MetaTalk

I thought that it might be good to have a place for people to share links/contact information/registration/locations etc. related to voting. The 2018 U.S. Midterm elections are just around the corner (Tuesday November 6, 2018). This isn't the place to talk about #potus45, we have our mega-threads for that. But this is a good reminder to remember to vote, to make sure you're registered, and to get out there and let your voice be heard.
posted by Fizz on Oct 15, 2018 - 26 comments

Aka the anti–fucking fuck thread. I remember we had some threads soon after the 2016 election where Mefites shared their efforts toward making the world a better place, and I would love to do it again, especially since I could use some inspiration to get my butt moving as midterms approach! [more inside]
posted by sunset in snow country on Oct 4, 2018 - 109 comments

Please help me track down the various links people have posted in the MeFi politics megathread that argue that general, across-the-board voter turnout is the key to defeating Republicans in elections. [more inside]
posted by Rykey on Jan 3, 2018 - 5 comments

Every so often someone proposes we avoid discussion of unhappy outcomes in general but more specifically the unlikelihood of an impeachment in the Trump threads, which now appears to be becoming de facto policy. It seems like it's worth talking over before it does.
posted by Artw on Jul 22, 2017 - 110 comments

The biggest change in the way that mefites participate on the blue in years has been the rise of US politics megathreads. We have had several discussions of the qualitative impact of them, but it occurred to me that it might be useful to dig into the infodump and see what quantitative picture might emerge. I think my findings are worth sharing - while a quantitative analysis on its own can't tell us whether the megathreads are a good thing or not, there are several negative trends regarding community engagement and participation that are happening in close concurrency with the rise of the megathreads. [more inside]
posted by strangely stunted trees on Mar 27, 2017 - 435 comments

Based on a lot of discussion over the last year and especially the last couple months about how the site handles the visibility and organization of posts about contemporary US politics, we've put together a new sidebar tool that you can test out starting today. [more inside]
posted by cortex on Feb 6, 2017 - 117 comments

Back in January, on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, I set up an election prediction contest for you fine folks, and got 74 ballots in response. Nearly ten months (and ten million comments) later, the results are in: congratulations to Cash4Lead, for his remarkably far-sighted prediction of the winners of Iowa, New Hampshire, Super Tuesday, the nominations, the House majority, and even Clinton's VP pick! A $50 donation to the charity of your choice is yours. Oodles more analysis of the collective wisdom inside [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Nov 20, 2016 - 14 comments

Currently things like political debates (and similar unique events, such as Apple announcements) tend to play out in related threads on the Blue. Since that just adds to (usually) already-long threads, wouldn't it make sense to require that dedicated posts be made on the Purple? (I'm not alone in thinking so.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker on Mar 10, 2016 - 337 comments

It's been an unbelievably unpredictable primary season this year, and the Iowa caucuses are less than 30 hours away. So why not get ahead of the curve with a TRUMP-SIZED election prediction contest? I'm thinking Iowa (Dem/GOP), New Hampshire (Dem/GOP), Super Tuesday (Dem/GOP), final nominee (Dem/GOP), and general election winner, with ties broken by House/Senate control, Veepstakes speculation, and as much analysis/rationalization/weeping as you feel appropriate. Prize: One (1) $50 ($fifty) donation to the charity of your choice (split equally if necessary), and eternal bragging rights over the ruins of the punditocracy. Deadline is 8:00 PM Eastern time Monday, when the caucuses start. (Feel free to enter after Iowa or New Hampshire vote, but be advised that your prediction for those states will not count!) See inside for entry form. [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Jan 31, 2016 - 141 comments

The Sarah Palin thread has been surpassed. this is now Metafilter's longest thread. Happy Election Season everyone!
posted by Artw on Oct 16, 2012 - 146 comments

mathowie's opinion on the nerd vote has been posted over at boingboing.fyi.
posted by dr. moot on Oct 24, 2008 - 94 comments

You know, I get as sick as anybody over every minor story about the U.S. presidential election getting posted to the Blue, and I know the mods are trying to keep the quality of posts up, but it [i]still[/i] surprised me to go there tonight and find NO DISCUSSION of what history could very well define as THE important turning point in this election: John McCain's not knowing how many houses he owns. This on the heels of his definition of $5 million as defining "rich". Could no one draft a decent FPP about it, or has it been decided that this story isn't going on the Blue no matter what? If so, one has to wonder: why?
posted by spock on Aug 21, 2008 - 321 comments

Policy regarding political fundraising, campaigning or other support sites for Ron Paul? [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Nov 25, 2007 - 81 comments

Jimbob said "Yeah, keep this thread running. May it serve as an example to all the American politics nuts who insist on starting a new post every time Hillary takes a shit." And so that's just what we did. In an example of how I think Metafilter can do politics well, the Australian Politics thread, which started on October 14 (the date the election was called, which is not the first day of the campaign), ran for 30 days straight and (at time of writing) had amassed almost 600 comments. But as is the norm for an FPP after 30 days on the Blue, it's about to be closed so discussion has moved over to Thread #2, by wilful, to get us through to election day. An index of the first thread is inside, as well as kudos for those involved (because I think they deserve it). [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Nov 11, 2007 - 65 comments

Alright, this is just lame -- I asked a very specific question related to the election and it got deleted. I wanted to find a capsule summary of how Rush and Hannity were playing post-election as Wednesday programming opened. If my post is considered too redundant or inflammatory, fine, but telling me to go listen to the radio is kind of callous and rude. I said I missed the coverage and as it is, out where I live I don't even know if we get the shows. You all don't have to repost it; but I'm just kind of teed off.
posted by stam_broker on Nov 8, 2006 - 54 comments

OK Matt : I took your deletion of my previous two posts on this subject, the 2004 election controversy ( and probably several by other folks ) as an indication that either 1) you oppose posts on the election controversy or 2) you want quality posts. Since I don't like to think of you as a site manager inclined towards censorship, I took the deletion of those posts as an indication that they weren't of sufficient quality. So, I addressed #2 : I thought that was a high quality post - well substantiated, and which presented an angle not yet discussed or noted elsewhere on the net. If you are opposed to discussion of the 2004 election, why not state that in your posting guidelines ? I feel that would be more helpful. Otherwise, new users may be confused for those unspecified posting categories which you are inclined to delete.
posted by troutfishing on Nov 22, 2004 - 222 comments

If any folks would like to escape from the probable concentration on the US election here for the next day or two (and maybe many weeks after), you are all very welcome to come and discuss European issues over a cup of tea and scones at Viewropa...
posted by humuhumu on Nov 2, 2004 - 11 comments

Election Fatigue. Could we put all the US Election links and discussion in just 1 front page post per day. Tempers are flaring, and the level of discourse is not improving. The moratorium was not successful. Besides, sometimes I want to reference a comment or link, and can't find it in the welter of election postings.
posted by theora55 on Oct 25, 2004 - 36 comments

There are 32 instances of the word Bush on the MeFi front page. How about we start http://bush.metafitler.com? Or maybe just take over BushFilter?
posted by armoured-ant on Oct 8, 2004 - 16 comments

You have less than a week to register to vote in the US Presidental Election. Please take a moment to check out this voter information guide to help register. If you're already registered or don't live in the US, click here.

That's a great public service announcement, except there's one word wrong. It should be: "If you're already registered or don't vote in the US". Some people live in the US but can't vote, and some don't live in the US but can vote.

Also, I checked that link, since I live in France and want to vote, but it didn't help. There's a bunch of sites for registering, but most of them assume you live in the US. However, overseasvote2004 was very helpful (mentioned here). Help is useful, because it's all a bit complicated.
posted by Turtle on Sep 27, 2004 - 10 comments

So, I notice there's a link in the sidebar to Devoter, and I was just wondering: is there a new policy about election/iraq/political posts? Should they be moved over to Devoter? Are you going to start deleting political threads here, Matt?
posted by monju_bosatsu on Aug 27, 2004 - 91 comments

Another post praising Howard Dean leads to charges of DeanFilter. There may be something to those charges: there have been several uncritical and laudatory Howard Dean posts on MetaFilter over the past few months, some of which seem interchangeable. And, as matteo points out, it's probably only going to get worse. We complain (rightly) when a post reeks of viral marketing; why shouldn't this be any different? Shouldn't we be more skeptical of breathless posts that coo over politicians? Aren't we (well, not me per se, but American voters) being sold something? Dean may well be the bee's knees, but still.
posted by mcwetboy on Jun 4, 2003 - 17 comments