How's the state of the race in your area?

[RSchmitz]

So, I live in Plant City. And there are McCain Palin signs everywhere. But Plant City is also a rural part of Florida, so how is it in your area?

[Maverick9911]

Four McCain Palin signs on my block, two for Obama.

Drove through West Tampa the other day and nearly every house had Obama signs, none for McCain. Even in snooty Westshore I'm seeing dueling houses with signs for each (though I do notice that a majority of the McCain houses have resorted to posting three signs or more, as if that's going to garner extra votes).

[kid A]

mid to northern part of St. Pete seems to be leaning towards Obama. Obama signs clearly outnumber McCain signs.

This doesn't surprise as I remember a lot more Kerry signs/stickers on this side of the Bay last time around and then many more W stickers on the Tampa side. Even looking at post-election maps last time, Pinellas tends to vote Democrat where Hillsborough leans Republican.

[pete]

Supposedly Obama was winning Hillsborough County by 6% a couple of weeks ago. The race has tightened since then, though. If it's a tie on the I-4 corridor though, I bet Obama's ground game in South Florida takes it by a nose.

[Jester47]

It seems like, funny enough, that alot of the larger "big money" house seem to have the McCain yard signs... go figure!!!

[Sotnos]

There are more signs for local stuff in people's yards than there are for presidential candidates where I live. One guy down the street has a homemade Obama/Biden sign, but that's all I've noticed. The two mega-churches I drive by every day have signs for McCain & "Vote Yes on 2"...shocking I know!

While doing some research last night, I noticed that one of the guys on my ballot is "a high ranking member of a white separatist group (http://blogs.tampabay.com/kycgeneral08/2008/10/florida-house-1.html)". :rolleyes: I hope not too many people just pick the independent for the hell of it in his case.

[Maverick9911]

If there's anything I loathe more than the McCain-Palin signs, its the "One Man One Woman" for Amendment 2. That one scares me.

[Hoek]

Their TV ad is a heaping pile of fluffy cheesiness and complete bullshit. All it takes is two seconds of reading the ACTUAL amendment (which is not that wordy or vague) to see that it IS about taking away benefits/protections from ALL unmarried couples too. How can they get away with such a blatant lie? The polls have it short of 60%, but there's too many undecideds out there to like its chances at failing. Whether you like him or not, Michael Schiavo made an extremely good point in the one of the few "No on 2" ads I've seen, that if those same people supporting it really cared about the sanctity of marriage they would have respected his.

Also a big WTF at California and Prop 8 too. Cmon guys. Why are so many Democrats so utterly failtastic at getting gay rights?

[Sotnos]

If there's anything I loathe more than the McCain-Palin signs, its the "One Man One Woman" for Amendment 2. That one scares me.
These have crosses on them too. :) Thankfully the font is so small you really can't read anything on them.

[Maverick9911]

How can they get away with such a blatant lie?

The media.

Every report I have read/heard about this amendment begins with "The amendment, which would ban gay marriage in Florida". They have fallen into the trap of this being an amendment solely based upon banning gay marriage and its sickening. Let me share some viewpoints I have had the dishonor of confronting lately.

My father receives a newspaper called the Florida Catholic, which mainly just collects dust or is used to swat errant mosquitoes that come in through the door. The other day I picked up the latest copy because it had a feature story on amendment 2 and some of the language was appalling. Catholic school administrations scared about the failure of the amendment because "then gay teachers would want to be treated equally to other citizens without discrimination". Scary concept, I know.

A supporter of the amendment tried to rope me into his circle before I vehemently protested, not only because gay marriage does not upset me but also because I know what it will do for unmarried benefits. For the time being, I am under my live-in girlfriend's health insurance before I start law school in January. We arranged for this because we knew it would be very temporary while I prepped for school and stayed home to take care of my invalid mother (and plus we qualified, having lived together for over three years). When explaining my situation and those of the elderly, unmarried, etc. to this nut, he casually dismissed us "straight folk" as collateral damage, screwed anyways because we were "living in sin".

I just pray even those who are against gay marriage ultimately read the fine print of this amendment and see just what the public, gay and straight, stands to lose from this if it passes.

[Hoek]

Oh I forgot to mention the utter irony of Prop 8 in CA. If that one passes, all that means according to the State Supreme Court's decision is that everyone's marriage will have to be downgraded to civil union status, which means everyone loses all the federal recognition. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

But hey, we gotta worry about what those icky dudes are doing in the bedroom together, right? Because 4 laws against recognizing them as equal citizens and human beings isn't enough for Florida. Keep drinking the hate-o-rade and they'll finally stop loving each other and living happy lives together and tainting your phony portrait of America. :rolleyes:

[pete]

If you work hard, pay your taxes, and stay out of trouble with the law, the government's got no right to tell you how to live, who to date, or what god to worship.

That's the deal. That's America. That's freedom.

[astro]

So, I live in Plant City. And there are McCain Palin signs everywhere. But Plant City is also a rural part of Florida, so how is it in your area?

The Seattle area is pro-Obama. As you get further from the city, it turns into McCain country. I'm in Renton and it seems that there are more Obama supporters.

[TexasBolt]

I live in Texas, which puts my entire ballot into the "spitting into the wind" category. Put it this way - on my way to the Bucs/Cowboys game today I passed a megachurch that isn't holding a Halloween carnival on Friday. Oh no. They're holding a "harvest" carnival because we certainly don't want to taint the kiddies' minds with that kind of terrible evil.

I think they're going to hold the whole thing in a hermetically-sealed room.

[chad]

My neighborhood has slightly more McCain than Obama. I'm in the 'burbs, though. The more into the metro area you get the more Obama signs.

There's a county commissioner up for re-election here that was just busted by the wife of his opponent (on video) for stealing campaign signs out of yards and medians. They also taped him being interviewed by police for it. FWIW, he's a republican. All over the news here.

[kid A]

If you work hard, pay your taxes, and stay out of trouble with the law, the government's got no right to tell you how to live, who to date, or what god to worship.

That's the deal. That's America. That's freedom.

Meant to hit this the other day...Not trying to nitpick, and I completely agree with the gist of your statement, however it's that "stay out of trouble with the law" part that is the pebble in my shoe - and not because I want to go on some big crime spree, but because of who gets to make the laws. Perhaps my idea of an upright and just life is not in line with someone else's, and maybe that someone else is the one making laws. Civil disobedience is valid in my book.

Also, all the more reason to participate in the process of government - lessen the chances that laws that you don't agree with get passed.

[timothy]

Perhaps my idea of an upright and just life is not in line with someone else's, and maybe that someone else is the one making laws. Civil disobedience is valid in my book.


:cowboy: