New Obama add - Get out from couch, take day off on election day

[davajuan]

Obama may not take many days off, but he's late often enough!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah9W24oMIRc

[Verily]

I see the Republicans in this thread have figured out that the only way they can win is if they keep as many Americans out of the process as possible. That, my friends, is what is truly disgusting.

And Democrats have figured out that the only way they can win is to bus underinformed, undereducated voters to the polls and promise them goodies they can never provide.

It's politics.  Grow up.  Get over it.

That's a lie, but if it makes you feel better you can believe it.

LOL.  O-tay.

I don't know why you seem to think that Democrats are less informed. There are uninformed voters on both sides; quite a lot, actually, easily a majority of voters for both parties. Insofar as turnout is concerned, increasing turnout among low-turnout groups is not substantially changing the level at which the electorate is woefully uninformed. What it is doing is involving more voters in the process, which is the inherent basis of democracy (or, if you'd rather, democratic republics). Moreover, if the informed voters of both sides are working to get the uninformed voters to vote for their candidates, theoretically the side with more informed voters should be more effective at mobilizing a force of volunteers and thus winning the election. (It doesn't work this way because a lot of uninformed voters nonetheless develop passionate love for certain candidates and volunteer--see evangelical voters in 2004.)

I actually don't like democracy very much. Or at least I put very little faith in the ability of the public to decide anything to the general benefit. Among other things, I oppose all referenda on principle (not the referenda themselves, but introducing those referenda) because almost no one voting is informed enough to make a rational decision. That's what the legislature is for, at least in theory. In an ideal world, we would have an unelected government run by the competent that provided no incentive for the competent to be corrupt; in a non-ideal world such as this one, we would minimize the number of elections while simultaneously weeding out those legislators who are corrupt or incompetent through independent bodies. (We would also abolish the Presidency entirely, but that's not so relevant.)

But, if we're going to have a democracy, everyone should be given as much of a say as reasonably possible: Every adult should be given the opportunity to vote. Otherwise we are nothing more than a sham democracy, still governed by the fools of the public but not even with a veneer of legitimacy about the government, and with certain key groups suppressed.

I agree with everything you said.  Just note that I didn't say Democrats were disproportionately uninformed, just that Democrats bus uninformed voters to the polls.

I am no redneck apologist.

Did you agree with my final paragraph? If we're going to be a democracy, we can't be half-assed about it.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I see the Republicans in this thread have figured out that the only way they can win is if they keep as many Americans out of the process as possible. That, my friends, is what is truly disgusting.

[TheGlobalizer]

Did you agree with my final paragraph? If we're going to be a democracy, we can't be half-assed about it.

Yep, I agree.  I am against encouraging people to vote and against obstructing people from voting.

People who don't care should not be pressured to either a) care or b) vote.