99 thoughts on “November 8, 2016: AMERICA, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
Showed up before the polls opened to a full parking lot and line snaking down hallways of the precinct. Walked in and out a la Abe Simpson.
Will try again later.
I'm in the suburbs, where everything is made easy and comfortable for me. Showed up at 7:50 and there were still 200+ parking spots available as our lot has over 400. Voter #51, out by 8:27.
When we go after supper, I would guess about half the booths will be open.
I'm going after work and I'm guessing it'll be quick. I still need to research judges and such over lunch so that I know what I'm doing on the non-presidential portion of the ballot.
On my ballot, only one judge had an opponent. When I last voted in Arizona, everyone had an opponent. First time I had ever seen that.
There's a judge here running unopposed but was just barred from sitting on the bench because it came out that her buddy that was already a judge let her sit and hear cases from the bench well before actually being elected.
We should do a CdL ballot
My only comment on judges is that the person challenging the incumbent Supreme Court Justice if a complete nutjob.
I did some writing in for judges who ought to be contested but weren't.
Three opposed judges in my part of Hennepin County. Not sure if all those judges are electable to all of the county.
Also a constitutional amendment that I heard nothing about outside my cranky uncle who I sometimes agree with.
Three opposed judges in my part of Hennepin County as well. I had to quick do some research on that amendment because after reading it, I still didn't know what the significance was of voting one way or the other on it.
I have a scrap of paper where I've written down the names of the candidates I won't remember. I always feel a little weird pulling out my notes when I'm voting--it's feels like cheating or something.
"... remove state lawmakers' power to set their own salaries..." MN legislators have not given themselves a raise in decades, because of the strong feedback last time they did that. Passing this amendment would put it to a council that would almost certainly raise pay significantly. It's written as a restriction on their power, but it's really more a freeing of the legislator-pay issue from political accountability.
I voted against it because I believed it was deceitfully worded. If enough Minnesotans read it for the first time at the polls today, I assume it will pass. But if they're conservative in not amending the state constitution without more than a moment's consideration, it could fail.
I'm pretty ambivalent on the actual issue of legislator pay. But I care more about fair process than most.
If enough Minnesotans read it for the first time at the polls today, I assume it will pass.
They did and it did.
I have a scrap of paper where I've written down the names of the candidates I won't remember. I always feel a little weird pulling out my notes when I'm voting--it's feels like cheating or something.
This is part of why California provides every registered voter (several weeks in advance) a thick voter guide AND a sample ballot. You fill your sample ballot out and take it into the booth with you. That's how I could confidently complete my ballot (including 17 statewide initiatives or referenda and 2 local referenda) in under 5 minutes.
It took me five minutes just to fill out the squares. The precinct should have opted for ovals instead. I've been trained from an early age how to efficiently fill in circles and all for naught.
Heh, I filled the shit out of the circles on my ballot.
I really liked the "connect the lines" of 2000-02 or so. As clear as bubbles and faster.
Those judges cover the entire judicial district (which for Hennepin County happens to be the entire county).
I was thinking so but didn't want to look it up to verify and didn't want to just spout half-thoughts.
I got to vote for a judge who presided over the case I was on jury duty for. She was great! I've never been happier to vote for a judge.
the suburbs, where everything is made easy and comfortable for me
This is what I was counting on! I've started banking on my various societal privileges.
I mean, I could have stayed and waited, but I figured I could get what I wanted without sacrifice at a later time...
My bus takes me past my polling station. The line was at least twice as long at 5pm as it was at 7:30am, and there were more cars pulling in to the parking lot.
My polling station is both on my bus line and within walking distance of my house. I waited perhaps 4 minutes total. A bus friend* was working at the polling station and said morning had been the busiest time.
*A person I've encountered on the bus for a number of years whose name I don't know but with whom I occasionally engage in friendly small talk.
*asterisk not needed. I try to avoid bus friends, but I have had bus stop friends, including the stoner teenager on that snowy night with no buses.
I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of that today.
My wife did that, more or less. She didn't actually have to get out of the car, though. The line was out the door as of 6:50.
Was heading to the library with the fam weekend before last. Saw a sea of campaign signs on the way and was reminded of the location of my early voting station* so I thought, huh, might as well. In and out in 10 minutes.
* It was in the middle of a Native American art gallery. Had always been meaning to get a look inside it.
Same situation here, but the line really moved. By 7:30 the line at the door was almost nonexistent. You may have had better luck staying!
Of course, I didn't see the length of the line at your polling place. The one at the Eagan Civic Center wasn't terrible. Plus, we got to watch some high school hockey practice while we were in line.
Got in line at 7:17, ballot at 7:30, and out the door at 7:41. The line outside of the gym was nonexistent when I left and I'm guessing will stay short until evening.
Went right in with no line at 1:15, but the "booths" were full so I just sat at a table. Was #623 out of 1500+ in our precinct, and that doesn't count absentees, so good turnout
I love hearing about the different locations of polling places. (A Native American art gallery?!) When I was growing up, my elementary school was a polling place. The booths were set up right outside the cafeteria and we had to snake around the booths and the voters when it was time for lunch. It had to be chaos for all involved, but it seemed perfectly normal at the time.
I don't know how this can be, but the only polling places I can remember are this one and my first one.
I liked this one. The first one, back in college at Minnesota State (Mankato), was pretty terrible. There are numerous auditoriums at MSU, but for whatever reason, polling was done in a small conference room just off of the always-packed common area. It was hot, crowded and the line snaked around tables in the cafeteria. Of all the places on campus, I really think they found one of the worst. Maybe it was a super-passive-aggressive form of voter suppression!!!111!!
In college, I voted absentee.
In grad school in San Diego, I once voted in the parking lot outside a grocery store. Yes, that was where the polling place was set up. Really.
I remember voting in CA in the mid 80's after work, and the presidential race had already been called. Thankfully the media exercises some restraint and waits for polls to close before announcing results.
(our polling place is the local Real Estate Board's building)
I wonder if this was a factor in Oregon and then Washington switching to mail-in ballots. That way you don't have to worry as much about an early presidential call on television impacting voter turnout and influencing local elections.
I'm not totally sold on all mail-in voting, but I hear stories about long lines at polling places and I'm pretty happy that I don't have to worry about that.
Isn't WA automatic voter registration too? That would seem to be a good idea.
I'm not too sure, to be honest, it's been too long since I registered here.
Is it mail-in only or can you also drop off your ballot?
There are some drop boxes, yeah, which is the only way to avoid the poll tax price of a first-class stamp to mail in your ballot.
It's a conspiracy to subsidize the USPS!!!!11
I voted at a Wedding and Reception Hall owned by a former NHL player.
I remember following one of my parents (back in 1980 or '82) when they voted at the outdoor ice rink's warming house at the local park (before the fields were flooded for winter's ice sheets, I assume).
The only time I witnessed those fields being flooded was Christmas Eve in 1990. I had the paper route for the Monday Morning Paper (The Shopper/Post Gazette, the Journal was 6-days-a-week). I had picked up an adjacent route for the day because it deliverer would be on vacation. It was a cold morning (it got to the -20s F) and since we opened presents on Christmas Eve morning, my folks had all four of us (including my sister) get up and do the whole thing together. When we were done, we walked back home past the park as the sun was rising and the fire hydrants were open and pouring and arcing and steaming and caught in that "golden hour" light. It was glorious. I hadn't yet been to Wyoming, but it was like Yellowstone in New Ulm, without the sulfur smell.
mostly joaking of course - that's beautiful memory.
I looked up which year Christmas Eve was on a Monday and verified that the temperatures were ridic cold.
This is lovely.
Mail-in only in Washington State, so my polling spot was a comfy spot on my couch.
way to mail it in, dude.
I had a seriously old-school experience voting in Brooklyn in 2000 in a booth with an actual lever. It was surreal.
I have a funeral this morning, and so will be voting sometime this afternoon.
I got there around 7:30 am, and left at 8. I was #166.
Voted early (and often) from the comfort of my living room, with easy access to info on judges, school board candidates, etc on the googles. Dropped off my ballot last week. After standing in line for about 3 hours a few elections ago I decided early voting was the only way for me from now on.
Following up on yesterday's conversation, here's something that may give Ubes a bit of hope.
My daughter was in that room. One of the boys is her best friend's brother.
I like Salas after 15 seconds of review. Target Field suppresses homers a little bit, especially against lefties, so that would help.
From Pepper's Strib link above, I see that the Strib has an article entitled "A polarized America picks its 45th president".
That's awfully presumptive, isn't it? What if Obama decides to get out early and let Biden take the reigns for a few days?
Holy crap! So today has been incredibly interesting independent of the election. I just got an email from the school district that a former teacher in our town will face criminal charges for inappropriate contact with a minor. That former teacher was the guy my wife nanny'd for a few years ago who tried to screw us over with regards to taxes. I knew that guy was a piece of shit.
Is election day traffic a thing? I had the worst commute ever on election day 2012 (1 hour 40 minutes to go 13 miles), hoping that was just some combination of weather and accidents on that day and not some weird traffic problem where people are going to election parties or rushing home to watch coverage.
I hear Florida is better for election traffic.
Also: End of Daylight Savings Time (which was Monday). This was observed as a thing on evening commutes at least a decade ago. Should also apply to morning commutes, right?
(Dead Links inside, so I'm linking to a discussion of the piece. No direct link, you'll have to search for "Daylight" to find it.)
Mickey Kaus (at link) summarized it like this:
"the end of Daylight Savings time makes the people who go by human clocks head home just as the sun is setting, which is when the "nature's clock" people also naturally tend to head home."
I just realized that the guy who played the cruel guard in The Green Mile also played serial killer Eugene Victor Tooms in the X-Files. (Yes, I'm watching the X-Files on Netflix).
X-Files had a LOT of excellent guest actors on the show -- Giovanni Ribisi, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Nick Chinlund, Jon Gries -- that have healthy bodies of work in the movie industry
You forgot to mention Jack Black! (Spooky bait).
I like him fine.
#63 out of 152. Plus 11 absentee ballots came in. 6 of the 9 people working there knew me by name, and knew I was on the rolls before I showed up. They gave my son a cookie.
Small town living is kind of awesome.
I hate small town living, but I do understand the appeal.
I adore small town living. But then, I probably have some social anxieties that make a lack of big crowds appealing.
I love people but don't like them. Being in a crowd full of people that I don't have to actually relate to is my ideal situation.
*Edited to say "relate to" instead of "talk to." I'll talk to people. For a bit.
Having had both the small town and big city versions of living, I'll say that the best version is a combination of both. Albuquerque and New Orleans both feature a large enough population to attract nation acts and some (minor) big league sports, but close enough that you can count on running into someone you know at an event. The town I grew up in knows (or knew) everything about my family, and that's annoying, but it's also beneficial when someone steps in to help because they know your family (such as when the bank manager broke bank policy to help us out because my old man is a good dude...).
I'm going to miss Bruno's shouting from the dugout mic feed
It's obvious by Wolf Blitzer's excitement that he really doesn't understand SSS, and he is continually being patiently schooled.
"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. I feel fine." Lyrics that ring mostly true. Except for, you know, the part where I feel fine.
I wish I owned a bar, because then I would have better whiskey to dull the stress
The manufactured stress, I should say.
SSS slightly more significant SS
I took the night off, and I am sipping on a really nice red wine. It does help. Should be switching to whiskey soon.
Way ahead of you
ok. just switched to Crown Royal. Things are getting a little better. Or a little fuzzier.
I'm tempted to call in sick tomorrow so things can stay fuzzy.
This is really, REALLY weird, guys. If I had picked a celebrity that I considered least fit to run the country, it...well, it would have been "The Situation." But Donald Trump wouldn't have been far behind.
Comedians should get a lot of ammo from this, though.
I have a prediction about what tomorrow's Cup title will be.
Showed up before the polls opened to a full parking lot and line snaking down hallways of the precinct. Walked in and out a la Abe Simpson.
Will try again later.
I'm in the suburbs, where everything is made easy and comfortable for me. Showed up at 7:50 and there were still 200+ parking spots available as our lot has over 400. Voter #51, out by 8:27.
When we go after supper, I would guess about half the booths will be open.
I'm going after work and I'm guessing it'll be quick. I still need to research judges and such over lunch so that I know what I'm doing on the non-presidential portion of the ballot.
On my ballot, only one judge had an opponent. When I last voted in Arizona, everyone had an opponent. First time I had ever seen that.
There's a judge here running unopposed but was just barred from sitting on the bench because it came out that her buddy that was already a judge let her sit and hear cases from the bench well before actually being elected.
We should do a CdL ballot
My only comment on judges is that the person challenging the incumbent Supreme Court Justice if a complete nutjob.
I did some writing in for judges who ought to be contested but weren't.
Three opposed judges in my part of Hennepin County. Not sure if all those judges are electable to all of the county.
Also a constitutional amendment that I heard nothing about outside my cranky uncle who I sometimes agree with.
Three opposed judges in my part of Hennepin County as well. I had to quick do some research on that amendment because after reading it, I still didn't know what the significance was of voting one way or the other on it.
I have a scrap of paper where I've written down the names of the candidates I won't remember. I always feel a little weird pulling out my notes when I'm voting--it's feels like cheating or something.
This is part of why California provides every registered voter (several weeks in advance) a thick voter guide AND a sample ballot. You fill your sample ballot out and take it into the booth with you. That's how I could confidently complete my ballot (including 17 statewide initiatives or referenda and 2 local referenda) in under 5 minutes.
It took me five minutes just to fill out the squares. The precinct should have opted for ovals instead. I've been trained from an early age how to efficiently fill in circles and all for naught.
Heh, I filled the shit out of the circles on my ballot.
I really liked the "connect the lines" of 2000-02 or so. As clear as bubbles and faster.
Those judges cover the entire judicial district (which for Hennepin County happens to be the entire county).
I was thinking so but didn't want to look it up to verify and didn't want to just spout half-thoughts.
I got to vote for a judge who presided over the case I was on jury duty for. She was great! I've never been happier to vote for a judge.
This is what I was counting on! I've started banking on my various societal privileges.
I mean, I could have stayed and waited, but I figured I could get what I wanted without sacrifice at a later time...
My bus takes me past my polling station. The line was at least twice as long at 5pm as it was at 7:30am, and there were more cars pulling in to the parking lot.
My polling station is both on my bus line and within walking distance of my house. I waited perhaps 4 minutes total. A bus friend* was working at the polling station and said morning had been the busiest time.
*A person I've encountered on the bus for a number of years whose name I don't know but with whom I occasionally engage in friendly small talk.
*asterisk not needed. I try to avoid bus friends, but I have had bus stop friends, including the stoner teenager on that snowy night with no buses.
I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of that today.
My wife did that, more or less. She didn't actually have to get out of the car, though. The line was out the door as of 6:50.
Was heading to the library with the fam weekend before last. Saw a sea of campaign signs on the way and was reminded of the location of my early voting station* so I thought, huh, might as well. In and out in 10 minutes.
* It was in the middle of a Native American art gallery. Had always been meaning to get a look inside it.
Same situation here, but the line really moved. By 7:30 the line at the door was almost nonexistent. You may have had better luck staying!
Of course, I didn't see the length of the line at your polling place. The one at the Eagan Civic Center wasn't terrible. Plus, we got to watch some high school hockey practice while we were in line.
Got in line at 7:17, ballot at 7:30, and out the door at 7:41. The line outside of the gym was nonexistent when I left and I'm guessing will stay short until evening.
Went right in with no line at 1:15, but the "booths" were full so I just sat at a table. Was #623 out of 1500+ in our precinct, and that doesn't count absentees, so good turnout
I love hearing about the different locations of polling places. (A Native American art gallery?!) When I was growing up, my elementary school was a polling place. The booths were set up right outside the cafeteria and we had to snake around the booths and the voters when it was time for lunch. It had to be chaos for all involved, but it seemed perfectly normal at the time.
I don't know how this can be, but the only polling places I can remember are this one and my first one.
I liked this one. The first one, back in college at Minnesota State (Mankato), was pretty terrible. There are numerous auditoriums at MSU, but for whatever reason, polling was done in a small conference room just off of the always-packed common area. It was hot, crowded and the line snaked around tables in the cafeteria. Of all the places on campus, I really think they found one of the worst. Maybe it was a super-passive-aggressive form of voter suppression!!!111!!
In college, I voted absentee.
In grad school in San Diego, I once voted in the parking lot outside a grocery store. Yes, that was where the polling place was set up. Really.
I remember voting in CA in the mid 80's after work, and the presidential race had already been called. Thankfully the media exercises some restraint and waits for polls to close before announcing results.
(our polling place is the local Real Estate Board's building)
I wonder if this was a factor in Oregon and then Washington switching to mail-in ballots. That way you don't have to worry as much about an early presidential call on television impacting voter turnout and influencing local elections.
I'm not totally sold on all mail-in voting, but I hear stories about long lines at polling places and I'm pretty happy that I don't have to worry about that.
Isn't WA automatic voter registration too? That would seem to be a good idea.
I'm not too sure, to be honest, it's been too long since I registered here.
Is it mail-in only or can you also drop off your ballot?
There are some drop boxes, yeah, which is the only way to avoid the
poll taxprice of a first-class stamp to mail in your ballot.It's a conspiracy to subsidize the USPS!!!!11
I voted at a Wedding and Reception Hall owned by a former NHL player.
I remember following one of my parents (back in 1980 or '82) when they voted at the outdoor ice rink's warming house at the local park (before the fields were flooded for winter's ice sheets, I assume).
I looked up which year Christmas Eve was on a Monday and verified that the temperatures were ridic cold.
This is lovely.
Mail-in only in Washington State, so my polling spot was a comfy spot on my couch.
way to mail it in, dude.
I had a seriously old-school experience voting in Brooklyn in 2000 in a booth with an actual lever. It was surreal.
I have a funeral this morning, and so will be voting sometime this afternoon.
I got there around 7:30 am, and left at 8. I was #166.
Voted early (
and often) from the comfort of my living room, with easy access to info on judges, school board candidates, etc on the googles. Dropped off my ballot last week. After standing in line for about 3 hours a few elections ago I decided early voting was the only way for me from now on.Following up on yesterday's conversation, here's something that may give Ubes a bit of hope.
My daughter was in that room. One of the boys is her best friend's brother.
That's awesome.
That is really cool to see.
MLB Trade Rumors' free agent predictions are up. It's grim if you're hoping for any improvement behind the dish next season.
That is crazy money for Chapman and Jansen.
I like Salas after 15 seconds of review. Target Field suppresses homers a little bit, especially against lefties, so that would help.
From Pepper's Strib link above, I see that the Strib has an article entitled "A polarized America picks its 45th president".
That's awfully presumptive, isn't it? What if Obama decides to get out early and let Biden take the reigns for a few days?
That's awesome!
Agreed.
Holy crap! So today has been incredibly interesting independent of the election. I just got an email from the school district that a former teacher in our town will face criminal charges for inappropriate contact with a minor. That former teacher was the guy my wife nanny'd for a few years ago who tried to screw us over with regards to taxes. I knew that guy was a piece of shit.
Is election day traffic a thing? I had the worst commute ever on election day 2012 (1 hour 40 minutes to go 13 miles), hoping that was just some combination of weather and accidents on that day and not some weird traffic problem where people are going to election parties or rushing home to watch coverage.
I hear Florida is better for election traffic.
Also: End of Daylight Savings Time (which was Monday).
This was observed as a thing on evening commutes at least a decade ago. Should also apply to morning commutes, right?
(Dead Links inside, so I'm linking to a discussion of the piece. No direct link, you'll have to search for "Daylight" to find it.)
Mickey Kaus (at link) summarized it like this:
"the end of Daylight Savings time makes the people who go by human clocks head home just as the sun is setting, which is when the "nature's clock" people also naturally tend to head home."
I just realized that the guy who played the cruel guard in The Green Mile also played serial killer Eugene Victor Tooms in the X-Files. (Yes, I'm watching the X-Files on Netflix).
X-Files had a LOT of excellent guest actors on the show -- Giovanni Ribisi, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Nick Chinlund, Jon Gries -- that have healthy bodies of work in the movie industry
You forgot to mention Jack Black! (Spooky bait).
I like him fine.
#63 out of 152. Plus 11 absentee ballots came in. 6 of the 9 people working there knew me by name, and knew I was on the rolls before I showed up. They gave my son a cookie.
Small town living is kind of awesome.
I hate small town living, but I do understand the appeal.
I adore small town living. But then, I probably have some social anxieties that make a lack of big crowds appealing.
I love people but don't like them. Being in a crowd full of people that I don't have to actually relate to is my ideal situation.
*Edited to say "relate to" instead of "talk to." I'll talk to people. For a bit.
Having had both the small town and big city versions of living, I'll say that the best version is a combination of both. Albuquerque and New Orleans both feature a large enough population to attract nation acts and some (minor) big league sports, but close enough that you can count on running into someone you know at an event. The town I grew up in knows (or knew) everything about my family, and that's annoying, but it's also beneficial when someone steps in to help because they know your family (such as when the bank manager broke bank policy to help us out because my old man is a good dude...).
It's just a rumor, right?
http://www.wearebrewstuds.com/stories/news/craft-beer-millercoors-buying-minnesotas-surly-brewing/
Sadly, I can readily believe this because of the Todd departure.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
well, shiver me timbers. Those greedy capitalist bastards. (Also, I had no idea that midwest supplies was a sister company...)
I'm going to miss Bruno's shouting from the dugout mic feed
It's obvious by Wolf Blitzer's excitement that he really doesn't understand SSS, and he is continually being patiently schooled.
"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. I feel fine." Lyrics that ring mostly true. Except for, you know, the part where I feel fine.
I wish I owned a bar, because then I would have better whiskey to dull the stress
The manufactured stress, I should say.
SSSslightly more significant SSI took the night off, and I am sipping on a really nice red wine. It does help. Should be switching to whiskey soon.
Way ahead of you
ok. just switched to Crown Royal. Things are getting a little better. Or a little fuzzier.
I'm tempted to call in sick tomorrow so things can stay fuzzy.
I might not have a choice. Fuzzy feels so good.
I have a prediction about what tomorrow's Cup title will be.
Happy World Freedom Day?
Make the WGOM great again. Pledge today!
The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica?
And so it begins.