TresSugar

It's Junior-Super-Tuesday! Tell Us Who You Think Will Win!

CitizenSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:00:38 -0800

With four states up for grabs today including larger-than-life Texas and pivotal Ohio, the campaigns are feeling the crunch and it's anybody's guess how the delegates will fall tonight. Here's your chance to play pundit and tell us who's winning what when the polls close tonight - vote on each contest here, and see how your guesses match up tonight!
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Super Tuesday Ballot: Your Results!

LibertySugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:00:59 -0800

Many of you played pundit, and took a guess as to who would win six of the biggest contests on Tuesday. Here's how the Sugar predictions* matched up to the actual results.

Massachusetts:

Sugar Prediction: Obama and McCain
Actual Winner: Clinton and Romney

California:

Sugar Prediction: Obama and McCain*
Actual Winner: Clinton and McCain*

For the rest of the results, read more.

New York:

Sugar Prediction: Clinton* and McCain*
Actual Winner: Clinton* and McCain*

Arizona:

Sugar Prediction: Obama and McCain*
Actual Winner: Clinton and McCain*

Utah:

Sugar Prediction: Obama* and Romney*
Actual Winner: Obama* and Romney*

Tennessee:

Sugar Prediction: Obama* and McCain
Actual Winner: Clinton and Huckabee

*Sugar voters picked winner!!

How did your predictions hold up?

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Super Tuesday 2008 Ballot: Who Will Win the Big Races?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:46:49 -0800

Get in the election spirit and take a guess as to who will win six of the biggest contests on Tuesday. Who do you think will sweep Massachusetts, California, New York, Arizona, Utah, and Tennessee? At this point, your guess is as good as the pollsters!

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State Ballot Initiatives Could Influence Presidential Campaign

LibertySugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:15:19 -0700

Controversial state law initiatives, set to appear on this November's ballot, could influence the debate throughout the presidential campaign, and provide national voters various litmus tests by which to judge the candidates. Research shows that initiatives do not increase turnout, but the measures are prompting Barack Obama and John McCain to take positions on hot-button issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, affirmative action, labor rights, and energy. Here is a roundup of some of the most divisive initiatives:

Abortion: South Dakota will consider banning abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or threats to a woman’s health. California will vote on parental notification (for the third time). Colorado voters will decide whether to define a “person” as “any human being from the moment of fertilization.”
Same-sex marriage: In Arizona, California, and Florida, voters will decide whether to amend the state constitutions and define marriage as between one man and one woman, like 27 other states have. McCain endorsed the proposal, while Obama says he opposes the ban.
Affirmative Action: Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska will consider banning affirmative action, as California, Michigan and Washington have. McCain supports the ban, although in 1998 he opposed something similar. Obama opposes a ban.

To find out what voters will decide about labor and energy, read more.

Labor: Colorado will decide whether to prohibit employers from requiring union membership or union dues. In South Dakota, a measure would prohibit unions from making political contributions if they have agreements with state or local governments. In Ohio, voters will decide whether to require companies with over 50 workers to provide seven paid sick days. Obama’s platform endorses a similar plan for sick leave, while McCain has criticized the idea. Massachusetts's ballot has an initiative to abolish the state income tax.
Energy: A California measure would require utilities to generate 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2010, increasing to 40 percent in 2020 and 50 percent by 2025.

Do you think ballot initiatives are the best way for activists to call attention to their causes?

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VA Rules Military Ballots Must Be Counted & Vets Campaign

CitizenSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:15:45 -0700

After watching the documentary Hacking Democracy last night on HBO, the business of counting votes was very much on my mind today (if you're at all curious about electronic voting and accuracy, watch it. It's repeating a lot this month.) This story of counting trouble is hopefully resolved.

In Virginia, the attorney general has just ruled that absentee ballots filled out by members of the armed forces must be counted. This ruling comes after Fairfax county began rejecting overseas ballots for a technicality. Though all votes count, those who can't be here in person to vote because they're serving, that's a vote to count for sure.

Troops may be voting, but veterans are volunteering for both campaigns. To see they're stories, read more.

Though Pentagon regulations forbid active-duty troops from doing and partisan political activities, for those 869,000 troops who've served in Iraq or Afghanistan and have left the military, campaigning is just the ticket. McCain is expected to carry the military/veteran vote though young vets are working for both parties. For some, the rigors of working on a campaign is pretty close to the service they remember.

One such volunteer said, “For the first time since I came home, I felt like I had the same clarity of purpose with a like-minded set of individuals. It really motivated me.” The key difference for these volunteers could be their motivation. For many it's people over policy. One describes the reason he's campaigning like this: “We lost 37 men in my unit. That sacrifice is holy to me. All of them I knew and I loved.”

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Australian "Sex Party" Wants to Change Negative Notions

TresSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:00:52 -0700

Australians will find a new political party on the ballot next time there's a vote. The Australian Sex Party has officially registered as a political party. Its mission is to further an open and positive discussion about sexual topics like censorship, education, health, and discrimination. The party wants to offer an alternative to "morals campaigners and prudish politicians," and you can follow its activism on Twitter.

The creators of the Australian Sex Party say that the fact that it took a while for election officials to decide whether or not to allow the word "sex" in the name of a political party proves that the party is necessary. Fiona Patten, a creator and likely future candidate, explains:

"One of the reasons for establishing the party was to provide a positive platform for sexual issues amongst the negative notions of sex that most politicians and political parties have."

Does this idea get your vote?

Front Page: Postelection Unrest Rages in Iran

TresSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:46 -0700

Following the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, thousands of Iranians defied a ban to march in Tehran today. Iran's supreme leader has also ordered a ballot probe. - CNN
The Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th NBA championship last night. - ESPN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu redefined his stance on Palestine yesterday, saying that he does support an independent state. - Washington Post
Michelle Obama took advantage of her special relationship with Queen Elizabeth by having a tour and private visit in honor of daughter Sasha's birthday last week. - Reuters
US birth trends hint at a bias for boys in some Asian families. - New York Times

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Dick Cheney: Totally Pro Gay Marriage

TresSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Dick Cheney is more progressive than Barack Obama . . . at least when it comes to gay marriage. While Obama supports civil unions for gay couples (while keeping marriage between a man and a woman), Cheney is all for states granting gay couples the right to marry. He said today at the National Press Club:

"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish."

Cheney's position offers evidence that when someone is close to a gay person, he will worry less about defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman and more about everyone having equal access to the same institutional and cultural privileges. Even when there's a presidential election to win with the help of anti-gay-marriage ballot initiatives.

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Some Firefighters & New Yorkers Believe 9/11 Conspiracies

CitizenSugar — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:00:02 -0700

An issue that doesn't get much mainstream attention made the front page of Slate this week: 9/11 conspiracy theories. Following an episode of Rescue Me, during which firefighter character Franco Rivera shares his beliefs that 9/11 was an inside job, writer Christopher Beam began to wonder: do actual firefighters subscribe to 9/11 conspiracy theories? The answer is yes.

The various alternative versions of the horrific day are not that easy to follow, but the one favored by many firefighters is that the Twin Towers and 7 World Trade Center fell thanks to controlled demolition, and not because of the plane crashes. In recorded interviews right after 9/11, firefighters said they heard explosions right before the buildings fell. But those tapes were not released until 2005.

A 2007 poll found that 26 percent of Americans think the government had something to do with the attack. A group of 9/11 families, first responders, and other citizens is working on getting a measure on the New York state ballot that would legally mandate the formation of a new investigation with subpoena power. Do you want to see more investigation or do these theories offend you?

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Same-sex Marriage Ban Leading in California

CitizenSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:34:48 -0800

It's still too close call, but it looks like California voters have backed Proposition 8, which would change the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. California Supreme Court legalized nuptials for same-sex couples earlier this year, and more than 18,000 couples took advantage of the landmark decision.

Right now about 95 percent of the vote is counted and the measure has 52 percent of the vote, but election officials estimate there could be as many as two million ballots left to count - primarily mail ballots that arrived Tuesday. The San Francisco City Attorney's office says he plans to challenge the validity of a ballot measure.

Yesterday was a sad day for America across the board in terms of gay marriage. In Arizona, Proposition 102 which bans gay marriage, easily passed. In Florida, the gay marriage ban needed 60 percent of the vote and still passed, which also restricts rights of any cohabitating couple who are not husband and wife. Meanwhile, Arkansas passed a measure forbidding anyone other than a married man and woman from adopting a child.

Stay tuned for final results as they come in.

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