Dateline. Battleground State.. Bellweather County... Middle class suburb. I"M SURROUNDED BY POLITICIANS ! HELP !!

[cbelt3]

Ok, I live in a suburb of Cleveland. Our state is a "Battleground state". Our county is a 'belle-weather' county, and our town is a middle class suburb. So I get at LEAST 20 political calls a day. I've gotten at least 15 political flyers in the mail every day. I get at least four political flyers stuck on my mailbox every day. McCain came and spoke at my kid's high school. Hillary came and spoke at my other kid's college. And now the personal visits.

Yesterday morning, doing yard work, I met a guy with his young daughter. They drove the neighborhood in a nice pickup truck, came by and politely asked me, as a registered Republican, if I was voting for the party's candidate. I declined to commit, but thanked them, and especially the 10 year old girl, for participating in our great American democracy.

And hour later, on the way to Home Depot in my wife's minivan, I passed a rather dizzy looking aging hipster type riding up my street on a bicycle pulling a homemade trailer plastered with Obama signs. I smiled and waved, and he waved back, yelling "Go Obama" as we passed.

I wonder, if I stayed home tomorrow, would it be a bit like the movie "Undecided" ? Should I call Larry King for an interview ? It's really kind of FUN !

[lafinfil]

Tell them which ever candidate rakes your leaves, gets your vote.

[cbelt3]

I'm going to make them pick up the Chihuahua poop in the back yard !

[Doc]

I'm living/voting in a swing state for the first time.

I find the ads and calls very interesting. They use the same basic methods (cold calls, mail, tv ads), but they take different approaches.

For example, when Republicans pollsters call, they generally tell me what issues I'm supposed to believe are important and then they tell me who to vote against and then they finally tell me who to vote for, announce their affiliation and hang up. When Democrats call, they introduce themselves as Democrats and ask me nicely who I'm voting for and why and then they thank me.

When I look at the junkmail promoting Republican candidates, it's almost all from religious organizations and it demonizes abortion and homosexuality. The junkmail from Democrats highlights the failures of Republican candidates and promises unspecified change.

The Republican ads tell me that the Democrats are bad people by their associations. The ads from Democrats list issues that are supposed to be important problems and then they say that the Republicans are against fixing those problems.

[Black Landlord]

The other day I heard my home phone ring.
I ran to answer it but there was no-one there. I wanted to hear what one of these calls sounded like.
I saw an Obama ad on TV earlier today- it showed Obama addressing a crowd with someone yawning center screen. I looked at his site but couldn't find it.
I decided my vote matters so little in Illinois I'm going to vote republican for president just to see what that feels like.

[mikeylikesit]

You are, if nothing else, an attention whore. Hey Look at me! Look at me!

[rgG]

I just heard that CNBC is in Cleveland as well as Bruce Springstein.