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Aliens Rock The Vote

THURSDAY OCTOBER 9 2008 5:00 PM

Submitted by nicole_powers. Edited By nicole_powers.

TAGS: Election 08, John McCain, Barack Obama,

One in ten people in America are silently screaming right now. They’re surrounded by election fever but cannot vote for our next president. They care about our country –– passionately enough to leave their own behind –– but are frozen out of the electoral process.

Aliensvote.net is giving this massive minority a voice. It’s a site where the estimated 29.1 million aliens residing in America can cast a vote. Their votes won’t count in the election, but at least their wishes can be heard. After all, they pay taxes, have homes, businesses, children, and futures here, and contribute to our society in a myriad of ways.

The site’s not been live long, and will remain up until Election Day, but so far, of those who have shared their opinions, 97% are between the ages of 21 and 40, 54% have been in the country between 4 and 11 years, 27% have children here and 31% own homes.

The choices Americans make in November will be felt around the globe, so another site, IfTheWorldCouldVote.com, is giving the rest of the world a chance to select their presidential choice. Of the 167,617 people from 187 countries that have voted so far, 87.3% picked Obama.

Seems like the choice for next president is a no-brainer for the rest of the world –– what puzzles most of the planet is why the poll numbers are so close here at home. Answers on a postcard please, or in the comments section below.

13 Comments

TheFuckOffKid

NEWSWIRE

Australia

OCT 09, 2008 05:24 PM

ALIEN

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

versus

MAVERICK

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

crispy

NEWSWIRE

Philadelphia, PA

OCT 09, 2008 06:24 PM

TheFuckOffKid said:
ALIEN

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

versus

MAVERICK

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Fixed.

Sick

Minneapolis, MN

June 2003

OCT 09, 2008 06:47 PM

crispy said:

TheFuckOffKid said:
ALIEN

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

versus

MAVERICK

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Fixed.

That kid in the background is smoking and drinking beer! What kind of family values are those?

Also, his trunks are falling off.

phrogg

Greenville, SC

August 2005

OCT 09, 2008 07:06 PM

Sick said:

crispy said:

TheFuckOffKid said:
ALIEN

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

versus

MAVERICK

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Fixed.

That kid in the background is smoking and drinking beer! What kind of family values are those?

Also, his trunks are falling off.

Is it... Track??

BatAttaK

Seattle, WA

OLD SKOOL

OCT 09, 2008 08:08 PM

Sick said:

crispy said:

TheFuckOffKid said:
ALIEN

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

versus

MAVERICK

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Fixed.

That kid in the background is smoking and drinking beer! What kind of family values are those?

Also, his trunks are falling off.

Even worse is his choice in beverage...Schlitz Malt Liquor? EWWW!!!

Evilgasm

Netherlands

April 2007

OCT 10, 2008 10:18 AM

In a feeble attempt to get back on topic...

I think the reason Americans consider McCain a viable candidate is mostly due to lack of information. American media is notoriously bad at reporting these things called "facts". It tends to focus more on the latest mishaps of the Hilton and Lohan types than on people and events that may actually be of some importance. Most people simply don't know what's at stake or what the candidates are really about.

It's a scary thing that the most powerful and influential country on Earth has one of the least well informed populations.

Katieesq

USA

June 2008

OCT 10, 2008 10:22 AM

BatAttaK said:

Sick said:

crispy said:

TheFuckOffKid said:
ALIEN

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

versus

MAVERICK

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Fixed.

That kid in the background is smoking and drinking beer! What kind of family values are those?

Also, his trunks are falling off.

Even worse is his choice in beverage...Schlitz Malt Liquor? EWWW!!!

I know this is derailing the thread more, but that is NOT Schlitz malt liquor, it's Schlitz beer. And if you don't know the difference, you are truly missing out.

RudieCantFail

Intercourse, PA

January 2006

OCT 10, 2008 10:31 AM

Katieesq said:
I know this is derailing the thread more, but that is NOT Schlitz malt liquor, it's Schlitz beer. And if you don't know the difference, you are truly missing out.

I respectfully disagree. They are equally vile.

Accuser

Scottsdale, AZ

October 2006

OCT 10, 2008 10:38 AM

Evilgasm said:
In a feeble attempt to get back on topic...

I think the reason Americans consider McCain a viable candidate is mostly due to lack of information. American media is notoriously bad at reporting these things called "facts". It tends to focus more on the latest mishaps of the Hilton and Lohan types than on people and events that may actually be of some importance. Most people simply don't know what's at stake or what the candidates are really about.

It's a scary thing that the most powerful and influential country on Earth has one of the least well informed populations.

I think you've misdiagnosed the problem. The media isn't talking about Hilton or Lohan right now. It's non-stop election coverage all the time.

The problem is that the American media doesn't know what the word "objective" means. They think it means giving both sides equal treatment, assuming that they both deserve the same respect and leaving it to the viewers to decide. Except Fox.

What "objective" is supposed to mean is that you follow the evidence, not your preconceived notions or desires. It means that you allow evidence to decide your position, not that you refuse to take a position.

So most of the news media refuses to act like they've picked a candidate, except for Fox and some of MSNBC. I think that's enough to account for the polls.

Conroy

United Kingdom

September 2005

OCT 10, 2008 10:51 AM

I agree, I think US news reporting is broken, and so do some of your reporters.

CNN anchor Campbell Brown says
So when you have Candidate A saying the sky is blue, and Candidate B saying it's a cloudy day, I look outside and I see, well, it's a cloudy day .. I should be able to tell my viewers, 'Candidate A is wrong, Candidate B is right.' And not have to say, 'Well, you decide.' Then it would be like I'm an idiot. And I'd be treating the audience like idiots.

abbazappa

Los Osos, CA

June 2006

OCT 10, 2008 12:59 PM

I am confused, are these illegal aliens (or "undocumented workers") or are we talking about legal immigrants that haven't became citizens yet?

nicole_powers

NEWSWIRE

I'm lost

OCT 10, 2008 05:33 PM

Around 94% of those who have expressed their views on the site are legal -- they either have visas or green cards. And remember, many illegal workers still pay taxes!

Everythingisgold

United Kingdom

May 2007

OCT 11, 2008 01:11 AM

I think Bill Hicks said it very well when he mimed holding up two puppets and declared it politics in America today: "I think the puppet on the left shares my beliefs."

Your reference to the rest of the world choosing Obama may well be accurate, but I don't think most expressing a preference here in the UK are any better informed than those in the USA. Chatting with a friend, she declared that she thought Obama would be great because he was new. I asked her "can you tell me one thing about his policies?" She couldn't. We are living in the Age of the Image. (Girl was a doctor and university lecturer, for what it's worth).

But for all that this campaign is heavily about image, why is it having a more marked effect in the rest of the world than in the USA? The biggest reason is quite simple - the rest of the world isn't brought up with a partisan loyalty as part of their self-identity. A person may doubt themselves, but they wont put up with other people questioning them. Whatever the inclinations of independent people would be, the USA is stuffed with people who *define themselves* as Republican or Democrat. It's a tribe, a club, a belief. And far be it from me to suggest that such an even split across the nation is in engineered, but the reality is pretty obvious.

The system itself is in a dire situation and the USA must elect not a candidate, but a change in the political map to escape this. So long as there are just two parties fielding two candidates that perform their little puppet dance in the tiny patch of Middle Ground, no change will come.

Oddly enough, one of the only likely candidates that might have changed things was Mike Huckabee who was determined to bring about campaign finance reform and curtail the bribers (lobbyists) in Washington. I don't share his beliefs, but I don't discriminate on people's beliefs, but on what they have or will do.

We will see what happens on the day of the Election. I suspect that the USA will vote to keep their system, but I wont relinquish hope that the two-party system will slip a little. One day it must.

Everything is gold.