Other things going on besides the Presidential election

I came across this excellent article regarding some other important races and issues to watch for in the election today. Personally, I really want to see the outcome of #5, turnout of the immigrant vote, and #7, turnout of the youth vote, happen. I think it's really important that these voters rock this election because "regular" voters and politicians need to pay attention to them more. Not voting, especially in this critical election, will be interpreted as a clear sign of complacency. Politicians will specifically begin to wonder why bother with these groups, especially when they are so difficult to target, demographically diffuse, and costly to get out to vote.

I am also really interested in the battles being wages over gay rights and how opponents are slowly trying to erode the Roe v. Wade decision. Outcomes on gay rights issues such as Proposition 8 in California and abortion issues such as the fascinating Amendment 48 in Colorado are on my radar. Colorado's Amendment 48 is really interesting because its passage would redefine a fertilized egg as a person, and get both sides mired in the question of when personhood actually begins and distracted from the broader issue of a right to choice. The strategies of chipping away at Roe also include limiting access to abortion by requiring parental notification (Prop 4 in California) for teen girls.

Watching the media watch the election has also been fascinating today. I had CNN on for most of the morning and then every time I had to be in the car I had NPR on. I am really happy that CNN decided to devote airtime and resources for folks to report and talk about voting problems. After the last voting debacle in Florida, I still don't think enough has been done to ensure that access to and accurate voting takes place. CNN's hotline is one step in the direction of accountability.

I can't wait to watch results start coming in at 4p PST. More later.