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The early vote begins, What will influence early voters most?

by integrityforamerica | September 20, 2008 at 12:28 am | 187 views | 5 comments | 50 recommendations

Even though bags of candy corn and other Halloween treats have barely hit drugstore shelves, Virginia voters will start casting their ballots on Friday at early-voting sites around the commonwealth. Another half-dozen states will open up early voting next week, before the candidates even meet for their first debate of the campaign. In all, 36 of the 50 states will allow early voting this year, including many key battleground states like Ohio and Colorado. As many as one-third of all voters are expected to make their selection before Election Day.

Early voting will obviously play a major role in this election. With the recent concern over the economy and the huge amount of coverage in the media, this elections early voting may not favor Republicans as it has in the past. Recent polls have shown a gaining lead for Obama because of the economy. With this fresh on the minds of voters it will probably change their presidential pick.

As we sort out the recent economic woes and try to find who to blame, voters are sure to take into consideration the last 8 years and look at Mccain more carefully. The Obama camp has continued to push the idea that Mccain will be 4 more years of the same even though Mccain has tried to distance himself very carefully from this administration.

Mccain continues to struggle over his past record and making it clear he doesn’t agree with the party all of the time, but recent coverage has shown he was a supporter for deregulating Wall Street and ultimately that will hurt him. The Obama camp will obviously see this as an added advantage next week and we can be sure to see grassroots organizations using this as a way to capture the independent vote.

You have to ask yourself why it took the economy to fail before both candidates started talking about real issues. I guess lipstick on a pig isn’t as important a topic as we thought.

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jordan

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 05:41 on September 20th, 2008

It's a vicious circle: candidates treat voters as though they (voters) only comprehend sound bites, because that's how voters usually behave. They (i.e. we) cling to branding messages and information shortcuts at the expense of larger issues, like which interests are behind which candidate, and how things like the mortgage crisis and the fuel-price explosion affect our lives beyond just filling up the car or trying to buy a house. Basically we play checkers instead of chess.

Karen Hatter

at 08:51 on September 20th, 2008

So true, Jordan.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:40 on September 20th, 2008

integrityforamerica, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Karen Hatter

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:10 on September 20th, 2008

Integrityforamerica, I like this story. It's good stuff.

zrants (not verified)

at 08:46 on September 20th, 2008

Very good point. I was in Florida for the last two elections and watched the attempt to use early voting to allow more people to vote. It didn't work all that well. My message is to VOTE BY MAIL. There is a paper record and it is the only reasonable way for elderly people and people of meager transportation means to vote in some areas.

I like the idea of a national voting holiday.