Florida Politics

[robertgp124]

West Virginia was a battleground state last time around. We aren't as much this time around - although there has been a tightening in the polls, so the ads are up and playing. We've mostly gotten bleed-over from the PA market (we get the Pittsburgh stations). No mailers or anything for us. We actually early voted last Friday.

The last time around the robocalls were really annoying. I would come home and there would be 3-4 messages a day (it seemed like) on the machine. At one point our incumbent senator's operation screwed up and calls went out at two in the morning. THAT was unpleasant.

I am a political junkie, so I regularly troll different sites. The one I've enjoyed most is http://fivethirtyeight.com. The guy who does it was a wizard at baseball stats. He took his statistical knowledge and applied it to polling. The result is a fascinating site (a word of warning, it is a left-leaning site). I'll be genuinely curious to see at the end of the election if he was right on or not.

Hope everyone votes!

 

[MomofKatie]

This is the first closely contested Presidential race in NC in many years. We were always firmly in the "Red" column, but this time around we are a real battlefield state. I am happy that my vote will count for something, but, boy, am I sick of all the calls, ads on TV and radio, and mailers. I'm counting the days until the election is over and done with, so we won't have to deal with all the junk.

 

[dmccarty]

In our area of NC the ads are played all of the time. Really sick of them. What is worse than the ads is the people standing around the polling places trying to get you to vote for a particular person when you walk in to vote.

My county is still somewhat rural but changing as people move in from other parts. There is a big culture clash and it ain't pretty. The local politics can be vicious. This election cycle does not have enough open seats locally to matter much so not much is happening at the local level. Two years ago signs were up all over the place. There are some political signs up this year but NOTHING compared to two years ago when the local issues had boiled over.

I have voted for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck on several occasions. Not sure if I have done it up here in NC but I know I voted for Mickey down in FLA. No way I could vote for either of the candidates so for the write in Mickey got my vote!

Later,
Dan

 

[shellyminnie]

I was at dinner last night and there were 3 women in the booth next to us talking about who they were going to vote for. One woman asked one of the other women, "Who are you going to vote for?" The other woman replied, "Either Mickey Mouse or Goofy, I can't decide." I about fell out of my chair. I feel the same way sometimes!!! I don't like either candidate, so for me it will be voting for the lesser of 2 evils. I have always been tempted to put down Mickey's name. Isn't it sad when an animated mouse could probably do a better job than the 2 candidates.

No matter who you vote for, just VOTE!!!!!!!!

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I vote PETE...

Can you imagine the weekly fireside rants?

 

[LilGMom]

Right now I am wishing we had caller ID back since the political calls have started coming in. Voting is one of our priviledges that I plan on taking advantage of.

 

[NDM#1]

I think that I have it really bad for two reasons: 1) I am in a battleground state 2) I am an undecided voter, and they know it.

Every single day I get a mailer from one of the main parties (addressed to me . . . not my husband or "family" or "resident"). I also get multiple robocalls a day for presidential candidates, governors, senate people etc. But the one that is starting to really get to me are the door-to-door campaigners and the "real people" on the other line phone calls that are seriously interrupting my day at this point.

I have been visited by at least four people coming to my door to "answer any questions that I have, talk with me and offer me any information that I may be lacking." The one that visited yesterday was still trying to talk with me even though I answered the door while I was on the phone and in the middle of a conversation, had multiple children circling my ankles and making requests and I told her this was a bad time.

Just two minutes ago I got off the phone with the latest campaigner who would love to "inform me on the issues" even though I have been following and listening to both candidates very closely. I tell you what . . . if these campaigners don't start leaving me alone, I am going to give them some "issues". I am trying to sort my way through all this (which is very difficult to do since I am not real confident that either candidate is trustworthy), and when I am constantly bombarded by propaganda it makes the task a lot more frustrating.

 

[Decorated_Dust]

I'm getting very tired of the election. I'm voting, since it's the first general election I can actually take part in, but I'm very tempted to abandon it just from all of the crap coming from both sides. I told a pollster that I was voting for a certain candidate just so these people would leave me alone, even though I feel like a little puppy caught between two masters.

I'm in Florida, which is a battleground state. I'm also in Palm Beach County, which is even worse. Every other story on the news is about how we're going to screw up the election. I'm also pretty sure that our district is cursed, because we now have our WPB rep Tim Mahoney involved in a sex scandal (he was elected congressman right after the Mark Foley debacle).

Needless to say, I have no faith in politics. I'm thinking of following Shane Claiborne's advice and writing Jesus in. However, I am still going to vote. Civic duty calls. I just might not make my decision until I'm at the polling place.

 

[NDM#1]

Needless to say, I have no faith in politics. I'm thinking of following Shane Claiborne's advice and writing Jesus in. However, I am still going to vote. Civic duty calls. I just might not make my decision until I'm at the polling place.

I went to college with Shane Claiborne. We were acquaintances and had many mutual friends. Have you seen the new film released by Jamie Moffett (a very good friend of mine and co-founder with Shane for The Simple Way) that is now out about Shane and some other like-minded individuals? It is called "The Ordinary Radicals". Here is a link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNYgwNYf6Ok

There was a showing in Orlando recently. If you want to bring the film to your area contact Jamie's pr guy at this e-mail:

ryan@theordinaryradicals.com

Good luck in sorting it all out. I am in the same boat .

 

[Decorated_Dust]

I went to college with Shane Claiborne. We were acquaintances and had many mutual friends. Have you seen the new film released by Jamie Moffett (a very good friend of mine and co-founder with Shane for The Simple Way) that is now out about Shane and some other like-minded individuals?

Holy Cow!!! That is so neat! Did you know Tony Compolo, too? I knew he was Shane's mentor, but I didn't know if it was in college or somewhere else that they met.

I have just discovered Claiborne, because we had to read "Jesus for President" for class. Wow, what a book. It really puts everything into perspective, even though it did throw me for a loop. However, I'll probably never be as radical he is (unfortunately). I have not seen that movie because I haven't heard of it, but I'll definitely check it out. I do love what they have to say. I'll also e-mail him and try to bring his movie to my school. I know a lot of folks who would love to hear it.

Good luck in navigating the minefields with me.

 

[Crashdown]

I don't see alot of Political ads here in Dallas but I only watch the cartoon network or SciFi so that may have something to do with it.

 

[NDM#1]

Holy Cow!!! That is so neat! Did you know Tony Compolo, too? I knew he was Shane's mentor, but I didn't know if it was in college or somewhere else that they met.

I have just discovered Claiborne, because we had to read "Jesus for President" for class. Wow, what a book. It really puts everything into perspective, even though it did throw me for a loop. However, I'll probably never be as radical he is (unfortunately). I have not seen that movie because I haven't heard of it, but I'll definitely check it out. I do love what they have to say. I'll also e-mail him and try to bring his movie to my school. I know a lot of folks who would love to hear it.

Good luck in navigating the minefields with me.

Yep, Tony Campolo was my teacher for a semester (but I never had any one on one with Tony . . . the class was huge and he spits when he speaks so I kept my distance ). Shane may have even been in my Campolo class, but the class was so large and it was so long ago that I can't remember. It is likely that Shane met Tony through his class, but I am fairly certain that their relationship extended beyond that.

I primarily know Shane through our mutual friends (Jamie Moffett, Michael Brix, Michelle Brix, etc. Have you heard of any of them as well?). They first started their "movement" during our college years at Eastern with a student organization called YACHT (youth against complacency and homelessness today). When we were graduating, they started forming plans for The Simple Way, and it grew from there. Quite amazing!

I don't think you need to worry about being SO RADICAL. Shane, himself, has said that not everyone is called to be radical in the sense that he is. He has said that you need to find the area that God calls you to be in (housewife, CEO, whatever) and discern how you are to serve God and love people in that capacity. He has mentioned the story of a friend of his that is a massage therapist. She has her regular clientele Mon. - Thur., but on Fri. she goes out to massage the feet of the "streetwalkers" who are on their feet all day. This woman doesn't condone their career, but she does this as a way of showing God's grace and love even in the midst of our "less than stellar" lifestyles/activities/choices/circumstances. I find that very powerful. I can only imagine how much these women get judged on a regular basis. Many of them are probably rarely touched in a caring manner. My guess is that the service this massage therapist provides for them speaks volumes about God's love that they may not hear anywhere else. And in this way she is an "ordinary radical."

 

[Decorated_Dust]

I primarily know Shane through our mutual friends (Jamie Moffett, Michael Brix, Michelle Brix, etc. Have you heard of any of them as well?).

I don't think you need to worry about being SO RADICAL. Shane, himself, has said that not everyone is called to be radical in the sense that he is. He has said that you need to find the area that God calls you to be in (housewife, CEO, whatever) and discern how you are to serve God and love people in that capacity. He has mentioned the story of a friend of his that is a massage therapist. She has her regular clientele Mon. - Thur., but on Fri. she goes out to massage the feet of the "streetwalkers" who are on their feet all day. This woman doesn't condone their career, but she does this as a way of showing God's grace and love even in the midst of our "less than stellar" lifestyles/activities/choices/circumstances. I find that very powerful. I can only imagine how much these women get judged on a regular basis. Many of them are probably rarely touched in a caring manner. My guess is that the service this massage therapist provides for them speaks volumes about God's love that they may not hear anywhere else. And in this way she is an "ordinary radical."

After watching Tony speak, I cannot doubt you.

The only one I know of those folks is Jamie, but that is mostly because I heard him interviewed with Shane on the RELEVANT podcast. Like I said, I'm just getting into Claiborne, and am starting to become familiar with him. My current head-turner of the month is Derek Webb.

I know what your saying, and I know that is what Shane is saying. However, I am at a point in my life where I am just starting to imagine a life as radical as what you and he describe. I have just gotten over my fear of the ghetto right down the road. I was actually talking to one of my spiritual mentors about this yesterday and she essentially said the same thing you did. At the time, it scared me a bit. It is easy to say that radicalism is just showing up, but the truth is that as long as there have been Christians, there have been radicals. They're just more vocal now. That makes it easier to imagine being loving in the way Jesus was, but there is still a long way to go to break through American ideals. I believed that America was the second Israel just a few years ago. Now, I'm against having an American flag in a church (I still love America, I just don't want to worship her). That was in place before I even heard of Shane. I know that has nothing to do with anything, but it's a first step.

Using my future career in psychology to help those who were marginalized for being autistic (like I was) is what I feel my contribution will be. However, you never know what the future will bring. God tends to show his sense of humor through me, so we'll see.

BTW, we should continue this over PM. I'm starting to get the feeling we're taking over the thread.