The only McCain option left is massive disruption of Philadelphia area voting

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

The supposed McCain Pennsylvania gambit is futile, but anything you do in a losing election is futile by definition.

If the Philly metro area turns out McCain cannot win the election.

But one thing Pennsylvania has going for it, from the Republican perspective, is no early voting. (Or so I have heard on TV) If turn-out is as large as expected, even without dirty tricks many voters in Obama precincts will find it difficult if not impossible to vote, as a practical matter.

Obama will probably win 330+ electoral votes, but if the headline was a surprise win for McCain it would have to involve massive voter discouragement in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

I'd expect some phoned in bomb threats at the minimum.

[speedoo]

1. Not even that would be enough.

McCain has to win too many other states that he now trails in, many by double digits.

If McCain were wise (he is not), he'd shelve that option and focus on trying to put some dignity into his campaign. The direction he's headed in now will permanently mark him as a RW thug, IMO, and possibly as a racist.

[Skink]

2. This show the absurdity of not having early voting.

Let's male voting as difficult as possible.

[PCIntern]

5. What about female voting too?

[glowing]

3. My mom was asking about this too.

I had to explain that many of the places that would vote for McCain were like her VT, small rural.. easy to get thru.. Now, take the Philly area and a precinct experiences 2 or 3 machines that go down (think Primary stories), and the line is out the door, around the corner, and down the st. At 7pm, there will still be people standing in line who haven't been able to access the vote. At that point, you have to get a judge to order an expansion of voting time for the precinct.. AND it is for each precinct.. which means lot's of lawyers and lot's of judges needing to stand by.. AND what if you get a bunch of piggy judges that say, "shut it down". This is the only plausible way McCain will be able to pull this off.... Then think about how many people have had problems in early voting in various states.. watching votes switch, or the ballot not popping up on the screen, or the challenges placed on various individuals.. In a densly populated area, this is going to make things extremely challenging for the elections officials on Nov. 4th. I honestly am surprised that PA does NOT have early voting, knowing that they have a major city like philly to push thru the voting booths on election date. Hopefully, many have opted to receive a mail-in ballot to help out with the number of people they need to have vote.

In FL, the early voting cites are fewer and are open for fewer hours... like Rachel said, it's a testament to the voters in FL who are willing to stand in line for 5hrs to be able to cast their ballot... and that is awe inspiring. 11.3 million voters in FL... that is awesome. AND many have been newly registered to vote by Obama supporters. Its amazing the enthusiasm for Obama in FL. We have nut cases still, of course... But everywhere I go, there's little comments from people about change and big goofy smiles when someone walks by with an Obama shirt or button. Its amazing to see people wake up down here.

The best thing about this campaign, though, is something my mom and I agree on... Its the message. We were watching t.v., and his commercial about education came on.. AND I said, you remember those old service announcements by Reagan and the DARE to stay of Drugs messages he used to do. she said yes.. This ad he paid for is kinda like that. Its a message that is directed to people to do their part in being better parents and better preparing their children for a future. She said, yes, you are right.. that's something that has been missing for a while.. a leader talking, encouraging, and inspiring people to be and do better. (AND I'm not saying I agree with the whole Drug shit Reagan was pushing, but it was effective in speaking and encouraging in a message.. I don't think he ever sat there and said.. Drugs are BAD, and if you do them you're a BAD person.. he was more like, do better and don't waste your time or life). Anyway, I find it very encouraging that he is already speaking to the American people and trying to push a positive and encouraging message about responsibility and the need for education.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

4. excellent post

[glowing]

6. Thank you.

[grantcart]

7. I expect your right - early one stop voting in NC may make the whole issue moot but

precautions should be in hand - and I suspect that the Obama campaign is already there.