To reiterate somewhat the comments I made on Making Light:
The system works. We got what I had hoped we would get: a big enough, and decisive enough, voter turnout to deliver an uncontested winner. Unfortunately it wasn't the winner I'd have hoped for.
Four more years of Bush seems to be what the majority of the American people want, and are willing to go out and vote for. Given these results, I feel that I could have, and should have, devoted more energy to convincing people otherwise.
This was a defeat; it wasn't a rout. We're still pretty close to a 50/50 nation, and I believe that it is possible to tip that balance of power. I'll be doing more to help bring that about in the next four years, and I hope others will too.
You might want to adjust your text color in the comments as well. I can't see what I just typed.
Well, after attending a local grassroots political gathering this week, I've had to admit that the results are less than 100% convincing, and should be looked at more closely. It's worth noting that a room full of people discussing this face to face make a more convincing argument than a poster on a blog who won't attach a name to their words.
MoveOn.org is circulating a petition to support Congressional representatives' initiative to investigate the vote. I've been motivated enough by this to write a letter that I'm sending to my Representative and Senators.
Well, after attending a local grassroots political gathering this week, I've had to admit that the results are less than 100% convincing, and should be looked at more closely. It's worth noting that a room full of people discussing this face to face make a more convincing argument than a poster on a blog who won't attach a name to their words.
MoveOn.org is circulating a petition to support Congressional representatives' initiative to investigate the vote. I've been motivated enough by this to write a letter that I'm sending to my Representative and Senators.
today they start counting the provisional ballots in Ohio. There are more provisional ballots than the difference between Bush and Kerry. Most of the ballot challenges were by Republicans. Therefore... anything is possible.
I look forward to a full accounting of these votes.
"And so the sorting and discarding of Kerry votes begins"
November 10, 2004
"Are the provisional ballots in Ohio being thrown out? A new rule for counting provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County, Ohio was implemented on Tuesday, November 9 at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, according to election observer Victoria Lovegren.
"The new ruling in Cuyahoga County mandates that provisional ballots in yellow packets must be “Rejected” if there is no “date of birth” on the packet. The Free Press obtained copies of the original “Provisional Verification Procedure” from Cuyahoga County which stated “Date of birth is not mandatory and should not reject a provisional ballot.” The original procedure required the voter’s name, address and a signature that matched the signature in the county’s database.
"Lovegren described the clerks as “kind of disturbed” after the new ruling came down. She said that one of the clerks told her, “This is new. This just came down. They just changed it in the last thirty minutes.”
'WASHINGTON, Nov 8: Former president George Bush, father of the present White House occupant, believes his son's re-election triumph caps the end of a "strange, difficult year".
...
"It was a strange, difficult year. And when it's your own son in there ... it's very difficult. It hurts far more when you son is criticized than when I used to be in that crossfire," said Mr Bush, who served a single term as president but lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton.
A particularly hard moment came in the final hours of this year's campaign, the elder Bush said, when early exit polls suggested that President George Bush might not be re-elected.
"When I got off the aeroplane, flying to Washington to go to the White House, they said these exit polls all look bad. It felt like somebody had hit me right, square in the stomach," said Bush, who learned some hours later that the polls were skewed.
"These exit poll people ought to be fired. The networks don't get their money's worth - they're wrong all the time," he told the BBC." http://www.dawn.com/2004/11/09/int10.htm
To reiterate somewhat the comments I made on Making Light:
The system works. We got what I had hoped we would get: a big enough, and decisive enough, voter turnout to deliver an uncontested winner. Unfortunately it wasn't the winner I'd have hoped for.
Four more years of Bush seems to be what the majority of the American people want, and are willing to go out and vote for. Given these results, I feel that I could have, and should have, devoted more energy to convincing people otherwise.
This was a defeat; it wasn't a rout. We're still pretty close to a 50/50 nation, and I believe that it is possible to tip that balance of power. I'll be doing more to help bring that about in the next four years, and I hope others will too.
You might want to adjust your text color in the comments as well. I can't see what I just typed.
Posted by Jimcat on November 3 2004 14:31
Why do you say uncontested?
http://politics.slashdot.org/politics/04/11/03/1815227.shtml?tid=103&tid=219
Posted by tryrt on November 3 2004 18:16
Well, after attending a local grassroots political gathering this week, I've had to admit that the results are less than 100% convincing, and should be looked at more closely. It's worth noting that a room full of people discussing this face to face make a more convincing argument than a poster on a blog who won't attach a name to their words.
MoveOn.org is circulating a petition to support Congressional representatives' initiative to investigate the vote. I've been motivated enough by this to write a letter that I'm sending to my Representative and Senators.
Posted by Jimcat on November 12 2004 03:56
Well, after attending a local grassroots political gathering this week, I've had to admit that the results are less than 100% convincing, and should be looked at more closely. It's worth noting that a room full of people discussing this face to face make a more convincing argument than a poster on a blog who won't attach a name to their words.
MoveOn.org is circulating a petition to support Congressional representatives' initiative to investigate the vote. I've been motivated enough by this to write a letter that I'm sending to my Representative and Senators.
Posted by Jimcat on November 12 2004 03:57
Dern it. Apologies for the duplicate post. Either my browser or this site somehow didn't show my post after I submitted it.
Posted by Jimcat on November 12 2004 03:59
today they start counting the provisional ballots in Ohio. There are more provisional ballots than the difference between Bush and Kerry. Most of the ballot challenges were by Republicans. Therefore... anything is possible.
I look forward to a full accounting of these votes.
Also , see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_U.S._Election_controversies_and_irregularities
Posted by the nameless adsfisdfa on November 15 2004 13:35
"And so the sorting and discarding of Kerry votes begins"
November 10, 2004
"Are the provisional ballots in Ohio being thrown out? A new rule for counting provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County, Ohio was implemented on Tuesday, November 9 at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, according to election observer Victoria Lovegren.
"The new ruling in Cuyahoga County mandates that provisional ballots in yellow packets must be “Rejected” if there is no “date of birth” on the packet. The Free Press obtained copies of the original “Provisional Verification Procedure” from Cuyahoga County which stated “Date of birth is not mandatory and should not reject a provisional ballot.” The original procedure required the voter’s name, address and a signature that matched the signature in the county’s database.
"Lovegren described the clerks as “kind of disturbed” after the new ruling came down. She said that one of the clerks told her, “This is new. This just came down. They just changed it in the last thirty minutes.”
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/985
Posted by asf on November 17 2004 20:43
"Pollsters should be fired, says Bush Sr
'WASHINGTON, Nov 8: Former president George Bush, father of the present White House occupant, believes his son's re-election triumph caps the end of a "strange, difficult year".
...
"It was a strange, difficult year. And when it's your own son in there ... it's very difficult. It hurts far more when you son is criticized than when I used to be in that crossfire," said Mr Bush, who served a single term as president but lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton.
A particularly hard moment came in the final hours of this year's campaign, the elder Bush said, when early exit polls suggested that President George Bush might not be re-elected.
"When I got off the aeroplane, flying to Washington to go to the White House, they said these exit polls all look bad. It felt like somebody had hit me right, square in the stomach," said Bush, who learned some hours later that the polls were skewed.
"These exit poll people ought to be fired. The networks don't get their money's worth - they're wrong all the time," he told the BBC."
http://www.dawn.com/2004/11/09/int10.htm
Next time they'll get the best money can buy.
Posted by sdfghg on November 17 2004 21:14