Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the election?

[IIgnoreNobody]

I hope I am not suffering from Pauline Kael syndrome but I can not help but feel overwhelmingly optimistic. The trends, even in the most overtly manipulated polls, favor us. Kerry seems to be performing true to form with another come-from-behind strong finish. An October Surprise is seeming less and less likely.

What's your take?

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Optimistic. However

I am still keeping my hopes in check. The race isn't over yet.

[irancontra]

2. if it were an election where I was sure the votes would be counted..

I'd be VERY optimistic.. as it is, it's a very tough fight.

[bobbieinok]

49. it's a new world when we can't be sure the votes will be counted

I guess counting votes is just so 20th century

[59millionmorons]

3. judging from the yard signs in my conservative town

I am extremely excited.

[whodiedandmadeUSgod]

4. My cup is half FULL.

Think positive, I have faith in Kerry.

[msturgis524]

5. Guardedly optimistic

[Union Thug]

6. Cautiously optimistic! /eom

[high density]

9. Same here

Voter fraud and BBV concern me, but overall I'm still hopeful.

[Memekiller]

7. It's ours to lose...

As long as we don't let up, and keep steamrolling ahead, we've got this one in the bag. Incumbents rarely get more than they're polling. If Bush is below 50%, he's in trouble. Plus, the polls don't reflected all the newly registered voters. Nor do they accurately reflect the seething anger on the left over how the Bush administration has bungled things. The GOP is going to have to do a LOT of voter tampering to make up for it.

All Dems have to do now is not let whatever "October surprises" Rove springs knock them off the offense.

[Philostopher]

8. I think if anybody can do it, Kerry can.

I'm not totally pessimistic about his chances. I'm worried about the potential for violence in Ohio, though. Now that the thievin' bastards have been told to sit down and shut up at every turn here, I'm afraid they're going to resort to inciting aggression and/or violence at polling places on 11/2. Anybody who's doing any poll-watching in Ohio for Kerry/DNC/local Dem candidates, please take care -- these jerks are going to be desperate that none of their gambits have succeeded, when they thought they were just going to install Diebold voting machines everywhere and lark off with Ohio. They're apparently determined to have it, with all the questionable and outright illegal crap they've tried to pull so far -- I'm not sure I know exactly how far the GOP is willing to go to guarantee they take this state.

That being said, I still think the majority of people who will go to the polls on 11/2 will go there with the intention to vote for Kerry. I just don't know what happens beyond there. It depends on how far the GOP is willing to take the U.S. down the low road.

[Memekiller]

10. You guys need to stake out the polling stations...

...and record everyone who shows up to vote, and is turned away.

[Philostopher]

13. If they are allowed to put poll-watchers in place,

I may consider it. I don't have a lot of time on weekdays, but if there's an organized effort it might be worth doing for a couple of hours. The Mr. and I also have considered volunteering a few hours that day to drive people to vote -- we wouldn't have to try to 'sell' them, something neither of us is any good at. We both feel like we should do something, that may be our place.

[Marthe48]

30. I'm in Marietta Oh - John Kerry is a winner, but the Republicans are

pretty under-handed. I just read that the Lake Cty. is investigating absentee voting sign-up fraud (where 152 people say they were misled)

I've been volunteering at the Dem. headquarters the last several weeks and I'm signed up to be a driver on election day. I'm worried sick about the voting machines, but if Kerry doesn't win the election, it sure won't be because the Democrats weren't active.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Schizoid. Very optimistic, but terrified of cheating. eom

[Forkboy]

12. Optimistic for a Kerry win..pessimistic about the future of the human race

regardless of who wins.

[CAcyclist]

14. Bush stuck his spoon in the wall

on the first debate.

[4_Legs_Good]

15. I'm confident, but also have a sinking feeling...

I think we're going to win, but if I had to bet my fortune on it (note: I don't have a fortune), I would probably still bet on George Jr.

I think the Republicans are really going to play NASTY from here on out. I'm nervous about what they can do.

/shudder

david

[PermanentRevolution]

29. I know a guy

with $30,000 bet on Kerry, and he's not even sweating. I take that as a good sign.

Vigilance is the key here. We need people in as many precincts as we can get, in as many battleground states as we can get, just watching for dirty tricks to come up on election day.

[BillZBubb]

16. My natural inclination is to distrust my fellow citizens.

I'm a cynic. Will plays to their fears overcome their reason? That's the big question. Bush* shouldn't even be polling 40%, so irrational fear is working.

It has been gratifying to see Kerry finally get his campaign going after a dismal August and most of September. And, he actually has a chance to pull off a victory.

All in all, I'm expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. That must make me slightly pessimistic.

[belle]

38. I have optimism about fellow citizens, less so about system...

But I, too, am cautiously optimistic. I feel really jittery mostly.

[LZ1234]

17. Optimistic and scared at the same time. There's so much at stake.

I'm in a neighborhood surrounded by Bush signs and that's a downer everytime I drive in and out of my sub but then I get recharged everytime I'm on this website. How can anyone in their right mind want Bush? I don't understand this.

[Toots]

41. Curious...Do you have a Kerry sign up?

Or do you feel intimidated by all the Bush* people? I know it is tough to go against the grain.

[sam sarrha]

18. there is such resistance to hard copy records of votes not to indicate a

preplanned fraud..

see http://informationclearinghouse.info/article4031.htm

near the bottom after 'Constant Unexplained Circumstantial Evidence is a list of the apparent dry runs for the Big Show next month.. this goes back to 2002, done before there was a connection to the BIG election..and there have been some since. there is plenty of evidence of past fraud and reason for hard copys..

there is Absolutely NO possable way the election wont be stolen

and there is no cohesive bond among those soon to be victims to stage a national strike to shutdown the country to force a reelection on paper.

we are toast

[sam sarrha]

21. i fixed the link

[Amaya]

19. Optimistic

but on guard.

[qwlauren35]

20. Petrified.

I'm starting to lose sleep. I'm becoming paralyzed and paranoid. I want it to be OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AndyTiedye]

22. I'm Afraid They Are Going to Monkey With the Election

                until we have delivered the votes to George Bush

I have been volunteering and donating to try to prevent another stolen election.
http://www.verifiedvoting.org

[maxsolomon]

23. FLUCTUATING WILDLY

MANIC, PANICKED, CYNICAL & HOPEFUL.

GREATEST FEAR: AMERICANS ARE AS DUMB & SPITEFUL & GREEDY AS THEY APPEAR IN REAL LIFE.

[mvd]

24. Cautiously optimistic

I keep thinking that Kerry has to win. Americans can't be so stupid as to elect Bush again. I'm only cautiously optimistic because I'm so nervous. If Bush wins, I could have quite a crash otherwise.

[Nay]

25. It's funny, but I have NO feeling whatever for which side will actually

win the majority of votes. None. No sense of what is going to happen as far as landslide one way or the other or how my fellow Americans truly feel about Bush's 4 years. Like others here, I am terrified of BBV fraud, other voter fraud, destroyed ballots, intimidation of black voters, etc., throwing the election to Bush yet again.

I just can't wait for it to be all over. I have plans in place for whatever happens, and may have to implement a drastic one (moving) if the worst comes to pass.

[MsTryska]

26. Neither.

I was cautiously optimistic the day before the Iowa Caucus that kerry would wind up beign the democratic nominee. I liked his resume.

I was hopeful that John Edwards would be his VP the day after new Hampshire.

Those days have passed and it's worked out exactly as I wished.

therefore,

I am absolutely positive that John Forbes Kerry will be our new president. And i have been steadfast in that belief through the swifties, through the republican convention, throught all the flip-flopping ads, and finally America has recognized what I saw months ago. Full speed ahead.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

27. Cautiously optimistic

In an absolute fair election where every vote is counted, Kerry would win by 11-15% points. However the GOP have their own equalizers in terms of various methods of voter fraud, voter disenfranchisement and voter intimidation.

[rndmprsn]

28. cautiously optimistic

i still think election night might turn into election week...God lets home it doesn't turn into election month like last time.

[Syncronaut Seven]

31. Manic depressive

This shit has got to stop.

[Dem2theMax]

54. Same here.

And the meds aren't working. :crazy:

The voter fraud is the thing that is getting to me. If left alone, as in NO voter fraud, I have no doubt that Kerry would sail to a win. Or is that 'windsurf' to a win? :) If the fraud is as bad as it looks, heaven only knows what will happen.

I wish the media would shut up about things that don't matter and report on the things that do. But, hey, they've been doing that for almost four years now. What in the world makes me think they'll change now?

Gotta keep hoping and praying. I believe in prayer and believe me, I've been doing LOTS of it, 24/7.

[newyawker99]

32. I am optimistic that Kerry/Edwards will win!! n/t

[liberal N proud]

33. Working hard to remain on the up side

Every time I think things are looking like a lock, I make the mistake of listening to the media whores.
I need another Kerry fix to get me through.
If we could just get all those undecideds (or those who claim so) to a rally, park them in front and then let Kerry talk. We would lock them up as voters.
I will go out canvassing tomorrow, hope it is a better day than last Tuesday, that sucked. 7-10 either undecided or bush It was unusual though other outings were real successful.

[Arkana]

34. Cautious optimism

I have to say it was dampened a bit when I watched CBS's story on voter fraud tonight.

[VOX]

35. I don't want to be either optimistic or pessimistic...

Seriously -- feeling optimistic seems to blunt the vigilance necessary to ensure that the election itself is held fairly (if at all possible); and feeling pessimistic just isn't an option right now, since there's so much work to be done.

[UrbScotty]

36. Cautiously optimistic

I'd say Kerry has about a 55% chance of winning.

[disneyboy]

37. WAAAAAAY Pessimestic

Between CNN trying to outfox FOX, and Dem voter registrations being torn in Nevada, and those people CANNOT re-register i dont see how we have any hope left. Oh yea, and Bush is leading my state by SEVEN points! Time to go get passports.

[deadparrot]

39. It changes from day to day...

[democratreformed]

40. I'm terrified! Help me!

This is the most crooked, dirty, low-down administration I have ever seen. And, yet, they have support. That they have any support at all is unreal to me. But, they do. Then, there's the fact that they will try to steal it. I honestly believe they will. They are already trying to keep people from voting. My third thing is that it will just be such a mess that it will throw our country into a REAL turmoil.

I'm scared of terrorists all right. It's just the *Bushie ones that I am terrified of.

Please tell me you believe that things will go fairly smoothly and the majority of the American people will make the right choice.

[Toots]

42. I wish I could but I am just like you

It is like I consider the Mafia to be. They don't lose.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

43. Always optimistic

[wishlist]

44. Where I live in N.C. excitement is in the air- and lots of yard signs!

I took some people to vote already today since our early voting started yesterday. Everyone was laughing about the Mary Cheney Overkill but totally outraged about Iraq and the flu vaccine shortage and high gas and oil prices. I drove onto a street that I had not been on in a couple of weeks and was shocked to see all the American flags flying and Kerry/Edwards signs on every front yard- what a thrill. Then when I sat waiting in my car in a busy grocery parking lot I got lots of honks and waves from other cars with Kerry bumper stickers. It's was such an uplifting positive day in the home state of our next Vice President!

[AG78]

45. I think

this radical group, of a radical corporate/religious movement, will do what they need to do to stay in power. They didn't start this just to be doing it. They didn't start it just to kill some time. They started it because they love power, loved having power, hated losing power, and love the idea of having that power back. They're not screwing around. They don't invest billions over decades because they have a little too much money, and need to lighten their pockets.

And even if they didn't happen to stay in the White House, they're not going away. They never do.

[RaleighNCDUer]

46. As someone (I wish I could remember who) said:

It's not important who gets the votes -- what matters is who counts the votes.

[regnaD kciN]

47. I _was_ optimistic until last night...

We were tied in the polls, and Kerry had just taken three-for-three in the debates. Iraq remained a mess, the economy continued to tank, Bush's job approval was sinking. Barring voter fraud, there was simply no way that we couldn't win.

Then I saw how the polls were trending, with a Bush gain every day. Since when does the loser in a debate, let alone three of them, take the lead in the polls? The answer is simple: the only thing anyone was talking about was the "outing" of Cheney's daughter. How it proved that Kerry was "not a good man" -- that line not only from Lynne Cheney herself, but from several of my mother's friends, reported to her in different conversations over the course of the past few days. Poll results that show almost two-thirds of those polled agree (including 40% of Democrats). Zogby showing that more of the undecideds had suddenly "swung" for Bush.

As hard as it was for me to believe this on the night of the debate (I figured the issue would have faded away by now), it appears that Republicans have managed to stumble onto a defining issue of the last part of the campaign -- an emotion-laden subject that allows them to define Kerry as of unworthy character, unfit to be President.

I'm afraid that this has swung the momentum of the race straight to the G.O.P. With their huge advantage in campaign dollars, and no more face-to-face showdowns, any Bush surge now is going to be difficult if not impossible to overcome in the last two weeks of the campaign.

I hope I'm wrong about all this. But if the polls continue to move in Bush's way through the weekend, I think it's over.

:-(

[fujiyama]

51. I hope

your wrong too but I don't have much confidence in the American people.

I fell asleep early on election night (before FL was reversed) with the feeling that Bush would win. For some reason I was worried like hell about CA and was following a Zogby poll that had Gore up by only a point.

It turned out Gore did better than I thought. I always try to remain optimistic, but after seeing the effect the SBT had, I no longer feel that way.

Sometimes it is very tempting to leave the country. It will especially be, if Bush gets back into office.

[jab105]

48. Pessimistic...after the swift boats and this Mary Cheney stuff...

I can't believe that the future of the fcking country is being decided by things that don't matter at all...

Sorry guys, but I'm incredibly pessimistic, because this crap is working...I know we want to shut our eyes and say that the polls are just being weird...but this Mary Cheney Bush bump is real...

Kerry works his ass off, wins all three debates, and a little rendevous with the Republican spin machine and boom, Bush is going up again...

I HATE THE FUCKING MEDIA!!!!!!!!

[demzilla]

50. Petrified

that this Mary Cheney business will lead to a "gut" impression by just enough people that Kerry doesn't have the character to be president.

All BS, of course, but this is the name of the gane. I wish JK would just come out and say "I'm sorry if I offended the Cheneys, I didn't mean to." Since Bush never admits a mistake, JK's doing so might actually salvage this. But sometimes I think he's a bit tone deaf, politically, for all his gifts.

I fully expect him to start dropping back in the polls next week, to maybe five points behind Chimpy.

But that's next week, not Nov. 2, and a lot can happen between now and then. At least there's time to get past the Mary Cheney crap, which won't feed the news cycle indefinitely. . . Assuming no major October surprise, I expect JK will begin to close the gap as the election approaches. On election eve the polls will show the race within the MOE and on election day it will be ALL about turnout. And whoever wins Ohio probably wins the election.

So I see it as a fifty-fifty thing, with the momentum starting to shift away from Kerry at this point in time.

[NightOwwl]

52. I'm optimistic

Kerry has the support of the majority of voters.

But over the past few days it's become increasingly evident the Republicans will stop at nothing to keep his supporters from voting

[Skittles]

53. honestly, pessimistic

these neocon bastards are NOT going to let go, they are not through with us yet.

[Piperay]

55. Pessimistic

I just don't think there is any way that the rethugs are going to let him win no matter what they have to do to keep him out of the WH. :scared: :-(