Record early voting turnout already in Tx. and Fla. bodes well for Dems.

On NPR, on Monday, one Fla. official said they had had more people vote in the first 45 mins. of early voting than they had vote all day during their last primary. This is wonderful. We had about 1/2 the number of the entire primary votes cast on the first day of voting here in my county. Most agree that high voter turnout is GOOD for our side.

an went right form work to vote on MOnday as did all of my Dem friends in my area.We had paper ballots too.

And welcome to DU!

:dem:

voted there electronically and it made her very nervous. It is as though your vote is launched into outer space with absolutely nothing to show where it went.

They were due(postmarked)by October 8 and many of the forms have not processed yet but they will be

Do they process them early or do they wait for Nov. 2?

voters.

and this is one of the few Democratic counties in Texas! This is encouraging for Richard Morrison, since Delay's redistricting took a big chunk of Galveston County!

although it is hard to type that way.

It was more on first day the polls opened than ever before. A new record has been set and not by just a little. The polls were swamped. I don't know what it means as Alaska leans Republican but I can only see it as a good omen. People are fired up and that usually doesn't bode well for an incumbent. On the first day there were five times as many people as during the entire two week period in 2000. I am beginning to become a little optomistic. People are voting and no October surprise so far .... If people were this fired up for Bush* I think I would be seeing some more evidence of that such as bumper stickers and lawn signs. there are none..zero..nada..but there are bunches and bunches of Democratic signs about. Mostly Knowles signs but I do see a few Kerry signs as well.

a done deal for *bush, but you the Dems are making a difference?

That's a foregone conclusion. Alaska's a funny combination - about two-thirds Bible-thumpin' rednecks, one-third dope-smoking hippies with a generous sprinkling of libertarians of all political persuasions.

However, the real issue isn't Bush/Kerry, it's Knowles/Murkowski. Frank Murkowski, when he became governor, appointed his daughter Lisa to fill his Senate seat. It's not that she out-and-out sucks (she's pretty much a garden-variety Puke moderate but reasonably reasonable), but it's the rankly nepotistic flavor of the whole arrangement that pissed people off.

Lisa Murkowski may also pay the price for her father's missteps. After screwing with the permanent fund and the citizen council that was supposed to make suggestions (long, long story), Frank M. proposed all kinds of cuts to social services, including Denali Kids, which is a very popular medical coverage plan for poor and indigent children. At just about the same time he was trotting out this Big Idea, he had chest pains and was immediately flown on a Lear to Anchorage's finest hospital - at taxpayer expense, of course.

Murkowski isn't up for reelection to pay for his fuckups, but his daughter may.

because honestly, if Bush wins with 60-70% of registered voters voting, it would give us a good perspective of what this country is really about. I honestly believe, though, that a vast majority of the people in this country will vote Democratic, but many don't bother to vote because they just don't see a need.

Which is why the Republicans are so dedicated to suppressing turnout, and repeating ad nauseam their meme that your vote doesn't count, or your vote will be wasted, or don't bother, one vote won't make a difference.

I don't care if you're in Ohio or Wyoming, get out and vote! If nothing else, it gives the men and women elected a more complete understanding of the wishes of all the people they're supposed to represent.

Unbelievable isn't it?
Harris County is the 3rd largest county in America, and traditionally democratic (at least the city of Houston is) - woo hoo!

Heard on the news that Galveston had 20,000 vote early on the first day, compared to 8,000 during early voting in 2000.

Fabulous news!

High turnout = Dems win :bounce:

true. I KNOW that this big turnout looks good for Texas Dems.

I'm new to the Houston area, so I don't have a feel for Harris county as a whole versus Houston city proper.

What I do know is that regarding the major population areas in TX, the cities tend to vote Democratic (Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio), even if the counties go otherwise. Each county attached to those metro areas is kind of unique and therefore individual cases. For example, Dallas falls into several counties with very diverse political leanings - but San Antonio is almost exclusively (if not all) Bexar County so it trends with the city. I believe Austin is similar to San Antonio.

I'm a newbie here, but Houston seems to make up all or most of Harris County, which would be good. I get the definite impression that the surrounding counties (Montgomery, Ft Bend) are pretty right-wing, but that is just a feeling.

Of course we know that the suburbs and exurbs of each city pull to the right.

I volunteer for my local DNC office here in Houston.

As part of my job, since I live so close to the Early Voting polling place, it was my job to put all of the "yard signs" out in front the night before (Sunday night). I was able to grab some good real estate, putting up signs not only for K/E, but several other local Dems as well. (K/E yard signs are prone to theivery and vandalism here, despite the fact Al Gore wone Houston in 2000.)

I returned five minutes after the polls opened at 8am the next morning and was pleased to see so many people there that I actually had to wait in line for one of the 20 or so e-Slates to come free.

By 2:30 that afternoon, every single yard sign I had put out the night before had been stolen (in broad daylight).

When I returned on Tuesday to put out more signs, an older man standing out front wearing a T-shirt for one of the Republican candidates was there telling people to vote for "Ann Witt", as voters drove in.

I pulled up (at 4:15), opened my trunk and started putting out more signs when he started doing best to convince me "You know, all the signs have to be pulled up by 4:30. (the daily closing time of the polls this week)". I politely told him that was incorrect and that if they were telling him that, he needed to let somebody know.

A friend of his then walked up to him and they started talking. Again, he got my attention and said, "He (his friend) saw them taking down signs yesterday." Again I kindly repeated that no one should be doing that. "The signs are to stay out until early voting ends on the 29th", I told them.

I saw a couple of tiny signs for a Republican candidate that had blown over and graciously replanted them. Hopefully that made an impression on them... but I doubt it.


I can understand that the other sides' candidates are so weak that they can't stand the competition, that's a given. But whatever happened to "I don't agree with what you say but I'll defend your right to say it" in this country? The hostility this Administration has bred towards "opposing viewpoints", "the French", "the U.N.", "gays", "Liberals", "Muslims"... even "smart people" are called "elitists". This is Bush's America. It is NOT *my* America.

I'll be checking back on my signs this afternoon. :(

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That is where I early voted yesterday around 2 pm, and saw an older man walking the sidewalk outside in a sea of Ann Witt signs.

I saw NO K/E signs at that time.

Good news, I had to wait 30 min to vote AND I saw lots of Dem bumper stickers on the parked cars around the center.

Yes, this was indeed the Tracy Gee Community Center. You must be nearby.

I just moved to Houston from Dallas last week and another DUer was kind enough to help me find my early voting location.

I must say, it is so refreshing to have moved to a much more Dem friendly place than where I previously lived - Collin County - aka Repub Headquarters.

I was thrilled to see so many in line to early vote yesterday at that one place, at that one time.

taken by the city. I doubt that they were, though.

:hi: :toast:

Thanks for your work, too!

i am going to go back to the dem hq and chat on the lack of enthusiasm i felt yesterday. the problem with dems, laid back. wlaked into room and immediately said want my boys to see progressive amarillians. he lifted hat and said see no horns. we all just laughed. but after that, boring.

headquarters in years. I am in a small conservative Texas town and we are excited and trying hard.

then i got a call last week from dem party and i said, you in town. and he says yes. and i say where, i didnt know we had one......lol lol lol

i am in amarillo, in the panhandle. i just went there. looked in phone book and none listed. so i have missed out all this time. i am loving the enthusiasm of all htese texans excited. feels so very good and healing for me. huge smile. i am oging to drive people to vote on election day. really need to see if we can get people to drive early voting too

good idea, lol look how smart you are. you are right, yawl are wonderful

and when we find each other, it's like a family reunion.

To be a proud Democrat in Texas means you have a stiff spine and serious integrity. It's sometimes challenging, but challenges are what Texans are made of.

Our state has a long history of strong characters in the Democratic tradition who didn't let themselves be steamrollered by the obnoxious far right. These people were stalwarts and stuck to their guns when it would have been far easier to "go along to get along" a la Phil Graham and Rick Perry, who switched parties for political gain. 'Course, I say they had corrupt Repub tendencies from the get-go and just finally showed their true colors (yellow).

There are LOTS more Dems in this state than we get credit for, and to be among those numbers means to be a Texan with strong patriotic ideals and a higher sense of purpose.

Welcome to the club!
:toast:

a bit.

There are a great many people, myself among them, convinced the very existence of Democracy itself in our country is the stake in this election....

"No King save King Demos!"

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

45 minutes to vote for John Kerry! It's been a long four years and I would have waited for 4 hours to vote for Kerry!

This kind of stuff only happens in elections like 1980 and 1992.

But it's hard to view the crowd at a Houston Astros game without thinking that nearly every single person there is a big W supporter.

I know it's not true, yet I still think it. Same with the Dallas Cowboys crowd.

Be that as it may, I am pleased to know that Dumbya has so much opposition in Texas. It's energizing to think about it.


You Texans rock, I visited your wonderful state 10 years ago. Alpine, Big Bend, Ft. Stockton, Pecos. What a place.

Besides the stratospheric price of playoff tickets, that is...

You're probably right about the Cowboys fans. (I'm joking--sort of!)

anymore. I got to visit Houston again. I think it's been almost 25 years now.

Go Astros, I'm rooting for them! (Game on now).

Straight dem ticket. My parents are also voting dem and of course my wife, my brother and his wife, many of my co-workers, etc...

my husband voted. He said it took nearly an hour to get to the front of the line even though the id-checking process was very efficient. What struck me was the comment he made about voter turnout.

I have been telling him for weeks what I've read on DU from folks in other states, that voter reg. is hitting all kinds of records. He dismissed that, saying that was all well and good, but those people wouldn't necessarily turn out to vote, they just registered. He downplayed the regis. numbers and optimism. :eyes: WELL, last night he looks at me with wide eyes and says, "I really believe that they are going to set all kinds of new records in voter turnout this election! There have never been numbers like this voting before!" Nooooo! Really?! You don't say! LOL! He's gradually coming around. He was pro-Junior last election (don't ask) and I've helped get him all the way (a huuuuuge change for him) to ABB. President Kerry will take him all the way to pro-Kerry, though, of that I have no doubt. Our kids, though, are 110% pro-Kerry!! :toast:

Even if you are NOT a Florida resident, you can work to get out the vote in Florida from your home!

Go here: http://betty.vivademocracy.com / and sign up to call voters and urge them to VOTE NOW for Kerry/ Edwards and Betty Castor (for Senate).

Surfing the net is fun, but action wins elections!