11.12.2004
Fraud or no fraud
Despite really odd numbers in Florida, Ohio, etc. I don't think there's much chance we'll be able to show that voting machine fraud actually enabled the Repugs to steal the election.
Not to say those who are working on this should quit. It's good information to have, even if it doesn't do much good.
But I wouldn't want it to sidetrack us from the main point, which is that whether or not there was fraud in the counting of the votes, there's abundant evidence --
voter intimidation; fraudulent phone calls telling Democrats to vote on Wednesday; fraudulent mailings telling people their polling places had changed; or that they'd be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets; insufficient numbers of voting machines; voter registration drives that tear up Democrats' forms, etc. -- that the Republican Party, as a matter of policy and active practice, simply hates democracy.
It might lead one to question the value of giving any more thought at all to electoral politics. On the other hand, if the Democracts lost because they didn't, when push came to shove, do enough grassroots work-- you don't really have to choose, do you? Face-to-face grassroots work should be effective toward both electoral politics AND other goals.
Not to say those who are working on this should quit. It's good information to have, even if it doesn't do much good.
But I wouldn't want it to sidetrack us from the main point, which is that whether or not there was fraud in the counting of the votes, there's abundant evidence --
voter intimidation; fraudulent phone calls telling Democrats to vote on Wednesday; fraudulent mailings telling people their polling places had changed; or that they'd be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets; insufficient numbers of voting machines; voter registration drives that tear up Democrats' forms, etc. -- that the Republican Party, as a matter of policy and active practice, simply hates democracy.
It might lead one to question the value of giving any more thought at all to electoral politics. On the other hand, if the Democracts lost because they didn't, when push came to shove, do enough grassroots work-- you don't really have to choose, do you? Face-to-face grassroots work should be effective toward both electoral politics AND other goals.
