US Voting Challenge

[gv1.3]

The coverage of the election in the US has been relentless ever since I got here in Jan this year. Every TV station and radio station cover it and, although still mainly interested in Irish politics, it is difficult not to learn a little about US politics as they are discussed and advertised everywhere.

So as an Irish person in America for a realatively short period of time I feel that if I had the right to vote here I would know which candidate to vote for, what their various policies are and who they are running with.

Everyone over here from taxi drivers to barmen to sales people to bankers and everyone in between that I have spoken to seem to have an opinion on the candidates and also seem to be able to back up their opinion with reasons.

I thought America was in a good situation when it came to voting as surely all of these well informed voters would come out on polling day and vote the best man for the job...

Then I heard this.... http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3

It really makes you wonder when all is said and done are people voting for colour? are they voting for change? or do they really have a clue what the hell they are voting for at all?

I cant see how the media could cover this election any better so its not down to a lack of information.

Just my usual thoughts and ramblings

Dylan

 

[sx_turbo]

It really makes you wonder when all is said and done are people voting for colour? are they voting for change? or do they really have a clue what the hell they are voting for at all?

i really genuinely think that people are basing there vote on all of those decisions.

from what i have heard, i think i would vote borak obama.


just purely because i like his views, there not typical gun hoe shoot now think later typical american.

he would provide change and will bring some youth to the generally old and stuck in there ways normal government officials.

by voting john mcain your just voting for the country to be run pretty much the same as it has been.

although i dont agree with everything that borak obama say's most of it i like though.


also i like the way the americans really get stuck in to there politics, over hear in the uk, i havnt a clue what the different party's policy's are, they are not made clear and concise for us to understand, and very little is actually put in the media about it, we have certain newspapers that only feed you what they want you to hear, and the same with the news on the telly.

if i knew what each party's policy's were and wasnt bamboozled by mp's usual jargon of poop i would probably vote for who i want, but as this is not the case i decide not to vote.


EDIT: couldnt see the link cos i was at work, so i may have missed the point entirely lol

 

[gv1.3]

thanks for the reply Ricky. I think that America rightly or wrongly are preceived around the world as being very arrogant. The fact of the matter is that their economy is not what it once was and with the EU, China and Russia becoming serious forces to be reckoned with the balance of power is shifting.

America can keep doing what they are doing or they can change as you mentioned above Barack appears to be the man for change. He seems to want to explore and discuss new ways of doing things whereas McCain really is a carbon copy of Bush when it comes to his policies.

Uk politics in particular confuses the hell out of me. It is very mixed up and not reported very well. Irish politics are very local and bitchy - I like it Dont get me wrong I dont like the actual politicians but the politics is never dull.

 

[sx_turbo]

Uk politics in particular confuses the hell out of me. It is very mixed up and not reported very well. Irish politics are very local and bitchy - I like it Dont get me wrong I dont like the actual politicians but the politics is never dull.

lol

yeah i not entirely sure on irish politics either, as that doesnt get covered over here.


another thing i would like to point out, i think we brits know more about the us election than we ever have about our own elections lol

 

[gv1.3]

exactly - when talking to people in Ireland they seem to be discussing the america election far more than they ever discussed the last Irish general election...

So... if the press coverage etc is so vast with the american election how can you have people like those above talking such shite?!? and the more worrying question... how wide spread is this lack of general knowledge amongst american voters?

 

[Adam_Glanza]

the american voting is such a drama, i think it actually gets people intrested, thats why they love it so much.

our countries are so boring and uk'ish that nobody really gives a damn.

its all the same mumbo jumbo, and it isnt on the news enough really to give you much of a kick up the ass

 

[Corey_gt]

Its nearly like a game show but imo the yanks say one thing and when they go to the polling boots do a u-turn. I'd would'nt be suprised if Mc Cain got in to tell you the truth. Obama is a great speaker I must admit but I think his colour is going to be a serious factor in it the yanks a funny race. I'd like to see Obama win it all the same. At the end of the the day the the American president is just the tip of the iceburg he doesnt make all the decisions or run the country hes basically a spokesman. I also think its mad that Paddy Powers payed out to an Obama victory.

 

[Starlet_Sam]

The American elections are more dramatic than The X Factor. People care because they'll be the ones to push the big red button in the end. British politicians have lost all their balls, Thatcher was a cunt but she had the guts to do stuff which noone will these days.

Don't know if Obama will win, there have been times when black politicians have been popular in the past but lost out in the end, thought largely to be due to large white support but poor follow ups in the polls.

 

[gv1.3]

I do believe there has been a certain emasculation in UK politics since the departure of the baroness. She had bigger balls than most but probably didnt use them in the most productive way.

I just saw my mate has joined the forum to comment on this... should be an interesting response.

 

[Dar81]

I think they've done a bit of Fox news job on that. Yeah, it displays the absolute lack of an informed opinion and stupidity of a few people in one particular area. Probably all walking down the same street..

Sure, go into the middle of O'Connell street and stop 10 people who voted No on Lisbon and then people who voted Yes and ask them why.. I bet half of them won't be able to give a sufficient answer as to why they voted either way.

But I think the people in Harlem (not all but a large percentage of them) are a bit like people in working class areas in Dublin and around Ireland.. They'll like somebody for a particular reason but not necessarily for the policies but probably because they're from the area and/or someone knows them, they're charismatic and/or very articulate and charm them into voting for them or in the case of the Harlem crew, and many other lower class/lower education areas all over the states, they vote based on skin colour or they vote for one person because they dislike the other person or other trivial reasons that are irrelevant to the presidency..

Or even still, they've always been democratic or republican and nothing is gonna change that.. A bit like over here.. A lot of people affiliate themselves to one party and vote for them regardless of what their policies are.. A bit like supporting a football team..

The same can be said for some of the 'upper class' or very wealthy.. Their vote isn't there to be won or lost but that's not to say they are not making informed decisions on why they are voting for them but, at the same time, aren't in the same panic stricken state about the American economy as the 'middle class' and 'lower class' Americans are.

I think both McCain and Obama know that and also where these lower class areas are and know that they have their vote regardless of what they say or do.. Their vote is almost taken for granted.. I mean, unless Obama walks into some fella's house in Harlem and takes a jockey off his wife, I think that fella's vote is safe regardless of what Obama says in a debate etc..

I think that's why Obama, in particular, and McCain have been really focused on the 'middle class' because they recognise that this is where the majority of undecided voters are and these boyos will look at both of candidates and decide, based on what they're proposing, who to vote for..

This is where they reckon the election will be won and lost.. many of the middle class, as they call them, are not tied to any one party and will make, a somewhat, informed decision..

I'm sure the reason that you got the impression that most were informed on what they were voting for is probably because they are.. Florida could be seen as the state that can potentially swing it for the eventual winner so there's clearly a large percentage of those 'middle class' undecided voters living and working around you..

 

[Corey_gt]

I think they've done a bit of Fox news job on that. Yeah, it displays the absolute lack of an informed opinion and stupidity of a few people in one particular area. Probably all walking down the same street..

Sure, go into the middle of O'Connell street and stop 10 people who voted No on Lisbon and then people who voted Yes and ask them why.. I bet half of them won't be able to give a sufficient answer as to why they voted either way.

But I think the people in Harlem (not all but a large percentage of them) are a bit like people in working class areas in Dublin and around Ireland.. They'll like somebody for a particular reason but not necessarily for the policies but probably because they're from the area and/or someone knows them, they're charismatic and/or very articulate and charm them into voting for them or in the case of the Harlem crew, and many other lower class/lower education areas all over the states, they vote based on skin colour or they vote for one person because they dislike the other person or other trivial reasons that are irrelevant to the presidency..

Or even still, they've always been democratic or republican and nothing is gonna change that.. A bit like over here.. A lot of people affiliate themselves to one party and vote for them regardless of what their policies are.. A bit like supporting a football team..

The same can be said for some of the 'upper class' or very wealthy.. Their vote isn't their to be won or lost but that's not to say they are not making informed decisions on why they are voting for them but, at the same time, aren't in the same panic stricken state about the American economy as the 'middle class' and 'lower class' Americans are.

I think both McCain and Obama know that where these lower class areas are and know that they have their vote regardless of what they say or do.. Their vote is almost taken for granted.. I mean, unless Obama walks into some fella's house in Harlem and takes a jockey off his wife, I think that fella's vote is safe regardless of what Obama says in a debate etc..

I think that's why Obama, in particular, and McCain have been really focused on the 'middle class' because they recognise that this is where the majority of undecided voters are and these boyos will look at both of candidates and decide, based on what they're proposing, who to vote for..

This is where they reckon the election will be won and lost.. many of the middle class, as they call them, are not tied to any one party and will make, a somewhat, informed decision..

I'm sure the reason that you got the impression that most were informed on what they were voting for is probably because they are.. Florida could be seen as the state that can potentially swing it for the eventual winner so there's clearly a large percentage of those 'middle class' undecided voters living and working around you..

Hey mate good write up Welcome to the site be sure to make a thread in the welcome section

 

[Aidan@EP-styling]

Im just happy to see Bush going out:rockon:

 

[gv1.3]

good points there. I suppose you are right about Florida but I spoke to people in Little Rock and all over the place, sometimes its all people want to talk about.

Its very odd though.. you could be talking to an ex-military person and they will be staunch McCain supporters just because of his military background. Its like nothing will shake the fact - he could stand up and say "I am going to go to war with every country in the world" and they would still support one of their own.

The whole media circus around the election has made me very cynical. Yesterday I saw a report that Obama had flown to Hawaii because his grand mother who raised him was dying. And he was on the TV saying "when my mother died I wasnt there as we thought she had more time and it turned out we didnt - I wont make that mistake again".
I immediately thought to myself - this basically says Obama learns from his mistakes and is a family man... is it staged?!? is he really going to visit his dying grand mother?!? who the hell knows at this stage it really wouldnt surprise me what lengths they would go to in order to get ahead.

 

[Starlet_Sam]

I do believe there has been a certain emasculation in UK politics since the departure of the baroness. She had bigger balls than most but probably didnt use them in the most productive way.

I just saw my mate has joined the forum to comment on this... should be an interesting response.

That may be true, hence the calling her a cunt, but my point was she dared to do what she thought was best where as Brown is too scared to do anything at all, that was a good election we had last year..... oh wait.

 

[Dar81]

Cheers Corey GT.. Thanks for the welcome..

Gv1.3, its a fair point to question what's genuine and what's staged, particularly when it comes to an election under so much scrutiny..

Even if his grandmother is as sick as they say, they've probably seen this as a good opportunity to get the 'I’ve learned from my mistakes and I'm willing to admit that I make mistakes and I'm a family man' point out there.. It is politics, after all, and not a lot can be taken at face value..

On the point of the ex-military heads who would vote for McCain regardless of what he says or does, goes back, somewhat, to a point that I made about people treating political parties like football teams and the like.. They have this loyalty to them and are completely biased about their policies (those who actually know what they are) and nothing will change their minds..

But I think that applies to both McCain and Obama supporters, even though some McCain supporters come across a little dangerous!

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Republican Party but they do provide entertaining politicians. Forget George Dub-ya for his very public fumbles at the mic.. Check out Dan Quayle, who was VP to Bush Sr from 89 - 93. He was the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c00_QkXUd8

 

[gv1.3]

LMAO good oul Dan... its actually scarey that people like that can be involved in politics at all.

I went to see that "w" a couple of days ago and it was interesting to see how a very unlikely and unqualified person can end up in power. I dont mean to offend anyone here but its no different to Hitler etc. I dont mean in their policies but it is amazing how someone so unlikely to achieve can end up running a country.

 

[Starlet_Sam]

LMAO good oul Dan... its actually scarey that people like that can be involved in politics at all.

I went to see that "w" a couple of days ago and it was interesting to see how a very unlikely and unqualified person can end up in power. I dont mean to offend anyone here but its no different to Hitler etc. I dont mean in their policies but it is amazing how someone so unlikely to achieve can end up running a country.

Yeah it's probably a challenge to get a whole country to think "kill all jews".

 

[gv1.3]

Well I wasnt concentrating on their policies but just on how very unlikely people seem to find their way into the main seat of power.

I suppose a lot of it has to do with disillusioned people who are sick of the current government looking for alternatives and finding radical extremeists. We would be nieve to believe it doesnt still happen today with some of these extreme groups recruiting in under-priveledged areas where unemployment is high and idle hands are in abundance.

I think the nazi movement under hitler was about as extreme a case as one can get but like the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot it is possible for these extreme movents to pop up every once in a while and I think whats more sad is how the rest of the world manages to turn a blind eye - especially if there is nothing in the country of monetary value or mineral resource.

 

[sx_turbo]

all very good comments there.

welcome dylans mate.

it would be nice if one or two of the american members could post on here who they think they will vote for and who, or even if there going to vote or not.

 

[Dar81]

Thanks sx turbo..

I agree.. It would be interesting if some of the american members give their opinion on the election, on who they would like to see win and why.. after all, its gonna have a direct affect on them..