Anyone still think they should be permitted to vote?

Steve Levine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:59:48 +0000

A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected.

But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters has one very surprising finding:

23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim.

Obama is a Christian who was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year about his two-decade membership in Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Yet just 45 percent of those polled identified the Illinois senator as a Protestant.

The Texas numbers are unusual because most national polls show that just 5 to 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim â€”

less than half the number of Texans who buy into the debunked theories.

Texas has never been mistaken for the western headquarters of MENSA. And voters in any number of other states would probably — and sadly — produce the same poll results.

After two years of campaigning, and extensive coverage by national and local media, it’s stunning — and embarrassing — that one in four of the people polled still hold this view.

Anyone still think they should be permitted to vote?

Once Again, Voters Don’t Matter

Joshua Rosenstock — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:17:00 +0000

Democrats have organized their primary process in such a way that instead of winners taking all of the delegates in a particular state, or even rewarding the individual that won the most votes or the most states, a slew of party insiders and elected officials will act as tiebreakers if there is a close race. Forget the fact that voters have been energized for change, racing to the polls in record numbers across the country. The Clinton campaign is already devising strategies that will replace the will of the voters with what DNC insiders want. True democracy from the Democratic Party. This means that Obama will not only have to win states but run up the score (to borrow a sports analogy).

Even losing in the now all-important battleground states of Ohio and Texas may not be so bad considering the 100+ delegate lead he has compiled by dominating the field the past few weeks. Unfortunately, we may be rewarded with a throwback to a simpler time, when smoke-filled rooms set the scene for behind-closed-doors kingmaking. One can already imagine the scene this summer where Bill Clinton and DNC Chairman Howard Dean smile at each other, throw back some scotch, light up a cigar and remind us why there even are superdelegates and an Electoral College in the first place. Our founding fathers didn’t trust ordinary Joes with such an important function as selecting our President. Unfortunately, two hundred plus years have not seen much progress on that front in supposedly the most advanced progressive nation in the world.

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Anyone still think they should be permitted to vote?

Once Again, Voters Don’t Matter