Polling threads

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Can HG,org predict the election results?

Obama
41
54%
Romney
23
30%
Other
12
16%
User avatar
By ChattaroyMan
#299572
stevesmithele wrote:I'm with Ryan on this one. I will vote when there is someone i like.
You might want to look a little deeper though. Whether you like someone or not really isn't the main issue. One party would like to do away with the EPA. The other would not. One party would like to see more public lands become private lands - which, public/private, do you think it is harder to obtain flying sites on - and then ensure their continued access? Our government is only our government when we participate/vote. Does a particular side we vote for always win? No. But, the votes we cast are heard by the opposition. Most elected officials truly do want to serve their nation. How votes are cast gives them the best indication of what boundaries they can work within. What's more, if you are not going to vote for yourself, think of what sort of nation you really want for the future - for others. There is a pretty big difference in the platforms of the USA's two main political parties. More and more it is becoming necessary to vote for candidates who can and will work to compromise across party lines. And, if anyone is put off by the national political goings-on there are local offices being run for in elections. One can vote for local elections and leave other areas of a ballot blank. Low voter turnout only encourages elected officials to ignore doing the hard work that would make us all more proud of our government.
User avatar
By Windlord
#299575
fly,surf,&ski wrote:Change the Electorial College System , and then I will go vote.... :cuss:


California has been decided since the campaign began. It would be a waste of time as my vote means absolutely nothing.... :mrgreen:


As the system stand right now 3-6 states get to chose the president, and I think that sucks shitt.....
(If I lived in a swing state I WOULD vote)
:surrender:
:ditto: Haven't voted since the 70's. Kinda sad when those 6 key states decide the outcome..
So I'll just let those states do the voting for me. Montana was still voting/counting when the election was won.
User avatar
By Felix
#299576
relate2 wrote:You don't have any choice in Australia, everybody has to vote or you are fined.
Hmm, I didn't know that.
Very cool!
1 VOTE matters.
User avatar
By zamuro
#299577
AIRTHUG wrote:Thanks for the talk, dad.

I'll vote when there's actually a candidate I LIKE. Voting for someone because you think he sucks LESS than the other is lame and I want no part of it.

Oh, and I found this topic on the front page. Pretty rare I ever venture deeper than that... And since there's a limited number of threads on that front page, this one (and the the gun control BS etc) bump HG-related topics. This is HANG GLIDING .org, right? Just sayin :wink:

Carry on...
As an immigrant, I always find interesting what some Americans take so much for granted that they stop caring. Don't underestimate the fact that with all its defects the USA still have a pretty good working democracy. Voting for the candidate that best represent you even if he doesn't represent everything you like is important. In my experience political apathy is fertile ground for the rise of populist autocrats.
User avatar
By wayne ripley
#299578
Not vote because you don't like anyone? How old are you? Thank God everyone doen't think like this.
User avatar
By CAL
#299580
AIRTHUG wrote:Thanks for the talk, dad.

I'll vote when there's actually a candidate I LIKE. Voting for someone because you think he sucks LESS than the other is lame and I want no part of it.

Oh, and I found this topic on the front page. Pretty rare I ever venture deeper than that... And since there's a limited number of threads on that front page, this one (and the the gun control BS etc) bump HG-related topics. This is HANG GLIDING .org, right? Just sayin :wink:

Carry on...
i thought it was fun to see if we hg pilots could predict who would be the Prez and as you see we did, though i voted for Mitt it's ok and still hold all of you as friends, there are times you need to find out who agrees most with what you believe and vote for that person, the only person who will believe totally the way you do is yourself, that means the only time you would vote is if you were running, so lets get into hang gliding, i voted for you as the safety director, because i think you where the best man for the job and i might add the regional director as well, there are times that i don't see eye to eye on your concepts, nor would you with me, but your still the best man for the job, anyway no matter what you do, vote or not vote you will still be loved by our hg community
By gluesniffer
#299583
Roughly 65:1 lobbyist per elected officials. A lobbyist who hands over money is essentially trying to buy our "democratically" elected reps. A bribe. That number is just the registered number of lobbyists. Then there are the contributions from other entities like cartels. A Google search of convicted elected officials who got caught taking bribes is startling. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Lobbying with cash or other valuable favors is what pollutes our democracy into a steaming pile of horse sh!t.

If romney was a self made billionaire who made and kept his money in America he would have won. Is it a negative ad when you tell the truth about someone? The right really had to dig for obummer. Fox news would not let go of the bengazi incident, trying to make a conspiracy of the highest order out of how the white house defined a terrorist attack. It wasn't like the whitehouse was behind the attack. Then there is racist America who at hates a black man in the white house and claims obummer is a Muslim who wasn't even born here. That's all they have because Obama has lead a pretty clean house.

The lesser of two evils was elected however Ron Paul is the man!
User avatar
By 1htalp9
#299584
ChattaroyMan wrote:If Atilla the Hun was an environmentalist he'd get my vote!
Though I am a lurker, I just could not ignore this amazingly ignorant statement.

Let's say you exchange Atila for Hitler, or Stalin, or even Bush! How 'bout you change it to Pro-Life... now how does it sound?

I can't imagine any sane human, regardless of political bent, actually standing by this statement. Surely, you jest! If not, then it is no wonder the electorate votes the way it does. :crazy:

C-
From the prescient De Tocqueville:

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

“Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

“A man's admiration for absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
By blindrodie
#299586
Surely, you jest!
Well of course he's not serious...

8)
User avatar
By tom emery
#299588
Here's the way I see it. If you don't vote you are a hypocrite for even talking politics. If you don't vote , don't complan....about anything. Either get involved in this very simple, very basic, VERY IMPORTANT privilege or go visit a place like Cuba and see an example of a society where you have zero say over your own life. Just curious, do you non voters vote in electing your USHPA Reps?
Yes...I vote.
By blindrodie
#299589
The lesser of two evils was elected however Ron Paul is the man!
This was the main thrust of my "other" choice.

8)
User avatar
By The_Hunted
#299597
" I don't really care much for politics..."

Ryan, I thought this was funny coming from a USHPA guy.
User avatar
By ChattaroyMan
#299603
cnalbers wrote:
ChattaroyMan wrote:If Atilla the Hun was an environmentalist he'd get my vote!
Though I am a lurker, I just could not ignore this amazingly ignorant statement.
Ignorance is bliss! :thumbsup:

A bit of tongue in cheek.... I feel our quality of existence on this planet is very important and more precarious than generally believed. No, I wouldn't be out knocking on doors in support of A the Hun. Just wanted to pass on the importance of how a candidate or party might make decisions on matters that directly or indirectly influence our lives. Generally speaking, if a person does view the environment as being important they are sensitive to other just causes. Also, it may take some heavy handedness to pass decent environmental laws (or thoughtful incentives). We have more of an impact on our environment than most people either anticipate or care to believe. We also do not fully (by any stretch) fathom how our activities may be impacting our future. We just made a decision who to have as a leader for the next four years. I voted for Obama for a variety of reasons of which both Science and our environment played a great part. When various Republican candidates stated that they wanted to do away with the EPA I paid little attention to anything else they had to say.
- Steve
User avatar
By 1htalp9
#299604
ChattaroyMan wrote:A bit of tongue in cheek....
Thank goodness! You had me going there...

C-
User avatar
By TomGalvin
#299608
tom emery wrote: get involved in this very simple, very basic, VERY IMPORTANT privilege.
Not voting dishonors the sacrifices made to ensure your freedom to self govern. It is not a privilege, it is a duty.
By blindrodie
#299612
An EXTRA 3 thumbs up for Mr. Galvin!

8)
User avatar
By Hangskier
#299620
What's interesting to me is seeing the US colored in blue and red. What I noticed is this: I recruited for the Coast Guard for 4 yrs and just now noticed that the same states that were the same color (not going to specify) had the higher ASVAB scores. I know this due to I could see and get the ASVAB scores across the country and took notice of it then but I did not think as much of it until I saw the US colored in blue and red. Very interesting.
User avatar
By psuguru
#299621
relate2 wrote:You don't have any choice in Australia, everybody has to vote or you are fined.
'Hope you get the "None of the above" option.
User avatar
By relate2
#299626
psuguru wrote:
relate2 wrote:You don't have any choice in Australia, everybody has to vote or you are fined.
'Hope you get the "None of the above" option.
If you don't want your vote to count or don't like any of the candidates just get your name crossed off and put a big cross through the ballot paper. It is called an informal vote and is not counted.
User avatar
By Dawson
#299630
relate2 wrote:
psuguru wrote:
relate2 wrote:You don't have any choice in Australia, everybody has to vote or you are fined.
'Hope you get the "None of the above" option.
If you don't want your vote to count or don't like any of the candidates just get your name crossed off and put a big cross through the ballot paper. It is called an informal vote and is not counted.
Actually I think they do count the informal votes - just not FOR any candidate.

One of the (many) big differences between how we vote here in the land of Oz and there in the land of milk and honey is that our candidates must get an absolute majority to get elected.

So, for a member of the house of reps to get elected in a seat with 100,000 registered voters, they must get 50,001 votes or more to win. For one party to form a government, they must winat least 76 seats ( there are 150 in total) - or form a coalition with independents so that they have control over at least 76 seats.

So, here, a majority is a majority, not just a majority of those who bothered to turn up. If enough people voted informally so that no majority was cast, then they'd have to hold the elections again.