Great! Now all we have to do is wait 20 years or so and Democrats will be electable again!

By the way, the web site listed above about state IQs is a hoax.

While this data is reassuring and I agree that it should be disseminated and emphasized as much as possible – my concern is accountability in the counting of those (and all) votes in general.

After having protested Bush’s last inauguration in Washington DC due to the controversy surrounding the voting counts then – I am not any more at ease with the process of the count during this past election.

Networks have a history of calling the election before a complete audit -- based on projection counts. Guestimates are all well and good – if one is making an educated guess with objective facts.

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy loon -- I’m not completely assured that the numbers used in the projections weren’t manipulated.

Where Kerry and Edwards failed, in my opinion, is in not holding out for the duration it takes to count all provisional ballots – in not taking a high-profile media opportunity (and daring the high risks involved in doing so) that would’ve successfully made the public aware as to the controversies and deceptions of the last elections and how we come to accept the outcomes in general.

For Kerry to go on national TV and concede -- stating that the Presidency shouldn’t be decided by the courts – it is PRECISELY what was done last time.

Voting without auditing is truly insane in a country that claims to be a democracy.

I’m grateful that organizations such as Black Box Voting (.ORG) are being formed and that they are (according to the website) “. . .conducting the largest Freedom of Information action in history. At 8:30 p.m. Election Night, Black Box Voting blanketed the U.S. with the first in a series of public records requests, to obtain internal computer logs and other documents from 3,000 individual counties and townships.”

Yet – people say it’s too late for such initiatives – that the damage has been done, set into motion by a Supreme Court ruling that ultimately voted Bush in during round one of our current battle.

I remember the protest after they did so . . . and I haven’t heard any news of similar protests being organized and while people try to think of ways to reform the DNC (I do admire you for being among them)it is the PNCA that we’re really up against… with little hope of thorough investigations -- high profile lawsuits that may justify calls for impeachment -- and worse:

--- now we have a Supreme Court that could successfully tow the PNCA agenda with a vote of 5-4.

Yeah -- I was able to sleep that night after his reiterating the promise that every vote would be counted . . .

alleyheysa,

Are you being consistent? You clearly think that the Courts should not have decided the 2000 election. But you also say that Kerry should have fought to have them decide the 2004 election.

It is bad for our country to have results delayed in definitely and results decided by Courts. Kerry rightfully realized that, unless he were to win 90% of the provisional ballots in Ohio, there was no way to win. So he conceded.

The votes are still going to be counted. Bush's win has not been certified. All the ballots will be counted. But we'll move on, as we should.

Was I being consistent? Hell, Prof – I was dreaming!

Since you ask though, I did not mean to imply that Kerry and Edwards should have the courts decide the election, only that they should’ve ceased the opportunity to bring key issues under the media spotlight by holding out for the full count. (I know, I know – how naïve of me.)

You see, in my dream world this is how it works:

. . . by holding out for the full count on sheer principle, issues (that I daresay the general public has overlooked) might’ve been given media attention.

Media’s role in making Projections after the elections and the Impact of such a practice before a full count could have been emphasized had they not conceded -- in my dream world.

Faulty and/or fraudulent voting systems and mechanisms could have been exposed, along with the way media contributes to declaring a “winner” and forcing a “concession” (with potentially manipulated numbers). They could've exposed these happenings in the last election along these lines – imagine it, Prof -- all of it being addressed with Fox-like finesse -- only differently, because -- ITS THE TRUTH!

In the real world – the Bush administration is on record for requesting networks to make very specific projections -- In Their Favor – (AGAIN) -- Before there was a full count -- so that they could declare a “win”.

And yes, I know, – while I am aware that this has been a common practice here in the ‘real’ world for a long time -- what the public has been quick to forget, dismiss or not understand – is how damaging this practice was during the 2000 election – and why.

So yeah – in my dream world -- there could’ve been an ever-so-dreamy “spin,” complete with animated graphics and clever sound bites on how “evil” and “immoral” it is to mislead the public with such voting controversies and flawed media practices.

In my dream world, even if Kerry and Edwards didn’t get all the votes after holding for the full count -- this stance could’ve served to provide a quick, timely, and pertinent history lesson / reminder in the MTV soundbite that America so adores.

Back in the real world -- when Kerry got up and said that “..the courts shouldn’t decide the Presidency” it should’ve been said in the context of that being What Was Done Last Time.

In my dream world, those words would have been followed up with a promise to stay true to their promise – And Wait for every vote to be counted. “It’s the least we can do to make sure that your voice is heard and not forgotten.”

Back in my dream world, for the duration of the count – the media stays on it with ‘up-to-the-minute coverage’ . . . they have nothing to fill the airtime with -- what with no administration to answer to, they resort to accurate coverage of the war, they replay the Election 2000 controversies – all with objective explanations for the public that even the average lay-man can follow.

Yeah. That’s it.

This action by Edwards and Kerry likens their resolve to that of “the patience of a priest”. (shhh...it's MY dream...)

This, of course, the conservative right, immediatly admires.

. . . while they commend Edwards and Kerry for their ever-so-moral-and-humble stance to merely just “count the votes” on the behalf of the American People . . .

Meanwhile, the current republican administration becomes more and more suspect in their haste to “unjustly declare a win at any cost.”

yeah . . . and slowly the people are exposed to information they were previously oblivious to.

THEN – Suddenly -- Miraculously – out of nowhere -- all of this media attention in a matter of a few (timely) weeks (with just-the-right dreamy) “spin” leads to organized efforts that extend from media reform -- to addressing faulty and/or fraudulent voting systems & mechanisms (especially those developed with specific party affiliations) and good ole Jeb suddenly has no hope of continuing a career in politics – ever.

In my dream world as these reforms, initiatives, and the ever-so-necessary-calculated-‘spin’ become implemented and bear results and fruition; the TRUTH slowly emerges like a single candle flame that dispels the darkness. . .

. . . and the general public that voted for Bush, with their new awareness, flock to the flame of TRUTH like moths – they start to regret the way in which they voted at this point.

They become active and begin to protest, “We were lied to, we were deceived and betrayed!”

. . . soon enough, high profile lawsuits begin to emerge that justify the “NO BUSH! NO DICK!” signs of protest across the country as we march with a unified voice – rallying for what we did in 2001 – “an impeachment” . . .

(sigh)

I don’t think I was being inconsistent in these two posts, Prof – just unrealistic.

disclaimer: excuse typo: PNCA should read PNAC (Project for the New American Century)

hmmm... I dont like how Maine switches from blue to red when you take out old people...