted

By LEE DAVIDSON |  The Salt Lake Tribune   connect

First Published 3 hours ago    •    Updated 20 minutes ago

About a third more Utah Democrats have voted so far than normally would be expected in early turnout for by-mail voting — while fewer-than-predicted Republicans are casting ballots.

"That shows us there is an excitement amongst Democrats," Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans concedes, while "there is a frustration level amongst Republicans" with Donald Trump atop their ticket.

He says the situation is giving the Utah GOP some heartburn over how that will affect other state and local races.

So Evans is glad that several months ago, his party decided to skip its normal Plan A or even Plan B about how to get out the vote, and went straight to a "Plan T" developed just for this unusual presidential election year.

Last June, when Evans was asked if the "T" in "Plan T" stood for Trump, he smiled and said, "It may or may not be a coincidence." But now he says it stands for "turnout," and how to motivate Republicans who may not like Trump to vote anyway to help other GOP candidates.

"The first stage of Plan T is good data collection, and knowing who has voted and who hasn't," Evans said. "We know who we need to get to the polls to win. And we can see if they have voted, and where we need to target our resources."

Through Monday afternoon, he noted that about 82,000 Utahns have cast ballots in the 21 of 29 counties now conducting the election by mail. More than 67,000 of those votes so far have come in Salt Lake County.

The lieutenant governor's office releases name-by-name information about who has mailed back ballots — but, of course, not how they vote — and both parties watch that closely to encourage friendly voters to cast their ballots.

Parties have lists of who is registered as a Republican or Democrat. And for the large numbers of unaffiliated voters in the state, they also have developed lists of how they think each typically votes based on information collected through such things as polling or donations.

In Salt Lake County, Evans said about 16 percent of voters are registered Democrats — but they have cast 22 percent of the votes so far in the county.

And 42 percent of Salt Lake County voters are Republicans, but they have cast 36 percent of the vote. "So they are up by six points, and we are down by six points," Evans said. "That's a swing of about 8,200 votes."

He said the remaining 42 percent of votes cast so far are from the unaffiliated, whom he sees as swing voters, and they are casting ballots "in about the numbers you would expect."

Evans added, "Now it's time for all Republicans to come together, and all focus in on getting our Republicans to the polls. ... We know who needs to vote. I'm saying this in a respectful way: We need to drag them to the polls."

That means Republicans who haven't yet voted can likely expect plenty of contact in coming days.

Perhaps underscoring how tough this election could be for Republicans, as Evans talked to The Tribune a woman passing his office delivered a hard slap to a pro-Trump sign attached to a window at GOP headquarters.

Evans said he is not too worried about the effect of depressed GOP voting in congressional races because leads in those contests seem strong.

He is more concerned about local and legislative races in Salt Lake County, saying excitement in the other party could help Democrats win some close races — such as three House districts that last election Democrats thought they had won on election night, but lost after the final canvass days later.

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Peter Corroon said his party's analysis of turnout mirrors that of Republicans, but said it is too early to declare any firm trends.

[jimmy olsen]

More good news for the Dems on the turnout front

https://twitter.com/CBSDFW/status/790718688190164992

#EarlyVoting in Dallas County:
Today: 58,329 and counting
First day in 2012: 32,512
First day in 2008: 34,415

[Monoriu]

I am surprised that so many people have joined political parties in the US. 

[Valmy]

I am surprised that so many people have joined political parties in the US. 

I am not even sure how I would go about doing that. I think that is only a thing in states with closed primaries.

[Admiral Yi]

You just check a box on the registration form.

[Valmy]

You just check a box on the registration form.

Form? What form?

Anyway Tim I am actually kind of interested to see what Dallas does in this election. Ever since the Ike showed up Dallas has been Republican unless LBJ was running. Then suddenly when Obama came along it has been going Democrat by a huge margin. So will that continue? We will see.

[Admiral Yi]

Form? What form?

The form that they give you when you say you want to register to vote.  The one that says "Voter Registration Form" at the top.