Redstate

No elections today in my neck of the woods.  So I'm abstaining.

Yep, number #113 at my polling place this morning.  

Proudly voting a Republican ticket in VA.

I voted the ticket in VA too, but I wasn't really enthusiastic.  If there are a lot more people like me, it doesn't bode well for Kilgore.  Frankly, some of his ads were over the top (as were some of Kaines).

I also voted down the line (in Virginia).  Not such a great run of officials this go around, but the other side of the fence isn't any better.

The turnout was very thin also.

Philip Van Cleave for Governor (President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League)

Bill Bolling for Lt. Governor

Bob McDonnell for AG

"I voted in Arlington."

...and for Tim Kaine. I would have considered Kilgore if I really thought he was going to get tough on crime, gangs, immigration. His death penalty ad was also just a little too despicable for me. But this wasn't going to be an enthusiastic vote for me either way.

If there are more Virginia voters like you, fast200, it bodes exceptionally well for Jerry Kilgore.  You were not excited by Kilgore, but you voted for him anyway.  From what I've gleaned, not many Republicans are excited about Kilgore; if they turn out like you did and vote the ticket, it's what he needs.

And the little old lady taking my name and looking at my ID could help but glance disapprovingly at my Republican sample ballot.

But it gave me a chuckle!

My mom's a local pol (I'll leave you the fun of guessing which one) and she thinks the GOP could win a precinct or two in a big race this year or next. I've seen more Republican yard signs this year than ever before.

I had a similar experience, dpcleary, though I couldn't tell if the look of consternation was due to disapproval of the GOP sample or the lack of caffeine (I was #7 voting at 6:05 in Arlington, VA).

I moved to Bethesda MD for law school, but in light of this election, I'm wishing I had moved to VA instead so I could lend support (not to mention I could have a CCP).  Isn't San Fran's 'gun ban' referendum up for vote today too?  And by San Fran, yes, I do mean the People's Republican of Fransico (can't be 'san', that doesn't fit with communist doctrine).

I'm on watch today so I voted absentee last week. Straight GOP ticket. I can't wait to watch the returns roll in.

Didn't think too much of the candidates, but it's key that a Republican be in charge of appointing a replacement for Allen when he runs for Pres in '08.  Voted the straight R ticket this morning.

I'm going to vote in the NJ election on my lunch hour.  R's all the way!

...in a few hours.

Casting my ballot for Tom Ognibene. The only person on Row A (Rep.) I'll be voting for is the GOP's nominee for my councilmanic district, Pat Russo.

-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.) BKNY

Is this East Coast bias, or will we in California get our own thread?

And I voted absentee.

We have the Texas Prop 2(marriage = 1 dude, 1 chick) today.  I voted early, last Friday, and there was, for an off-year, an awful lot of traffic, which bodes well for the good guys.  We always suspected the Dems were happy about this being an odd-year, where low turnout would favor them.

People should vote for that prop., if for no other reason than merely to make an unequivocal statement against the contemptible smear campaign its opponents launched against the pro-marriage forces in your state.

You get the chance to vote for future Senator Michael Steele next year.  I'd much rather be in your place and able to vote for someone inspiring.

FWIW, NJ and VA are the only GOV races in the country today.  There is an open thread down a bit that talks about all of the voting happening today.

That being said, this is an open thread for a reason.  Bring up whatever you'd like.  Personally, I think the CA initiatives are more far reaching than either the VA or NJ elections.

Also to appoint a replacement for Warner if his health fails or he retires early.

Not your mom, but it'll make me think...

But the yard signage has been great!  I have a neighbor who has all sorts of nasty bumper stickers on his car (War is not the Answer, No War for Oil, Impeach Halliburton, etc.)

When I put up my Kilgore yard sign I think he seriously thought about moving.

I just like to talk about East Coast Bias in the same way many of us like to talk about Liberal Bias.

I live in a neighborhood with a lot of other renters, often also just out of college, so I know the type you mean. There's one car with a "Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution!" bumper sticker that makes me laugh, especially since certain characteristics of the car and its owner make me doubt that he'll be starting a revolution anytime soon. Bitching, certainly.

What's interesting is that the young neighborhoods around Virginia Square and Ballston may be the first to go. All those new condos are filled with just-arrived twentysomethings who aren't really concerned with how the county has voted in the past or with its super-institutionalized Democratic power base. They may not be voting yet, but if they settle in...A Republican on the school board a few years ago, a few precincts for the GOP in '08...it could be sooner than you think, especially if Republicans keep winning statewide.

For Governor, and both state assembly seats.

This was a very difficult decision. I was torn between the concept picking the lesser of two evils (R candidate Forrester) or writing in someone I can be proud of voting for. While pondering my vote, I kept thinking of how friends, family, and the media would tell me that voting independent or writing in a candiate was wasting my vote. But then I thought that wars have been fought and many have died so that I could vote for MY CANDIDATE. And so I did. Meanwhile, based on conversations I've had over the last weekend, I think it's safe to say that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of NJ voters (both R and D) today will vote for someone (Forrester or Corzine) they don't want to see become our Governor.

At my polling station in NJ.  I voted Forrester and the Republican line, although I think Corzine will win.  I'm hoping against hope that enough Dems were turned off by the rampant corruption under McGreevy to stay home.  But my head tells me that Dems exist to elect Dems so they are much less likely than Republicans/Conservatives to stay home as a protest.

I'm all about east coast bias whining.  Don't get me started on the AP and ESPN college football rankings...

It's time for the March to Indianapolis!

> No elections today in my neck of the woods.  So I'm abstaining.

That has never stop the democrats from voting. They just vote somewhere that does have elections, like Washington State.

but moved to FL a few years ago.  I wonder if I can still vote for Bloomberg?  I bet I could....

but you're right, they'll try anywhere

I voted Rs all the way but only because the choice was Corzine.  We didn't even had a republican on the ballot for Mayor in my town and Forrestor is anything but inspiring.

Unfortunately, I'm somewhat skeptical of Steele's chances... I've met him on several occasions when I was the research director on the last campaign, but in MD, the D's are willing to stoop to any level to win.  I am beginning to long for a state where the fight is a bit more fair (and one that doesnt tax me to oppression)... Anyway, good point, I'll still give three cheers for Mike.

Of course Oregon has that whole mail the ballot thing every election, that I won't ever get used to, and I don't get the neat sticker.

There were only 2 little local issues - the city wanted to annex 2 places. I voted NO on both, these people purposely purchased their homes and land outside the city limits, how about you ask THEM if they want to be part of the city.

The Florida Supreme Court would probably uphold your right to vote for Bloomberg, or for Al Gore. Just not George W. Bush or Katherine Harris.

...to do eggzacktly whad da Govahnatah wants me to do!

Well, almost-- can't quite go for #78, but #73 through #77 look good.

Also unlike the rest of you, I will not be wearing the little sticker, as reminding the people in Hollywood to go out and vote is not what I consider to be in my best interest.

...to vote when I'm dead.

I just have to find my old Illinois driver's license.

When we moved out of Arlington, we sold our little brick shanty for a metric boatload of cash.  You pretty much have to be a trust fund baby to own a home in Arlington these days.  

Typical Arlington home buyers are two-income families with kids or kids on the way - definitely the type to vote for tax cuts, marriage penalty relief, and so on.  Also, the close suburbs have long been the haven for R-leaning legislative and executive staff, while the D's tend to stay in the city or flee to Maryland.  Additionally, the NoVa liberals are reaching their tolerance limits on the social policy coming out of Richmond.  

Long term, I think Arlington fades from deep blue to a watered-down lavender.  Probably not a bright red anytime in the next decade, but progress nonetheless.

Jeb has made a couple of appointments since then, some of whom seem to be decent.  Given that the election decision rendered by that Court in 2000 was 5-4, I think you'd get a different result today.

Mark,

The problem is I voted absentee.  Because of my work schedule, I am not so sure I would have made the time to get to the polls today.  

So sure Allen is running for president in 08?  The Friends of Allen campaign team hasn't given their mid-level managers (like myself) any  word to start gearing up...

...to nominate Mfume, then they're finished. An Mfume nomination means they've essentially written off that race. However, if you look at the numbers among likely voters-instead of simply registered ones-Cardin enjoys a healthy lead, so I'm not too optimistic on that front.

...in approximately ten minutes.

Hopefully, Vincent Gentile will no longer be my district's city councilman when the polls close at 9:00 P.M.  

but there was no voting. We went for the funeral of an 11 year old classmate of my daughter, a victim of an auto accident.

Please say a prayer for his family.

Although things have been quiet here. There's a city council and little known board of review race for my town of 10,000.

I voted for a friend on city council, and skipped the board of review as I didn't know a thing about any of them.

I hope they're exit-polling in Virginia, because we need to reset our party-affiliation marker from 2004. In that election, the national party split was 37% R and 37% D. In Virginia, it was 39% R and 35% D.

Many posters here and elsewhere discount recent national polling because the samples don't match that breakdown. I think the polls are probably valid and reflect either a failure of Republicans to communicate, or growing dissatisfaction with Republican governance.

If there's no exit poll and Kilgore wins, I'll concede the argument to the "skewed sample" advocates.

....other than the municipality of Philadelphia, is the biggest Dallas-Cowboys hating organization in the world.  I don't however, fault them so much for being anti-Big12 bigots.  We have, collectively, a long and illustrious history of looking good until bowl season.

Corzine, Yes on 1, Yes on 2.  Took me about 30 seconds.

Here in Ohio the MoveOn.org people have placed 4 initiatives on the ballot to "reform" the electoral process so that they won't suffer any more embarrassing defeats.

• Issue 2 seeks to make voter fraud easier by removing all constraints on absentee voting. Vote early, vote often!
• Issue 3, also known as the Union Empowerment act, subtantially restricts campaign donations for everyone except unions, which will be able to spend pretty much without restraint.
• Issue 4 establishes a commission (whose members will have life tenure) to perform legislative and Congressional redistricting. This is important to Democrats since current gerrymandering (as opposed to earlier gerrymandering) doesn't favor them. The commission's rulings would not be reviewable by any court, and the commission would be expressly permitted to favor one political party over the other.
• Issue 5 takes control of running elections away from the eeevil Ken Blackwell and places it in the hands of another commission (see above).

All these issues will probably pass. Oh, and the mayor of my city placed an issue on the ballot to remove his term limit. He is a Democrat who raised the local income tax rate (if you're not from Ohio, our crazy local income tax system is probably why we lag the country in economic growth). After all, if Plusquellic can be mayor for life in Akron, why shouldn't our guy?

Anyway, if you are in Ohio, go vote.

Weeks ago. By absentee.

Though I voted before the endorsements came out, I parrotted McKlintock's ticket - YES on the first 5 Initiatives, NO on the last 3.

In the San Deigo's Mayoral race, I voted for Sanders (R) (it's a pity that Francis didn't make it to the run-off though...).

...in exit polls, right before the actual election took place.

Voted at 4PM Flat Rock precinct in Powhatan County. They weren't giving out stickers though!

I was number 307. There was only one other voter the time I was there. I voted the Republican ticket, Kilgore, Bolling, McDonnell and Lee Ware for delegate. An interesting thing about Lee Ware, he was running unopposed but still saw the need to put campaign signs all over the entrance to the voting entrance.

I've done my part, I only hope that my fellow Virginia Republicans do their part to stop a true liberal from being elected Governor.

Ranking of Notre Dame (no matter what year it is).