Election 2012

140 posts

Vote for the Greatest Political Troll of the 2012 Election

It’s been one hell of a painful election season. The never-ending parade of jackassery has been difficult for all of us. Fortunately, it is almost over. Tonight we will all gather around our screens and see who will govern this mess of a country for the next four years. However, here at Crasstalk, this is of a secondary concern.

No one enjoys the stylings of a good troll more than the residents of Crasslandia, and we thought it was only fitting that on election day we vote for our political troll of the 2012 election. Vote early, vote often, and may god have mercy on America. Continue reading →

What You Can Still Do

Obama Getting Out the Vote

Okay, you got up early and voted. You’ve had your coffee and you’re already thinking about opening that bottle of Wild Turkey because there are hours and hours until they call this thing and the misery of this never ending campaign is over.

Rather than spend the whole day hitting the Refresh button on CNN.com or, god forbid, watching cable news all day, you can still make a difference by doing last-minute GOTV (get out the vote) activities. Continue reading →

Undecided Voters: Really, People??

I am fascinated by this creature known as the undecided voter, particularly with respect to the 2012 presidential election. Because I really don’t understand how anyone could possibly be on the fence in choosing between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The media rather hilariously uses the euphemism “low-information voters” to describe this group. But what does this loaded euphemism mean?

Wikipedia tells us the following about such voters: “they vote, but are generally poorly informed about politics. They are less likely to vote, tend to be more moderate than high-information voters,” and “look for candidates whom they find “personally appealing.” They “tend to be swing voters” and “rely on cues about the candidates that are often of limited usefulness, and in the absence of real information make their decision based upon stereotypical beliefs about what traits such as physical attractiveness, race and gender can tell them about a candidate’s suitability for office.”  Well, then! I’m guessing this was the crowd that preferred Bush 43 to Kerry because he’s the kind of guy you’d want to have a beer with. A fine way to select a president. Continue reading →

Do I Get Time Off to Vote and Other Voting Questions

Since we here in the good ol’ USA vote on the first Tuesday in November, a workday for most people, this leads to a question about what your rights are when it comes to getting the necessary time off to vote. This issue has been left to the States to answer, which means there isn’t one nationwide law to answer the question. So, do you get time off to vote and is it compensated in your state?  Continue reading →

The Electoral College Needs to Go

Over the past weeks I have been watching CNN for my election coverage. They don’t blatantly ignore facts like Fox News and they aren’t blatantly (even though they are) in the tank for Obama like MSNBC. Once Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee, they began to analyze the various presidential polls.

If you were from another planet and saw the coverage on CNN, you would think the United States was controlled by a handful of states: Virginia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Florida, and Ohio. These are the states that will decide the election. Eventually, CNN managed to whittle this list down to Ohio. I kept hearing that whoever wins Ohio will be President. I thought it was funny when, during one of the debates, CNN had a room full of undecided voters from Ohio and said “These are the people who will decide the election.” I kept waiting for them to find a single undecided voter in Cleveland and ask him/her how it felt to know they were responsible for picking the next President. Continue reading →

“Retard” is Ann Coulter’s “Go To” Word

Oh, remember a couple months ago when reigning Worst Person in the World, Bill O’Reilly, said an outrageous thing about DNC speaker, Sandra Fluke? And he made us all bubble up with loathing and face-igniting rage? Well, his mate in abominable-person hell has spoken up and challenged him for the position of soul-sucking, earth-destroying bringer of cosmic doom from the sheer amount of detestable, turgid shit-spew they’ve launched into the world. Why, hello, Ann Coulter. Have a seat. Continue reading →

The Presidential Debate Nobody Will See

Barely 24 hours after the final Presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama wraps up in Satan’s Backwash, Florida, a collection of third-party candidates will take to the stage (and the Internet!) to present to Americans a wider spectrum of ideas than the ones voters will hear on Monday night.

Staged by the Free and Equal Elections Foundation and hosted by the ghost of CNN’s credibility as a news organization widely watched cable channel, candidates from the far right and left will present the case to American voters for a much wider political discussion.  Continue reading →

Presidential Debate Liveblog: Around the World in 90 Minutes

We live in a world where new threats constantly emerge, power structures are frequently in flux and diplomacy is increasingly important to those who hold power. As leader of the free world (in theory) the President of the United States must posses a nuanced and thoughtful world view.

The best way for candidates to display that worldview is in a series of soundbites spread out over 90 minutes to an audience of folks who would have a hard time finding the Middle East on a map. Fortunately, we’ll hear nothing of the President’s secret war, nor of Mitt Romney’s dis-interest in putting a stop to it. Nor will we hear about the vast powers to make war that the Executive branch has accumulated in the last 30 years, because acknowledging it might mean giving some of them back.

Continue reading →