Since the start, this site has sported a homemade icon featuring a smiling President Nixon giving a big thumbs up living over the word: Vote!
It's there because I am a big believer that all citizens should participate in democracy. And until the Chinese, Canadians, and South Americans divide this country into their own imperial colonies, I'll openly advocate for citizens to participate in their own democracy.
For years the Declare Yourself website has done a great job of promoting this message. And I was happy to link to their initiative until a few days ago when I noticed their new feature video. In "The Message" a young nerd is seen laying in front of his computer, unbuttoning his shirt. Dialogue follows:
Declare Yourself, I know there's a writers strike going on but is that seriously the best you could do? Next time hold a writing contest and/or consider outsourcing your creative direction to China. Anything but this.
Look, we're able to participate in free elections because a lot of men, women, and children lost their lives during wars to ensure we didn't become someone's little pet colony. Even more died over differences that haunt our country to this day but the United States and its democracy endured. Is that sappy? Maybe, but our forefather's and grandfather's heritage is one of the few characteristics we've still got going for us (Bush and his Lawless Band of Constitution Burners be damned).
Now I realize that Declare Yourself is targeted towards young people but this latest campaign is not one I can support or encourage, hell it's not even funny. And so over the course of the next week or so I'm on the hunt for a new website wherein U.S. citizens can register to vote in national elections without having to watch a B-side actor in a wannabe Abercrombie & Fitch advertisement. Suggestions are welcome.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
I agree, bad taste.
The actor was in the movie Superbad and his role in that movie gives a bit more context to the video. It's still in bad taste but it's not out of the blue (well, its in the blue).
What? Free soft-porn *before* one registers to vote? Outrageous! Quick, call Condi.
Sounds like they're taking a leaf from our new PM's play book.
That's horrible. I have not seen Superbad, if there is some sort of underlying joke it was completely lost on me.
I think most of the major candidates are linking to http://www.rockthevote.com for their registration links.
Preach on brotha, I stuck around for like 15-20 minutes, and nothing happened.
Seriously though, nothing happened.
http://www.credomobile.com/registertovote/?source=govote
Hrm, I dunno, coming from McLovin' sorta puts it into context and makes it sorta funny. I'm not offended by the joke, but the acting was kinda lame.
But you I noticed a link on Obama's new site to register if that works?
How far off can online voter registration be? And how far off can online voting actually be?
Wouldn't it be great to have a 24 hour election period where you could vote from the comfort of your own home or office.
We will undoubtedly see it in our lifetime. I hope.
Somebody needs to add Superbad to the Netflix queue.
checkout: votolatino.org
I don't want online voting. I want people to get off their asses and make it to a precinct and be a part of a community. Civil participation and discourse is on a serious wane in this country.
I want both. I think Renaud is correct in the piece of his post where he points to civil participation, but it's simply not possible for some voters to make it out of doors for this type of event (weather, the infirm or elderly, etc...). I believe an online mechanism that allows for participation and discussion and some sort of authentication is difficult merely because of the lack of security when it comes to identity theft / misrepresentation.
Since voting is about choice: I say let the masses choose, but give them the right tools and information to make informed choices.
Officer Michaels: McLovin?
Fogell: Yeah.
Officer Michaels: Great name.
Officer Slater: It is, it just rolls of the tongue.
Officer Michaels: 'Sounds like a sexy hamburger!
> I don't want online voting. I want people to get off their asses and make it to a precinct and be a part of a community.
Agreed. There is nothing more civic than to stand amongst your fellow citizens and participating in an election—especially if you get to vote in a fire department. Besides, how else are you going to get your I Voted sitcker?!
> Since voting is about choice: I say let the masses choose, but give them the right tools and information to make informed choices.
I like this idea a lot. It's so hard to find un-biased information about candidates and ballot measures that aren't tied to special interest money. Are there enough of us who are willing to put something together?
>…Are there enough of us who are willing to put something together?
I should hope so, Greg.
I'm in. 110%
I've seen Superbad, and this was without a doubt done in poor taste. I'm still in high school, yet watching the clip (by myself, even) was uncomfortable and awkward.
> I'm on the hunt for a new website wherein U.S. citizens can register to vote in national elections...
It's sad that there isn't a go-to website for something as important as voter registration. This will be my first election I'm allowed to vote in, so I'm also on the look-out for a good site to register at.
The second video on the site pisses on France? What the heck?
I'm the furthest from being anti-American (lived there, studied there, loved it), but can't you guys do your own thing without trodding down other people just so you can feel better about yourselves?
Could you start one yourself? That'd be awesome.
It's McLovin I think it fits the young crowd. It fits his character in the movie, so I'm sure that's why they did it. Perhaps you are right and they could of chosen some other sort of "joke" for him to say.
I wasn't offended, nor did I laugh. The movie Superbad however did make me laugh....
> I'm the furthest from being anti-American (lived there, studied there, loved it), but can't you guys do your own thing without trodding down other people just so you can feel better about yourselves?
Ah, see another fine example why that particular site has gone overboard. As for the joke, I wouldn't take it too personally, I'm sure there's plenty of really good riffs on America and Americans.
> Could you start one yourself? That'd be awesome.
Might have to do that. Still not finding what I consider to be a great alternative. I vote Davidson and the Newsvine Nine create one first.
I've found Political Base to be a great resource for easy-access, unbiased info. If someone sees a bias, let me know. But so far it's been a great resource for me.
I'll look at Political Base (thanks, Chris Rugen); but I had wondered if there were a clever way to make a mashup of disparate data sources that provided a clean, usable, and maybe sexy UI to the data. A little searching found something that promised a nice selection of some data; but the interface wasn't much better than a cobbled-together Oracle form.
I've relied on Project Vote Smart, which has a large database of presidential candidates and current elected officials. They've compiled politicians' voting record, interest group ratings, speeches and public statements, biographical information, and campaign finance data. See more: http://votesmart.org
If you can't find what you're looking for, they offer a Voter's Research Hotline 1-888-VOTE-SMART.
> I had wondered if there were a clever way to make a mashup of disparate data sources that provided a clean, usable, and maybe sexy UI to the data.
I just checked their website and noticed that they released an API: http://votesmart.org/services_api.php