Obama V. Hilary....to close to call

[quito washington]

However another aspect is the infantizing of women by referring her to Hilary as opposed to Rodham-Clinton or just Clinton...listen to the newscasts and think about it...what they are doing is making her more "comfortable" with the audience...also the fact that if they do refer to her, they often refer to her as "the clintons" because if you get her, you get Bill, who could be more powerful than any vice-president
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23018437#2 3018437

A very good link that explains the high pressure of the moment...

Oh, about the poll, remember that it's "who will win the democratic vote" not the presidency....the election for the president has way to many variables to call it

[V@der]

(My Opinion)

I think that in politics the popular candidate wins over the more logical one.

As soon as you start factoring in things like race, gender, voter familiarity etc, then the race is usually lost for the candidate that cannot bring enough "street cred" to the table.

Inter-party politics is little different to a High School President election, both in this country and the USA. Ted Kennedy = The star Quarterback and Oprah = the head Cheerleader. Get them on your side and both victories (HighSchool and Democratic Party) are almost assured. Your biggest issue is what to wear to the after-party. Oh, the irony is amazing.

[Caboose]

Hillary is a bloody power freak, she was the presidents wife like the most powerful women in the US at the time though not as popular as oprah....she tasted the power the bill was in power now she wants a go...screw her i say. she'll screw things up more than Bush.

Obama, cool name, he's black, looks like he's totally anti bush (hey who isn't)....reminds me of the movie Head of State....

[Aukiman]

backing obama on this one, lots of good qualities and hes not married to Bill (who I thought was a great president BTW)

The US system is way too complicated for me to understand ... maybe you can enlighten us a bit Quito ? ur still dual US/Aus are you ?

[quito washington]

The US system is way too complicated for me to understand ... maybe you can enlighten us a bit Quito ? ur still dual US/Aus are you ?

1. every state has a number of electorates based on the number of people in the state...the more people, the more members they have in the "electoral college"....NY has a greater number of people than say Idaho, so they have a larger number of members in the electoral college.

2. If a candidate wins the popular vote in that state for their party, they get ALL the members of that state of the electoral college to vote for them...it's almost mandatory, because the gov represents the people as a whole in this sense, the popular vote...if a member votes against the candidate, shit starts flying...

3. there are 583 total members of the electoral college...they then vote (yes, surprise, neither America or Australia are actually democracys...they are republics....your teachers lied to you) as their states have wished and elect the president.

4. the reason this can get weird is that a popular candidate can win more states and still lose because the states they won can have fewer members in the electoral college than the other candidates

5. the reason a less popular candidate can win is that he can win fewer states with a larger number of electoral college members than the other candidate...

end of the day, it is not the sheer number of people in the US that vote, as in Al Gore's situation, but rather the number of electoral college members that vote for a particular candidate...the same thing happens in Australia..you vote for a party to win "the government" and from there, those people (not the people of Australia) vote for the Prime Minister

the last thing you want is "true democracy"

cheers
Q


p.s.
The longer drawn out version

The United States Electoral College is a term used to describe the 538 Presidential Electors who meet every four years to cast the electoral votes for President and Vice President of the United States. The Presidential Electors of each state are elected by a vote of the people of that state on the day traditionally called election day. Presidential Electors meet in their respective state capitol buildings (or in the District of Columbia) on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December (per 3 U.S.C. § 7), never as a national body. At the 51 meetings, held on the same day, the Electors cast the electoral votes. As such, the collectivity of the 51 groups is the technical definition of the college, despite never convening together. The electoral college system, like the national convention, is an indirect element in the process of electing the president. The Constitution does not require the Electors to vote as pledged, but many states do require their Electors to vote as pledged.[1]

The original mechanics of presidential elections were established by Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. The Twelfth Amendment revised those mechanics, including that each Elector vote separately for President and Vice President. Today, the mechanics of the Presidential election are administered by the National Archives and Records Administration via its Office of the Federal Register.

Electors are chosen in a series of state elections held on the same day (election day). The number of electoral votes of each state is the sum of its number of U.S. Senators (always two) and its U.S. Representatives; the District of Columbia has the same number of votes it would if it had Senators and Representatives (currently three).[2] In each state, voters vote for a slate of pre-selected candidates for Presidential Elector, representing the various candidates for President. State ballots, however, are designed to suggest that the voters are voting for actual candidates for President. Usually states use what is termed the short ballot, in which a vote for one party (such as Democratic or Republican) is interpreted as a vote for the entire slate of Presidential Electors. [3] With rare exceptions, one party wins the entire electoral vote of the state (by either plurality or majority). Maine and Nebraska choose Presidential Electors using what is termed the District Method, which makes it possible for the voters to choose Electors of different political parties and split the electoral vote of these two states.

The Presidential Electors of each state (and DC) meet to cast their electoral votes 41 days following the popular vote. The Electors ballot first for President, then for Vice President. On rare occasions, an Elector does not cast the electoral vote for the party's national ticket, usually as a political statement; these people are called faithless Electors. Each Elector signs a document entitled the Certificate of Vote which sets forth the electoral vote of the state (or DC). One original Certificate of Vote is sent by certified mail to the Office of the Vice President.

One month following the casting of the electoral votes, the U.S. Congress meets in joint session to declare the winner of the election. If a candidate for President receives the vote of 270 or more Presidential Electors, the presiding officer (usually the sitting Vice President) declares that candidate to be the President-elect, and a candidate for vice president receiving 270 or more electoral votes is similarly declared to be the Vice President-elect.

The nature of the process and its complication have been critiqued, with its detractors raising several alternative means of electing the president. This issue was revisited following the Presidential Election of 2000 when Democratic candidate Al Gore received the plurality of the national vote, but failed to win the majority of the Electoral College. Advocates of the current system have similarly set forth arguments for its advantages.

[tater-salad]

lol waay over my head quito but thanks for the explanation :) BTW OBAMA FTW in my books :):):)