Even I didn’t know this!!!

From takeyourkids2vote.org:

Do you know why Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November? Don’t worry. Most people don’t. That day was picked by Congress in 1845 because most Americans were farmers back then; and by November, most of the crops were in.

But, why Tuesday? That‘s because most of the people who lived in rural America had to travel quite a long way by horseback or carriage to reach the county seat where they voted. Monday wasn’t a good day because many people would need to begin traveling on Sunday, and that would have meant missing Church.

Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent Election Day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. First, because November 1st, the day after Halloween, is All Saints Day, a Holy Day for Roman Catholics. Second, since most merchants were in the habit of doing their books on the first day of the month, Congress chose a day that wouldn’t interfere with the business community.

Fascinating!

The lesson to be learned in this post is that I told you something incorrect in class:

I told you that the election date (the first Tuesday after the first Monday) has been set since the constitution was ratified by the original thirteen colonies. Obviously that’s not correct!

So after I did some historical research on this subject, I got to thinking about election day.

Even though Tuesdays made sense for elections in 1845, do they make sense 163 years later?

Tuesday, a work day, can be a difficult day for voters to make time to get to the polls. Saturday may be a more advantageous day to have election day. Citizens are less likely to be at work on a Saturday (although a significant amount of the populous does work on weekends) and more likely to be available to vote.

In 1845 election day was moved to Tuesday to encourage rural voters to make it in to town to vote. If election day was originally moved to Tuesday to encourage voting, why not move it to a day like Saturday in order to encourage voting?

In addition, other than tradition, why do we vote in November?

Why not vote the day after taxes are due, April 16th? This would surely encourage a more fiscally responsible government. Or why not vote on July 4th while patriotic spirits are high? Election day on July 4th would surely encourage a higher level of voter participation. Right?

Here’s a copy of the test review for the October 28th.

Test 3 Review

Study!!!

Many of you are looking for the ‘key issues’ in your swing states.

The New York Times has good profiles for all 50 states, including several key issues for each state! Use the drop down menu on the right to select your swing state.

Check it out here.

14 days from today!

This is pretty cool.

Google has a feature on maps.google.com where you can analyze the polls! It’s pretty cool and you can look at everything at once, not just one site.

http://maps.google.com/

Click on “Electoral Votes Estimates” and play away!

The Winner of Round 3???

Obama? McCain? The moderator? Joe the plumber?

Wait – Who is this Joe the Plumber guy?

Conversation about Joe the Plumber dominated the debate last night. McCain and Obama used the example of Joe, a plumber, to illustrate what will happen under their economic plans. This guy, is a real guy who asked Obama a question at a recent rally. To me, however, the point was quite tiring and seemed more like pandering than anything (from both sides). Maybe you liked it however?

Funny enough, there is another Joe the Plumber from Amarillo who has his own website! He’s the “Friendliest Plumber in Town!”

All-in-all, however, I found this to be the best of the three debates so far. They hit some key and interesting issues: how dirty the campaigns have gotten lately, the economy, abortion, and education. Immigration, however, stayed off the table I would have enjoyed a conversation on that important issue.

Update: Joe the Plumber isn’t a licensed plumber and he owes $1200 in back taxes. He’s also already held more press conferences than  Gov. Sarah Palin.

The third, and FINAL, debate between McCain and Obama is tonight! I bet, like me, you felt like you’ve seen it all. You’ve seen a few (if not all) debates and things haven’t changed much. It’s the same old stuff. Right? Why waste your time watching?

I’ll give you one good reason to watch.

Tonight is John McCain’s last chance to change the course of this race and win it all. If he doesn’t land a few zingers and convince the American public that HE is the man to handle the economy, that he is the man to solve American problems, then it could all be over. McCain needs to paint Obama as unknown, risky, and unexperienced. He has to go back to his original point: Trust me, I’m experienced, I’ve been there before.

How do you think the debate will affect the people in your state?

Second of all: Watch the debate WITH someone. Don’t watch it alone, it’s boring if you can’t talk to someone about it! It’s especially fun if you watch it with someone who disagrees with you.

Next: What do you think Saturday Night Live and John Stewart will make fun of this weekend? Usually, those things are the things that stick in the American people’s minds!

Finally: Who do you think will be the best President for the country??? Why? What did they show you in the debate tonight???

Statesman.com has a pretty sweet preview video of the game last Friday night against Cedar Park.

The drumline sounds pretty sweet in the intro! (we have one of the best drumlines in the area, FYI) It’s too bad we didn’t win the football game. Don’t worry though, there is a lot of football yet to be played this season!