politics

I'm still a little surprised that after Trump tried to subvert the election results in GA in 2020 that anybody would be willing to still vote for him in that state. I can't imagine many Biden voters having forgotten that particular incident. My hope is that they've held onto that anger silently and plan to turn out in November.

Another commenter made a very good point - Trump signs in MAGA country are safe. Biden or Harris signs in MAGA country are like asking for trouble. The conservative crowd is far more likely to commit acts of political violence, and virtually all of the south is a safe haven for Trumpism and conservative extremism. I can't blame anybody for not wanting to do yard signs. Especially since a lot of people find yard signs to be obnoxious no matter who you support.

In my experience libs and lefties are less likely to buy yard signs overall, and remember they changed their candidate: had to take down the Biden/Harris sign and order a new Harris/walz one. So signs aren't a great indicator. Also metro-Atlanta and Athens alone have about the same population as the entire rest of the state combined.

But, the republicans are so loud that it certainly seems like the whole state is ultra right wing.

Plenty of rural ppl vote and hate Trump in North Ga. MAGA is just scary AF in that part of the state ( Oathkeepers, Marj., etc) so they don't put up signs.

Remember, Biden not only won GA in 2020 but also won 2 run-off elections to get both US Senate seats—one in 2021, and the other in 2022/23. With all due respect, Trump flags / yard signs are not statistically representative to the mind-boggling number of those who reside in the city.

Put another way: If Democratic voters turn out in GA, then they simply win. Canvass, phone-bank, donate, get friends/family to register and help get them to the polls.

(Edit: Though I will say your point proves the power of yard-signs and bumper-stickers — for they raise enthusiasm for your side and sow concern if not defeatism for the other side, projecting popularity broader than reality.)

It's just one poll. There's a possibility that pollster's methods have some sort of bias, or that there happened to be an error in sampling as there's always a possibility there will be.

There are statistical models that take in various polls, remembering and taking into account the kinds of mistakes each given pollster tends to make, and calculates the chances of each candidate. That would be a (probably) more accurate look at Harris's chances.

The only one I know is Qc125/338Canada. It was developed mostly in Quebec and then fine-tuned for other Canadian races, before finally being applied to a few other countries, including the US. That history might make it weaker at predicting the outcome of an American race compared to a home-grown model, though; I don't really know.

60 percent of Georgia's population live in the Atlanta metro.

Take a look at this map from the 2020 election and you see why it's tight in GA:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html

Naturally because weird people support a weird felon and conman, and a weird VP.

Trump flags and rallies are not necessarily evidence of widespread support. It's not like there was a bunch of Biden flags on yards in say California, even before the 2020 election. Maybe it will happen with Harris because she seems to be quite popular, but I suspect Democrat supporters just aren't weird enough to do that en masse.

I mean, look at 2020. Seems like it was even more pro-Trump then. Yet you know how that went.

I'm out in the boonies of Georgia and me and most of my friends and family are sane non trump supporters, so we exist we're just not as obnoxious about it as the Trumpies.

Good for America if it holds.

Everyone else vote too.

High enough voter turnout on one side can turn any state into a swing state. The bigger the victory nationwide, the bigger the message it sends. And of course, all those state and local elections matter too.

Not to mention that a bigger victory makes the inevitable fraud claims even less credible.

NC hasn't been more blue than GA for years. NC has long been lean-Republican and Georgia a toss-up. I suspect GA is trending lean-Democratic and NC trending toss-up.

They will do everything to make sure they can toss your vote.

This has been sorta true for a long time, but it’s never been more true than now. The orange sociopathic rapist felon has mindwiped enough republiQans to cause fuckery in every state.

A little bird told me the local fascists are passing around the signup sheet for “poll watching” last week.

If you live in a swing state, check it weekly to make sure you won’t be scrubbed by the Republicans and make sure your information is up to date.

Shitty Life Pro Tip: Register as Republican to protect yourself from voter role purges by Republicans. Registration of party places no limits on who or what you can vote in the general election.

That might explain why my shithole battleground state suddenly bounced my DL change of address over a “signature capture” despite it being apparently perfectly fucking fine for a Real ID application last year.

Fellow executive dysfunction pals! Lend me your short attention spans!

Here are my tips for voting:

1. Vote by mail if your state allows it. This is the forgetful/introvert/agoraphobic cheat code. Set 5 reminders to mail it back by the due date.

2. If you can't do mail, use early voting if it's available in your area. This means barely a wait (unless it's the lunch hour or right before/after commuter hours) and it's easy to walk in whenever you feel like it or you're already out running errands nearby. I think you can even set some phones to remind you of a thing when you're near a location, like your early voting station, if you use that kind of thing.

If you can't vote early or by mail:

• Text a friend or family member you don't usually flake on and set up a time to accompany each other to the polls. Bring snacks and shit to do in case there's a line. This is easier if you are assigned the same polling station. In some states, you can vote outside your assigned station, but it might be a provisional ballot, which means they don't "count it" until they verify you didn't vote at any other location.

• You may be entitled to take off work in order to vote and your company might even give you paid leave to do it. Depends on your job and your state.

• If money motivates you, schedule an Uber or Lyft to the polls ahead of time and let their greedy cancellation policy fuel you to just go so you're not wasting the money you already spent.

• Get a fucking dripping fit and make a rule that you can't wear it out for the first time until you are going to the polls. Get that new outfit dopamine, you tiger!

• Schedule a hair appointment for election day and add on a styling service at the end so that you look fresh as hell and be motivated to go vote just so you can bless us with your beautiful hair before you go shower or sleep and it's never quite as good looking.

• Are you a people watcher or do you get jazzed to try out random accents on every other person in public for fun? Sign up to volunteer as a poll worker and you'll be there anyway while also getting that juicy, helping-humanity-by-volunteering dopamine. Check with your county auditor to get started. They may need you to attend poll worker training ahead of time.

• Download a mobile app game/handheld console game/new movie/cliffhanger-ending TV show episode and make a rule that you can't play it/watch it until you're in line at the polls. The time will fly by.

• Do kegels in line at the polls. If the wait is long, remind yourself it's only making you an even more powerful sex god.

If you're not sure about how to vote and it seems overwhelming, that's because it is and it's been made that way on purpose.

Reply to this comment with your state and I'll personally look up your election shit because I care really deeply about access to voting and human-systems design. My nerd knowledge in these areas is useful only about once a year, like a rare stone solstice sunbeam.