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Today's Election Day Advice Is Short and Simple...
November 4, 2008  | By David Bianculli
 

GO VOTE!!!

And if you want to share your voting experience -- not for whom you voted, necessarily, but the locatlon and conditions of your polling place, unless you voted early -- feel free to fire off a sentence or two. We might be able to compile an early snapshot of what's happening nationwide, even if from a very small and skewed sample.

I'm going to vote around 10:30 a.m. ET, and will add my own comment then. All day, feel free to add yours -- AFTER you've voted!

 

12 Comments

 

Saturated said:

You own the blog, and when you pay for it, you have bought the privilege to write whatever you want.
But in this year of political overload, we've been buried in commentary. From a site I once rushed to so I could learn more about television, i now just pop in now and then because I don't need your point of view on politics.
I bet I'm not the only one who will welcome the return to television commentary and a quick jog away from the politics patch.
Or, I guess I will have to wait to see who loses and see if he launches a blog about television. (Sorry you feel that way about my coverage of politics and political humor on TV. I've tried to cover it fairly, and fairly completely, without exhibiting any bias of my own. Urging people to vote isn't the same as supporting a particular candidate. If I've lost you with my interest in this topic, and how the media cover it, I'm sorry you're leaving, but not sorry for my approach. -- David B.)

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 9:51 AM


Diane said:

We went to vote early (8:30 a.m.), expecting long lines already -- our polling place is located inside a retirement/rehab facility -- but we cruised right into the booth. A steady stream of voters kept the registration tables busy, but because people were making such quick work of it inside the booth, there was no wait to actually cast the vote.

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 10:32 AM


Omer Tomlinson said:

I live in a small NC town. It's nice to be a swing state for a change. I was 114 in my precinct at 8 am. My county has many precincts throughout, so there is very little wait time. I got right in, made my choices and got my "I voted" sticker and on my way to work. The political comments haven't bothered me. Thanks for what you do, David.

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 10:52 AM


David Bianculli said:


Just voted -- in Cherry Hill, N.J. -- swift in and out, 11 a.m., no lines, but reports of a constant flow. Came home, turned on the TV, saw video of hours-long lines in certain cities. Only in America.

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 12:18 PM


Stephanie said:

I voted in Maplewood, NJ first thing this morning (6:10 am). It took 90 minutes. I heard that at 5:45 there was a line of 100 people. It's great to see everyone committed to voting today!

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 3:10 PM


Joseph Iovelli said:

10:30 AM

Cast my vote in Central NJ. On my way in, I was approached by a high school student interning at a local paper. She asked my the usual questions pertaining to whom I was voting for and why. After offering my thoughts, I entered the polling place and got in line behind two 18-year-olds who were voting for the first time and excited to be part of the process. I cast my vote 3 minutes after getting in line. On my way out, I encountered the same intern, and suggested that the angle of her piece by the unprecedented enthusiasm of the younger people in this country as it relates to this particular election. I made my choice, a=cast my vote and (hopefully) was an influence on the journalist of the future. What a GREAT Country.

YouTube has a clip of Craig Ferguson telling you that if you don't vote you're a Moron. It's pretty funny so check it out.

Love the Blog

-Joe (Great story! You're not a plumber, are you? - David B.)

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 3:21 PM


Mary said:

I'm also from central Jersey, and when I voted at 10 a.m., nearly one-third of my district already had voted -- almost beating the total in the last election. It's a great day, and it makes me proud.

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 3:52 PM


Marlark said:

Cherry Hill, NJ. 7:30am. No line. No hassles. Almost wrote in "Charlie Manuel" for president in rseponse to those World Series fan signs (now that was TV Worth Watching).

BTW, regarding "Saturated"'s comments concerning political commentary on the TVWW site. I went back and read many of your previous posts and in no case did I detect any favortism for one party or the other, only what impact TV was having on the process -- and where to go to get a sense of it. The fact that I couldn't even guess how you voted, David, is a testament to the even-handedness of your site. Because "The Daily Show" is funny doesn't make you a (gasp) liberal. Jon Stewart and gang certainly took their shots at Barack and at Hillary.

I vote for more of the same TV-first approach on this site. (Thanks for the vote -- of confidence, that is. I really, truly appreciate it. -- David B.)

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 4:37 PM


Robert said:

Voted at my daughters' public school in Staten Island this afternoon, 3 p.m., no lines at all. My 4 year old son came into the booth with me, too young to really know what was going on but I am looking forward to telling him one day in the future all about it. It's too sad that Pat Paulsen and Tim Russert aren't here to take part in this history making day...

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 6:44 PM


Kate Green said:

I voted at 6:45 AM in the Bronx, NY. I had only my neighbors in front of me and cut the line so I could get to work (they were off). Other lines were longer, but we lucked out. I then drove into Manhattan and picked up my free Starbucks. I think we were much luckier than other parts of the country.

When I spoke to my 12 year old later in the day, he explained that his teacher had brought in excerpts from The Daily Show to continue teaching about the process and this very unique election. He cited examples of both candidates being the punch line of jokes. I have shied away from overtly biased polititcal coverage this season and never felt that I couldn't read your site or that you were politicking for a particular candidate. I just felt that you pointed me in the right direction for some funny or insightful information. Thanks. (Thanks right back. And your son has a smart teacher. -- David B.)

Comment posted on November 4, 2008 10:20 PM


Eileen said:

I voted at 8:30 am in the East Village in NYC; it's a normally quite place to vote, but yesterday was a madhouse. My feeling is that there were many, many voting for the first time, and they were not 18 years old. If nothing, this election drove home how dangerous voter apathy is in the times we're living in. It's our civic responsibility to vote; how many have died for that right, or were denied that right.

My proudest moment was being on line with my college age son who was voting in his first Presidential Election. It was pretty heartwarming.

And, David, I didn't feel you had a political agenda in any of your blogs. Just good, decent, factual writing. So thanks for encouraging folks to get out and vote.

Comment posted on November 5, 2008 1:28 PM


Greg Kibitz said:

I absentee voted. I highly recommend it. You get to have the ballots at home at your convenience for what can be as much as weeks.

Thus you get to really do it right and find out about all the different local stuff that you are generally surprized with, and you have no clue about, when you actually go to the polls, even if you go to a an early voting poll.

I don't l know why the full bllots exactly as they will appear at the polls re not published in all the local papers well in advance of the elcetion when they are fully decided upon. But they just are not and, if you are like me, and you see things for the school board, the Warden or the Port District you are like, Who The F are these folks and What The F are the Port District or Warden Posts anyway?

So again, I highly recommend absentee voting and even if my state begins early voting next year, I will still want copies of the actual ballots in my hand at home way in advance so that I can do all my research and due dilligence right, yet again, just as I did so well for the very first time this year (when I even called many local and state candidates to ask them where they stood on this or that that was of great import to me or give them hell for all their mailings, lies, disinformation and not at all caring about me and people like me, and my/our dreams, desires and outright most basic needs).

Comment posted on November 8, 2008 10:05 AM
 
 
 
 
 
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