Skip to the Main Content

Note:These pages make extensive use of the latest XHTML and CSS Standards. They ought to look great in any standards-compliant modern browser. Unfortunately, they will probably look horrible in older browsers, like Netscape 4.x and IE 4.x. Moreover, many posts use MathML, which is, currently only supported in Mozilla. My best suggestion (and you will thank me when surfing an ever-increasing number of sites on the web which have been crafted to use the new standards) is to upgrade to the latest version of your browser. If that's not possible, consider moving to the Standards-compliant and open-source Mozilla browser.

February 24, 2014

Questions

My eldest turned 18 and voted in her first Primary election this week. This being Texas, she decided to register as a Republican. Which means that, soon, we will start fielding phone calls from political campaigns. So I drafted a set of questions to ask the earnest campaign workers when they call.

  • Where does your candidate stand on 2nd Amendment rights for the unborn? Would he support an extension of “Concealed Carry” laws to cover this?
  • Will your candidate take a firm stand against creeping Government control of our healthcare system, and vote to repeal Medicare?
  • Does your candidate support traditional marriage, as it’s defined in the Bible: between one man and up to three women?
  • Would your candidate support repealing the Capital Gains Tax and replacing it with a Flat Tax on poor people?
  • Has your candidate’s position on … [name an issue] … evolved? Because I don’t believe in Evolution.

These ought to last us for a little while. More suggestions welcome.

Posted by distler at February 24, 2014 9:30 PM

TrackBack URL for this Entry:   https://golem.ph.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/MT-3.0/dxy-tb.fcgi/2702



9 Comments & 0 Trackbacks

Re: Questions

Congratulations, Jacques! Quite a proof that the evolution of life is able to produce ever more perfect life forms.

The candidate who would pass all your tests would be really good but I think that it would mean that He is God and such candidates don’t run in Texas.

Posted by: Lubos Motl on February 25, 2014 5:46 AM | Permalink | Reply to this

Re: Questions

Hi Jacques

Perhaps you could explain to your non-American readers why one “registers” with a political party. It seems like a strange thing to do when one is free to vote for whomever one pleases.

Posted by: Hamish on February 26, 2014 3:32 AM | Permalink | Reply to this

Re: Questions

This allows you to vote in the party’s “Primary election,” in which they select their candidates who will later run in the “General election.”

In this case, the General election will be held in November. The parties were selecting their candidates for

  • Governor
  • one of the two US Senate seats
  • various other offices

For many of these positions, the Primary election really is the whole contest, as it is widely expected that the candidate of one party (whoever they turn out to be) will carry the General election.

Posted by: Jacques Distler on February 26, 2014 7:59 AM | Permalink | PGP Sig | Reply to this

Re: Questions

Interesting. So someone who has no intention of voting Republican, but lives in a state where Republicans are certain to win can have some control over who is elected. Are there any restrictions on who can register? If I was a Republican, I would want to prevent Democrat-leaning voters from registering as a Republican.

Posted by: Hamish on February 28, 2014 4:21 AM | Permalink | Reply to this

Re: Questions

Are there any restrictions on who can register?

A small nomenclatural point: “registering to vote” is what gets you on the voter rolls. Other countries make this much easier. In the US, the responsibility to file the relevant paperwork, and establish that you are eligible to vote, falls entirely on the would-be voter.

When you register, you can declare a party affiliation (which makes you eligible to vote in that party’s Primaries). In many States, there are restrictions on how frequently you can change your declared party affiliation. Other States have “open Primaries” where you can walk into the polling station and decide which party’s Primary you wish to vote in (you can only vote in one, but you don’t have to declare your intentions ahead of time).

If I was a Republican, I would want to prevent Democrat-leaning voters from registering as a Republican.

By the same logic, you would want to prevent them from voting in the General election, too.

Posted by: Jacques Distler on February 28, 2014 8:13 AM | Permalink | PGP Sig | Reply to this

Re: Questions

I would just like to register my bewilderment at the idea that your eldest is now 18. In my head your eldest is 5. Unfortunately, the math adds up: the 5 year-old I met in 2001 should indeed be 18 now.

Posted by: Robert McNees on February 26, 2014 10:35 AM | Permalink | Reply to this

Re: Questions

You are not the only one thus-bewildered.

Time flies, whether you’re having fun or joy.

Posted by: Jacques Distler on February 26, 2014 2:05 PM | Permalink | PGP Sig | Reply to this

Re: Questions

Interesting article! I found this very informative, on the topic of renewable energy, what’s you thoughts on what Tesla is doing? By building the supercharger station as an H shape from California to New Jersey? What about the whole gigantic battery plan powered by solar and wind?? Plus Elon Musk other company, Solarcity?

Source came from. Tesla News

http://www.teslanews.net

Posted by: mike on March 4, 2014 11:35 PM | Permalink | Reply to this

Re: Questions

Here’s a good interview with Steven Weinberg.

https://soundcloud.com/kutnews/views-and-brews-steven

Posted by: John on March 7, 2014 4:12 PM | Permalink | Reply to this

Post a New Comment