Advertisement

Did Kerry concede Too Soon?

First, I think Kerry might have considered the misery of being unable to fulfill his campaign promises with a GOP controlled House which would never vote to increase taxes. European countries were expressing reluctance to help in Iraq even if Kerry were President. And the last think the country needs is for a Dem to be in the White House when we get chased out of Iraq with our tails between our legs.

But, more seriously, Kerry probably realizes it would antagonize the public to immediately contest the results. He may be letting the discrepancies become more apparent, and letting the groundswell develope.

Rich Peterson
Moorhead, MN

What about this idea?

Would it be possible to set up some kind of voluntary internet based check system, where people could show how they had voted and the results could be checked against their precincts?  There would have to be some kind of registration system to make sure people didn't try to tamper with the results by double voting, etc.  Is this doable?  I am wondering if there is some way we could by-pass the slowness of government to address the issues and do something ourselves.

  Phoebe Allison

Open Letter to Governor Taft

Dear Governor Taft,

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell must recuse himself from overseeing the Ohio recount. Here are some of the reasons:

(1) He was the chairman of the Bush campaign in Ohio. This alone would give any certification of election results by Blackwell the appearance of impropriety.

(2) His election day meeting in Columbus with President George W. Bush and Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder, widely accused of overseeing inequitable partisan distribution of voting machines, is highly suspicious.

(3) On election night, Blackwell helped cajole Kerry into conceding prematurely by stressing the uncounted provisional ballots without mentioning the uncounted punch card ballots, thereby giving the false impression that there were not enough outstanding votes to affect the outcome.

(4) Blackwell has tucked away the data for total votes cast into his "historical" archives at the official Secretary of State website. Only by subtracting the total votes for president from the total votes cast can one calculate the actual number of uncounted punch card ballots.

A possible 2004 Election scenario

Given the various "errors" and so forth in the polls, try on the following:

Professor Sam Wang's map with 311 Kerry votes to Bush 227, assumed Kerry with a Popular vote lead over Bush.

It also shows FLorida, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa and Ohio going to Bush.

Arkansas is not shown going to Bush, but is the "pinkest" state.

Well, we know the exit polls were wrong in some details.

How about this:

Bush led Kerry in the Popular vote.
But Kerry carried all the above states, plus Arkansas.
Bush's lead is about a million votes, give or take 900,000 up from that, or 240,000 down from that million.
Kerry carries all of his current states, plus:
Ohio
Iowa
New Mexico
Nevada
Florida
Arkansas.

That would put Kerry at 252 + 20 (OH) + IA (7) + NM (5) + NV (5) + FL (27) + AR (6) Electoral Votes =  322 Electoral Votes for Kerry, with Bush at a circa one million vote Popular lead.

Lunch with History:  Judge Robert Carter

It was a brilliantly sunny, early Friday afternoon in September, the kind of memorable day one yearns for in the bleakness of winter. Classes at Columbia had just started, and hundreds of students were clustered along the steps and sidewalks, sunbathing and enjoying their conversations. I hurriedly navigated my way through these human obstacle courses, embarrassed at being uncharacteristically late for my lunch appointment. Finally I could see the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 116th Street, at Columbia’s Law School, and searched frantically for my guest. Cool as a cucumber, Federal Judge Robert Carter was there, patiently waiting for me to arrive. “Not to worry,” Judge Carter smiled warmly, “it’s a lovely day.”

  It’s not often that a historian has a lunch date with history. But lunch with Robert Carter was exactly that.

 

Hope for the Homestretch

In an election likely to be decided as much by voter turnout as by convincing the remaining undecided, how do we maintain the hope that’s necessary to keep making the phone calls, knocking on the doors, funding the key ads, and doing all the other critical tasks to get Bush out of office?

Even those of us working hard for change hit walls of doubt and uncertainty about whether our actions really matter. Our spirits rise and fall as if on a roller coaster with each shift in the polls. In a time when lies too often seem to prevail, we wonder whether it’s worthwhile to keep making the effort.

We need to remind ourselves that we never can predict all the results of our actions. A few years ago, I met a Wesleyan University student who, with a few friends, registered nearly three hundred fellow students concerned about environmental threats and cuts in government financial aid programs. The Congressman they supported won by twenty-one votes. Before they began, the student and her friends feared that their modest efforts would be irrelevant.

The Kendra Theory of Liberalism versus Conservatism

My sister’s German Shepherd Kendra attacks her plate of food every morning and evening. She leaves not a crumb untouched. Everything on the plate is hers by divine right, and should anyone approach while she is wolfing down her meal, they will receive a lusty growl in return.

Everything on the plate is hers. She has no thought of bipartisanship.

Bush Wins, But Election is Unverifiable

Perhaps President Bush won the election legitimately.  Perhaps not.  The simple truth is -- we will never know nor will we be able to know.  Millions voted in an election that left no audit trail whatsoever.  And whether a citizen supported the President or Sen. Kerry, either way, the lack of verifiability is bad for our democracy, our nation, and our people.

People in this nation and across the world have died for the right to vote.  Not far from the ruins of the World Trade Center stood the Statue of Liberty, as she has for over a century, welcoming millions who gave every last thing they had to reach our shores for a simple promise -- that all citizens have the right to participate.

A verifiable vote is necessary for any person to claim to understand the true will of the people.  We the people know that good decision making for the general welfare begins when our voices are heard accurately.

Kerry Supports Ohio Vote Investigation, Jackson says

John Kerry supports a “full investigation” into voting irregularities in Ohio, Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday, during a teleconference with media regarding a recount and legal challenge of the Nov. 2 vote.

“John Kerry supports a full investigation,” Jackson said. He recently spoke with the Democratic presidential nominee and reported that Kerry said he conceded the race on the morning after Election Day because “originally, he was inclined to believe what he was told” about the results. On Wednesday, Nov. 3, Kerry said there was little chance he could close George W. Bush’s 130,000-vote lead with the uncounted provisional and absentee ballots.

Jackson’s brief remarks may be the first that shed some light on Kerry’s fast concession – a decision many supporters felt was too hasty. Jackson will be in Ohio today, Sunday, Nov. 28, to declare his support for a recount of the Ohio vote and for a broader investigation into voting patterns that he said were “suspicious” and could have given votes to Bush that he did not earn.

Ukrainian elections and the US elections

How is it Mr. Colin Powell cannot accept the results of the Ukrainian elections because the exit polls didn't match the election results, but he can accept the results of the elections here in the United States when the exit polls showed Kerry winning in a landslide?

Fill in the blanks: (Powell):"We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," he said. "It is still not too late for ______ authorities to find a solution that respects the will of the __________ people."

I am baffled that the mainstream media has been reporting on the Ukrainian election problems with such furvor while leaving the same legitimate questions unasked in our own country.

Thank you for your time and considering my letter for your publication.

Sincerely,
Francis Shields
Glenside, PA

Pages

Subscribe to Freepress.org RSS