Did Your Vote Count?

[Mben]

Here's a break down of how each county in the USA voted yesterday. It brings up a conversation I had with my daughter who voted for the first time in her life. (she's 25). I was ending the conversation by saying that I hoped her vote counted and that her presidential hopeful wins. She said yeah but it was too bad we were only an 11 electoral college state. I asked what that meant to her and she said that my vote won't count . Last night Alaska's polls were still open and Obama had already won. That doesn't make sense to me (it does, but it doesn't). I wonder if someone called the people of Alaska and told them not to bother voting because we already had a newly elected president without their vote. How do you encourage people to vote when they feel that their vote won't count? I never put that thought in my daughter's head (even though it is my feelings. Sorry but it is). She kind of blew me away when she said that about the 11 electoral votes which is why I asked what that meant to her. With the sea of Red, it looks that Romney would have won in a landslide but I know it depends on the population of people in each of the areas to determine how many votes each candidate actually received in that county. Obama won both the electoral and popular vote. Obama won 303 of the electoral vote, and Mitt Romney won 206 of the electoral vote. Obama won 59,583,302 in the popular vote, while Romney won 56,960,530 of the popular vote.I am no political expert and won't pretend to be. I am just making my own observations. We can discuss the topic but there will be members who will be teaching me a thing or two. That's my disclaimer for when I end up sounding like a politard. lolAnd yes, I know there are other races going on during the elections and the presidental race is not the only one at hand. There are many other things to vote on that pertain to an individual state and county that needs your voice. What are your views or opinions?

 

[belgamo]

well whats new, were still waiting on florida, good thing it does not matter this time around

 

[Mben]

I saw that, Belgamo. Leave it to Florida ... again. lol But like you said, it doesn't matter this time around. I guess you didn't need to go vote after all, huh? lol (I'm just kidding. Not really. But you know what I am trying to spit out. lol)

 

[krystalkitty]

My daughter voted for the first time. She turned 18 in May! Does our vote count? Prolly not in my opinion, But as a USA citizen it is our right to vote! Especially being female specially important! She had Civics! She knows what the deal is! I am just proud she decided to vote! My 31 yr old son, hasn't voted for years.....He figures his vote doesn't count anyway!!! All I know that I have voted every year since I turned 18!

 

[vsleepy22]

I feel the same as you do Mben; on the one hand I understand what the mechanics are when defining and using electoral votes BUT, I do not understand the principle! I cannot wrap my head around the fact that our votes are not counted at face value: the candidate with the most votes (or the popular vote) should win the race in which he/she is campaigning for. What is the point of everyone getting out to vote in the States of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas (worth only 3 electorals each) for instance, when tiny State like Maine, Rhoade Island, and New Hampshire (worth 4 electorals ea) basically trump the votes of those bigger States! I do not like it one bit and I think that the citizens of the United States should demand that the candidate whom is elected should be determined by the quantity of our votes, not by the quantity of electoral votes summed up from the States that have electoral majority, especially when we look at the disparagement in those numbers ranging from 3-55 electoral votes per State. Man I was yelling at my TV early on OH COME ON, NO F - ING WAY! when like you said, I was looking at the blanket of red that blanketed the country, and about a half hour or so later (before they mentioned that Ohio was Obama's) the announcer suddenly says Obama has won the election! I was like HuH?    

                         YES! YES! YES!                                                                                                                                             Phew... thank God for electoral votes 

 

[Mben]

krystalkitty wrote: My daughter voted for the first time. She turned 18 in May! Does our vote count? Prolly not in my opinion, But as a USA citizen it is our right to vote! Especially being female specially important! She had Civics! She knows what the deal is! I am just proud she decided to vote! My 31 yr old son, hasn't voted for years.....He figures his vote doesn't count anyway!!! All I know that I have voted every year since I turned 18!

I too am proud of my daughter for voting, krystalkitty. We never discussed it and I was a little bit surpirsed when she told me she had yesterday. She just purchased her first home 2 weeks ago also. All of this just makes my heart swell knowing I raised a good kid all on my own. There was a stepdad in the picture for a few years (who is still in her life) but I am taking all the credit! lolMy friend wondered why I was so proud of her for voting when I didn't vote this year. (I have my reasons why I didn't) I told him because it is our civil responsibility and right and that because she did it on her own, without me encouraging her, she is all grown up in my eyes. My daughter has a good head on her shoulders and I am very happy for that. 

 

[Mben]

vsleepy22 wrote: I feel the same as you do Mben; on the one hand I understand what the mechanics are when defining and using electoral votes BUT, I do not understand the principle! I cannot wrap my head around the fact that our votes are not counted at face value: the candidate with the most votes (or the popular vote) should win the race in which he/she is campaigning for. What is the point of everyone getting out to vote in the States of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas (worth only 3 electorals each) for instance, when tiny State like Maine, Rhoade Island, and New Hampshire (worth 4 electorals ea) basically trump the votes of those bigger States! I do not like it one bit and I think that the citizens of the United States should demand that the candidate whom is elected should be determined by the quantity of our votes, not by the quantity of electoral votes summed up from the States that have electoral majority, especially when we look at the disparagement in those numbers ranging from 3-55 electoral votes per State. Man I was yelling at my TV early on OH COME ON, NO F - ING WAY! when like you said, I was looking at the blanket of red that blanketed the country, and about a half hour or so later (before they mentioned that Ohio was Obama's) the announcer suddenly says Obama has won the election! I was like HuH?    

                         YES! YES! YES!                                                                                                                                             Phew... thank God for electoral votes 

I completely agree with you, vsleepy. We get each other. lolBut only up to the the point where you said YES! YES! YES! (I guess the cat's outta the bag as to who you and I wanted to win. And it wasn't the same person. lol)-- Edited by Mben on Wednesday 7th of November 2012 11:25:49 PM

 

[vsleepy22]

Well, I think that it would be a huge set back to have yet another set of radical ideals stump the short-lived agenda that Obama would have had to leave unfinished - I mean the man inherited 2 wars, the deficit, and our banking system in near colapse never mind the auto industry. Obama has actually followed through with his 2008 campaign promises - He ended combat in Iraq where U.S. forces peaked at 190,000 during the height of Bush's troop surge in 2007 and 4,500 American soldiers had been killed and the cost had reached 700 billion dollars in military spending, he promised to start pulling troops out by August 2010, which by that date he brought 50,000 home and cleared the way for a shift from combat missions to assistance for Iraqi security. He actually got Osama Bin Laden as opposed to what Bush did not do. He created a health care bill and overhauled the 2.5 trillion U.S. health industry which got rid of the frauds and created an affordable option for those who were without health care coverage due to price gouging and insurance company padding etc. He repealed the don't ask don't tell policy that banned gay and lesbians from the military. He took hold of the financial kings and created regulations and consumer protection rules to prevent the banking industry from colapse and to avoid future financial crisis and created a consumer watchdog, dismantled troubled and obscure financial firms while mandating higher bank capital standards tightening the financial industries oversights aimed to prevent risky lending practices; which of course placed him under immense pressure from Republicans and Wall Street interests calling for limited government regulations in the financial sector. He has done alot and has actually gone through his list of campaign promises one by one despite all of the hurdles that the Republican party has put up in the House. Four years is not even a reasonable amount of time for any President to have had inherited the country in the mess that it has become, and expect that he fix everything. I felt that he should be given the second term to continue what he has started before we decide what kind of President he is and what he has done for the country. Now Mben I do not know if you had the opportunity to watch Romney's campaign, honestly? I don't think alot of people really saw and heard him in action because there is no way that Mitt Romney should ever become President, he is clueless, dishonest, racist, and out of touch with common folk... key in  youtube.com/user/sleepyshepherd into Google or which ever search engine you use and  that will bring you to my channel and there you will find amongst other playlists a playlist titled msc. videos ; check out some of those Romney clips! Also in the playlist titled videos there are some funny parodies - checkout anything that you like there on my channel- I must warn you that there is a playlist titled THC that is my son and his partner's rap name and the material is pretty vulgar (just in case you check it out), so you have been warned