Replies

regarding Proposal 1:

Gambling vote may be headed for defeat
by Mark Hornbeck and Charlie Cain
Sunday, October 24, 2004
The state ballot proposal calling for voter approval of gambling expansion may be headed for defeat, thanks largely to an opposition TV ad campaign led by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The Proposal 1 constitutional amendment has been losing ground all week, a Detroit News tracking poll shows. Support dropped from 48 percent to 44 percent from Monday to Thursday, while opposition now stands at 38 percent, with 18 percent undecided.

Experts say that if a ballot proposal has less than 50 percent support this close to Election Day it likely will fail. That’s because late undecided voters typically break against ballot measures...

In the presidential race, incumbent George W. Bush leads Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in Michigan, 47-42. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Bush’s lead wavered between 3 and 5 points during the week. Kerry will visit Macomb County on Monday, his first trip to the state since Sept. 15, in an attempt to shore up his support, while President Bush visits Michigan on Wednesday and Thursday.

Other recent polls showed Kerry with a small lead. For example, a Mason-Dixon poll has Kerry up 47-46, and a SurveyUSA poll has Kerry ahead 51-44.

Carroll Doherty, editor of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, said the variance in the polls has been especially pronounced this year. He noted the Associated Press has Kerry ahead nationally by 3 points, Gallup had Bush up by 7 and Fox had Bush leading by 5 this week.

Voter approval gives local folks say over whether a (non-Indian) casino can be built. The more casinos there are, the fewer bucks (theoretically) will be spent on the Lottery. I think the fact is, playing the Lottery will always be more convenient, and the more gambling that's around, the more people gamble. Also, gambling addiction should be lucrative as a widespread disorder -- not for the taxpayers, but for the people involved in therapy.

These two proposals are tailor-made to guarantee a large Republican / conservative turnout on Election Day. And my quite partisan Dim family members are mostly dead-set in favor of Proposal 1. They don't talk about Proposal 2, perhaps because they're in favor of it and feel guilty about that. :')

The Indian casino has to go. Also, casinos should be taxed nice and heavily to pay for Lottery shortfalls and gambling addiction treatment.

George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent