I just had to go over to the other side of the tracks just to get an updated glimpse on how the "No" people are working (I love internet spying!).

Anyway, with all the Organizations and Corporations that are opposed, does this mean they tell their members how to vote too?

If I was a part of the local rotary club and the club voted on how they stand on it, must everyone vote that way during the election? I hope not! Just because your employer or organization says they are opposed to it, doesn't mean you have to vote that way.

Seeing all these organizations or businesses saying they are opposed to it doesn't make me shiver in the slightest that would make me change how I am going to make a big, fat, hole on my election ballot that votes YES ON I-695!!!

-- Sandy D (sandy)d1@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999

Answers

What kind of people are you liberetarians (or whoever you yhaoos are running the "Yes on i-695" fight)? Do you know absolutely nothing about our system of governemnt? This is exactly why I-695 is so bad. You've got people lining up to vote yes, because the only thing they understand is that they will save a few bucks. They don't know enough to educate themselves on what they will lose. They don't educate themselves on how governments work, or even the most basic details on how a secret ballot works. Have you ever voted Sandy? How do you suspect that all these subversive organizations, like the AARP, are ensuring that their members toe the line? What happens if you are a Liberatarian *And* retired? Do you suppose you'll be forced to split your vote?

-- Concerned WA parent (xxx@yyy.zzz), October 11, 1999.

For the love of god. In a perfect world, people would refrain from voting unless they understood the *entire* issue.

-- zzz (a@b.c), October 11, 1999.

Concerned:

Maybe I should just put it simple.

My question is: If a group, let's say as an example the Washington State Police has said they as a GROUP have said they are against it, are they trying to tell me that they will ensure that every single member MUST and will be voting No? All of them?

It's kinda like the White House. I think the thing is haunted cause the house talks like "The White House said today that...."

I am just wondering if a whole GROUP has posted that they are against it, does that really mean everyone in that group IS voting NO or simply by majority of the board of the group they have decided to back or not back I-695. And depending on that, what if there was a member who decided to go against anyway and vote the other way.

That's my point. Is it just because a group is saying they are against it, everyone in that group will be voting "No"?

I say this because to me, these Groups that are against it tell me nothing on how their PEOPLE are going to be voting from their website.

-- Sandy D (sandy_d1@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999.

OK Sandy,

You get 10 people together more or less randomly, and you take an issue as controversial as I-695, you will probably only have one chance in 500 of reaching a consensus either way. There is no way that any organization can compell it's members to vote the way it recomends. This goes for the Christian Coalition, and this goes for the Sierra Club.

I don't know how AARP makes it's recomendations, but I believe groups like trade unions take an actual poll of heads of the various locals to determine recomendations. Groups like AARP would probably hire experts that understand how a candidate or law will affect the constituency, and make recomendations to vote to affect the most positive outcome for the target group in general.

Therefore, if AARP comes out against AARP, it is because they believe that although a few of their members will make a killing in saved taxes on their motorhome, that social security dependant grannies (aka "welfare queens") will probably be hard-hit when bus service to the grocery store suffers.

-- Concerned WA Parent (xxx@yyy.zzz), October 11, 1999.

The answer lies with how each group is set up, and therefore, it is different for each one. Most groups have an elected leadership board which makes the decisions on what items to endorse or oppose. How representative of the "true" feelings of the entire group depends on how representative the board really is.

For example, the AWB is made up of over 3,700 members, but they did not all vote on whether to oppose 695 or not. That was done by the 160 member board of directors. However, I'd still guess that this is a fairly accurate representation, since the AWB does try pretty hard to maintain a good cross section on its board.

On the flip side, when the Republican Party voted to endorse 695 it also did not poll all card carrying members. Instead, each county sent two people to the meeting last month to vote.

Debating how much sway this kind of thing has on the general membership can be fun. 695 supporters can point to the unions'failure to convince their membership to vote against I-200, while opponents can point to the GOP's platform against witchcraft and new age stuff a few years back (hardly something an ordinary GOP voter cares about).

About the only thing that you can assume from an endorsement for or against is that the group (as an entity, not necessarily the entire membership) will spend some resources on the issue and will most likely lobby their own membership on the issue fairly hard.

But unless the group is pretty small or very tight knit, not all of its membership will vote the same way the group wants it to. So not all union members will vote against 695 and not all Republicans will vote for it.

-- Patrick (patrick1142@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999.

Thank you both. You just did more than you know.

As you all can see, it doesn't mean diddly if they have a list a mile long of organizations or businesses against us. It all matters on how the people want to vote.

I don't know about you, but I get tired of hearing about how such and such organization or business (or for that matter how many) are not endorsing it.

511,000+ PEOPLE not organizations or businesses put I-695 on the ballot. Something still tells me that there is still a high percentage of those that are still going to be marking "Yes" no matter what or whom says otherwise.

-- Sandy D (sandy_d1@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999.

Boeing says No on I-695. But if you talk with the employees like I have the majority are in favor...of I-695.

-- CEG (cegarrison@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999.

We all hope as "educated" voters that we will look at both sides of the issue. If we as indivuals have not put any money into the pot to fight for or against the issue do we really have the motivation to sway our vote because some multi-million dollar company decides to tell us what to think. I think that we as a society should think more about how it will affect us personally rather that the publicicty that we will give the multi-million companys by agreeing with them.

-- Kimberly (Mtymouse1@hotmail.com), October 13, 1999.

If your boss or any organization tells you how to vote then you should consider calling federal election commission. This is against the law.

-- Eric Sanders (Eric@hotmail.com), October 24, 1999.

Not so Eric, Organizations that do not collect public monies such as Labor Unions can spread the "no vote" to their members, in fact thas what their about. Protecting the interest of their members, and as you can see they are opposed to this initiative simply because it's bad for their members, which happen to be a large portion of the Puget Sound work force.

-- Ken (klemay@amouse.net), October 24, 1999.