White GOP men stand out in early voting [early turnout in NC exceeds 2004 pres. election]

News Observer ^ | 10/19/2010 | Rob Christensen and Jane Stancill

[Calm_Cool_and_Elected]

I was in Lucca a week or so ago. Beautiful little town not too far from Pisa. I highly recommend it.

Haven't voted yet, might before the end of the week. Husband won't early vote, I guess he likes standing in line.

[Calm_Cool_and_Elected]

Lucca has a gorgeous piazza. I don’t know how to post pictures, I was in Lucca a couple of weeks ago.

[southernnorthcarolina]

As a response to those who, near the top of this thread, expressed concerns as to voter privacy, given the demographic data which was released on the early voters:

In North Carolina, at least, it is a matter of public record what party (or unaffiliated) you are registered as; your address is a matter of public record; and it is a matter of public record whether you have voted or not as of a given day. So, if you have a "land" phone line, and are registered to vote but have not yet done so, you may expect nagging phone calls from whichever party you are registered as. If you voted early, HOW you voted is unknown to election officials or to anyone else, and will remain so. But WHETHER you voted is known, almost instantly. So, if you decide to seek public office in the future, and the records show you rarely or never bothered to vote, you may have a problem.

Now, determination of race and sex may be more complicated. You will note that the news article stated that such-and-such percentage of the early voters were white males. How did they know that? I do not recall whether my race and sex were recorded when I first registered (during the McKinley campaign, if I recall correctly), but I'm sure their data base includes census data, driver license data, and data from other sources. Obviously, the race of voters is known to the NC state government at the least; how else could the drawing of Congressional Districts such as the one below be explained?

The Voting Rights Act mandated minority districts, hence the extreme gerrymandering. So, whether these data emanate from voter registration, driver license, or census records, they, too are a matter of public record. A bit creepy, in my opinion, especially with regard to the ability to pull up voters' racial and gender profiles within hours of their votes.

[BelegStrongbow]

Empire Strikes Back!”

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the president actually say this. I wish I could figure out what effect things like that have, but I have a lot of trouble thinking that anyone would mistake the conservative tsunami for the Stormtroopers of the Empire. I wonder if they're just tossing whatever comes up while they kvetch and seeing what sticks.

[Constitution Day]

Sorry, I did not see your comment until I logged in again this morning.

Yes, he is Butterfield’s challenger. He is indeed young (maybe 5 yrs younger than me?). I have met him a few times. He is the VP of an insurance agency down in Little Washington.

Like so many GOP candidates lately, he has his feet in both camps. I know that the Wilson Tea Party has endorsed him and that he has spoken at several Tea Party events. However, I have been present at some 1st District GOP events where he is present as well.

He did well a recent debate vs. Butterfield. I can tell you that he has my vote, for sure.

[Constitution Day]

Where in the 1st District do you live, if you don’t mind me asking?

I do as well and am also active. PM me if you like.

[kalee]

Sent you a PM.

[Oberon]

Two years ago Butterfield surprised me by voting against the TARP bill the first time around. My relief was short-lived.

Woolard has a challenge in taking on Butterfield, who has long years of incumbency and a strong base, but we'll see how it goes. I'm a likely Woolard voter.

[Constitution Day]

I remember when he voted against TARP. I was baffled, as that is atypical behavior for Butterfield.

Woolard definitely has an uphill battle given the demographics of the district, but with the early voter turnout outlined in the article above, I am encouraged.

[lynnch]

Ashely is a true Christian conservative, a family man, a small business man, that believes in defending the Constitution, supporting small business and limited government. He intends to go to Washington as a citizen legislator, do the job and come home. His opponent has voted with Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time. Eastern Northern Carolina deserves a representative like Ashley that believes in serving all the people. Check out his website at http://www.woolardforcongress.com/.