It irks me that my vote will not count..my state is firmly Republican and

[patricia92243]

of course I am a Democrat. Therefore based on the electoral college system, my vote is worth nothing

[disgruntled_goat]

1. I am irked too

IMO, the electoral college degrades all our votes.

my $0.0000000000002

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IndianaGreen]

2. You must be a Hoosier!

Indiana is declared on the GOP column at 6:01 PM, exactly one minute after the polls close.

At least we have a very competitive race for Governor.

[cavebat2000]

3. I agree

It pisses me off. I'm in Ohio. It seems VERY conservative. It votes conservative. Oh well. I guess Deans idea of getting people to vote who dont normally vote might actually be the most important message to the Democrats!

[Kathleen04]

13. Ohio..

could be very important this year. It went for Clinton both times, so it's not a lost cause and we need your vote there. :)

[Upfront]

4. Electoral College

should be done away with, then your vote would count. Maybe many of the people who don't vote are like you, so they don't bother. Low vote turn out means good news for republicans. My wife and I once lived in a precinct where we were the only two Democrats. We always voted because they were trying to be a 100% precinct. Never made it while we lived there. lol Please vote, you never know who you may tick off.

[isbister]

5. Re: It irks me that my vote will not count..my state is firmly Republican

Tell your republican friends that bush has betrayed the party with his borrow, tax and spend polocies and they should vote for Buchanan. :-)

[TexasPatriot]

6. heh

well, first off - we dems need to be as 'big tent' as we can. i posted on this in GD earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=980654#980827

second - we get a different way to vote. it may not be the best answer, but it works for those of us that are that angry:

vote with your wallet

make the pubs hear you - because they'll hear money (why do you think they pitched such a fit over Soros)

[Ready4Change]

7. I'm a Republican...

And I'm not voting for Bush. There's a number of Republicans who feel this administrations actions go against much of what we think "Republican" stands for. So for us at least we're hoping to add our votes to yours.

It's not guaranteed that they will win unless you give up. Don't waste MY vote.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

28. You just made my day

Thanks for the vote of encouragement! :-)

[MoonRiver]

29. WOW! Do you mind saying which Dem candidate you most support?

I'm really curious. Welcome to DU! :hi:

[msanger]

8. check out the Dean and Clark campaigns

They both have supporters from all over the Country contacting votes in Iowa and New Hampshire - places where the votes "count."

It seems to me that there has been a major shift in how campaigns are being run - starting with Moveon.org getting people from all over the country donating money and phone calls to democrats running in 2002 and accelerating with the Dean phenomenon.

This new style campaign allows, and even depends on the active particpations of citizens all over the country.

I'm from Virginia, which hasn't gone Blue since LBJ. But it's going blue this year. Because I (and several thousand other committed democrats in the state) are going to make it happen.

[Bronco69]

9. I feel the same way.

I live in Texas which bush* will win gauranteed. I guess I just feel like I need to make my voice heard. I might be one of the minority, but I can't just sit still and do nothing.

[Brian_Expat]

10. There's no such thing as a "vote that doesn't count"

Get out there and educate your neighbors and friends!

[MidwestMomma]

11. Check out swingstate.org

Maybe you live near a swing state and can help register voters in that state. I live in Kansas so I feel your pain. But Missouri is only minutes away and they will probably be a swing state so I plan on helping on registering voters, etc over there.

[tedoll78]

17. I'd love to see..

a project where people who live on the border in a hopeless state outside of a swing state are given the opportunity to change their residences and vote absentee in that state for the election. Sure, it may be shady.. but it's perfectly legal. If the GOP wants to play the voting technicality game, I'm all for dishing it right back to them. Too much at stake this time around. And imagine Indiana and Kentucky voters flocking to Ohio, lol..

[kodi]

14. you're missing the larger pix, work for a local or state candidate

where the hell do you think the national candidates are groomed?

are there so few in the land not infected with the quest of instant gratification from the political process that they are unwilling to shoulder the weight to work for/on local and state issues and candidates that can someday change the day nationally?

the manipulators of the culture, those who chomsky calls the manufacturers of consent want you to feel helpless all so you will lay down the tools of a working democracy, leaving the system to them.

you can make a difference everywhere you speak up and in every task you perform in the process.

do you think that the right wing just sat on their asses after goldwater got his as whumpped?

you have a US rep running in your district, and likely a senator in yur state, perhaps a governor, and state house/senate reps too. join one of their campaigns and let the light shine on thru bretheren!

we fight our battles on many fronts, glory is not necessarily heralded. it comes from inside of us.

[TexasPatriot]

25. ooOOooOOoo

well said Kodi :)

if you want change - go make change happen.

the only caveat i would make is that we, democrats, from Barbara Boxer to Zell Miller, need to be open to a wide range of opinion - because the Zells of the world are a hell of a lot more likely to compromise with us than a republican alternative. you may not agree with Lieberman (i dont on a range of issues) but i'm glad he's on our team.

if there isnt a liberal voice in your community - be one. you might be surprised. and eventually maybe you can bring about the change that you want so badly.

[goobergunch]

15. North Carolina is not safe Repub by any means (n/t)

[tedoll78]

16. May I offer a suggestion?

Vote Libertarian.

Libertarians are much more closely allied with the Republican Party.
If the Libertarians were to get 5% of the vote in this election, they'd have a bigger loudspeaker to use in 2008.
With matching funds, and with recent GOP spending as a weakness, they have the potential to rip some voters from the GOP in 2008.

Think of it as a long-term investment.. :) I'm here in Texas, and I'm gonna do it.. hehe.. :evilgrin:

[MidwestMomma]

18. I like it, I like it!

Thanks for the :evilgrin: idea!

[corporatewhore]

21. I heard a libertarian pres cannidate atpeace rally today in austin

Mike something or other he talked about how this war was illeagel and bad he also talked about bushco patriot act facism.I was goin along w/what he was sayin until he talked about guns and the black helicopter un stuff

[SheilaT]

19. I feel the same way.

As far as I'm concerned the lesson that 2000 taught me was that my vote doesn't count. Never did. Never will. Certainly not so long as we have the electoral college.

I live in Kansas, and I've voted in the past in the presidential column just to make sure there's one more vote for the Democrat, so the Republican's margin of victory is a little less. Of course in 1992 and 1996 I had the satisfaction of voting for the winning candidate.

I am seriously considering not voting the presidential column this year. But maybe, just maybe there's a chance even Kansas will go Democratic. And then I think about the reality of the current administration and I have no faith we'll have a fair, free, and honest election -- maybe we won't have an election at all.

Meanwhile I'm working hard on the campaign of the Democrat I hope will be our next president. It's the least I can do.

[stickdog]

20. Luckily, there's a lot you can do other than simply voting to make a

difference!

[JNelson6563]

22. I hope you'll pardon me Patricia

but I am going to use your post as a bit of a soapbox.....

When I found DU a long time ago I just knew I was disgusted, little else, when it came to politics. Boy that changed in a hurry! I learned so much my head was spinning. I was able to track down my nearly invisible local Dems and I got involved. It was a dismal thing to behold.

I helped on a fundraiser, it was clear that we had no presence here. Trying to solicit items for a silent auction was a real challenge. I managed to cobble together an impressive array of items in spite of that and made lots of $$. Every fundraiser after that I did some big thing for it, for instance Senator Levin agreed to do a fundraiser for us. We have a former US Attorney here where I live, he hosted it. I bought the ribs, got the wine donated and various board members brought extras. It cost the Party almost nothing. Hundreds came, we made a boatload.

That has been the story now with every fundraiser I have been a part of. We now have an unprecedented (for us) bank balance.

They elected me to the board and then to Membership Chair. This party was taken over three years ago because of its non-existent status in the community. One of the things they did was start a newsletter. They have acquired well over 900 names on the mailing list. I did a membership mailing to that list of names. Sent a letter and a mem form. I did the whole project, printing, folding, stuffing envelopes, I even signed every single letter by hand. We have a postage permit for our newsletter which makes it so much cheaper to send stuff (I had a rubber stamp of it made so I didn't have to have a printer do it--great for future mailings!). I included, in my letter, several tasks to check off that were volunteer, as well as a space to write in the amount of any "additional donation".

I got hundreds of replies, took in thousands of dollars and raised a small army of volunteers. I also got lots of little notes. One was from an older couple. They thanked me for my letter and told me they'd been involved over the years but had never offically joined. Nobody had ever asked them! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed getting the mail for the next month or so. I got so muchthey had to bundle it! It was great. All from the comfort of my own home.

Remember, I started out knowing nobody and nothing, not very long ago at all.

Why do I blather on telling you all about this? Because I want you all to see what really needs to be done.

This post here, I don't mean to pick on you Patricia, demonstrates what the problem is. We need to grow the party. We need to work on off years when we aren't under the spell of a candidate and have all our sights focused on getting that person elected. No we need to create, ahead of time, a base of support for when that candidate comes along.

I see folks coming in here zealously promoting their candidate, raising big money for them, tabling events, attending rallies, whatever. All that is fine and good but if there isn't a base of support for that candidate's party, in the end the R's will win. I too live in an area that is an R stronghold. I've been working hard to change that and I urge every person on this board to do the same. I always wonder when I see all this great effort people come here and post, if only we'd all been doing such things for the party since the Selection of 2000, where might we be today? *sigh*

Get out and find your local party! Join them, they are happy to see volunteers! Offer ideas, help with fundraisers and see where there is room for improvement!

There is so much we can all do. One of the things party invovlement like this can result in is bringing the House and Senate (as well as State Houses and Senates) into the Democratic fold. You can have the Democratic president of your choice but without some help in Congress, forget it.

Ok, getting off soap-box--before you all start lobbing yucky tomatoes. ;-)

Julie

[Stuckinthebush]

23. Take heart!

You do live in one of the most beautiful areas of the country and it is one of the most progressive in the South.

If that is worth anything.... :D

I miss Asheville. Fond memories of Black Mountain, Montreat, and Asheville.

[TexasSissy]

24. At least your vote DOES go toward the popular vote count.

It doesn't REALLY count insofar as electing the President, but it DOES count insofar as the popular vote.

I am in the same situation. I live in Bush country. Imagine! But mine was one of the popular votes for Gore, and we all saw how that people looked at that count.

Wonder if it would be helpful to register Republican and then vote to do damage in that way? A nasty thing to do, but I've heard that Republicans are registering as Democrats so that they vote in the nomination and vote for someone they think Bush will beat easily (and who has a chance of winning the nomination, of course).

[HFishbine]

26. Au contraire my petite pessimist

There is great hope, but we'll need your help. Our state is hasn't gone for a democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter. That doesn't mean we are forever doomed. Consider, North Carolina has elected a democratic governor in the past four races. We have a democratic majority in the state house. Additionally, you live in an area where there is strong democratic interest. Your county went for the dem candidate in 1996 and 1992 (dems in red):


1996


1992

It will take a great deal of effort, but NC can go dem this year if we work hard and thousands of people will be doing so. Are you with us?

Click here to get started.

[Philosophy]

27. I live in southeastern Alabama

It's a lost cause here of course, but I'm thinking of going down to help out in Florida which is only a few miles away.