Farewell, Election Day

I can see Will's point, but I think he is overgeneralizing to assume that anyone that uses absentee balloting is lazy. I have gone to the polls, and actually like doing it, especially when there is a candidate that I am excited about. But I also have a somewhat unpredictable work schedule, sometimes having to travel unexpectedly, so I voted in this election by absentee just to make sure.

And I don't even think that the absentee ballot is easier. If anything, it takes more attention to make sure that everything is done right. In my state, you as well as a witness have to sign the envelope, etc. It is more convenient, but not necesarily easier.

Voting should be 100%. Register every voter by examining their legal documents, scan their retina, and allow them to vote at any computerized voting site up to 90 days prior to the election. We've been listening to candidates long enough to make a decision. A single lifetime voting registration should serve the purposes of democracy far better than turning ACORN loose on the less capable.

People who vote absentee ballot are neither slothful or uninterested. Quite a number of them are disabled and/or elderly. Would George Will exclude them from voting? Cathy Hatton Pueblo, CO

Bill Clinton points to liberal Congressional Democrats' protection of Fannie and Freddie from scrutiny as a primary cause of the current economic meltdown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsynspIqAoE

To prove Bill Clinton's point, this is a link to a C-SPAN video clip of the Congressional hearings at roughtly the time McCains attempt at S.190. to fix fannie and freddie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

"Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis"

The link below describes how some of those Democrats in Congress tried to use the original version of the bailout bill to divert money eventually recovered to groups like ACORN. See: Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122247015469280723.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

And here is Lou Dobbs reporting on ACORN corruption and ties to Obama, including Obama Campaign paying ACORN $800,000 for voter registration activities, and Obama representing them when he was a practicing attorney.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/10/09/ldt.tucker.acorn.under.fire.cnn

con't ... the rest of the world. you always look like you just ate a lemon! working 12 hours a day or working in a community that is a commute away from our home(voting) community usually makes it impossible to get to the polls on election day. guess you don't know anything about people who actually work for a living do ya Georgie Porgie puddin & pie!!

first of all most people following world and national news aren't going to hear anything in the crappy mumbo jumbo in the last month of an election cycle that's going to change our minds. we vote for policies and philosophies of life established long before the last run up. Secondly I have never heard anything so disgustingly elitist, but then I'm not surprised coming from one who is looking in disgust down his nose at ththe rest of the worl

I'm with you, George! If you won't vote on Election Day, your vote shouldn't be counted. And speaking of November :), let's bring back "The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports" and their parrot for the World Series. :):)

As an Orgon voter I love our system. We have a lot of ballot measures every election. I can study the voters phampflet and do my voting. Then I drop it off at the library. I already have a lot of questions about this election on the state level and want the information as soon as possible. Here if people wait until the last day there are drop of points. How is this worse then going to a school gym or basement?

"First, for tens of millions of early voters, the campaign process of informing and persuading is effectively truncated." Oh so let's get this straight... the campaign ISN'T LONG ENOUGH? Voters have had nearly two years to get to know the candidates. It's no surprise that they are ready to make up their minds. What an absurd argument from an intellectual fraud.

George Will has shown his true colors with this one. The old system is ridiculous. The fact that we all have to get to a polling place on a work day (Not a Federal holiday or a weekend) means that this system has favored retired people or those wealthy enough to dictate their own schedules or those without other pressing obligations. Most of us don't have unions anymore to protect our rights-- especially those with multiple part-time jobs.

Will is the first of these right wing blowhards to come right out and say that he doesn't want all these rabble voting in the election of their own government. The Republicans have worked hard to buy off Diebold and expect people to use those machines to make sure there is no paper trail. They have made sure that urban or liberal neighborhoods do not have enough access so that all the dirty libs will just give up and go home while protecting all the wealthy suburbanites who vote for whom their pastor tells them.

I don't think Will was supposed to say this out loud.

"But surely the quality of the electoral turnout declines when the quantity is increased by "convenience voting."

well, now I've heard everything.. early voting means folks George Will doesn't want to see voting get to vote -- what a concept.. this is the most elitist hogwash I have heard in a long time... and yes, like claypoint2 points out, it seems Will doesn't want folks to vote when Obama is ahead in the polls and thus is doing better than McCain... I guess he wants the McCain campaign to have more time to deploy its all-smear-all-the-time strategy.. so this is what the campaign of the "Maverick", of the "straight-talker", of the "war hero", has come to: he has NOTHING left up his sleeve other than stooping lower than "a snake's belly", as they say... forget the urgent issues of our time, just SMEAR Obama enough and we'll win... pathetic, truly pathetic.. (the grand old party, yeah, yeah... the PATHETIC old party is more like it..)

"But surely the quality of the electoral turnout declines when the quantity is increased by "convenience voting."

well, now I've heard everything.. early voting means folks George Will doesn't want to see voting get to vote -- what a concept.. this is the most elitist hogwash I have heard in a long time... and yes, like claypoint2 points out, it seems Will doesn't want folks to vote when Obama is ahead in the polls and thus is doing better than McCain... I guess he wants the McCain campaign to have more time to deploy its all-smear-all-the-time strategy.. so this is what the campaign of the "Maverick", of the "straight-talker", of the "war hero", has come to: he has NOTHING left up his sleeve other than stooping lower than "a snake's belly", as they say... forget the urgent issues of our time, just SMEAR Obama enough and we'll win... pathetic, truly pathetic.. (the grand old party, yeah, yeah... the PATHETIC old party is more more like it..)

It is human to grieve the passing of tradition. But let's not forget the principle here; voting is what we are trying to achieve, if that objective is met more easily by newfound measures then let's celebrate instead of complain. Time marches on let's keep up with it.

Perhaps it bothers Mr. Will that some will vote when Sen. Obama has a clear lead in the polls -- before the McCain camp and the RNC have a chance to deploy their October strategy to assassinate Sen. Obama's character with Swift-boat tactics. Perhaps it's worrisome for Mr. Will that some people have clarity about the fact that the Republican Party has led us, over the past eight years, into deep deficit in order to fund an unjust war in Iraq. Perhaps it bothers him that Sen. McCain's choice of Gov. Palin reveals his recklessness and impulsivity, in spite of his many commendable attributes. In an era when campaigns last for well over a year, the argument that "the campaign process of informing and persuading is effectively truncated" is bogus.

I object to Mr. Will's characterization of those who vote by absentee ballot as "slothful" or "uninformed." In an election cycle that seems to have started in the last millenium, only those citizens who live under a rock could possibly be uninformed about the issues, and I highly doubt those citizens will be persuaded to cast their ballot whether absentee or otherwise. As an absentee voter, I made a special trip to the Elections office to ensure that my registration, listed erroneously as "inactive" on a website, was in fact active. It was, and I am happy to expect the arrival of my ballot in my mailbox sometime around the middle of this month. I find voting in person to be somewhat cumbersome and intimidating. I will proudly cast my absentee ballot from the comfort of my home, with ample time to do any last minute research on a candidate or an issue to make sure my vote is an informed one.

Perhaps Mr. Will is correct that those who vote by absentee ballot are "slothful" and ":uninformed." However, as a voter who will vote by mail ballot in Washington State, I am neither. I, in fact, made a special trip to the Registrar's office in my county to ensure that I was properly registered when the website told me my status was "inactive." I voraciously read all I can about the candidates and watch the debates, in spite of my decision early on about who to support, just to make sure I know who I am supporting. I prefer mailing in my ballot because I find going to a polling location intimidating in it's unfamiliar nature. And I find that the polling locations are run with a haphazard authority of volunteers who are not fully aware of how the process works. I have voted in four different states over the years, and I love my absentee ballot!

Absolutely an issue that should get the most serious consideration. I have been tempted to take advantage of early voting, but I will make the trip to the voting booth to affirm my belief that it is the most important duty of being a citizen. It is time to move Election Day to a weekend or declare it a holiday.

For years I have been listening to George Will attack liberals as the elite who look down on average Americans. Yet there has always been a certain disconnect - Mr Will is nothing if not an elite who looks down on others. But he says it better than I can ever could when he shows his contempt for folks not in the beltway:

"A word describes most of the people who will vote only if a ballot is shoved through their mail slot: "slothful." What kind of people will not bestir themselves to exercise their franchise if doing so requires them to get off their couches and visit neighborhood polling places? People who are barely interested, and hence probably are barely informed."

Mr. Will I do not oppose your right to express your views but please let's cut out the constant whining about 'elite liberals'.