Hell, I’d go just to see Bruce Springsteen

A recent post on the blog that The Plain Dealer notes that not quite as many people have turned out for early voting in Ohio as previously thought–“steady traffic but no long lines” is how reporter Mark Naymik put it. Perhaps we were ahead of ourselves to assume that all of the controversy and discussion of early voting actually meant that so many people would do so. I know that the only reason I vote via absentee ballot is because I’m attending school on the opposite side of the country–if I lived in the same district in which I were registered, it would be worth whatever minor hassles cropped up to just go and vote on Election Day like (theoretically) everybody else.

The online article also discussed Obama’s heavy “street campaign” to turn out the vote in Ohio, which includes a free concert by the one and only Bruce Springsteen at Ohio State University. McCain does not appear to be campaigning so overtly, which suggests that he accepts defeat in the Buckeye State where polls show that Obama is ahead of McCain by 8% of those polled.

30 more days…

WWPND (What Would Paul Newman Do)?

As I’m sure you already know, acclaimed actor and activist Paul Newman died on Saturday at the ripe old age of 83. What you may not have known, however, was that Newman hailed from Ohio–he was born in Cleveland and grew up in nearby Shaker Heights. Newman exemplified honor, hard work, and altruism with his charitable company Newman’s Own that has donated more than $250 million to charity, founding of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and dedication to political activism as he wrote numerous editorials for The New York Times and contributed almost $400,000 to Democratic political campaigns. Check out the coverage on Politico.com and the obituary in Newman’s home state’s most prominent newspaper, The Plain Dealer .

Whether or not you agree with Paul Newman’s left-leaning politics, it’s hard to argue the fact that he worked passionately to put his fame and fortune to good use and fought for the causes that he supported. In these next 35 days, we must all take stock of what is most important to us and fight for what we believe in too. The stakes are too high to be apathetic or disillusioned when it comes to politics.

In reality, the we are not even 35 whole days away from E-Day–voting has already started through absentee ballots across the country, particularly in Ohio where citizens can register and vote via absentee ballot at the same time. The Washington Post covers this issue in Wednesday’s edition, reporting that

“Yesterday opened Ohio’s unusual week-long window in which voters can register and cast absentee ballots at the same time. Hundreds arrived in steady streams, part of a first wave of people already voting across the country, five weeks before Election Day. ”

The author of the article notes that this phenomenon does not benefit one side over the other–both Republicans and Democrats have constituencies that might prefer to vote early with an absentee ballot and both are more than aware of the importance of reaching these voters. What’s more, the article includes the important fact that “this is the first presidential election in which Ohio voters do not have to provide an excuse to get an absentee ballot,” which means that the number of early votes cast in the Buckeye state may be higher than usual.

I must admit, I am torn on the question of whether or not early voting at such a huge level is entirely democratic. If it encourages people to vote who otherwise would not have been able to (due to illness, disability, or being away from their district) or would not have wanted to because of the hassle of long lines and waits, then I applaud the convenience of voting early via an absentee ballot. But when it becomes this phenomenon that inspires candidates’ campaigns to target advertising directly at groups who might vote early (as Obama did this week in Ohio, according to the Post article), is that really what democracy is all about? We’ve gone beyond targeting people based on their beliefs or jobs or identity to targeting them based on when they want to vote because now they have a choice. Of course, I can’t really judge since I’m a college student voting for Obama in the swing state of Pennsylvania while I go to school in the blue state of California.

Just to demonstrate how close the Presidential race is in Ohio, check out these two reports/analyses of recent polls:

The New Republic and the illustrious Fox News . If you don’t care enough to click (it’s okay, I won’t tell), then just know that polls basically “show” (taking statistics and Campaigns & Elections at the same time has basically ruined the validity of polling for me, so sad) that McCain and Obama are within a point of each other in Ohio. So this begs the question of each and every citizen of the Buckeye state–WWPND?