Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with election

On what TV channel can I follow the Canadian election returns tomorrow?

Kattullus — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:58:46 -0800

I'm in the US and want to follow the Canadian parliamentary election returns. Will any US TV station, cable or otherwise, have election coverage?

Money to burn?

gregoryc — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:50:09 -0800

Why is Obama advertising in Oklahoma? From what I can tell, McCain will win OK. Thirty points is thirty points, not matter how good the momentum is right now. So why spend money in Oklahoma at all?

How do I convince my racist and ignorant grandmother to vote for Obama?

hazyspring — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:01:38 -0800

How do I convince my grandmother to vote for Obama? Oh, and the reason why she won't vote for him is because of his race. I have a pretty good relationship with my grandmother. She's 80 years old, registered Republican, but mostly votes democrat. Although, she probably voted for Reagan.

The last election, she didn't want to vote for Kerry because she didn't like his wife. I managed to convince her last time that his wife isn't a good reason to not vote for someone.

I had a long conversation with her about the election (she hates McCain) and race. She has never known any non-white people, and is basically scared of people of other races, it seems especially of black people. Also, she thinks "they" have an agenda and "they" will take over once Obama gets into office. My analysis, is that even though my grandmother is racist, she's not a hate-filled racist. It is mostly fear and ignorance.

I listened to what she had to say, we had a good dialogue, she said she will think about it. I sent her a youtube of Richard Trumka from the AFL-CIO talking about race and the election, and I want to keep pushing her with conversations, and articles and videos from the internet (that aren't too intellectual).

Maybe I am over-optimistic, but I think she can be moved, mostly because of her anger over the last 8 years. So, please, give me any creative ideas you have!

Help me make sure my vote counts!

cac — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:46:20 -0800

I just found out that I am listed as an "active" registered voter in two Pennsylvania counties -- may I vote in either one of those counties in November? I'm living in Allegheny County (while in school), where I am a registered voter. I voted in the most recent primaries.

When I renewed my driver's license a few months back, though, I was offered the opportunity to update my registration. I took that opportunity (to change my party affiliation), not thinking at the time that my new registration would bear my permanent Westmoreland County address.

Consequently, I am registered in both counties. Could anything go wrong if I choose to vote in Allegheny County?

He said, she said...

TeachTheDead — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:02:54 -0800

Where or how could one go about getting the proper transcript from the VP debate held last week. My big concern right now is that I need it in paper or electronic form but I do not want to watch the debate over and write down each question and each answer. And a trillion zillion billion points for finding a free an/or immediate copy.

UK Politics

djgh — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:46:42 -0800

How can I get more involved in UK politics? All the US election furore has really triggered an interest in politics. However, I'm not a USian. So what's the best way for me to get involved in UK politics? I'm not necessarily looking to join/be active for a party - I just want to be more informed and active beyond what I read in the papers etc. on a general level. I might particularly enjoy anything dealing with the intersection of law and politics.

Generating a Tag Cloud From Really Large Text Files

dbarefoot — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:13:59 -0800

I want to generate tag clouds for really large text files (the largest is 85 MB). No online service that I've found will support a file this big. Any suggestions? I grabbed the a copy of each of the websites of the four national, major Canadian political parties. I want to generate tag clouds for each party, showing the terms they use most often on their sites.

I had a sysadmin friend of mine (I'm so not a programmer) use some regular expression magic to merge each site into a single file. Thus, I have four very large text files. I considered things like Wordle or Many Eyes, but they have a much smaller maximum file size than I need. What should I do?

One alternative: get my friend or somebody to produce a list of words for each site and the number of times they appear. Then I create a small file with the right number of each of, say, the top 100 words, and use Wordle on that. Any better suggestions? Or, you know, help?

Which characters from Shakespeare's plays do the party leaders in the Canadian federal election resemble most?

stokast — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:02:05 -0800

Which characters from Shakespeare's plays do the party leaders in the Canadian federal election resemble most? I saw Stephen Colbert doing this for Obama, McCain, and Palin this week and wondered if any canucks had any idea how it would apply up north...

Looking for ideas to encourage Canadian university students to vote

lenny70 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:09:13 -0800

Looking for ideas to encourage Canadian university students to vote in the next federal election [more inside] I currently live in Alberta, which has had a less than great voter turnout in the recent elections. I am looking for interesting material (text or graphics) to post on my office door to encourage a few more students to vote in the upcoming election. Bonus points for environmentally related content. I know this sounds lame, but even if this futile attempt makes one or two students more likely to vote, it will still make me a happy citizen.

A few more details:
- This is in University of Alberta in Edmonton. While the city is overwhelmingly right-leaning, there are a few districts (for instance Edmonton Centre) that may flip to Liberals or NDP with enough turnout.
- I have already posted the flyer sent by Election Canada, with the date of the election highlighted.
- This chart which I actually found on MeFi, will also be posted soon.

Any other suggestions?

I assume that black licorice babies would be in bad taste.

rokusan — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:13:49 -0800

Food suggestions for tonight's debate party? Having friends over for a debate party-slash-dinner-slash-salon, and probably next time too, so I need theme food suggestions for (a) tonight's VP debate and (b) the next two Presidential debates, both of the dinner and snack variety.

Mooseburgers seems like a slam dunk winner tonight, but I'm not sure I can find a butcher shop in Manhattan with moose meat. Help?

Other than that all I can think of are waffles.

Help me, hive mind!

What can I do to win the election for my candidate?

davebug — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:52:22 -0800

To the undecideds, or those who believe they can put themselves in the undecided's shoes: What might persuade you towards a particular candidate, particularly in the form of anything a volunteer might be able to do? Would someone coming to your door help, or hurt? Phone calls? Voter registration campaigns, or offers of rides to the polls? Signs in yards and clever bumper stickers? Blog posts? Emailing everyone I know with video clips and transcripts? What can be done to positively affect your decision in the presidential election? In short, how might I, as a volunteer, most effectively turn you into decided for my candidate. (Note, if there's no way at all anyone or anything can change your mind, you're not undecided, but it is valid to say no volunteer could do anything to possibly affect your decision in any positive way.)

Where can I find streaming news videos with captions?

spaceman_spiff — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:13:06 -0800

Where can I find streaming news videos with captions? I want to watch the debate tonight on my laptop, but I need captions or subtitles. Does anyone know if any of the sites streaming it will have captions? And generally, if any major news organizations have begun putting captions on their streaming videos?

What happens if a candidate goes off the rails a quarter-mile before getting to the station?

Camofrog — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:59:21 -0800

What would happen if a presidential candidate had a career-ending nervous breakdown a month out from the general election? Say somebody actually snaps under the stress. Would the party reconvene an emergency convention to select a new candidate? Is there a protocol or precedent for this?

Who should I vote for?

birdlips — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:57:16 -0800

Canadian living in the US trying to educate himself on Canada’s October Federal election. Who should I vote for? I have been living in the states for about 8 years but maintain a Canadian residence. I pride myself in being as informed about American politics as possible. I regularly discuss and read about the candidates and other government policies. I cannot vote in the US but I do my best to convince others who can to get out and vote (hopefully for the candidate I like).

However, through living here and focusing on the American election I have totally lost touch with Canadian politics and therefore have no idea who I should be voting for.

So I am asking for Canadians (and informed Americans) to help me understand. What are the items that make each candidate an attractive/unattractive choice? I am mainly interested in Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion and Jack Layton, however, any info on any candidate is welcomed.

As a side note my electoral district is Nanaimo -- Cowichan

Thanks!

Debate party ideas?

Lizc — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:00:16 -0800

Need help/ideas on politically inspired appetizers for the upcoming 2008 Presidential Debates. Like the previous two threads (which were great!) - I'm looking for themed easy appetizers/finger foods for the Obama/Mccain & Biden/Palin debates. No special dietary requirements either, just tasty and funny.

Thanks!

Beer & Debates

Sreiny — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:12:35 -0800

Bars that will be showing the Presidential Debate next Friday in Chicago. I'd like to have some friends out for my birthday next Friday, which happens to be the first presidential debate. I don't want to miss them, and I don't want to make people choose, does anyone know where we can drink and watch the debate? Thanks!

What's this Obama song?

msittig — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:45:24 -0800

What is the "Obama-themed reggae song" referenced in this New York Times article? And where can I download it?

How to support McCain-Palin in NYC?

BobbyVan — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:11:59 -0800

I'm a recent transplant to NYC, and a Republican. I need to find the best ways to support McCain-Palin in what can be a somewhat inhospitable environment. Yes, it's pretty clear that New York's electoral votes will go for Obama this time around. But NYC is also a place from which one can be influential in terms of influencing the national debate.

I don't want to be unnecessarily provocative (as in, I'm not trying to stir up the opposition or make people angry), but I would like to raise the profile and be effective in supporting my ticket.

This would include rebutting smears against McCain and Palin in a civil way, making convincing arguments against Obama-Biden, and at least getting people to have an open mind about my side.

Any clever ideas?

Thanks to all.

I demand suffrage!

fishmasta — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:43:01 -0800

How can I verify my voter registration in California? I live in LA and as far as I know should still be registered to vote, as I voted in the primaries last February. But just to be safe I tried out the page on Obama's website where you can check your status and it came up negative. It finds my previous voter registration from Oklahoma (where I voted in the 2004 election), but finds nothing in California. Where would I go to get an official confirmation of my status? Or is Obama's website just flaky and doesn't find everyone?

US citizen voting from Australia?

harriet vane — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:24:10 -0800

How do Americans vote when they are overseas? I live in Australia and my husband works with a young guy who is a US citizen. He'd like to vote in the upcoming election, but has never voted before and has no idea how to do an absentee vote from overseas. Where do we look to find this info, and has anyone had problems doing this before? Do you need to sort it out ahead of time?

Obama/Palin or McCain/Biden

birdsquared — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:01:15 -0800

Is Obama/Palin (or for that matter McCain/Biden) possible? Given what happened in 1836, and my understanding of the electoral college system it would appear hypothetically possible.

However, each state controls the voting system for their electors, and while Delaware has a slate voting law (see (9) at the bottom of the page), and Wisconsin has a ban on write-ins for VP standing alone (see bottom of page 5), it would still appear possible to write-in the VP from the other party with a presidential vote for a specific candidate (at least in those two states). I am not a student of US state voting laws (I found these two examples from Google), but I am wondering if there are any voting wonks who are familiar with the whole panoply of the 50 states who could advise if Obama/Palin or McCain/Biden are possible in 2008. (i.e. do enough states with enough electors have enabling legislation?)

Short & Sweet Truth About Obama?

jeanmari — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:35:15 -0800

On behalf of my parents, where is a source that they can use to look up short and sweet responses to counter to the attacks on Obama leveled by their Republican neighbors? My parents (who are voting Democratic this year for the first time in, well, ever) keep getting inflammatory chain letter emails that attempt to spread misinformation about Obama. They've been asking me for short and sweet ways to counter these attacks.

I've given them some "elevator speech length" talking points with sources, but I can't find a collection of these on the internet to address the rumors that they've been sent. I've had to do my own research and give them brief statement myself. There has to be something out there, yes? I'm finding the lengthy information and the sources and documents, but nothing that has been condensed.

The information we're looking for is not the Fight The Smears site. The rumors involve distortion or denial of his record.

(P.S. We are donating gas cards to college students who want to travel for the campaign. Any websites that show the major gas stations per state? Would hate to give these guys a Mobil card for a BP state.)

As a U.S. Senator, I run an organization with a yearly budge of $_ and _ employees.

Xalf — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:11:50 -0800

What size organization does a U.S. Senator run? All this talk of U.S. Senators having no "executive experience" seems a little silly to me. It's my impression that each senator runs a sizable operation with an office in Washington and several offices spread around their home states (just looking at big states, Cornyn of Texas has 7, Clinton of New York has 9, but Feinstein of California has only 4). I found salary info, but I can't seem to find hard numbers on how many people each senate office employs and what their yearly budgets are. Bonus points if you can find the same information for members of the House of Representatives.

Predicting the winner of the US Presidential Election.

clearly — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:24:55 -0800

How can I accurately predict the overall winner of the 2008 US Presidential Election. I would also like to know the best methods of accurately predicting the winner of the electoral votes of each individual state. I am familiar with the Iowa Electronic Markets as a fairly good indicator of predicting the national election, but what are some other good indicators or predictors of which candidate will win each individual state. These may be past voting trends, current registered voters by party, and others. Please lead me to these resources.

Thanks.

Obama assassination : 1 in 55?

zaebiz — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:00:32 -0800

Does the fact that the betting markets still give Hillary Clinton a 1 in 55 chance of being President in 2008, mean that that is a reasonable estimate of the chance that Obama is assassinated before the election? What else could justify those odds now?