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Posts Tagged ‘National Politics’

Considering All Absentee Ballot, All the Time

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Being a political junkie, I tend to troll over a variety of websites looking for the latest and greatest information on local, state, and national politics. While looking over the Morris County Clerk’s website I stumbled onto the Civilian Absentee Ballot Application. Reading through the information on the pre-application page and the application itself, I learned that I can choose to receive absentee ballots for all future general elections.

In other words, I can fill out this application and then always have a ballot sent to whatever address that I want so I can be sure to vote in whatever general election is upcoming. I had no idea that I could do this, but it sounds like a great idea!

Some of you may know that I rent an apartment in Tinton Falls which is about an hour and a half from my voting station in Mount Arlington. As such, Election Day always presents a logistical problem for me since I have to factor a three-hour drive into my schedule. Voting by absentee ballot would be much more efficient. Some additional research into the Morris County Clerk’s website shows that no one voted by absentee ballot in Mount Arlington during this year’s election. While that may seem suspect to some people, there were only some 2,493 votes cast in the entire Borough. To assume that there were no absentee ballots cast this year is not that far of a stretch.

However, the ability to have a perpetual absentee ballot is a great option for someone like me who is generally moving to a new place every few years. Sure, I intend to register in which ever municipality where I wind up purchasing a home, but that’s not coming any time soon. Plus, because I’m constantly reading up on the local news I might even be more aware of political issues going on in my hometown than some of the folks who are voting up there anyway!

When you think about it, the application of the perpetual absentee ballot is powerful. Unfortunately, there are some people who just do not want to go to the polling stations to cast their votes. Some might be hindered because of their jobs and others might be hindered because of their personal schedules. In New Jersey, where we do not have early voting, receiving an absentee ballot that has to be mailed in to the County Clerk’s Office some 7 days prior to the election may increase the possibility that more eligible voters will vote.

I’m going to look into this some more, but I’m strongly considering going to an all-absentee ballot, all the time setup for future general elections (school board and primary elections do not apply).

Posted in Local People & Politics, The State of New Jersey, United States Politics | 2 Comments »

The Drums of 2012 Start Beating Already

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

With the Republicans still trying to figure out how to move forward, conservative columnist Robert Novak has suggested that the 2012 Presidential election may be the perfect time for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to return to national politics. From the article:

One Republican critic of Gingrich concedes that he has an “unlimited” energy flow and a constant stream of ideas, an important commodity in a party that appears to have run short of ideas during the Bush years. But there is widespread concern about what is described in the party as Gingrich’s deep “character flaws” that would be difficult to overcome in a presidential campaign. Nobody in Republican ranks, however, matches Gingrich’s dynamism.

This may be true, but I have to wonder how Gingrich fits into today’s political world. As detailed in this blog before, Gingrich has spent a good deal of time building his think tank around the idea of bipartisan support for certain political issues. And as all students of political history know, then-Speaker Gingrich brought a Republican majority back to Congress in 1994 with his Contract with America plan. I think this is what the Republicans are looking for in 2012, but they need more than a new Contract with America.

The reason that Gingrich and his team swept into office in 1994 was because a majority of Americans never really wanted President Bill Clinton to be elected in the 1992 election and thus dissatisfaction with his first two years as Commander-in-Chief was as easy campaign rallying cry. That sentiment does not exist right now with President-elect Obama and, frankly, I’m not sure that he’s going to lose momentum as quickly as President Clinton did in the early 1990’s.

So while certain conservatives may think that Gingrich is the choice for 2012 (and, by the way, I think that he’d make a fine President), the Republicans need to remember the circumstances that brought Gingrich and the Republicans to power in 1994. Plus they have to consider that Sarah Palin has widespread support among Republicans and conservatives as well as in the Midwest states. Yes, the ultra liberal northeast and California electorates absolutely hate Palin (though none of them can offer significant reasons for that hate), but the rest of America seems to be on her side. She’ll be a tough contender in 2012 if she decides to run.

Then you have guys like Rudy, Huckabee, Romney, and Jindal who can all make waves in 2012. Until then, though, be prepare to read more speculative articles like Mr. Novak’s – I think it’s going to be fun!

Posted in United States Politics | No Comments »