A college psychology professor's observations about public policy, mental health, sexual identity, and religious issues
In contrast to 2008, I have not kept up with the daily changes and controversies of the presidential race. I have some thoughts about it but I prefer to take a more low key approach this time around.
I have enjoyed watching Real Clear Politics however and think they provide a nice service and up to date polling information. Unless something newsworthy comes up or I change my mind, I won’t be posting much until the election since most other things will get lost until it is over.
UPDATE at the end of the post…
There are many stories of voter fraud this election and I have reported at least one major one in Ohio. The situation here may violate the spirit of those laws. I do not know how Florida officials will view this but I hope to find out tomorrow. This is from Obamatravel.org. I wonder how long this page will stay up.
And here is Ms. Appleton holding her ballot:
To summarize, Ms. Appleton has been FL for 6 weeks, says she voted in FL, but plans to return “home” to NY a day or so after the election. According to this link and this one, Ms. Appleton’s residency is open to question. If I am missing something and this is legal, I do not think it should be. At least as long as we have an electoral system of electing a president, it seems fundamentally contrary to that system for people to leave “safe states” for a candidate (in this New York) and go to a battleground state to cast a ballot. It seems as though campaigns would spend their resources moving people from safe states to contested states. Maybe that is the point of this Obamatravel.org thing…
UPDATE: Earlier today, I spoke with Owen Torres, spokesperson for Miami-Dade County, and he clarified that one must register 29 days before an election which Ms. Appleton did in Miami-Dade County. He stressed that she would be allowed to vote in FL if she is registered which one may do whenever one moves to the state of FL. However, he said, she should not be registered in more than one state (which she is according to the Westchester County, NY BOE), but this is not illegal in itself. It would be illegal to vote in two places. What is problematic is Ms. Appleton’s expressed intention to leave FL to return “home” to NY as soon as the election is over. According to Mr. Torres, FL anticipates that the person who registers is doing so because they have become a resident of the state and intends to remain in the state. With the election happening tomorrow, I am not sure if I will hear the outcome of this particular situation soon. However, Mr. Torres indicated that he would pursue the matter.
UPDATE #2 – Commenter Tom pointed out that Ms. Appleton’s profile on Obamatravel.org has been removed.
UPDATE #3 – Palestra.net’s Tiffany Wilson made contact with Ms. Appleton but she declined to speak to Ms. Wilson. And Ms. Wilson notes this about FL election law:
101.045 Electors must be registered in precinct; provisions for change of residence or name. —
Chapter 101 VOTING METHODS AND PROCEDURE
Title IX ELECTORS AND ELECTIONS
SUCH PERSONS WHO ARE REGISTERED in the precinct in which the main office of the supervisor, as designated by the supervisor, is located and who are residing outside the county WITH NO PERMANENT ADDRESS IN THE COUNTY SHALL NOT BE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF A MUNICIPALITY AND THEREFORE SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED TO VOTE IN ANY MUNICIPAL ELECTION.
UPDATE: #4 – Ms. Appleton returned home to NY after the election.
Stay tuned…
Ok, this is not going to become a political blog; I do not have the time nor the inclination to keep up with the nuances of the campaigns. However, I do think the Huckabee emergence is quite interesting. There are multiple pitfalls that await and indeed he appears to be rising in polls and the minds of Republicans. One pitfall is the investigation of the Grassley Six and questions about Huckabee’s relationship with some of those targeted.
Who knows where the investigation will go but I thought this Time magazine article made a pretty good case that the outcome will be unlikely to impact very much the candidates endorsed by ministers and ministries — at least in the primaries. In the general election, anything will be fair game. I will be quite surprised if religion is not central to the reporting of the next election.
According to the American Spectator, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson is set to endorse Mike Huckabee for president. The Spectator article says it will happen in Iowa and is sure to help offset Sen. McCain’s endorsement from Sen. Brownback as well as the Giuliani endorsement from Pat Robertson. Expect to see more endorsements from social conservatives as this unfolds.