Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

And We’re Off!

By

Open thread. Please let us know what you see, hear, feel, think … heck, even taste and touch, as you vote and move about our Commonwealth today. You are the eyes and ears of the collective Borg intelligence that is Blue Mass Group. Hear us tap, we are mighty. đŸ˜›

And thanks to every single one of you who has helped to keep this an especially lively and interesting place these past few weeks. You’re the best!

UPDATE (by David): Thanks to Jasiu for noting in the comments that, in today’s first race to be called, Mike Huckabee has won all of WV’s 18 delegates.

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Comments

  1. Especially when there’s good turnout — I was at my polling place first thing in the morning, and it was already pretty busy.  Warms the cockles of my cynical little heart.

  2. From Lowell to Woburn. The intersection of Rt.38 and Rt.133 is a sweet spot for viz, always packed. Not today.

    <

    p>Nada at 06:50 am.

    <

    p>The peaceniks at Raytheon-Andover were out there in the freezing rain. Peace has a real chance with fortitude like that.
    Mad props!

  3. I vote at 7:00am on every election, it’s was very busy, looks like the hight turnout predictions might be true.

    <

    p>Just a single person holding a small Obama sign covered in plastic as I was pulling into the high school, that’s it.  It was still dark and raining.

  4. Over 200 voted at precinct 4 in Lexington before 9AM (that is relatively busy). Three Obama signs; no one else out in the drizzle.

    • Over 920 at 3PM.  More than the entire day’s count for the 2006 gubernatorial primary. Signs again limited to Obama.

  5. I voted at 7:30 at the fire station on Somerville Ave in Somerville, and there were about 25 people there. The poll workers were very impressed with the turnout. On the way to work I saw Clinton and Obama supporters on Oxford Street.  

  6. The line was HUGE at 7:30 this morning.  When I was leaving it was wrapped around the gym with even more people in line.  One thing I did notice is that a lot of people in front of me were “unenrolled” and took Dem. ballots.  I was thinking of becoming Rep so I could vote against Romney

  7. at my polling place:

    <

    p>6 HRC signs in the ground
    2 BHO signs in the ground
    2 people holding BHO signs
    1 person with RP sign
    1 person handing out anti-override propaganda [may be vote in May 08]

    <

    p>A line, but not dramatic.  There were bigger lines for Nov 06 IIRC.

  8. Pretty busy as well, a few people holding Obama signs, one woman with a Clinton sign.  I got polled at the exit that was fun.

    • But, I live in a very small NH town, and no one exit polls there. I’ve also always wanted to do jury duty, but have never been called for that either…  oh well.  Congrats on getting exit polled, did they ask you about interests, demographics, or just who you voted for?

        • I really have always wanted to be polled and on jury duty.
          Did you think I was being snarky???  I’m curious what the poster was polled on— not what he or she answered, just what the poll questions were.  I have a curious mind.

          • it was a young guy sitting in a chair inside town hall.  He asked people walking by to take the poll, handed me a pad with questions front and back. Three of us at a time seemed to be filling them out, then he’d ask another person when there was space. The poll had about 8-10 media outlets listed on the top (including CNN I believe), and it asked all the stereotypical questions: which candidate stands for “change”, does gender matter?, which is more important national security or the economy?  how would you rate the state of the economy? Then personal questions: race, income, education level.

              • I wonder when the last time the national news gave a hoot about Mass voters in a presidential election.

              • Jury duty is horrendous. You wait around all day long and will likely never be called. Bring a book and something comfortable to sit on. Once you turn 55 YOA you will get hammered with county, state and federal jury duty.

      • I have been called regularly, to the point where the novelty has worn off.

        <

        p>Usually, it consumes a day of your life.  You sit in an uncomforable chair for the day, and at some point, they send you home.  Once, I got seated on a one-day- assault trial, which pled before deliberations started.  The last time, I wound up on a medical malpractice trial that went on for a month, which was extremely burdensome.

        <

        p>I hope the next jury duty call is well into the future.

  9. I was voter #80 (for Obama) in precinct 3 at 10:00 am.  We’ve had a fair number of Obama signs around town for a week or so, and a few Hillary signs went up the day before yesterday — more in Montague along my commute than in Amherst itself.  A friend reported an Obama viz in downtown Amherst. also at 10:00.

    <

    p>I’ve not been the target of much campaigning in the off-line world.  Two mailers from HRC, one robocall from each side (Richie Neal for HRC, Ted for BHO).  The students in my UMass class had heard of the election but mostly had only vague plans to vote.

      • They have a table in the Campus Center lobby, running the recent music video on a laptop and pointing students to the vans that go to the nearby Amherst polling places.  (Amherst tried putting satellite poll stations actually on campus but gave it up after getting returns in the single digits.)  The Collegian reports that these vans are a cooperative venture of the University Democrats, the Republican Club, and the Student Government Association.

        <

        p>One of the Obama volunteers told me he was going to drive a student to Springfield and back to vote.  (Some large percentage of students are registered at their home address, and not many manage to vote absentee.)

        <

        p>There was also a rather lonely Ron Paul table in the Campus Center.

  11. Did not seem like very high turnout where I vote in West Roxbury. Only 110 ballots had been cast in my precinct when I voted around 10am, so I am not seeing the high turnout that was predicted. Perhaps it will manifest in the after work time slot.

    <

    p>My polling place has 3 or 4 precincts and there are several more across the street at the police station, and it is at a prominent and easy to access location at a rotary so there is usually a lot of signs, but there wasn’t all that much this morning. There were no large signs, a bunch of drooping waterlogged Hillary signs (whoops), a handful of Obama signs, and a single Ron Paul sign. There were a couple Hillary supporters outside the door including a former city council aspirant, and an Obama sign leaning against the wall (perhaps someone was taking a break?). I didn’t see anything for either McCain or Mitt.

    <

    p>

  14. person with signs in my town.  No Clinton people anywhere to be seen. The rain has been coming down steady most of the morning here.  Polling place was VERY busy and not just seniors around 11 or so.  Saw a union guy going in to vote Hillary.  Talked to a poli sci prof about the wierdness of this season and the unpredictability of who’s voting for whom.  Did get a Bill Clinton robocall first thing this morning asking that I vote for Hillary.  That was my fifth call from the Clinton camp.  None from Barack.  Note switching first/last names around in the name of equality.

    • My wife called me out on casually referring to “Hillary” and “Obama” all the time, so I’m sensitive to the issue, but the fact is that both campaigns have done an outstanding job of branding themselves. The street signs, the web sites, and even the robocalls with caller-ID ‘Hillary4Pres’ all brand “Hillary” as her preferred moniker, presumably to differentiate her from the Clinton she is married to.

      <

      p>Now it is perfectly reasonable to debate that candidate Clinton is subverting herself to the patriarchal paradigm by using her first name almost exclusively, and to insist on calling her “Clinton”. But I think it’s also perfectly reasonable to refer to “Hillary” and “Obama” without being guilty of sexism.

      • out not following the prescribed branding.  I like it.  It’s an exercise in changing framing and not going along with the status quo.  Felt good, kind of like giving the finger to the media for perpetuating myths.  

        • Try using “Rodham” and “Hussein” :). Actually, the right-wing media types would probably be happy to see us use the latter. Maybe not.

          <

          p>Oh – and if you partake, Happy Paczki Day!

          • that if Obama is the nominee, his full and complete name will be used many, many, times.  Out of respect, you know.

    • Clinton call #7, a live voice asking if I had voted yet.  The previous call was a recording of Hillary at around 2:00.  So far today, that’s Bill, then Hillary and then a live campaign staffer.  Y’all gotta admit that’s impressive organization and follow through.  I still haven’t received a Barack call.  

  15. My polling place in Medford was hopping at 9 AM. Didn’t have to wait in line long, but the the ballot machine indicated the best turnout I’ve seen there early in any election day.

    <

    p>No signs when I got there — I have reports that earlier there was an HRC sign and a Patrick McCabe sign. McCabe isn’t even on the ballot but is aiming for viz in his campaign against Paul Donato.  

  16. Interesting story is right here:

    <

    p>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/…

    <

    p>I hope the link works.  Anyway, it would appear that four years ago, Mr. Obama didn’t want to have his picture taken with Mayor Newsom of San Francisco, who was then in the middle of the furor surrounding his decision to allow gay marriages to take place.  

    <

    p>The mayor has returned the favor.  It’s gonna be a horse race right to the end.

    • Haven’t we all ready enough lame attacks in recent weeks? I don’t think that either Clinton or Obama want to touch gay marriage with a ten foot pole, so this is entirely irrelevant to anyone choosing between them.

      <

      p>Can’t we just stick to what’s happening on the ground today?

      • it is fair to talk about his apparent anti-equality views from the same time frame.  fair is fair.

        • But I understood his point as being not that it’s unfair to bring this up, but that the comment threads on the “Report on how voting’s going around the state” post isn’t the right place to bring it up.

          • but he did call it a lame attack.  that is out of line in a “this is the wrong diary!” comment.  ah well.  it’s election day – people will be testy.  personally, i am not wedded to either candidate.  i just want to see one the news that there was a massive showing of enthusiastic democratic voters at the polls.

            • And this goes for liberal, progressive, and conservative Democrats, as well as independents likely to roll Democrat this November, a winner would be nice.

          • I don’t want to see this diary turn into an attack fest. If you want to post that news in your own diary, go ahead.

              • But do you really want to read a chain of attacks and counter attacks here, particularly regarding an issue where there is no difference between the candidates?

                <

                p>Do you?

                • There was only a link to a news story.  You created the chain by attacking that initial post, and are lengthening the chain with ever angry response.  Just let it go.

                  <

                  p>And Kevin, both Clinton and Obama supporters will happily tell you what they see as the differences between the candidates on this and any issue.  As this subject affects me directly, I am keenly interested in it.  If you aren’t, just skip the comment.

                • There was only one attack, and yes posting a link to a news story critical of one of the candidates does constitute an attack. The intent was very clearly to hurt Obama in the readers’ eyes. I don’t see how you can paint that as anything but an attack.

                  <

                  p>My point was that I don’t want to see a chain of candidate attacks here, not that there already had been one.

                  <

                  p>

                • … but I try to weigh all kinds of criticisms for any candidate.  Criticism may be negative, but it is to be expected that opponents will point out the negative.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Of course, in consideration of criticism it sometimes (often?) comes out that its a straw man or an irrelevant point or a dissembled point.  

                  <

                  p>The election is a debate about our future.  Too all sides I say: make your points and prepare to stand and be judged.

                • First of all, for a guy who alleged that he was “on the fence” – you sure sound like you found your way off of it – if in fact, there was ever a fence at all.  Given the hysteria, I think you kicked that fence over a long time ago.

                  <

                  p>Secondly – it was an open thread and we were specifically asked to “Please let us know what you see, hear, feel, think … heck, even taste and touch”  I assumed that means news stories.  I can’t be wrong if the BMG is posting Huckabee’s win, right?  That didn’t exactly happen in Massachusetts/  

                  <

                  p>Thirdly – California is voting today.  It was a California story that came out today.  It was cogent and timely.

                  <

                  p>Fourthly – I just put the news story out there.  I didn’t do the whole gloaty, snarky thing – I just put it out there – you are the one that had a bonafide, Oldsmobile sized canary over it. Your over-response doesn’t make my post an attack.  

                  <

                  p>Lastly – BMG is a group with Dems of all stripes, spots and backgrounds.  I know you would prefer an echo-chamber, but those are the breaks.

                  <

                  p>Have a good day.  May the best person win. đŸ™‚    

                • how when anything critical about the O-man’s background is raised his supporters cry foul.

                  <

                  p>let’s get everything out in the open NOW (yeah, including the Rezko stuff too) so we don’t get blindsided by Republicans later on.  

                • I think that if you post anything positive or negative about either candidate and enough people are reading someone will jump in and try to contradict it. I also agree that within reason it is good to bring out all the dirty laundry before the Republicans do. Of course, this has been going on for over a year now, and there is very little new dirt.

                  <

                  p>In any case, the Republicans will really kill Obama over this one. đŸ˜‰

                  <

                  p>

          • when someone is losing a debate – he/she tries to narrow the scope to the size of a straw.  Laurel made a very good point here, so let me point out that Obama’s anti-war views have been used repeatedly throughout in this blog to hammah Hillary.  It doesn’t necessary have to be in this particular diary.  

            <

            p>Nice try though.  May the best person win.

            • Firstly, what is the relevance of “how much I have been on the fence”? I did vote for Obama today, so that does officially put me on one side of the fence, but I only made up my mind during the last week, and still have some concerns about him. I am not at all happy with either candidates position regarding gay marriage. My choice of Obama over Clinton would not have prevented me from reacting the same way if someone had posted a similar link regarding Clinton.

              <

              p>Secondly, I already acknowledged it to be an open thread. I was expressing my own desire to not read more mud slinging here. You are not required to agree or follow my suggestion if you don’t want to.

              <

              p>Thirdly, yes it is true that CA is voting today, but I doubt many CA voters if any voters are reading this diary. I also doubt it will much impact on the vote there since it happened several years ago and was reported at the time.

              <

              p>Fourth, what kind of reaction did you really expect posting that story?

              <

              p>Lastly, I totally agree that BMG is for Democrats of all stripes. I don’t want an echo chamber either, nor do I think we have one. I am happy that the discussions here re Obama/Clinton/Edwards have been much more balanced than over at places such as DailyKos, where Clinton is often unfairly demonized.

              • How much relevance does your claim of being on the fence have?  Plenty.  Paricularly given the sermons (cue up the violins) you’ve been preaching to Hillary supporters about tone, message, yada yada yada.  I doubt very much that the fence that you claim to have been astride ever saw the insides of your knees.  You protesteth way too much for a formah fence sittah.  

                <

                p>Additionally – a post about news does not a mudslinging make.  Your hysterical over-response doesn’t make it an attack.  I posted the news.  

                <

                p>Whether anyone from California is reading this diary is immaterial.  We post news from all over the bloody country on BMG.  It’s what we do here.  The impact to the race has no relevancy whether the post was appropriate or not.  It was news on election day, in a major city, in a major state…and that made it appropriate for an open thread.  

                <

                p>The reaction I expected was that the story would be discussed, and not branded “mudslinging” – because it wasn’t. Go back and read my original post.   I expected people to discuss the story in a thoughtful manner, because it’s a compelling issue, at least to me.  It gives me insight into how he thinks…as if something like gay marriage can be shelved when it’s not politically convenient, or if he wants to maintain plausible deniability.  BTW, I have a gay brother, who in this bluest of states, was hazed at a cell phone store last week in a tony suburban mall, while he and his partner were trying to buy a cellphone.  If you think gay rights isn’t an issue – guess again.

                <

                p>As for Blue Mass Group – I’m glad it’s here.  Cheers.  May the best person win.  
                 

  17. The Obama signs survived. No viz for other candidates. Turnout at noon 2166 – about 400 above the primary turnout in 2000. Polls busy.

  19. Voted in Natick about 10:30 today. Lots of rain.

    <

    p>Lots of ballot stations, but very few people, mostly seniors/retirees. The election officials had a posting with how many people had voted per hour. So far that a morning there were about 600 or so votes for my precinct, if I recall correctly.

    <

    p>No signs, just a bake sale.  

  21. A steady stream of people, mostly the old stalwarts but also some young college kids like meself. Turnout is usually high in these parts but I’m guessing that today will still be exceptional.

    • A steady stream of people, mostly the old stalwarts but also…

      <

      p>1: Did you know that Stalwarts were actually a faction within the Republican party?

      <

      p>2: ‘old stalwarts’.  Redundant? Discuss.

    • This morning I voted at 7:20.  No line but they were prepared for a good turnout.  Heavy on the Election Commission types.

      <

      p>In talking to my work colleagues every one of them is voting for Hillary.  Of course, I work in education and it is a female dominated (women ages 30 to 50) work place but even the men said they voted or were voting for Clinton who says she will scrap No Child Left Behind.  Obama has not been quite so critical of NCLB and he supports charter schools and merit pay for teachers which didn’t earn him too many points with my colleagues.

      • Was great today, about a half dozen women I walked by had something positive or anxious (do you think she can do it?) to express. (I should wear this all the time, great conversation piece!). No negatives.

        <

        p>  

  23. The Menino supported Clinton volunteer phonebank at the Painters Union Hall in Roslindale has been fully staffed since 9 AM this morning. Volunteers have been collecting vote counts and pulling voter sheets every two hours. Has the feel of a city council race in terms of operations.

    <

    p>One Clinton, one Obama signholder in the pouring rain at Rt. 28 and Broadway in Somerville at 8:15 AM. Props to both for hanging in in that weather.

  24. The precinct where I work and the one I vote (7-2 and 7-1)  both had around 450 at 1pm.  That’s about the total turnout from the local election in November where we had a closely contested Ward Alderman race.  Total registration in 7-2 is 1560.

  25. Hi,
    I did three live video reports this morning:

    <

    p>Why didn’t I know about the other races on the Suffolk County ballot?
    http://offonatangent.blogspot….

    <

    p>Obama Volunteers in Boston
    http://offonatangent.blogspot….

    <

    p>Franklin Katuna: Obama Volunteer
    http://offonatangent.blogspot….

    <

    p>These reports stream live to the web as I record them.  Watch for new ones here:

    <

    p>http://www.stevegarfield.com/l…

    <

    p>You can also follow me on twitter:

    <

    p>http://twitter.com/stevegarfield

    <

    p>Notifications of new streams go there when I start…

    <

    p>Tonight I’ll be at Boston Beer Works in Fenway for a twitter meetup and will be streaming live reports for http://theuptake.com

    <

    p>–Steve
    http://stevegarfield.com

    • There were several discussions of State Committee races, if not Ward Committees.

      <

      p>There will probably be a higher percentage of blanks this year due to the influx of more “casual” Democrats, who are less involved with the local political bureaucracies, progressive or otherwise.

  26. Voted around 1pm.  The rain had stopped so my 1 block walk to vote was pleasant.  As usual it was very quiet at the Watertown middle school midday.  

  27. Voted at 11:00AM in the pouring rain.  One soaked college-age woman holding a Hillary sign, no other visibility, though channel 5 was there and briefly interviewed my wife and I on the way out–the interviewer’s first question was if I was a first-time voter, and she seemed disappointed when I told her I’d voted in every primary and general election since 1988 (when i was 19).

    <

    p>My precinct is normally super-low turnout–it’s mostly apartment buildings and students, we had something like 112 voted by 11:00AM, which is, I believe, more than voted all day in the 2006 primary.

  28. Not packed, but a steady stream of voters trickling through in mid-afternoon.  No presidential sign-holders, but one or two each for Sean Garballey and Jeff Thielman.

  30. The stretch of Mass Ave between MIT and Harvard was paved with people carrying signs for Obama — one group per every few blocks as of around 3:30 this afternoon. Z-e-r-o Clinton visibility.

    <

    p>She’s going to lose Cambridge/Boston — folks are too educated – not her base.

    • Boston is quite a different city from Cambridge. A lot of city politicians are working for Clinton, so I wouldn’t be so sure that Obama will win Boston. He might win JP, Back Bay and the South End, but I am not so sure about the rest of the city.

    • What great elitism!

      <

      p>As if someone educated at Wellesley and Yale, with many more years of real world experience wouldn’t be the smartest in the race.

      <

      p>And sometime blue collar people are a lot smarter than elitists …. working women, unions, etc.

    • This is a college-educated woman with a Masters in the works.  So let’s see…we’ve had Obamican announce that the “Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party” was uniting around Obama….as though we don’t embrace democracy.  And now we have another little cutie suggesting that Hillary’s voters are uneducated.  Oye.  Uniter, my right tootsie.

      • What I said wasn’t a judgement, it’s a demographic-based prediction — Clinton’s base is largely people (esp. females) without college degrees. I didn’t and wouldn’t suggest degrees correlate with intelligence… often to the contrary, in my experience.

        <

        p>Please don’t jump on my comments and make assumptions!

  31. Relatively quiet. you can click on the photos for larger versions.

    <

    p>My polling place; Codman Square Apartments on Washington Street. I was voting with about 4 other people. Outside, there was one person doing visibility. I counted 6 Clinton signs and two Obama signs.

    <

    p>

    <

    p>Another Codman Square polling place. The BPL Codman Square Branch, 0.03 mi north of my polling place on Washington.

    <

    p>For the Vietnamese folksout there. Taken at the Codman Square Library.

  32. I was voter number 709, which was about 200 higher than where it was in the ’06 election. Just pure anecdotal observation, for every man going into the polling place, there was about 10 women going into the polling place. Although Andover is also fairly affluent and well-educated, so I’m not sure what to make of that.

  33. In Groveland.   Have never seen anything close to this except maybe for a very contentious Prop 2.5 override vote in 1996.    Very little talk in line going in although people were chatty coming out.   One guy quietly calling his wife on cell phone.   Overall it was a serious mood.  Not many young people.  

  34. Down to 20 Obama signs from the 23 placed there last night.  Hope the AWOL went home with friends.

    <

    p>Props to the two Hillary supporters doing viz in the rain.  I put Obama signs on my car and stayed dry today.  

    <

    p>Turnout running high – 5885 as of 6 p.m. vs. 3651 at the same time in 2000’s presidential primary.  We’ve already exceeded the total vote of 4584 in the 2000 primary by 1300 votes with two hours to go.

  37. I voted later than I usually do; was home this morning and got three robocalls for Clinton:  an unidentified woman, Bill Clinton, and Jack Nicholson (pull-ese!)   Definitely was my hunch that it reflected a degree of desperaton.  No calls from the Obama camp, although I did receive several emails over the last several days and today.  I was # 204 in my precinct.  It was fun to see my name on the ballot (ward committee slate).  I saw NO visibilities at the three polling places I drove past.  This evening friends told me they waited 40-45 minutes in line at their polling place.  There was another Clinton robocall on the answering machine when I got home, this time Hillary herself.  Still no Obama calls.  Awaiting the results…

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