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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thank G-d it's Tuesday!
Today is the Likud primary.
For the past week my phone has not stopped vibrating and ringing with SMSs and recorded messages from various factions literally begging me to vote for their candidate to lead the party.
After I vote today I am so quitting the party. Not out of any ideological change of heart mind you. Just so I won't ever be subjected to this kind of harassment again!
I may go back and count the calls and messages and cast my vote based entirely on who harassed me the least!
Posted by David Bogner on January 31, 2012 | Permalink
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It's funny you mention this, because I received a phone call yesterday from a (347) area code and, when I picked up the phone, it was a recording of a woman speaking Hebrew. For a second, I thought, "Oh, cool...someone got a wrong number, but they're Israeli...maybe I can drop some Yiddish on them as a joke and make a new friend," until I realized about three seconds later there wasn't an actual person on the line. But now that you write this, I wonder if it is possible that Jews in the U.S. could be receiving recorded Likud campaign messages as well? My Hebrew is not up to par these days and I only picked up a couple of words (like "gam," "zeh," and "chaverim") -- nothing that would really give me much indication of what the recording was about. Still, that would be kind of weird, no? If it was, indeed, Likud, particularly seeing as I am not, nor have ever been, a resident of Israel (not that I haven't given it serious thought!)
Posted by: Erica | Jan 31, 2012 2:39:17 PM
David, when you figure out how to quit Likud please share those detailed steps with the rest of us! We have also been bombarded with calls and SMS messages and when I asked WHERE the voting location was, no one was able to give me clear directions - just "near Maccabi" (which turned out to be in a building facing a different direction than Maccabi that only someone with a car would have noticed because it's actually at the end of that parking lot and since I walk up through the shopping center I never would have found it on my own).
The polling place was the worst balagan I've experienced so far in Israel! Human gridlock for over an hour, and why? Completely due to incompetence - no valid reason. A group of Ethiopians entered in front of me just before Security blocked my entrance. Then for 35 minutes Security kept announcing that only people with last names vav thru mem could enter (mine is hey) - and then only people from Binyamin. When I asked why, I was told that the delay in my alef-bet section was due to the fact that there was no representative from the Ethiopian community present to help them understand how to vote and what they were voting for! When an elderly man finally arrived to translate for them, more than half were moved to the other line because their last names did not begin with alef to hey!
BTW, I'm not picking on the Ethiopians! There were plenty of Anglos present who didn't understand most of what was on the ballot - myself included. Fortunately for Moshe Feiglin, I managed to recognize his name in Hebrew and place it in the correct envelope.
Posted by: Tehillah Hessler | Jan 31, 2012 3:41:41 PM
If you don't like the system, Trepp, get involved and change it -- heck, you'd probably get a ton of votes by promising NOT to call prospective Likud voters!
Posted by: ProphetJoe | Jan 31, 2012 4:17:59 PM
And back in the States, we must endure until November...
Not that we're getting personally bombarded like you. But it feels like this campaign has already gone on about ten years too long.
Posted by: psachya | Jan 31, 2012 5:03:02 PM
We have a much better system in the US. Since only those who live in a few small or early states have any real chance that their primary vote will matter,the rest of us can sit back and watch the circus of endless debates.
Posted by: ED | Jan 31, 2012 5:55:45 PM
ditto what psachya said!! :)
Posted by: val | Feb 1, 2012 12:05:05 AM
To Ed: I don't think having unrepresentative states decide the nominee is a good idea. I seem to remember that the purpose of the "Super Tuesday" primary was to give more states a better chance to influence the nominee. (I live in Tennessee.) Well, it seemed that this just influenced more states to move up their primaries. So unfortunately we're back to square one with the nominee supposedly decided at the end of January (at least under the old system we'd wait until February).
I think that if the political parties wanted to, they could stop this madness and mandate that there be a series of regional primaries so that each state on a rotating basis could be first (and this is despite the laws in Iowa and New Hampshire mandating that they be first). This has to be a better way than the way it's being done now. As for the endless debates, you're on your own on that subject--frankly, I'd rather have fewer debates that are more meaningful. If you want to sit back, have at it--I'm tired of having someone else make up my mind for me.
Posted by: sheldan | Feb 1, 2012 5:06:14 PM
Just kidding sheldan. Of course the present US system stinks.Did you know that Florida was willing to give up 50% of its delegates to have a winner take all primary at the end of Jan.
Posted by: ED | Feb 1, 2012 5:20:54 PM
That's more or less the system I use for evaluating election issues on which I'm inadequately informed/worked up. In my state, no election can take place without a plethora of measures placed on the ballot by initiative (or, occasionally, referendum by our state legislature, if they feel the issue is too highly charged for them to actually risk voting on it directly... But I digress).
Anyhow, the state prints up this handy-dandy booklet containing the arguments pro and con, and the rebuttals to same. I find that my true position on these issues most often corresponds to whichever side makes their argument with the smallest amount of exclamation points, statements rendered in all caps, and boldface font.
Posted by: bratschegirl | Feb 2, 2012 12:09:01 AM
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