Soldier turned away from Bush rally now voting Kerry
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
phillycat
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 1953
Location: Da hood
|
| Back to top
|
|
 Posted: 10/26/04 - 08:32 Post subject: Soldier turned away from Bush rally now voting Kerry
A 27-year-old registered Republican and member of the U.S. Army, along with three other people around him, was forced to leave the arena before getting inside.
The Wyoming Valley man who did not want to be identified by name because of his loyalty to his service members is being deployed to Iraq in two weeks. His Army service and status were verified.
He explained that he was attending the event in hopes of finding the right candidate to vote for on Nov. 2.
"I thought seeing Bush would be enough to sway my opinion one way or the other. After today, it definitely has swayed," he said.
While waiting in line, he noticed a stranger standing alone and invited the person to stand with him.
"I didn't think that would be a problem," he said.
It turned out to be.
Individuals from the Bush campaign spotted the individual with the soldier and identified the person as a Democratic supporter.
The spotters, and eventually police, asked the Democratic supporter to remove a jacket, a sweater and some other articles of clothing in what was described as basically a police search.
The soldier said the Democratic supporter did what was asked without any complaint. The person also provided a ticket to the event.
<snip>
The soldier said he stood up for the supporter, but was in no way hostile, because he was there to see the president and hoped to justify voting for him.
Not long after showing his own ticket and being told he wasn't part of the "master list" either, the police asked the soldier to leave. He was told the event was for Bush supporters or undecided voters only.
Until Friday when he left the arena, the soldier was an undecided voter. Now he's voting for Sen. Kerry and volunteering for the Kerry-Edwards campaign.
"I thought the whole Bush message was compassionate conservatism. I didn't see anything compassionate from the Bush people," he said.
<snip>
As for the soldier's complaint, his views on his upcoming duty in Iraq haven't changed.
"I'm given my job and I do that job to the best of my ability. If my job is being over there (Iraq), that's all right," he said.
|
|
|
|
|
runaroundsue
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 18 Sep 2002
Posts: 6629
Location: supporting GREENer pastures
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 08:49 Post subject:
this is news?????
Obviously, the soldier was going to vote for Kerry, he picked this "stranger" out because the "stranger" no doubt was wearing pro-Kerry material.
How is someone a registered Republican anyway??? I'm curious, when you register do you put on your registration......I'm voting Republican???? It doesn't work that way here, I don't know about other states.
I didn't know that election information was so boring that this actually became "news"
Lame.
|
|
|
|
|
phillycat
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 1953
Location: Da hood
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 08:56 Post subject:
Any place that I have ever lived, when you fill out your voters registration card you check off what party you would like to be identified with.
|
|
|
|
|
Sahara
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 17 May 2002
Posts: 3345
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 08:56 Post subject:
| runaroundsue wrote: | | How is someone a registered Republican anyway??? I'm curious, when you register do you put on your registration......I'm voting Republican???? It doesn't work that way here, I don't know about other states. |
In PA, most people choose to register with a party as opposed to independent (without a party) so that they may vote in the primary elections. If your party does not have candidate running in the primary you may not cross over and vote in another party's primary. Of course for general elections, voting of anyone on the ballot (or write-in) is permitted.
|
|
|
|
|
Sahara
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 17 May 2002
Posts: 3345
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:07 Post subject:
staying OnTop...
I think that it's only news in that the police searched the man (if I understand correctly). I question whether they had cause. Other than that the soldier was naive in thinking that a private gathering is openand rally organizers/enforcers had poor judgement in handling the situation.
|
|
|
|
|
sonnylax
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Posts: 2942
Location: Living in a lollipop and unicorn world
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:12 Post subject:
| Sahara wrote: | | In PA, most people choose to register with a party as opposed to independent (without a party) so that they may vote in the primary elections. If your party does not have candidate running in the primary you may not cross over and vote in another party's primary. Of course for general elections, voting of anyone on the ballot (or write-in) is permitted. |
In Georgia, you can request another party's ballot in the primaries. The Democrats (who have ruled the Peach state politics basically since the Civil War) instituted this system and used it to protect their incumbent status. A few years ago many folks were fed up with one US Rep. Cynthia McKinney and lots of folks crossed over to pick her opponent in the Democratic Primary. Her opponent won the Democratic bid in a landslide, effectively removing McKinney from the US Congress because everyone knew the district would lean Democratic. It was quite funny to see this system used against the Dems.
|
|
|
|
|
sonnylax
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Posts: 2942
Location: Living in a lollipop and unicorn world
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:13 Post subject:
| Sahara wrote: | staying OnTop...
I think that it's only news in that the police searched the man (if I understand correctly). I question whether they had cause. Other than that the soldier was naive in thinking that a private gathering is openand rally organizers/enforcers had poor judgement in handling the situation. |
Stupid question - But don't you get searched by the police/Secret Service when you go see the President speak?
|
|
|
|
|
elkid
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 18 Nov 2002
Posts: 8353
Location: hiding out in Philly
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:18 Post subject:
| runaroundsue wrote: | | How is someone a registered Republican anyway??? I'm curious, when you register do you put on your registration......I'm voting Republican???? It doesn't work that way here, I don't know about other states. |
Yes, it does work that way, in every state. When you registered to vote, you filled out a card. If you did not check a political party, you could still vote in November but became ineligible to vote in primaries. Depending on your state law, when you register a party you are 1) allowed to vote for that particular party during closed primaries, 2) for any party in open primaries like you have in WI, or 3) if you register as independent you can vote in primaries solely for ballot questions. I for one am registered as one party solely because I want to vote in primaries, but am actually a practicing member of another party.
|
|
|
|
|
Wicked Flea
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Posts: 365
Location: Hair of the Dog
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:44 Post subject:
Phillycat,
Do you have a link to the story?
| runaroundsue wrote: | this is news?????
Obviously, the soldier was going to vote for Kerry, he picked this "stranger" out because the "stranger" no doubt was wearing pro-Kerry material.
|
How is this obvious?
|
|
|
|
|
runaroundsue
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 18 Sep 2002
Posts: 6629
Location: supporting GREENer pastures
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 09:55 Post subject:
| Wicked Flea wrote: | Phillycat,
Do you have a link to the story?
How is this obvious? |
in a huge crowd he just picks out this guy or he picks out this guy standing alone for a reason? I've got some nice land to sell ya!
|
|
|
|
|
phillycat
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 1953
Location: Da hood
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 10:28 Post subject:
|
|
|
|
|
genie
Master of Prissface
|
|
|
Joined: 14 May 2002
Posts: 16194
Location: Finding serenity one day at a time
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 11:00 Post subject:
| runaroundsue wrote: |
in a huge crowd he just picks out this guy or he picks out this guy standing alone for a reason? I've got some nice land to sell ya! |
:sniff sniff:
Yep, the sweet smell of setup......
|
|
|
|
|
camelia bedelia
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 15 May 2002
Posts: 2808
Location: God's Country
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/26/04 - 23:08 Post subject:
| genie wrote: |
:sniff sniff:
Yep, the sweet smell of setup...... |
Do you believe Democrats plant people at Bush events knowing they will get kicked out and take unsuspecting soldiers with them or would that be sarcasm?
sue, how can you saw the soldier "obviously" was going to vote for Kerry, and that the stranger was "no doubt" wearing pro-Kerry material? You have accused me of taking pot shots without backing up my beliefs; what do you have to back up that claim?
|
|
|
|
|
phillycat
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 1953
Location: Da hood
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/27/04 - 08:33 Post subject:
There is also significant discussion about the GOP stifiling votes for minority groups. I know that in PA the NAACP is sending out people to the polls to protect voters from intimidation. See article below. I would give you the link but I belive it needs a log in.
washingtonpost.com
Groups Say GOP Moves to Stifle Vote
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 26, 2004; Page A05
The NAACP and other civil rights leaders yesterday charged that recent events suggest the Republican Party is mounting a campaign to keep African Americans and other minority voters away from the polls this November.
In a new report, the NAACP and People for the American Way cite incidents from Florida to Detroit. NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said efforts at intimidation and suppression, once a tool of Democrats in the Jim Crow South, "have increasingly become the province of the Republican Party" as it seeks to counter the overwhelming advantage Democrats enjoy among black voters.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson said that the two nonpartisan groups are attempting to spin unrelated events into a conspiracy and that their motivation is to help Democrat John F. Kerry defeat President Bush.
RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie wrote a letter last month to Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence R. McAuliffe offering to send bipartisan teams to precincts to ensure fair play, Iverson said. The offer was rejected. Republicans want every eligible vote to count, she said, and "if Democrats are serious about this, they will join us."
DNC spokesman Tony Welch said the GOP's silence on recent events in Florida shows that the offer "isn't worth the paper it's printed on." There, the GOP secretary of state was forced to abandon an effort to remove felons from the state's voting rolls after newspapers discovered that the "purge" list erroneously would have disenfranchised thousands of qualified voters, many of them African Americans. Additionally, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement intimidated black voters in Orlando to scare them away from the polls in November.
Democrats and Republicans have long feuded over whether efforts to protect against ballot fraud constitute voter intimidation. But the debate has taken on more urgency in the wake of the deadlocked 2000 presidential election.
Studies suggest that as many as 4 million to 6 million voters were disenfranchised in 2000, either because registration problems prevented qualified voters from casting ballots or because of errors caused by faulty, outdated technology. In Florida, the Civil Rights Commission found that black voters were 10 times as likely as whites to have their ballots rejected, a trend also found in other parts of the country.
To prevent against a repeat, more than 60 nonprofit groups have banded together to form a "Voter Protection Coalition." The group is planning to have 25,000 volunteers -- including 5,000 lawyers -- staff Election Day hotlines, videotape polls and go to court if necessary. In the meantime, the coalition has been collecting anecdotes that form the basis of yesterday's report.
Among the incidents cited: A Republican state representative in Michigan told the Detroit Free Press that the GOP will have "a tough time" if "we do not suppress the Detroit vote." Detroit is 83 percent black.
In Jefferson County, Ky., the local GOP plans to send poll watchers to Democratic, predominantly black precincts to challenge voters' eligibility. A similar, 2002 plan provoked cries of voter intimidation after a recruitment flier became public. The flier asked for volunteers to protect Ernie Fletcher's gubernatorial campaign against potential fraud by "the black militant division of the AFL-CIO" and the NAACP.
In South Dakota, where Native Americans are a key constituency for Democrats, some said they were turned away from the polls during a special election this summer because they did not have photo-identification The secretary of state has blamed the problems on well-intentioned poll workers who did not understand a new law passed by the GOP-controlled legislature.
In many cases cited it is unclear who is behind the incidents. In Maryland's 2002 gubernatorial election, anonymous fliers were distributed in black neighborhoods in Baltimore gave voters the wrong date for Election Day and told them to be sure to pay parking tickets, overdue rent and outstanding warrants.
"We are reminding voters, election officials, and the media about the kinds of dirty tricks that can be expected," Bond said.
|
|
|
|
|
Wicked Flea
Member
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Posts: 365
Location: Hair of the Dog
|
| Back to top
|
|
Posted: 10/27/04 - 10:02 Post subject:
[quote="phillycat"]
Thanks
| camelia bedelia wrote: |
Do you believe Democrats plant people at Bush events knowing they will get kicked out and take unsuspecting soldiers with them or would that be sarcasm?
sue, how can you saw the soldier "obviously" was going to vote for Kerry, and that the stranger was "no doubt" wearing pro-Kerry material? You have accused me of taking pot shots without backing up my beliefs; what do you have to back up that claim? |
and 
We could all agree that both parties want to have people who are in agreement with their ideals at their rallies.
But I have as of yet seen anywhere were a dissenting person was kicked out of a Kerry rally.
I have seen items where that has happened at Bush rallies though.
|
|
|
|
| |
All times are GMT - 4 Hours
|
|
|
