BS: Clever Campaign Literature

Subject: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Alice
Date: 04 Nov 02 - 09:21 PM

You know all those leaflets that are stuffed into your door, left on the front porch... tossed into your tash after glancing at them? Well, some people try to be clever enough to get you to at least remember their name. I do have a magnet on my refrigerator that is two years old and I will be voting for the guy again tomorrow.

Here is a new angle. In Montana, a state legislator, Rep. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula has printed campaign leaflets that are consecutively numbered up to 3,000. On election night he will draw a number that is going to be worth $500 paid from his campaign budget... if you hold that number and IF you Voted. There will be two backup numbers drawn if the first doesn't show. If no one holds the winning number he will donate the money to charity. He dropped off the brochures door to door in House District 68. Some were distributed at senior living centers, where anyone, regardless of whether they live in his district, could pick one up. There are no requirement that the winner live in his district.

Next election, will his opponent up the offer to $1000?


Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Nov 02 - 10:31 PM

Remember to vote early and often Alice, and to bring all your dead relatives to the poll with you, just like your Commander and Thief has instructed us to do. :)

Remember, your vote is worth that $500 now, but what will it be worth on November 6th, after you voted for the bastard, but lost the draw?

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Alice
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 09:22 AM

GUEST, I think you have the wrong impression of my political views.

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Jeri
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:29 AM

The weirdest thing here is that the Repubs keeps sending me fliers with the Dem Congressional candidate's name and picture. There are a few truths and a few more lies. Nowhere on most of these is the name of the Republican candidate's name, picture, what he stand's for or anything else. IS there one? I got FIVE of these glossy one-page things yesterday. The phone calls are the same. It is honestly VERY odd to have the Republicans advertising for the Democrats!

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: DougR
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:33 AM

Perhaps the Republicans are not actually sending them Jeri.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: DougR
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:40 AM

I dunno, Alice, your candidate's approach leaves me a bit cold. Seems to me he is buying votes. Some folks might not give a twit for what he espouses, politically, but vote for him hoping to win the money.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Alice
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:48 AM

Doug, that is my point. I didn't post this to say I agree with it... he is NOT MY candidate. I live in another part of Montana.

My last sentence pointed out that an opponent could buy votes buy just offering more money. I can't believe that the state allowed him to do it.

ALice

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Alice
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:51 AM

that should be "by offering more money" (not "buy offering" sp). Buying for sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Wolfgang
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:10 AM

In the last election in Germany, some voters have offered their votes in EBay.

Here's how it goes: We can vote easily by mail. The voting letter contains your identification and signature in an outer envelope and your actual vote in an inner envelope. You sign your identification and hand over everything to the bidder. The bidder now can mark the party he wants and use signature and identification to make sure the vote counts. This way he makes sure too that you cannot cheat on him by taking the money and voting for whoever you want.

On request of our government, EBay has closed all those offers as soon as they were spotted, but some offers have been there for days.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:16 AM

Buying votes? Hmmmmmmmm? That's real original. If it weren't for purchased votes then Bush wouldn't have been close enough for his high powered legal team to steal the election on 2000. Yeah, I remember one of my son in laws telling me that he was voting for Bush to get a tax cut of $1200. Now he's mad 'cause all he got was a $300 check and is wonderin' where the rest of the dough is. I told him before the election that Bush wasn't going to do much for the working class and the boy all but called me, his own daddy-in-law a liar?

And now the boy is further unhappy because all those "rebate" checks didn't really give the boost to the economy that Bush and his gang said it would and the recession has effected the kid's small business so bad that he's thinkin' of closin' up shop and going to work for someone else, except no one is doing any hiring because of Bush's recession.

Now, I've said more than once that Clinton didn't do much fir me either but he did run a fiscally sound ship and he cooperated with Greenspan, who incidently has been bullied by Bush and is no longer the man he once was. But all you Clinton haters just feel free to jump in and place the deficit blame at Clinton's feet if it makes you feel any better.

Speakin' of campaign literature, a "notice" looking thing appeared in the mailboxes of black voters in Baltimore telling folks that they had to have receipts for unpaid parking tickets and a list of other documents to vote on *November 6th* (a day after the election...) Hmmmmmm? Wonder who sent those out? Got any idea, Doug? (Jus' messin' with ya' a little, my friend..)

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:32 AM

Really, this is about the pits ain't it? Talking to Alice in chat, I was struck not by the fact this happened but how far we've gone to make it so blatant! Kinda' reminded me of Louisiana during the rule of King Huey and Prince Earl! Nothing new, but geeze..........

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Alice
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 11:37 AM

Just noticed this news on election nightmares... if a voter has encountered voter machine errors, polling place obstacles and other problems, you can go to a web site to report it. http://VoteWatch.us

The site says:
"If you believe that you have experienced injustice or witnessed fraudulent behavior at the polls, then post your story here after you contact your local elections supervisor."

There is a discussion forum at that site.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:09 PM

Interesting site, Alice. Makes one wonder what folks around the world think of the US elections. Hey, non US Catfolk. Whaddayathink?

As fir my own thoughts, especially since the 2000 mugging, that the US elections are at least entertaining. There's a strange mix of TV Wrestling and Roller Derby in that cheating is at the heart of the contests and that just about everyone does it. Then there is the cartoon aspect where people *act* rather immature and ugly. Then there is *THE LIE*... Everyone is a liar. All these fine folks who will be running the governemnt are liars. If they don't lie then they pay other folks to lie for them which to me is even worse. And then after the voters have stood in lines for hours to participate in the democratic process we learn that upwards of 20% of the ballots just don't get counted afterall which makes ya' wonder why, in a tight race decided by 1 or 2 percent, the thing isn't just decided in a less costly ($30 per vote)manner, like a best out of three mud wrestling contest.

Nevermind.

But I am curiuos just how other view our elections...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:15 PM

Buying votes was supposedly a common practice here in Stone County, Arkansas. I know several people who were named as "bag men". Have seen no actual evidence, however. Alice's initial post said that the award would be made if the winner voted. It did not say proof was required concerning who received the vote.

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Nerd
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 01:20 PM

I don't quite get the thing Alice was talking about, nor do I get the logical leap that it constitutes buying a person's vote.

(1) How could he verify if someone had voted? Do candidates have access to these voting records?

(2) People on the forum have been suggesting that you had to vote FOR THE CANDIDATE IN QUESTION. But there is NO way to verify this at all, since this country has a secret ballot.

So this is not paying a person to vote for the candidate, but encouraging people to vote in general. Surely this isn't as bad as buying a person's vote. Cheesy, yes. Unethical? I don't know. Plenty of parts of the election process strike me as far worse, including the chicanery Bobert was talking about.

My wife told me about the case of a "get out the vote" committee member receiving a call claiming to be from his own organization, which told him to remember to vote on November 10! He called his own people, to find that the call did not come from his organization at all.

There's some serious sleaze going on here, folks!

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Gareth
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:09 PM

Alice - that trick of the free draw if you voted would be illeagal under the UK election laws. As is issuing misleading litrature, or using confuising names as labels.

Funny enough it was tricky Dicky who seems to have invented most of the "black election methods.

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Alice
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 03:27 PM

Here is the article I found last night on this. I discovered it when looking for information on ballot issues. The candidate did not require that people vote for him, and yes it is a matter of public record whether someone voted. I often support Democratic candidates, but I still think the state Political Practices Commissioner should not have allowed this. www.montanaforum.com/

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 03:48 PM

Old Mizzoura story:

"I was on my way to vote and I run into this Democrat and he give me $5 to vote for him."

"And did you?"

"Well, a little farther on I run into this Republican, and he give me $10 to vote for him."

"So you voted Republican."

"No, I voted Democrat, because they was less corrupt."

Clint

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Just Amy
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 05:31 PM

Saw a really funny TV ad this weekend in California for a guy named Tom McClintock running as a Republican for State Controller. The ad had a guy acting like a Scotsman and saying in an accent that his "cousin" Tom was the best for the job. Unfortunately for him, I looked up his record and voted for the Democrat, but the ad was really cute.

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 06:12 PM

One of my favorite refrigerator magnets is from a successful Michigan campaign: MARK GREBNER - No Worse than the Rest!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, just killing time till the returns roll in!

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: DougR
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 07:42 PM

Charley: Love it!

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Dec 02 - 11:58 PM

YES!

Subject: RE: BS: Clever Campaign Literature
From: Amos
Date: 05 Dec 02 - 10:06 AM

MUDCAT CDs!! --- If you haven't got 'em, you won't know what you're missing!!

A