O. U. I.

        So, yeah, we're out early this week. We usually come to you on Tuesday, but we don't want anything to come between you and your trip to the voting booth! On next Wednesday, the election winners may well be known, but for now here's some things to keep in mind about polls and projected election results.

        Margin of error means that there is a built in fudge factor in a poll, usually it's 3%. So if a poll shows that a candidate has 45% of the vote, it really means a range of 42% to 48%.

        Above all, keep a positive attitude. We must win. "FAILURE IS IMPOSSIBLE!" -- Susan B. Anthony

        Popular vote as seen on the now daily tracking polls have shown the presidential race to be a dead heat, within the margin of error (at the time the poll was taken), but an election is not won or lost on popular vote. What do count are the individual state results.

        You may be sure that on election night every media outlet, reporter and pundit will be busting their guts to be the first to report which states go to Gore and which ones go to Bush. They will base much of their prognostications on exit polls and a small percentage of counted votes. They can be wrong!

        This urgency in the media to be first to declare winners affects voter turnout in other time zones. When a voter hears that her/his candidate has already been elected (or defeated), s/he may well decide not to bother to go to the polls and vote.

        This hurts the whole ticket. It should be remembered that there are very important House and Senate races as well as local elections that need our votes. Remind your friends and relatives that may live in the mid-West or on the West Coast to vote no matter what they might hear about a winner or loser.

        Meanwhile, back on the presidential trails, it's been revealed that the candidate promising openness and honesty wasn't. His youthful indiscretions have come back to haunt him. He was specifically asked by reporters if he had ever been arrested or convicted and he replied that he had been arrested for stealing a Christmas wreath -- a college boy prank. Ha Ha, laughter all around, but he had been given his chance to be truthful and he flunked the open and honest test.

        Yes, it was a long time ago, but Bush was an admitted alcohol abuser and now it is revealed that he was arrested for drunken driving and that he lied. Now he is putting the blame on the Gore campaign because it was a Democrat that disclosed his lie.

        Some states call it D.U.I (Driving Under the Influence), but Maine calls it O.U.I. (OPERATING Under the Influence). Well, we know in this case that it means operating under the influence of alcohol, but it really nails it in other areas because G. W. quite obviously OPERATES under the influence of big oil, big tobacco, big drug companies, the Christian Coalition and all his daddy's men.

        What he does NOT operate under is a concern for the rights of women, or concern for crimes against women. "W" Bush is against having a hate crime bill. In Marietta, Georgia, a 13-year-old mentally disabled girl was raped by up to 25 males for 12 hours. The rapists ranged from 12 to 24-years of age.

        Jennifer Bivins, a victim advocate at the Southern Crescent Sexual Assault Center in Jonesboro said, "Sexual assaults against the disabled are probably underreported because victims are unable to explain what happened or are perceived as unreliable witnesses."

        RAPE IS A HATE CRIME. http://www.gendergappers.org/2000-042.htm

        twanda@gendergappers.org  

        2000-045

        Copyright 2000 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.

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