Tales from the 'hood - part viii 'nai-nai goes to the polling place'

Nov 8 00:32 UTC 2000

Being as how it was a half-day at the schools to encourage the teachers
to vote (it wasn't scheduled, but in an effort to bolster DNC chances
the school system decided (and lost federal funds to do so?)) and I was
busy debugging a really odd network problem between atlanta and
birmingham, mary wilson came home early and wanted to go vote.  Not only
that, she wanted to vote for bush.  Now this is a bit odd in that we
have no campaign literature or posters nor do I recall any discussion of
the candidates although we did watch all the debates so maybe she picked
up on the body language.  OR that is the 'buzz' among the 1st graders at
her school - they all seem to be wired into some network where they all
know the latest fads and the movies- all quite mysterious.  Anyway,
nai-nai, I, and mary-wilson head out all of one block.  I explain the
process as I go through it to nai-nai who thinks nothing of the
'authorities' having my signature on file to compare it with the one I
sign as she has participated in many elections in a highly regimented
state although she does notice the couple ahead of us who use 'co-op'
IDs with no photo for identification.  I am first in a line of two,
introduce mary-wilson to the judges explaining its her first
presidential election, and nai-nai explaining that she's from the PRC
where they do things a little differently 'over there, only one party'. 
"we almost got that here", replies the DNC judge.  "I hear that", I
reply (diplomatically).  (The 'republican' judge is zoned- there is a
'shortage' of republicans and they draft street people at 150$US to fill
the slots)  I enter the booth, and commit perhaps a technical violation
as I show both mary-wilson and nai-nai how it all works. Nai-nai is
amazed at how many candidates are listed for POTUS and I quickly run
through the ballot - there are a lot of races with no GOP candidate and
I whip through the three pages of 'judicial retention' - explaining
later via her son on the telephone why it was so easy - that I basically
vote against retaining any of them. She thinks that is disrespectful.

Bush 55%  Gore 43%  Nader 1.5%-2% Buchanan .5% or less.

response 2 of 22:

Nov 8 02:37 UTC 2000

Bush 50.9 Gore 46.1 Cannon 0.4 Nader 2.2

response 4 of 22:

Nov 8 03:10 UTC 2000

Looks like California is gonna decide it.

response 6 of 22:

Nov 8 04:24 UTC 2000

Bush 48.8 Gore 48 Loser 0.4 Nader 2.3

response 8 of 22:

Nov 8 04:26 UTC 2000

ABC is predicting california for Gore with 0% of the vote in...(go
figure).

response 10 of 22:

Nov 8 04:34 UTC 2000

Opps,  Bush is ahead in florida according to ABC.  Florida was Gore
according to ABC.

response 12 of 22:

Nov 8 05:11 UTC 2000

Bush 48.6 Gore 47.9 Loser 0.4% The odd duck 2.4%

response 14 of 22:

Nov 8 08:10 UTC 2000

(Yes I did)  
Bush 48.5% Al-the-Pal 47.9% Loser 0.4% The gay guy 2.5% 89% reported.

1% of the popular vote. Hardly a 'mandate'.  I voted for bush, I think
his eyes squint too much- he is a 'rat face'.  I voted as much for him
as against Gore and probably more so against Gore.

response 16 of 22:

Nov 8 15:58 UTC 2000

Some Republicans are now spouting that "even if we only win by 1%, we still
have a clear mandate from the people."  Bah.  That's the problem with
Republicans; if they win, it's some kind of divine sign from the heavens
that they don't need to compromise on anything.

response 18 of 22:

Nov 8 17:26 UTC 2000

It all goes back to the plot to assassinate JFK...

response 20 of 22:

Nov 8 21:23 UTC 2000

If we experience a recession....
If we have a budget deficit....

Things could get ugly for the Republicans, very quickly.

response 22 of 22:

Nov 12 04:23 UTC 2000

#18> Curse. Reagan missed it. Bush is now straight in its sights. Look for
Cheney as Pres. 44. (This is a prediction, not a threat. I'd never kill
someone, even a president. Well, maybe Dahmer. Or that guy who blew up the
Oklahoma building. But not a president. Even one who kills people for a
hobby.)