Democrats Abroad New Zealand
10.31.2004
Now They're Registered, Now They're Not (WashingtonPost.com)
Election Officials Express Dismay at Extent of Misinformation, Variety of Tricks Targeting Voters
By Jo Becker and David Finkel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 31, 2004; Page A22
As if things weren't complicated enough, here comes the dirt.
Registered voters who have been somehow unregistered. Democrats who suddenly find they've been re-registered as Republicans. A flier announcing that Election Day has been extended through Wednesday.
Dirty tricks are a staple of campaigns, but election officials say this year's could achieve new highs in numbers and new lows in scope, especially in key battleground states such as Florida and Ohio, where special-interest groups have poured in to influence the neck-and-neck race between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.
"In my 16 years as an election administrator, I've never seen anything like this," said Ion Sancho, supervisor of elections in Leon County, Fla. "I see it as an expression of a political culture that has evolved in the United States of win at any cost. It's not partisan, but it's just lie, cheat and steal, and ethics be damned."
(More ... Now They're Registered, Now They're Not (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:46 0 comments
By Jo Becker and David Finkel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 31, 2004; Page A22
As if things weren't complicated enough, here comes the dirt.
Registered voters who have been somehow unregistered. Democrats who suddenly find they've been re-registered as Republicans. A flier announcing that Election Day has been extended through Wednesday.
Dirty tricks are a staple of campaigns, but election officials say this year's could achieve new highs in numbers and new lows in scope, especially in key battleground states such as Florida and Ohio, where special-interest groups have poured in to influence the neck-and-neck race between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.
"In my 16 years as an election administrator, I've never seen anything like this," said Ion Sancho, supervisor of elections in Leon County, Fla. "I see it as an expression of a political culture that has evolved in the United States of win at any cost. It's not partisan, but it's just lie, cheat and steal, and ethics be damned."
(More ... Now They're Registered, Now They're Not (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:46 0 comments
Expatriates Feeling the Urge to Return and Campaign (WashingtonPost.com)
Overseas Volunteers Motivated by the Belief That the Election Is the Most Important in Their Lifetime
By Mary Fitzgerald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 31, 2004; Page A04
Five months ago, Anthony Glavin decided he had had enough. Not satisfied with observing the election campaign from his adopted home in Ireland, the Massachusetts-born editor and writer felt he had to get involved in some way; he itched to do something that would make a difference. So he took seven weeks off, leaving his family to work as a volunteer coordinator for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in Florida.
Glavin is one of scores of American expatriates who have given up days, weeks and even months of vacation time to return to the United States and help rally voters in battleground states.
What began as a steady trickle of overseas volunteers two months ago has developed into a concentrated final push in the last week before the election. Some expats are returning to their home towns in crucial swing states to take part in door-to-door canvassing; others are running phone banks or driving voters to the polls. A number have arrived in Florida to act as election observers.
(More ... Expatriates Feeling the Urge to Return and Campaign (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:41 0 comments
By Mary Fitzgerald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 31, 2004; Page A04
Five months ago, Anthony Glavin decided he had had enough. Not satisfied with observing the election campaign from his adopted home in Ireland, the Massachusetts-born editor and writer felt he had to get involved in some way; he itched to do something that would make a difference. So he took seven weeks off, leaving his family to work as a volunteer coordinator for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in Florida.
Glavin is one of scores of American expatriates who have given up days, weeks and even months of vacation time to return to the United States and help rally voters in battleground states.
What began as a steady trickle of overseas volunteers two months ago has developed into a concentrated final push in the last week before the election. Some expats are returning to their home towns in crucial swing states to take part in door-to-door canvassing; others are running phone banks or driving voters to the polls. A number have arrived in Florida to act as election observers.
(More ... Expatriates Feeling the Urge to Return and Campaign (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:41 0 comments
The Bin Laden Tape: Voters, Their Minds Made Up, Say bin Laden Changes Nothing (NYTimes.com)
By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: October 31, 2004
DENVER, Oct. 30 - If Osama bin Laden imagined, in releasing a threatening new videotape days before the presidential election, that he could sway the votes of Kerry supporters like David and Jan Hill and Bush supporters like Paul Christene, he has another thing coming.
"We're dug in," said Ms. Hill, an accountant in Denver who said she would vote for Senator John Kerry. "People I know are so polarized, it doesn't make any difference."
Her husband, a musician, added that having been subjected to a constant barrage of commercials from the candidates, and a flood of news reports about the election, the bin Laden tape was just another note in the cacophony. "I don't think people are really responding anymore," he said. "We're shellshocked."
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > The Bin Laden Tape: Voters, Their Minds Made Up, Say bin Laden Changes Nothing) ¶ 18:36 0 comments
Published: October 31, 2004
DENVER, Oct. 30 - If Osama bin Laden imagined, in releasing a threatening new videotape days before the presidential election, that he could sway the votes of Kerry supporters like David and Jan Hill and Bush supporters like Paul Christene, he has another thing coming.
"We're dug in," said Ms. Hill, an accountant in Denver who said she would vote for Senator John Kerry. "People I know are so polarized, it doesn't make any difference."
Her husband, a musician, added that having been subjected to a constant barrage of commercials from the candidates, and a flood of news reports about the election, the bin Laden tape was just another note in the cacophony. "I don't think people are really responding anymore," he said. "We're shellshocked."
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > The Bin Laden Tape: Voters, Their Minds Made Up, Say bin Laden Changes Nothing) ¶ 18:36 0 comments
Bush Camp Pulls Altered TV Ad (LATimes.com)
By Nick Anderson, Times Staff Writer
Published: 29 October 2004
WASHINGTON — The Bush campaign yanked one of its closing television advertisements Thursday after critics noticed that it contained a doctored photograph, with images of the same uniformed soldiers sprinkled repeatedly into a crowd to enhance the backdrop of a presidential speech.
A Bush campaign spokesman acknowledged the editing of an image in the 60-second Bush ad titled "Whatever It Takes." (emphasis added)
The ad, launched Wednesday on national cable channels and posted on the Bush campaign website, shows an excerpt of President Bush's speech at the Republican National Convention.
In it, Bush expresses admiration for sacrifices made by military personnel and their families and promises to protect the nation.
In the 45th second, the ad shifts to an image of a sea of camouflage-clad military personnel who are apparently listening to the president speak at another rally.
As the image comes into focus over the course of about four seconds, a handful of faces of troops can be seen replicated in the crowd.
The visual duplication was pointed out by the left-leaning Web log http://www.dailykos.com/.
(More ... Bush Camp Pulls Altered TV Ad) ¶ 18:33 0 comments
Published: 29 October 2004
WASHINGTON — The Bush campaign yanked one of its closing television advertisements Thursday after critics noticed that it contained a doctored photograph, with images of the same uniformed soldiers sprinkled repeatedly into a crowd to enhance the backdrop of a presidential speech.
A Bush campaign spokesman acknowledged the editing of an image in the 60-second Bush ad titled "Whatever It Takes." (emphasis added)
The ad, launched Wednesday on national cable channels and posted on the Bush campaign website, shows an excerpt of President Bush's speech at the Republican National Convention.
In it, Bush expresses admiration for sacrifices made by military personnel and their families and promises to protect the nation.
In the 45th second, the ad shifts to an image of a sea of camouflage-clad military personnel who are apparently listening to the president speak at another rally.
As the image comes into focus over the course of about four seconds, a handful of faces of troops can be seen replicated in the crowd.
The visual duplication was pointed out by the left-leaning Web log http://www.dailykos.com/.
(More ... Bush Camp Pulls Altered TV Ad) ¶ 18:33 0 comments
Ruling on Ohio Voter Challenges Is Upheld (WashingtonPost.com)
By Tallying The Vote
Saturday, October 30, 2004; Page A09
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled yesterday that Republicans could not challenge 35,000 voter registrations, upholding a lower court ruling.
The GOP's fallback plan -- to challenge voters at the polls on Election Day -- was the subject of a lawsuit in federal court that was pending last night.
Hoping to put an end to the tangle of litigation, Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell yesterday asked Ohio's Republican attorney general, Jim Petro, to tell the federal court that challengers of all parties would be barred from polling places.
Democrats had alleged that the challenges were disproportionately aimed at minority voters. Blackwell, who is black, said that he did not believe that "there was discriminatory intent."
But Petro refused to comply with Blackwell's request. With the question still in the hands of a federal court, the GOP said last night that it is still prepared to put challengers at the polls.
"Right now, the law allows challengers," Republican lawyer David Weaver said. "Everyone's waiting to see what happens next."
-- Jo Becker
Ruling on Ohio Voter Challenges Is Upheld (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 14:50 0 comments
Saturday, October 30, 2004; Page A09
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled yesterday that Republicans could not challenge 35,000 voter registrations, upholding a lower court ruling.
The GOP's fallback plan -- to challenge voters at the polls on Election Day -- was the subject of a lawsuit in federal court that was pending last night.
Hoping to put an end to the tangle of litigation, Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell yesterday asked Ohio's Republican attorney general, Jim Petro, to tell the federal court that challengers of all parties would be barred from polling places.
Democrats had alleged that the challenges were disproportionately aimed at minority voters. Blackwell, who is black, said that he did not believe that "there was discriminatory intent."
But Petro refused to comply with Blackwell's request. With the question still in the hands of a federal court, the GOP said last night that it is still prepared to put challengers at the polls.
"Right now, the law allows challengers," Republican lawyer David Weaver said. "Everyone's waiting to see what happens next."
-- Jo Becker
Ruling on Ohio Voter Challenges Is Upheld (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 14:50 0 comments
Political Points: O.K., Students, a Final Exam (NYTimes.com)
By JOHN TIERNEY
Published: October 31, 2004
When asked in March 2002 why he rarely mentioned Osama bin Laden anymore, which three of these statements did Mr. Bush make?
a) Osama who?
b) I know he is on the run.
c) I truly am not that concerned about him.
d) He's just another one of the dead-enders.
e) We haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure.
2. When Tom Brokaw asked Mr. Kerry about a report that Mr. Bush's I.Q. was higher than his, how did he respond?
a) But he doesn't even speak French.
b) I've never misunderestimated his intelligence.
c) That's great. More power.
d) This just shows, once again, that the president has been deliberately hiding the truth from the American public.
e) It's a great boost in our campaign to connect with voters who are still trying to figure out which candidate to support. I mean, these folks are obviously not Mensa material.
3. How did President Bush propose to save Social Security?
a) Raise the retirement age to 90.
b) Impose an excise tax on cruise-ship fares and early-bird-special meals.
c) Encourage the exportation of Medicare recipients to Canada.
d) Allow young workers to invest contributions in private savings accounts.
e) Deny flu shots to senior citizens.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Political Points: O.K., Students, a Final Exam) ¶ 14:41 0 comments
Published: October 31, 2004
When asked in March 2002 why he rarely mentioned Osama bin Laden anymore, which three of these statements did Mr. Bush make?
a) Osama who?
b) I know he is on the run.
c) I truly am not that concerned about him.
d) He's just another one of the dead-enders.
e) We haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure.
2. When Tom Brokaw asked Mr. Kerry about a report that Mr. Bush's I.Q. was higher than his, how did he respond?
a) But he doesn't even speak French.
b) I've never misunderestimated his intelligence.
c) That's great. More power.
d) This just shows, once again, that the president has been deliberately hiding the truth from the American public.
e) It's a great boost in our campaign to connect with voters who are still trying to figure out which candidate to support. I mean, these folks are obviously not Mensa material.
3. How did President Bush propose to save Social Security?
a) Raise the retirement age to 90.
b) Impose an excise tax on cruise-ship fares and early-bird-special meals.
c) Encourage the exportation of Medicare recipients to Canada.
d) Allow young workers to invest contributions in private savings accounts.
e) Deny flu shots to senior citizens.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Political Points: O.K., Students, a Final Exam) ¶ 14:41 0 comments
Decision 2004: Fear Fatigue vs. Sheer Fatigue (NYTimes.com)
FRANK RICH
Published: October 31, 2004
JOHN KERRY is a flip-flopper. He's "French." Whether he's asserting his non-girlie-boy bona fides by riding a Harley onto Jay Leno's set, "reporting for duty" at the Democratic convention or hunting geese in Ohio, he comes off like a second-rung James Brolin auditioning for a Levitra ad. And let's not forget the words - all those words. When Mr. Kerry starts a sentence, you know you're embarking on a long journey with no interesting scenery along the way and little likelihood that you'll get wherever you're going on time. "Vote for Him Before You Vote Against Him" is one of the more winning slogans at the hilarious Web site Kerry-Haters for Kerry.
If the cliché of 2000 remains true, that entertainment-addicted Americans will never let a tedious president into their living rooms for four long years, then Mr. Kerry, like Al Gore, is toast. But now that Mr. Kerry enters the final stretch of 2004 with a serious chance of unseating an incumbent in wartime, a competing theory also rises: it's possible for America to overdose on entertainment. No president has worked harder than George W. Bush to tell his story as a spectacle, much of it fictional, to rivet his constituents while casting himself in an unfailingly heroic light. Yet this particular movie may have gone on too long and have too many plot holes. It may have been too clever by half. It may have given Mr. Kerry just the opening he needs to win.
As George Will has pointed out, our war in Iraq has now lasted longer than America's involvement in World War I. The span from 9/11 to Election Day 2004 is only three months shy of the 41 months separating the attack on Pearl Harbor from V-E day. And still the storyline doesn't compute. Mr. Bush, having not brought back his original bad guy dead or alive, is now fond of saying that "three-quarters of Al Qaeda leaders have been brought to justice." Even if true, is he telling us the war on terror is three-quarters over? Al Qaeda is, by our government's own account, in 60 countries. Last time I looked we're only at war in two.
(More ... The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: Decision 2004: Fear Fatigue vs. Sheer Fatigue) ¶ 14:33 0 comments
Published: October 31, 2004
JOHN KERRY is a flip-flopper. He's "French." Whether he's asserting his non-girlie-boy bona fides by riding a Harley onto Jay Leno's set, "reporting for duty" at the Democratic convention or hunting geese in Ohio, he comes off like a second-rung James Brolin auditioning for a Levitra ad. And let's not forget the words - all those words. When Mr. Kerry starts a sentence, you know you're embarking on a long journey with no interesting scenery along the way and little likelihood that you'll get wherever you're going on time. "Vote for Him Before You Vote Against Him" is one of the more winning slogans at the hilarious Web site Kerry-Haters for Kerry.
If the cliché of 2000 remains true, that entertainment-addicted Americans will never let a tedious president into their living rooms for four long years, then Mr. Kerry, like Al Gore, is toast. But now that Mr. Kerry enters the final stretch of 2004 with a serious chance of unseating an incumbent in wartime, a competing theory also rises: it's possible for America to overdose on entertainment. No president has worked harder than George W. Bush to tell his story as a spectacle, much of it fictional, to rivet his constituents while casting himself in an unfailingly heroic light. Yet this particular movie may have gone on too long and have too many plot holes. It may have been too clever by half. It may have given Mr. Kerry just the opening he needs to win.
As George Will has pointed out, our war in Iraq has now lasted longer than America's involvement in World War I. The span from 9/11 to Election Day 2004 is only three months shy of the 41 months separating the attack on Pearl Harbor from V-E day. And still the storyline doesn't compute. Mr. Bush, having not brought back his original bad guy dead or alive, is now fond of saying that "three-quarters of Al Qaeda leaders have been brought to justice." Even if true, is he telling us the war on terror is three-quarters over? Al Qaeda is, by our government's own account, in 60 countries. Last time I looked we're only at war in two.
(More ... The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: Decision 2004: Fear Fatigue vs. Sheer Fatigue) ¶ 14:33 0 comments
Kerry Must Win Over "Security Moms" to Beat Bush (TheUnionLeader.com)
By ROBERT D. NOVAK
POLLSTER John Zogby surprised the political world back in April with a long-range prediction that John Kerry would defeat George W. Bush for President. On Monday this week, Zogby told me, he changed his mind. He now thinks the President is more likely to be re-elected because he has reinforced support from his base, including married white women.
That conclusion would be a surprise for frantically nervous Republicans and cautiously upbeat Democrats entering the campaign's final days. In fact, nobody, including Zogby and all the other polltakers, can be sure who will win this election. Yet, it is clear that President Bush's strategists have succeeded in solidifying his base to a degree that makes it much harder to defeat him next Tuesday.
The long, tortuous Presidential contest has come down to who the "security mom" thinks can best protect her family against terrorism. Based on current polling data, Bush has won that argument in the face of Sen. Kerry's relentless attacks. That explains why the Democratic nominee this week was not talking about health care or other standby issues of his party, but was trying to pierce Bush's security shield by harping on the disappearance of munitions in Iraq.
The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - 30-Oct-04 - Robert D. Novak:
Kerry must win over "security moms" to beat Bush: ¶ 14:22 0 comments
POLLSTER John Zogby surprised the political world back in April with a long-range prediction that John Kerry would defeat George W. Bush for President. On Monday this week, Zogby told me, he changed his mind. He now thinks the President is more likely to be re-elected because he has reinforced support from his base, including married white women.
That conclusion would be a surprise for frantically nervous Republicans and cautiously upbeat Democrats entering the campaign's final days. In fact, nobody, including Zogby and all the other polltakers, can be sure who will win this election. Yet, it is clear that President Bush's strategists have succeeded in solidifying his base to a degree that makes it much harder to defeat him next Tuesday.
The long, tortuous Presidential contest has come down to who the "security mom" thinks can best protect her family against terrorism. Based on current polling data, Bush has won that argument in the face of Sen. Kerry's relentless attacks. That explains why the Democratic nominee this week was not talking about health care or other standby issues of his party, but was trying to pierce Bush's security shield by harping on the disappearance of munitions in Iraq.
The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - 30-Oct-04 - Robert D. Novak:
Kerry must win over "security moms" to beat Bush: ¶ 14:22 0 comments
10.29.2004
Justice Department Triples Election Monitors; More Than 1,000 Head to Polls (WashingtonPost.com)
By Dan Eggen
Friday, October 29, 2004; Page A06
The Justice Department said yesterday that 1,090 observers -- more than three times the number deployed in 2000 -- will be dispatched to polling places in 25 states on Election Day.
Federal observers will monitor voting in eight Florida counties -- including Broward, Dade and Palm Beach -- as well as communities in at least six other battleground states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and New Mexico.
The Justice Department is required to monitor polling places in 27 jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights Act or rerelated court orders.
Some Democrats and voting-rights groups have complained that the Justice Department and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft have focused their efforts primarily on fraud allegations levied by Republicans, rather than on ensuring that minority and elderly voters are not discouraged from voting.
(More ... Justice Department Triples Election Monitors; More Than 1,000 Head to Polls (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:17 0 comments
Friday, October 29, 2004; Page A06
The Justice Department said yesterday that 1,090 observers -- more than three times the number deployed in 2000 -- will be dispatched to polling places in 25 states on Election Day.
Federal observers will monitor voting in eight Florida counties -- including Broward, Dade and Palm Beach -- as well as communities in at least six other battleground states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and New Mexico.
The Justice Department is required to monitor polling places in 27 jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights Act or rerelated court orders.
Some Democrats and voting-rights groups have complained that the Justice Department and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft have focused their efforts primarily on fraud allegations levied by Republicans, rather than on ensuring that minority and elderly voters are not discouraged from voting.
(More ... Justice Department Triples Election Monitors; More Than 1,000 Head to Polls (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:17 0 comments
Electoral College Calculus (WashingtonPost.com)
Computer Analysis Shows 33 Ways To End in a Tie
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 27, 2004; Page A01
Could one of these electoral college nightmares be our destiny?
President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry deadlock on Tuesday with 269 electoral votes apiece -- but a single Bush elector in West Virginia defects, swinging the election to Kerry.
Or Bush and Kerry are headed toward an electoral college tie, but the 2nd Congressional District of Maine breaks with the rest of the state, giving its one electoral vote -- and the presidency -- to Bush.
Or the Massachusetts senator wins an upset victory in Colorado and appears headed to the White House, but a Colorado ballot initiative that passes causes four of the state's nine electoral votes to go to Bush -- creating an electoral college tie that must be resolved in the U.S. House.
None of these scenarios is likely to occur next week, but neither is any of them far-fetched. Tuesday's election will probably be decided in 11 states where polls currently show the race too tight to predict a winner. And, assuming the other states go as predicted, a computer analysis finds no fewer than 33 combinations in which those 11 states could divide to produce a 269 to 269 electoral tie.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Electoral College Calculus) ¶ 21:13 0 comments
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 27, 2004; Page A01
Could one of these electoral college nightmares be our destiny?
President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry deadlock on Tuesday with 269 electoral votes apiece -- but a single Bush elector in West Virginia defects, swinging the election to Kerry.
Or Bush and Kerry are headed toward an electoral college tie, but the 2nd Congressional District of Maine breaks with the rest of the state, giving its one electoral vote -- and the presidency -- to Bush.
Or the Massachusetts senator wins an upset victory in Colorado and appears headed to the White House, but a Colorado ballot initiative that passes causes four of the state's nine electoral votes to go to Bush -- creating an electoral college tie that must be resolved in the U.S. House.
None of these scenarios is likely to occur next week, but neither is any of them far-fetched. Tuesday's election will probably be decided in 11 states where polls currently show the race too tight to predict a winner. And, assuming the other states go as predicted, a computer analysis finds no fewer than 33 combinations in which those 11 states could divide to produce a 269 to 269 electoral tie.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Electoral College Calculus) ¶ 21:13 0 comments
And if it's a tie? Expect 'stark raving mad chaos'. For a month (Guardian.co.uk)
Julian Borger in Washington and Oliver Burkeman in New York
Friday October 29, 2004
The Guardian
With four days to go to an election that every poll suggests is too close to call, American political scientists fear a new quirk that could threaten the country's embattled electoral system: a tie.
An exact draw is possible because the president is not chosen by popular vote, but by 538 electors in the electoral college. The electors are chosen by each state and there are many ways George Bush and John Kerry could end up with 269 electors each. In fact, according to a new computer analysis quoted in the Washington Post, there are 33 different permutations that could make that happen.
Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, said an electoral college tie remained 'the rarest of outcomes'.
But this year, the country is braced for the unusual, and if the election is a draw, Mr Schaller warned: 'Look for stark raving mad chaos for about a month.'
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | And if it's a tie? Expect 'stark raving mad chaos'. For a month) ¶ 20:41 0 comments
Friday October 29, 2004
The Guardian
With four days to go to an election that every poll suggests is too close to call, American political scientists fear a new quirk that could threaten the country's embattled electoral system: a tie.
An exact draw is possible because the president is not chosen by popular vote, but by 538 electors in the electoral college. The electors are chosen by each state and there are many ways George Bush and John Kerry could end up with 269 electors each. In fact, according to a new computer analysis quoted in the Washington Post, there are 33 different permutations that could make that happen.
Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, said an electoral college tie remained 'the rarest of outcomes'.
But this year, the country is braced for the unusual, and if the election is a draw, Mr Schaller warned: 'Look for stark raving mad chaos for about a month.'
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | And if it's a tie? Expect 'stark raving mad chaos'. For a month) ¶ 20:41 0 comments
Internal e-mail reveals Postal Service may have mishandled ballots (Sun-Sentinel.com)
By Jean-Paul Renaud
Staff Writer
Posted October 29 2004
The same day postal officials publicly denied responsibility for 58,000 missing absentee ballots, an internal e-mail sent by the South Florida District Manager to his employees expressed concern that his staff was not handling ballots within the region properly.
In the memorandum sent on Oct. 26, Butch Parker also told his employees that staff seemed unaware of the procedures that should be taken when handling ballots.
'As of today, we have supervisors and employees that state they have never been made aware of the procedures to be used,' Parker wrote to his employees. 'We continue to find absentee ballots mixed in with other classes of mail.'
The e-mail stated that absentee ballots with improper postage sat idle in postal facilities, instead of being returned to their sender."
(More ... Internal e-mail reveals Postal Service may have mishandled ballots: South Florida Sun-Sentinel) ¶ 19:32 0 comments
Staff Writer
Posted October 29 2004
The same day postal officials publicly denied responsibility for 58,000 missing absentee ballots, an internal e-mail sent by the South Florida District Manager to his employees expressed concern that his staff was not handling ballots within the region properly.
In the memorandum sent on Oct. 26, Butch Parker also told his employees that staff seemed unaware of the procedures that should be taken when handling ballots.
'As of today, we have supervisors and employees that state they have never been made aware of the procedures to be used,' Parker wrote to his employees. 'We continue to find absentee ballots mixed in with other classes of mail.'
The e-mail stated that absentee ballots with improper postage sat idle in postal facilities, instead of being returned to their sender."
(More ... Internal e-mail reveals Postal Service may have mishandled ballots: South Florida Sun-Sentinel) ¶ 19:32 0 comments
Bush Has Fallen Victim to His Own Hubris (Guardian.co.uk)
In the end, US voters will not be frightened into becoming a nation that disdains decency
Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday October 28, 2004
The Guardian
The unmaking of the president 2004 began on September 11 2001. By September 10, George Bush's poll numbers had reached 50%, the lowest of any president at that early point in his tenure. Having lost the popular majority in the 2000 election and being delivered the presidency by a five-to-four Supreme Court decision, Bush operated as though he had triumphed with a full-throated mandate.
From the start, Bush ran a government based on secrecy, handed over the departments and agencies to more than 100 industry executives and lobbyists appointed to key positions, and exhibited belligerence towards anyone who raised a question about his right-wing imperatives. His bullying prompted Republican Senator James Jeffords of Vermont to cross the aisle, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats. In only months, Bush's incompetence and arrogance had induced paralysis. He had already run his course.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Bush has fallen victim to his own hubris) ¶ 07:59 0 comments
Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday October 28, 2004
The Guardian
The unmaking of the president 2004 began on September 11 2001. By September 10, George Bush's poll numbers had reached 50%, the lowest of any president at that early point in his tenure. Having lost the popular majority in the 2000 election and being delivered the presidency by a five-to-four Supreme Court decision, Bush operated as though he had triumphed with a full-throated mandate.
From the start, Bush ran a government based on secrecy, handed over the departments and agencies to more than 100 industry executives and lobbyists appointed to key positions, and exhibited belligerence towards anyone who raised a question about his right-wing imperatives. His bullying prompted Republican Senator James Jeffords of Vermont to cross the aisle, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats. In only months, Bush's incompetence and arrogance had induced paralysis. He had already run his course.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Bush has fallen victim to his own hubris) ¶ 07:59 0 comments
Making Every Vote Count (Guardian.co.uk)
Next week, Colorado's voters decide whether to scrap the winner-takes-all electoral college system. It may spark a transformation of US politics, writes Sarah Left
Sarah Left in Denver
Thursday October 28, 2004
Colorado has grown accustomed to an intense political spotlight over the last month, with John Kerry and George Bush, their running mates, their daughters, their wives and extended families all making stops here to campaign in an unexpectedly close race.
But if one state ballot initiative passes, Colorado could find itself the subject of far more attention - and more lawsuits - than it wanted.
Next week the people of Colorado will decide whether to scrap the winner-takes-all electoral college system at the heart of US presidential elections in favour of a more proportional solution.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Making every vote count) ¶ 07:56 0 comments
Sarah Left in Denver
Thursday October 28, 2004
Colorado has grown accustomed to an intense political spotlight over the last month, with John Kerry and George Bush, their running mates, their daughters, their wives and extended families all making stops here to campaign in an unexpectedly close race.
But if one state ballot initiative passes, Colorado could find itself the subject of far more attention - and more lawsuits - than it wanted.
Next week the people of Colorado will decide whether to scrap the winner-takes-all electoral college system at the heart of US presidential elections in favour of a more proportional solution.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Making every vote count) ¶ 07:56 0 comments
10.28.2004
Policing Is Aggressive at Bush Events (WashingtonPost.com)
To Some, Protesters' Arrests Recall Vietnam War Era
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page A07
As a phalanx of motorcycles sped by on Old Philadelphia Pike in Lancaster County, Pa., in July, Tristan Egolf and six compatriots stripped to their skivvies and piled on top of one another in a pyramid, mimicking the infamous photograph taken at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
But a minute after their bit of street theater had begun -- and long before a motorcade carrying President Bush had arrived -- police moved in and arrested six of the protesters on disorderly-conduct charges. The seventh man got away.
This month, Lancaster County's Republican district attorney dropped charges against the "Smoketown Six" -- named for the Amish country town that hosted Bush that day -- declaring that their "symbolic conduct" was protected by the First Amendment.
"They denied us our chance at expression," said Egolf, 32, a twice-published novelist who lives in East Lampeter Township, Pa. "That seems to be what they're doing these days: They don't agree with your opinion, so they haul you off and drop the charges later."
As Bush has traveled the United States during this political campaign, the Secret Service and local police have often handled public protest by quickly arresting or removing demonstrators, free-speech advocates say. In addition, access to Bush's events has been unusually tightly controlled and people who do not support Bush's reelection have been removed.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Policing Is Agressive at Bush Events) ¶ 22:20 0 comments
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page A07
As a phalanx of motorcycles sped by on Old Philadelphia Pike in Lancaster County, Pa., in July, Tristan Egolf and six compatriots stripped to their skivvies and piled on top of one another in a pyramid, mimicking the infamous photograph taken at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
But a minute after their bit of street theater had begun -- and long before a motorcade carrying President Bush had arrived -- police moved in and arrested six of the protesters on disorderly-conduct charges. The seventh man got away.
This month, Lancaster County's Republican district attorney dropped charges against the "Smoketown Six" -- named for the Amish country town that hosted Bush that day -- declaring that their "symbolic conduct" was protected by the First Amendment.
"They denied us our chance at expression," said Egolf, 32, a twice-published novelist who lives in East Lampeter Township, Pa. "That seems to be what they're doing these days: They don't agree with your opinion, so they haul you off and drop the charges later."
As Bush has traveled the United States during this political campaign, the Secret Service and local police have often handled public protest by quickly arresting or removing demonstrators, free-speech advocates say. In addition, access to Bush's events has been unusually tightly controlled and people who do not support Bush's reelection have been removed.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Policing Is Agressive at Bush Events) ¶ 22:20 0 comments
Don't Ask Me (WashingtonPost.com)
As Fewer Cooperate on Polls, Criticism and Questions Mount
By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page C01
Three dozen protesters gathered outside the Minneapolis Star Tribune building a month ago. They glowered and pounded on the windows. They carried signs calling the newspaper the "Star and Sickle." They shouted "Liberal!" at staffers leaving the building.
A few days before the demonstration, Ron Eibensteiner, chairman of the state Republican Party, had demanded that the publisher fire Rob Daves, the paper's longtime pollster.
"Hey, hey, ho, ho, Rob Daves has got to go!" the pickets chanted.
A few days later, Eibensteiner amended that request: If you will not fire Daves, at least suspend the paper's 60-year-old Minnesota Poll until after the election.
Daves's offense: a poll the previous week suggested that Democrat John Kerry led President Bush by 9 percentage points in Minnesota while subsequent surveys by others suggested a tie or a narrower Kerry lead.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Don't Ask Me) ¶ 22:06 0 comments
By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page C01
Three dozen protesters gathered outside the Minneapolis Star Tribune building a month ago. They glowered and pounded on the windows. They carried signs calling the newspaper the "Star and Sickle." They shouted "Liberal!" at staffers leaving the building.
A few days before the demonstration, Ron Eibensteiner, chairman of the state Republican Party, had demanded that the publisher fire Rob Daves, the paper's longtime pollster.
"Hey, hey, ho, ho, Rob Daves has got to go!" the pickets chanted.
A few days later, Eibensteiner amended that request: If you will not fire Daves, at least suspend the paper's 60-year-old Minnesota Poll until after the election.
Daves's offense: a poll the previous week suggested that Democrat John Kerry led President Bush by 9 percentage points in Minnesota while subsequent surveys by others suggested a tie or a narrower Kerry lead.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Don't Ask Me) ¶ 22:06 0 comments
Judge Rebuffs GOP Effort To Contest Voters in Ohio (WashingtonPost.com)
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page A01
A U.S. District Court judge yesterday effectively ended efforts by Republicans in Ohio to challenge the eligibility of tens of thousands of voters in one of the most closely contested states in this year's presidential race.
Judge Susan J. Dlott in Cincinnati issued an order preventing local election boards from going forward with plans to notify challenged voters and hold hearings until she hears legal arguments tomorrow. But because her ruling means that those election board hearings cannot take place within the time frame state law requires before the election, Dlott's ruling killed the GOP effort that had targeted 35,000 voters, Democratic and Republican party officials said.
David Sullivan, director of the Democratic Party's Voter Protection Program in Ohio, praised the ruling and said the GOP was never able to offer proof that the challenged voters are ineligible. "The Republican assault on tens of thousands of Ohio voters was an unprecedented effort to intimidate voters, especially minorities, but it has backfired," he said.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Judge Rebuffs GOP Effort To Contest Voters in Ohio) ¶ 22:02 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page A01
A U.S. District Court judge yesterday effectively ended efforts by Republicans in Ohio to challenge the eligibility of tens of thousands of voters in one of the most closely contested states in this year's presidential race.
Judge Susan J. Dlott in Cincinnati issued an order preventing local election boards from going forward with plans to notify challenged voters and hold hearings until she hears legal arguments tomorrow. But because her ruling means that those election board hearings cannot take place within the time frame state law requires before the election, Dlott's ruling killed the GOP effort that had targeted 35,000 voters, Democratic and Republican party officials said.
David Sullivan, director of the Democratic Party's Voter Protection Program in Ohio, praised the ruling and said the GOP was never able to offer proof that the challenged voters are ineligible. "The Republican assault on tens of thousands of Ohio voters was an unprecedented effort to intimidate voters, especially minorities, but it has backfired," he said.
(More ... washingtonpost.com > Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Judge Rebuffs GOP Effort To Contest Voters in Ohio) ¶ 22:02 0 comments
Missing Explosives: No Check of Bunker, Unit Commander Says (NYTimes.com
By JIM DWYER and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: October 27, 2004
White House officials reasserted yesterday that 380 tons of powerful explosives may have disappeared from a vast Iraqi military complex while Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq, saying a brigade of American soldiers did not find the explosives when they visited the complex on April 10, 2003, the day after Baghdad fell.
But the unit's commander said in an interview yesterday that his troops had not searched the site and had merely stopped there overnight.
The commander, Col. Joseph Anderson, of the Second Brigade of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, said he did not learn until this week that the site, Al Qaqaa, was considered sensitive, or that international inspectors had visited it before the war began in 2003 to inspect explosives that they had tagged during a decade of monitoring.
Colonel Anderson, who is now the chief of staff for the division and who spoke by telephone from Fort Campbell, Ky., said his troops had been driving north toward Baghdad and had paused at Al Qaqaa to make plans for their next push.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Missing Explosives: No Check of Bunker, Unit Commander Says) ¶ 21:51 0 comments
Published: October 27, 2004
White House officials reasserted yesterday that 380 tons of powerful explosives may have disappeared from a vast Iraqi military complex while Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq, saying a brigade of American soldiers did not find the explosives when they visited the complex on April 10, 2003, the day after Baghdad fell.
But the unit's commander said in an interview yesterday that his troops had not searched the site and had merely stopped there overnight.
The commander, Col. Joseph Anderson, of the Second Brigade of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, said he did not learn until this week that the site, Al Qaqaa, was considered sensitive, or that international inspectors had visited it before the war began in 2003 to inspect explosives that they had tagged during a decade of monitoring.
Colonel Anderson, who is now the chief of staff for the division and who spoke by telephone from Fort Campbell, Ky., said his troops had been driving north toward Baghdad and had paused at Al Qaqaa to make plans for their next push.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Missing Explosives: No Check of Bunker, Unit Commander Says) ¶ 21:51 0 comments
Where to Catch a Rising Political Star? Try Illinois (NYTimes.com)
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: October 27, 2004
CHICAGO, Oct. 26 - Barack Obama drove to Milwaukee the other day and stirred up a crowd in a sunny park on behalf of Russell D. Feingold, a 12-year veteran of the United States Senate.
Another day, Mr. Obama sent a check for $25,000 to the Democratic Party in South Dakota, where Tom Daschle, the Senate minority leader, is fighting to keep his seat. Over a recent weekend, he flew to speak at a national Democratic fund-raiser in Los Angeles, then on to Denver, where he told a crowded gymnasium to vote for Ken Salazar, the party's Senate candidate from Colorado.
Here is the puzzling part: Mr. Obama is a mere state senator from the South Side of Chicago, and many people, even here in Illinois, would not have recognized him a year ago. At the moment, too, he is a candidate in a contested race for the United States Senate, someone unlikely to be brimming with spare time to wander other states, hand out money or dabble in other campaigns.
But Mr. Obama has had a season of remarkable fortune. And though he insists he is taking nothing for granted in his campaign against Alan Keyes, a Republican who is trailing him in a poll by 47 percentage points, Mr. Obama often seems - and is treated by others - as if he were already the next senator from Illinois.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Where to Catch a Rising Political Star? Try Illinois) ¶ 21:41 0 comments
Published: October 27, 2004
CHICAGO, Oct. 26 - Barack Obama drove to Milwaukee the other day and stirred up a crowd in a sunny park on behalf of Russell D. Feingold, a 12-year veteran of the United States Senate.
Another day, Mr. Obama sent a check for $25,000 to the Democratic Party in South Dakota, where Tom Daschle, the Senate minority leader, is fighting to keep his seat. Over a recent weekend, he flew to speak at a national Democratic fund-raiser in Los Angeles, then on to Denver, where he told a crowded gymnasium to vote for Ken Salazar, the party's Senate candidate from Colorado.
Here is the puzzling part: Mr. Obama is a mere state senator from the South Side of Chicago, and many people, even here in Illinois, would not have recognized him a year ago. At the moment, too, he is a candidate in a contested race for the United States Senate, someone unlikely to be brimming with spare time to wander other states, hand out money or dabble in other campaigns.
But Mr. Obama has had a season of remarkable fortune. And though he insists he is taking nothing for granted in his campaign against Alan Keyes, a Republican who is trailing him in a poll by 47 percentage points, Mr. Obama often seems - and is treated by others - as if he were already the next senator from Illinois.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Where to Catch a Rising Political Star? Try Illinois) ¶ 21:41 0 comments
Registration: As Voting Rolls Increase, So Do the Wild Cards (NYTimes.com)
By JAMES DAO
Published: October 27, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 26 - Lionel White seems like the kind of new voter who could help the Democrats win this crucial swing state. He is 23, black, works at a fast food restaurant and is angry about the economy, urban blight and the war in Iraq.
But Mr. White registered himself to vote this year for the first time because he was getting paid by the Urban League to register others. He did not watch the debates, confesses to having a marginal interest in politics and feels the candidates are not talking about issues he cares about. He is lukewarm at best about going to the polls next week.
'I don't think either one of them gives a damn about us,' he said of the two main presidential candidates while standing on the stoop of his house on the east side of this city.
As Mr. White's story suggests, many newly registered voters are wild cards whose uncertain allegiances could tip the vote in closely contested states like this one, making such voters the focus of an intense tug of war between the parties.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Registration: As Voting Rolls Increase, So Do the Wild Cards) ¶ 21:31 0 comments
Published: October 27, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 26 - Lionel White seems like the kind of new voter who could help the Democrats win this crucial swing state. He is 23, black, works at a fast food restaurant and is angry about the economy, urban blight and the war in Iraq.
But Mr. White registered himself to vote this year for the first time because he was getting paid by the Urban League to register others. He did not watch the debates, confesses to having a marginal interest in politics and feels the candidates are not talking about issues he cares about. He is lukewarm at best about going to the polls next week.
'I don't think either one of them gives a damn about us,' he said of the two main presidential candidates while standing on the stoop of his house on the east side of this city.
As Mr. White's story suggests, many newly registered voters are wild cards whose uncertain allegiances could tip the vote in closely contested states like this one, making such voters the focus of an intense tug of war between the parties.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Registration: As Voting Rolls Increase, So Do the Wild Cards) ¶ 21:31 0 comments
10.27.2004
The Coming Post-Election Chaos (FindLaw.com)
The Coming Post-Election Chaos:
A Storm Warning of Things to Come If the Vote Is as Close as Expected
By JOHN W. DEAN
Friday, Oct. 22, 2004
This next presidential election, on November 2, may be followed by post-election chaos unlike any we've ever known
Look at the swirling, ugly currents currently at work in this conspicuously close race. There is Republicans' history of going negative to win elections. There is Karl Rove's disposition to challenge close elections in post-election brawls. And there is Democrats' (and others) new unwillingness to roll over, as was done in 2000. Finally, look at the fact that a half-dozen lawsuits are in the works in the key states and more are being developed.
This is a climate for trouble. A storm warning is appropriate. In the end, attorneys and legal strategy could prove as important, if not more so, to the outcome of this election as the traditional political strategists and strategy.
Let's go over each factor that spells trouble - and see how they may combine.
(More ... FindLaw's Writ - Dean: The Coming Post-Election Chaos) ¶ 22:11 0 comments
A Storm Warning of Things to Come If the Vote Is as Close as Expected
By JOHN W. DEAN
Friday, Oct. 22, 2004
This next presidential election, on November 2, may be followed by post-election chaos unlike any we've ever known
Look at the swirling, ugly currents currently at work in this conspicuously close race. There is Republicans' history of going negative to win elections. There is Karl Rove's disposition to challenge close elections in post-election brawls. And there is Democrats' (and others) new unwillingness to roll over, as was done in 2000. Finally, look at the fact that a half-dozen lawsuits are in the works in the key states and more are being developed.
This is a climate for trouble. A storm warning is appropriate. In the end, attorneys and legal strategy could prove as important, if not more so, to the outcome of this election as the traditional political strategists and strategy.
Let's go over each factor that spells trouble - and see how they may combine.
(More ... FindLaw's Writ - Dean: The Coming Post-Election Chaos) ¶ 22:11 0 comments
BBC Reveals New Florida Vote Scandal (Scoop.co.nz)
BBC Television News On-Line
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Greg Palast, reporting
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called 'caging list'.
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: 'The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day.'
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot."
(More ... Scoop: Greg Palast: BBC Reveals New Florida Vote Scandal)
(Watch it tonight at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm
begining at 5.30pm EST, available for 24 hours.)
¶ 21:52 0 comments
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Greg Palast, reporting
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called 'caging list'.
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: 'The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day.'
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot."
(More ... Scoop: Greg Palast: BBC Reveals New Florida Vote Scandal)
(Watch it tonight at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm
begining at 5.30pm EST, available for 24 hours.)
¶ 21:52 0 comments
What (Or Was) The Doctor Ordered? (Scoop.co.nz)
By Rosalea
Pardon my cynicism, but you get like that in the US once you realize what a crock this ''model democracy'' is. How convenient for diverting the focus of the election from Iraq and the economy is the sudden news of Justice Rehnquist's thyroid cancer. It also balances out the cutesy appeal of Clinton stumping for Kerry just seven weeks after his heart surgery.
Next thing you know, there'll be lousy weather all day next Tuesday driving down voter turnout. Low voter turnout always favours the Republicans, because Democrats are such a wimpy lot.
One thing I've noticed about myself of late - and many people I talk to seem to suffer from it too - is forgetfulness. It's hard to remember what people tell you from one sentence to the next, and you'll look up a phone number then have to look it up three more times before you can dial it. All part of a National Anxiety Syndrome attack, I reckon. An attack that's largely driven by the media reiterating the words 'scare tactics' at any opportunity, even on the Sunday talk shows.
There's only one cure folks: VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE! At least you'll have the comfort of knowing YOU did the right thing, no matter the outcome.
(More ... Scoop: Stateside: What (Or Was) The Doctor Ordered?) ¶ 21:46 0 comments
Pardon my cynicism, but you get like that in the US once you realize what a crock this ''model democracy'' is. How convenient for diverting the focus of the election from Iraq and the economy is the sudden news of Justice Rehnquist's thyroid cancer. It also balances out the cutesy appeal of Clinton stumping for Kerry just seven weeks after his heart surgery.
Next thing you know, there'll be lousy weather all day next Tuesday driving down voter turnout. Low voter turnout always favours the Republicans, because Democrats are such a wimpy lot.
One thing I've noticed about myself of late - and many people I talk to seem to suffer from it too - is forgetfulness. It's hard to remember what people tell you from one sentence to the next, and you'll look up a phone number then have to look it up three more times before you can dial it. All part of a National Anxiety Syndrome attack, I reckon. An attack that's largely driven by the media reiterating the words 'scare tactics' at any opportunity, even on the Sunday talk shows.
There's only one cure folks: VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE! At least you'll have the comfort of knowing YOU did the right thing, no matter the outcome.
(More ... Scoop: Stateside: What (Or Was) The Doctor Ordered?) ¶ 21:46 0 comments
The Nonscientific Reality Behind US Election Polls (Scoop.co.nz)
By Paul G. Buchanan
25 October 2004
The worst mistake a political analyst can make is to offer predictions about future events. The study of politics is nowhere close to being an exact science, and in fact makes meteorology look downright precise. This has not stopped those who study politics for a living from calling themselves "scientists," and from attempting to emulate the real sciences when describing political phenomena in terms of absolutes, trends, and indexes of predictability. At best, this is informed opinion masquerading as fact, and at worst it is nothing more than playing at being economists. Unlike the laws of nature and physics that govern scientific inquiry, or the stylized models upon which most macroeconomic theory is premised, the study of real human political behaviour is as contingent and precarious as the subject is fickle and unpredictable. Thus political analysis is no more than an exercise in focused speculation.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the work of those who conduct political opinion polls. Consider, for example, the polls that showed Mark Latham and John Howard in a near dead heat in the run-up to the recently concluded Australian national election. Needless to say, the pollsters proved wrong, much to Mr. Latham�s chagrin. But to really understand the deception potentially inherent in political opinion surveys, we must look to those conducted in the United States, where election polling is considered to be at its highest stage of evolution. Case in point: the current race for president.
With less than a week to go before the US presidential election, most opinion polls show that the contest is neck and neck, with Republican George W. Bush slightly ahead of Democrat John Kerry by 2-4 points either side of the 50 percent mark. These figures may be misleading. Leave aside for the moment all the voting irregularities being discovered, the attempts (mostly Republican) at voter suppression now being given wide exposure, and the massive (mostly Democratic) voter turn-out drives currently underway (including unprecedented efforts to register Americans living abroad), all of which lies outside the purview of polling surveys. Ignore the fact that people lie and misrepresent their views in sample groups for a variety of reasons. Forget that polls commissioned by partisan groups tend to reflect the wishes of those paying for them.
(More ... Scoop: The Nonscientific Reality Behind US Election Polls)
¶ 21:43 0 comments
25 October 2004
The worst mistake a political analyst can make is to offer predictions about future events. The study of politics is nowhere close to being an exact science, and in fact makes meteorology look downright precise. This has not stopped those who study politics for a living from calling themselves "scientists," and from attempting to emulate the real sciences when describing political phenomena in terms of absolutes, trends, and indexes of predictability. At best, this is informed opinion masquerading as fact, and at worst it is nothing more than playing at being economists. Unlike the laws of nature and physics that govern scientific inquiry, or the stylized models upon which most macroeconomic theory is premised, the study of real human political behaviour is as contingent and precarious as the subject is fickle and unpredictable. Thus political analysis is no more than an exercise in focused speculation.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the work of those who conduct political opinion polls. Consider, for example, the polls that showed Mark Latham and John Howard in a near dead heat in the run-up to the recently concluded Australian national election. Needless to say, the pollsters proved wrong, much to Mr. Latham�s chagrin. But to really understand the deception potentially inherent in political opinion surveys, we must look to those conducted in the United States, where election polling is considered to be at its highest stage of evolution. Case in point: the current race for president.
With less than a week to go before the US presidential election, most opinion polls show that the contest is neck and neck, with Republican George W. Bush slightly ahead of Democrat John Kerry by 2-4 points either side of the 50 percent mark. These figures may be misleading. Leave aside for the moment all the voting irregularities being discovered, the attempts (mostly Republican) at voter suppression now being given wide exposure, and the massive (mostly Democratic) voter turn-out drives currently underway (including unprecedented efforts to register Americans living abroad), all of which lies outside the purview of polling surveys. Ignore the fact that people lie and misrepresent their views in sample groups for a variety of reasons. Forget that polls commissioned by partisan groups tend to reflect the wishes of those paying for them.
(More ... Scoop: The Nonscientific Reality Behind US Election Polls)
¶ 21:43 0 comments
10.26.2004
US President to Inherit a Legacy of Mistrust and Fear (Guardian.co.uk)
The commander in chief faces domestic division, hatred abroad and an urgent need for action in the Middle East
Simon Tisdall
Tuesday October 26, 2004
The Guardian
Whether George Bush or John Kerry wins the White House next Tuesday, the next president faces an overflowing in-tray of international problems.
America's global power has never been greater. But never, since the September 11 catastrophe, has America's global leadership been under such sustained challenge. Rarely have issues of foreign policy had such a direct, existential bearing on America's sense of itself and its security. Rarely has what the American president decides mattered so much to so many.
The most immediate worry is the security situation in Iraq. As the US tries to steer the country to elections in January, the predicted surge in violence may be compounded by a Sunni Muslim poll boycott. The insurgent redoubt of Falluja is again the likely, lethal flashpoint.
Iran's nuclear ambitions are moving up the agenda. On November 25, the International Atomic Energy Agency must decide whether to report Iran to the UN security council. If it does so, punitive sanctions could follow. If the UN fails to agree, the White House will come under pressure, not least from Israel, to consider unilateral measures including possible military action.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Simon Tisdall: US president to inherit a legacy of mistrust and fear) ¶ 21:37 0 comments
Simon Tisdall
Tuesday October 26, 2004
The Guardian
Whether George Bush or John Kerry wins the White House next Tuesday, the next president faces an overflowing in-tray of international problems.
America's global power has never been greater. But never, since the September 11 catastrophe, has America's global leadership been under such sustained challenge. Rarely have issues of foreign policy had such a direct, existential bearing on America's sense of itself and its security. Rarely has what the American president decides mattered so much to so many.
The most immediate worry is the security situation in Iraq. As the US tries to steer the country to elections in January, the predicted surge in violence may be compounded by a Sunni Muslim poll boycott. The insurgent redoubt of Falluja is again the likely, lethal flashpoint.
Iran's nuclear ambitions are moving up the agenda. On November 25, the International Atomic Energy Agency must decide whether to report Iran to the UN security council. If it does so, punitive sanctions could follow. If the UN fails to agree, the White House will come under pressure, not least from Israel, to consider unilateral measures including possible military action.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Simon Tisdall: US president to inherit a legacy of mistrust and fear) ¶ 21:37 0 comments
Not to Worry -- The End Is Very Near (WashingtonPost.com)
As Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder Sets In, Just Remember: You'll Live. Probably.
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 25, 2004; Page C01
Americans are in the grip of a monster case of Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder. No one is talking about voter apathy anymore, because the opposite is more likely the case. People care too much. They're losing sleep. They're having bad dreams about unfavorable tracking polls.
PEAD worsens as Election Day approaches and it's a 50-50 country and there's a war going on and people are dying and the talking heads are howling and the polls come firing at your head like fastballs. It's too close to call, too close, too close, we know the whole thing could pivot with the slightest breeze, that nothing is too trivial now, that even the slightest verbal gaffe by a candidate or his wife or one of the daughters could have a butterfly effect on world history.
Lawsuits are flying as we speak, and the election may come down to a single precinct in Winter Haven or Deland or Immokalee, followed by the soon-to-be-traditional Recount, the dueling press conferences, James A. Baker flying to Tallahassee, and a final and definitive verdict by Nino Scalia.
Not to Worry -- The End Is Very Near (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 20:45 0 comments
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 25, 2004; Page C01
Americans are in the grip of a monster case of Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder. No one is talking about voter apathy anymore, because the opposite is more likely the case. People care too much. They're losing sleep. They're having bad dreams about unfavorable tracking polls.
PEAD worsens as Election Day approaches and it's a 50-50 country and there's a war going on and people are dying and the talking heads are howling and the polls come firing at your head like fastballs. It's too close to call, too close, too close, we know the whole thing could pivot with the slightest breeze, that nothing is too trivial now, that even the slightest verbal gaffe by a candidate or his wife or one of the daughters could have a butterfly effect on world history.
Lawsuits are flying as we speak, and the election may come down to a single precinct in Winter Haven or Deland or Immokalee, followed by the soon-to-be-traditional Recount, the dueling press conferences, James A. Baker flying to Tallahassee, and a final and definitive verdict by Nino Scalia.
Not to Worry -- The End Is Very Near (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 20:45 0 comments
How to Make New Enemies (NYTimes.com)
By: ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI
Published: October 25, 2004
It is striking that in spite of all the electoral fireworks over policy in Iraq, both presidential candidates offer basically similar solutions. Their programs stress intensified Iraqi self-help and more outside help in the quest for domestic stability. Unfortunately, these prescriptions by themselves are not likely to work.
Both candidates have become prisoners of a worldview that fundamentally misdiagnoses the central challenge of our time. President Bush's "global war on terror" is a politically expedient slogan without real substance, serving to distort rather than define. It obscures the central fact that a civil war within Islam is pitting zealous fanatics against increasingly intimidated moderates. The undiscriminating American rhetoric and actions increase the likelihood that the moderates will eventually unite with the jihadists in outraged anger and unite the world of Islam in a head-on collision with America.
...
For the United States, however, a new Holy Alliance would mean growing isolation in an increasingly polarized world. That prospect may not faze the extremists in the Bush administration who are committed to an existential struggle against Islam and who would like America to attack Iran, but who otherwise lack any wider strategic conception of what America's role in the world ought to be. It is, however, of concern to moderate Republicans.
...
To get the Europeans to act, any new administration will have to confront them with strategic options. The Europeans need to be convinced that the United States recognizes that the best way to influence the eventual outcome of the civil war within Islam is to shape an expanding Grand Alliance (as opposed to a polarizing Holy Alliance) that embraces the Middle East by taking on the region's three most inflammatory and explosive issues: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the mess in Iraq, and the challenge of a restless and potentially dangerous Iran.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: How to Make New Enemies) ¶ 20:25 0 comments
Published: October 25, 2004
It is striking that in spite of all the electoral fireworks over policy in Iraq, both presidential candidates offer basically similar solutions. Their programs stress intensified Iraqi self-help and more outside help in the quest for domestic stability. Unfortunately, these prescriptions by themselves are not likely to work.
Both candidates have become prisoners of a worldview that fundamentally misdiagnoses the central challenge of our time. President Bush's "global war on terror" is a politically expedient slogan without real substance, serving to distort rather than define. It obscures the central fact that a civil war within Islam is pitting zealous fanatics against increasingly intimidated moderates. The undiscriminating American rhetoric and actions increase the likelihood that the moderates will eventually unite with the jihadists in outraged anger and unite the world of Islam in a head-on collision with America.
...
For the United States, however, a new Holy Alliance would mean growing isolation in an increasingly polarized world. That prospect may not faze the extremists in the Bush administration who are committed to an existential struggle against Islam and who would like America to attack Iran, but who otherwise lack any wider strategic conception of what America's role in the world ought to be. It is, however, of concern to moderate Republicans.
...
To get the Europeans to act, any new administration will have to confront them with strategic options. The Europeans need to be convinced that the United States recognizes that the best way to influence the eventual outcome of the civil war within Islam is to shape an expanding Grand Alliance (as opposed to a polarizing Holy Alliance) that embraces the Middle East by taking on the region's three most inflammatory and explosive issues: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the mess in Iraq, and the challenge of a restless and potentially dangerous Iran.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: How to Make New Enemies) ¶ 20:25 0 comments
A Bush pre-election strike on Iran? (GlobalResearch.ca)
White House insiders report "October Surprise" imminent
By Wayne Madsen
Published: 23 October 2004
According to White House and Washington Beltway insiders, the Bush administration, worried that it could lose the presidential election to Senator John F. Kerry, has initiated plans to launch a military strike on Iran's top Islamic leadership, its nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, and key nuclear targets throughout the country, including the main underground research site at Natanz in central Iran and another in Isfahan. Targets of the planned U.S. attack reportedly include mosques in Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan known by the U.S. to headquarter Iran's top mullahs.
The Iran attack plan was reportedly drawn up after internal polling indicated that if the Bush administration launched a so-called anti-terrorist attack on Iran some two weeks before the election, Bush would be assured of a landslide win against Kerry. Reports of a pre-emptive strike on Iran come amid concerns by a number of political observers that the Bush administration would concoct an 'October Surprise' to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
...
White House sources also claimed they are "terrified" that Bush wants to start a dangerous war with Iran prior to the election and fear that such a move will trigger dire consequences for the entire world. The sources also report that a draft text of a proposed televised Bush speech to the nation to explain the attack has been prepared.
(More ... A Bush pre-election strike on Iran?) ¶ 20:13 0 comments
By Wayne Madsen
Published: 23 October 2004
According to White House and Washington Beltway insiders, the Bush administration, worried that it could lose the presidential election to Senator John F. Kerry, has initiated plans to launch a military strike on Iran's top Islamic leadership, its nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, and key nuclear targets throughout the country, including the main underground research site at Natanz in central Iran and another in Isfahan. Targets of the planned U.S. attack reportedly include mosques in Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan known by the U.S. to headquarter Iran's top mullahs.
The Iran attack plan was reportedly drawn up after internal polling indicated that if the Bush administration launched a so-called anti-terrorist attack on Iran some two weeks before the election, Bush would be assured of a landslide win against Kerry. Reports of a pre-emptive strike on Iran come amid concerns by a number of political observers that the Bush administration would concoct an 'October Surprise' to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
...
White House sources also claimed they are "terrified" that Bush wants to start a dangerous war with Iran prior to the election and fear that such a move will trigger dire consequences for the entire world. The sources also report that a draft text of a proposed televised Bush speech to the nation to explain the attack has been prepared.
(More ... A Bush pre-election strike on Iran?) ¶ 20:13 0 comments
NASA Expert Criticizes Bush on Global Warming Policy (NYTimes.com)
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: October 26, 2004
A top NASA climate expert who twice briefed Vice President Dick Cheney on global warming plans to criticize the administration's approach to the issue in a lecture at the University of Iowa tonight and say that a senior administration official told him last year not to discuss dangerous consequences of rising temperatures.
The expert, Dr. James E. Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in Manhattan, expects to say that the Bush administration has ignored growing evidence that sea levels could rise significantly unless prompt action is taken to reduce heat-trapping emissions from smokestacks and tailpipes.
Many academic scientists, including dozens of Nobel laureates, have been criticizing the administration over its handling of climate change and other complex scientific issues. But Dr. Hansen, first in an interview with The New York Times a week ago and again in his planned lecture today, is the only leading scientist to speak out so publicly while still in the employ of the government.
In the talk, Dr. Hansen, who describes himself as "moderately conservative, middle-of-the-road" and registered in Pennsylvania as an independent, plans to say that he will vote for Senator John Kerry, while also criticizing some of Mr. Kerry's positions, particularly his pledge to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada.
He will acknowledge that one of the accolades he has received for his work on climate change is a $250,000 Heinz Award, given in 2001 by a foundation run by Teresa Heinz Kerry, Mr. Kerry's wife. The awards are given to people who advance causes promoted by Senator John Heinz, the Pennsylvania Republican who was Mrs. Heinz Kerry's first husband.
(More ... New York Times > Science > The Environment > NASA Expert Criticizes Bush on Global Warming Policy) ¶ 17:56 0 comments
Published: October 26, 2004
A top NASA climate expert who twice briefed Vice President Dick Cheney on global warming plans to criticize the administration's approach to the issue in a lecture at the University of Iowa tonight and say that a senior administration official told him last year not to discuss dangerous consequences of rising temperatures.
The expert, Dr. James E. Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in Manhattan, expects to say that the Bush administration has ignored growing evidence that sea levels could rise significantly unless prompt action is taken to reduce heat-trapping emissions from smokestacks and tailpipes.
Many academic scientists, including dozens of Nobel laureates, have been criticizing the administration over its handling of climate change and other complex scientific issues. But Dr. Hansen, first in an interview with The New York Times a week ago and again in his planned lecture today, is the only leading scientist to speak out so publicly while still in the employ of the government.
In the talk, Dr. Hansen, who describes himself as "moderately conservative, middle-of-the-road" and registered in Pennsylvania as an independent, plans to say that he will vote for Senator John Kerry, while also criticizing some of Mr. Kerry's positions, particularly his pledge to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada.
He will acknowledge that one of the accolades he has received for his work on climate change is a $250,000 Heinz Award, given in 2001 by a foundation run by Teresa Heinz Kerry, Mr. Kerry's wife. The awards are given to people who advance causes promoted by Senator John Heinz, the Pennsylvania Republican who was Mrs. Heinz Kerry's first husband.
(More ... New York Times > Science > The Environment > NASA Expert Criticizes Bush on Global Warming Policy) ¶ 17:56 0 comments
10.25.2004
Bush Relatives Use Website to Show Support for Kerry (Boston.com)
6 second cousins protest policies
By Sandeep Kaushik, Globe Correspondent | October 20, 2004
SEATTLE -- Six blood relatives of President Bush who support John F. Kerry's bid for the presidency have launched a website to publicize their sharp disagreements with Bush's policies.
The site, www.bushrelativesforkerry.com, consists of personal statements from a group of decidedly liberal second cousins of the president, none of whom knows him personally. All are grandchildren of Mary Bush House, the sister of Prescott Bush, a former US senator from Connecticut and the father and grandfather of the two Bush presidents.
The introduction to the site opens with the slogan, ''Because blood is thicker than oil!' and states: ''As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!'
Boston.com / News / Nation / Bush relatives use website to show support for Kerry ¶ 21:08 0 comments
By Sandeep Kaushik, Globe Correspondent | October 20, 2004
SEATTLE -- Six blood relatives of President Bush who support John F. Kerry's bid for the presidency have launched a website to publicize their sharp disagreements with Bush's policies.
The site, www.bushrelativesforkerry.com, consists of personal statements from a group of decidedly liberal second cousins of the president, none of whom knows him personally. All are grandchildren of Mary Bush House, the sister of Prescott Bush, a former US senator from Connecticut and the father and grandfather of the two Bush presidents.
The introduction to the site opens with the slogan, ''Because blood is thicker than oil!' and states: ''As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!'
Boston.com / News / Nation / Bush relatives use website to show support for Kerry ¶ 21:08 0 comments
Florida, Ohio Try to Avoid Vote-Count `Fiasco,' Revamp Machines (Bloomberg.com)
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Florida legislators were so determined to avoid a repeat of the disputed 2000 presidential election that they outlawed punch-card ballots the following May and had new voting machines installed throughout the state.
The first test came in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Poll workers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties shut some voting sites for five hours to start the machines and failed to retrieve hundreds of votes. It took a week to get the results.
``It was a fiasco,'' says Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, chairwoman of the nonpartisan Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition.
(More ... Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide) ¶ 14:46 0 comments
The first test came in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Poll workers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties shut some voting sites for five hours to start the machines and failed to retrieve hundreds of votes. It took a week to get the results.
``It was a fiasco,'' says Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, chairwoman of the nonpartisan Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition.
(More ... Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide) ¶ 14:46 0 comments
Kerry for President (WashingtonPost.com)
Sunday, October 24, 2004; Page B06
EXPERTS TELL US that most voters have had no difficulty making up their minds in this year's presidential election. Half the nation is passionately for George W. Bush, the pollsters say, and half passionately for John F. Kerry -- or, at least, passionately against Mr. Bush. We have not been able to share in this passion, nor in the certainty. As readers of this page know, we find much to criticize in Mr. Bush's term but also more than a few things to admire. We find much to admire in Mr. Kerry's life of service, knowledge of the world and positions on a range of issues -- but also some things that give us pause. On balance, though, we believe Mr. Kerry, with his promise of resoluteness tempered by wisdom and open-mindedness, has staked a stronger claim on the nation's trust to lead for the next four years.
The balancing process begins, as reelection campaigns must, with the incumbent. His record, particularly in foreign affairs, can't be judged with a simple aye or nay. President Bush rallied the nation after Sept. 11, 2001, and reshaped his own world view. His commitment to a long-term struggle to promote freedom in the Arab world reflects an understanding of the deep threat posed by radical Islamic fundamentalism. His actions have not always matched his stirring rhetoric on the subject, and setbacks to democracy in other parts of the world (notably Russia) appear not to have troubled him much.
But Mr. Bush has accomplished more than his critics acknowledge, both in the practical business of forming alliances to track terrorists and in beginning to reshape a Middle East policy too long centered on accommodating friendly dictators. He has promised the large increases in foreign aid, to help poor nations cope with AIDS and for other purposes, that we believe are essential.
Kerry for President (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 09:36 0 comments
EXPERTS TELL US that most voters have had no difficulty making up their minds in this year's presidential election. Half the nation is passionately for George W. Bush, the pollsters say, and half passionately for John F. Kerry -- or, at least, passionately against Mr. Bush. We have not been able to share in this passion, nor in the certainty. As readers of this page know, we find much to criticize in Mr. Bush's term but also more than a few things to admire. We find much to admire in Mr. Kerry's life of service, knowledge of the world and positions on a range of issues -- but also some things that give us pause. On balance, though, we believe Mr. Kerry, with his promise of resoluteness tempered by wisdom and open-mindedness, has staked a stronger claim on the nation's trust to lead for the next four years.
The balancing process begins, as reelection campaigns must, with the incumbent. His record, particularly in foreign affairs, can't be judged with a simple aye or nay. President Bush rallied the nation after Sept. 11, 2001, and reshaped his own world view. His commitment to a long-term struggle to promote freedom in the Arab world reflects an understanding of the deep threat posed by radical Islamic fundamentalism. His actions have not always matched his stirring rhetoric on the subject, and setbacks to democracy in other parts of the world (notably Russia) appear not to have troubled him much.
But Mr. Bush has accomplished more than his critics acknowledge, both in the practical business of forming alliances to track terrorists and in beginning to reshape a Middle East policy too long centered on accommodating friendly dictators. He has promised the large increases in foreign aid, to help poor nations cope with AIDS and for other purposes, that we believe are essential.
Kerry for President (washingtonpost.com) ¶ 09:36 0 comments
10.24.2004
Gary Younge visits Springfield, Missouri (Guardian.co.uk)
In the run-up to polling day, Gary Younge is driving the 2,147 miles from John Kerry's base in Boston, Massachusetts to George Bush's home town of Midland, Texas. Today he tests the mood in Springfield, Missouri
Saturday October 23, 2004
The Guardian
Cleo Toris leads me on stage to the tune of 'I am a woman' and clasps my hand to her fake breast. 'They tell me you're married,' she says. 'But are you curious?'
'Curious about what?' I ask. 'I'll talk to you later,' said Cleo Toris (run the two names together quickly) to the laughter of the mainly gay and lesbian crowd at the Black Tie Affair in Springfield, Missouri.
With a proud crop of manly chest hair poking out of her pink harem outfit, Cleo Toris is no regular drag queen.
But then this is just the biannual turn of raucous stand-up she does for charity.
The rest of the year she is Mark Gideon, a 47-year-old education administrator.
Mr Gideon is the only graduate of the Evangel University, a devout Christian college situated in Springfield (population 151,580), to be crowned Ms Missouri by the International Gay Rodeo Association. 'I got wonderful training at Evangel,' he says. 'But I was shocked the first time I went into a gay bar and found half my Bible class was in there.'
There are around 71 Springfields (not including the one the Simpsons live in) dotted around 36 states and territories of America, from the Virgin Islands of the Caribbean to Vermont in New England. Georgia alone has nine; Virginia has eight.
But the Springfield in Missouri is special. It is the home town of fundamentalist attorney general John Ashcroft, a man so religious he holds daily Bible study classes in his office.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Gary Younge visits Springfield, Missouri) ¶ 20:29 0 comments
Saturday October 23, 2004
The Guardian
Cleo Toris leads me on stage to the tune of 'I am a woman' and clasps my hand to her fake breast. 'They tell me you're married,' she says. 'But are you curious?'
'Curious about what?' I ask. 'I'll talk to you later,' said Cleo Toris (run the two names together quickly) to the laughter of the mainly gay and lesbian crowd at the Black Tie Affair in Springfield, Missouri.
With a proud crop of manly chest hair poking out of her pink harem outfit, Cleo Toris is no regular drag queen.
But then this is just the biannual turn of raucous stand-up she does for charity.
The rest of the year she is Mark Gideon, a 47-year-old education administrator.
Mr Gideon is the only graduate of the Evangel University, a devout Christian college situated in Springfield (population 151,580), to be crowned Ms Missouri by the International Gay Rodeo Association. 'I got wonderful training at Evangel,' he says. 'But I was shocked the first time I went into a gay bar and found half my Bible class was in there.'
There are around 71 Springfields (not including the one the Simpsons live in) dotted around 36 states and territories of America, from the Virgin Islands of the Caribbean to Vermont in New England. Georgia alone has nine; Virginia has eight.
But the Springfield in Missouri is special. It is the home town of fundamentalist attorney general John Ashcroft, a man so religious he holds daily Bible study classes in his office.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Gary Younge visits Springfield, Missouri) ¶ 20:29 0 comments
The Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day One (Guardian.co.uk)
In the run-up to the Iraq conflict, a web diary from Baghdad captured a global following. Its author, Salam Pax, reluctantly supported the invasion. Now he journeys for the first time to the city where the decision was taken for war - and asks if it's already too late for freedom in his country
Friday October 22, 2004
I really don't like my passport: it is too big and has a colour that reminds you of something that has been sitting for too long in your fridge. But what I hate most about it is that when an immigration officer takes a look at it they will usually ask me to step aside and follow them into a small room.
Everybody in the airport immigration queue at JFK in New York already hates me because it is taking too long, and now that I am being led away like this it makes everyone look at me as if I have just threatened to assassinate their favourite cartoon character."
(More ... Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day One)
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Two
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Three
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Four
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Five
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Six
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Seven
Salam Pax's Weblog: Where is Raed?
Salam Pax's Book: The Bagdad Blog ¶ 18:50 0 comments
Friday October 22, 2004
I really don't like my passport: it is too big and has a colour that reminds you of something that has been sitting for too long in your fridge. But what I hate most about it is that when an immigration officer takes a look at it they will usually ask me to step aside and follow them into a small room.
Everybody in the airport immigration queue at JFK in New York already hates me because it is taking too long, and now that I am being led away like this it makes everyone look at me as if I have just threatened to assassinate their favourite cartoon character."
(More ... Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day One)
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Two
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Three
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Four
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Five
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Six
Baghdad Blogger Goes to Washington: Day Seven
Salam Pax's Weblog: Where is Raed?
Salam Pax's Book: The Bagdad Blog ¶ 18:50 0 comments
In This Climate, Victory's No Picnic, Either (NYTimes.com)
By ROBIN TONER
Published: October 24, 2004
The long and bitter presidential campaign will (it is widely and devoutly hoped) be over in nine days. One man will win, and the voters will be rewarded with either George W. Bush's 'ownership society,' with sweeping change in Social Security and an overhaul of the tax system, or John Kerry's 'stronger America,' with a huge new health program and other assistance for the strained middle class.
Right?
Actually, probably not.
Theoretically, it could work that way, with a bitter campaign producing a robust mandate, functional control of the government for one party and a season of legislative accomplishment. But not many in Washington expect it to happen this time.
(More ... The New York Times > Week in Review > In This Climate, Victory's No Picnic, Either) ¶ 11:52 0 comments
Published: October 24, 2004
The long and bitter presidential campaign will (it is widely and devoutly hoped) be over in nine days. One man will win, and the voters will be rewarded with either George W. Bush's 'ownership society,' with sweeping change in Social Security and an overhaul of the tax system, or John Kerry's 'stronger America,' with a huge new health program and other assistance for the strained middle class.
Right?
Actually, probably not.
Theoretically, it could work that way, with a bitter campaign producing a robust mandate, functional control of the government for one party and a season of legislative accomplishment. But not many in Washington expect it to happen this time.
(More ... The New York Times > Week in Review > In This Climate, Victory's No Picnic, Either) ¶ 11:52 0 comments
After Terror, a Secret Rewriting of Military Law (NYTimes.com)
By TIM GOLDEN
Published: October 24, 2004
WASHINGTON - In early November 2001, with Americans still staggered by the Sept. 11 attacks, a small group of White House officials worked in great secrecy to devise a new system of justice for the new war they had declared on terrorism.
Determined to deal aggressively with the terrorists they expected to capture, the officials bypassed the federal courts and their constitutional guarantees, giving the military the authority to detain foreign suspects indefinitely and prosecute them in tribunals not used since World War II.
The plan was considered so sensitive that senior White House officials kept its final details hidden from the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and the secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, officials said. It was so urgent, some of those involved said, that they hardly thought of consulting Congress.
White House officials said their use of extraordinary powers would allow the Pentagon to collect crucial intelligence and mete out swift, unmerciful justice. 'We think it guarantees that we'll have the kind of treatment of these individuals that we believe they deserve,' said Vice President Dick Cheney, who was a driving force behind the policy.
(More ... The New York Times > International > International Special > After Terror, a Secret Rewriting of Military Law) ¶ 11:46 0 comments
Published: October 24, 2004
WASHINGTON - In early November 2001, with Americans still staggered by the Sept. 11 attacks, a small group of White House officials worked in great secrecy to devise a new system of justice for the new war they had declared on terrorism.
Determined to deal aggressively with the terrorists they expected to capture, the officials bypassed the federal courts and their constitutional guarantees, giving the military the authority to detain foreign suspects indefinitely and prosecute them in tribunals not used since World War II.
The plan was considered so sensitive that senior White House officials kept its final details hidden from the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and the secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, officials said. It was so urgent, some of those involved said, that they hardly thought of consulting Congress.
White House officials said their use of extraordinary powers would allow the Pentagon to collect crucial intelligence and mete out swift, unmerciful justice. 'We think it guarantees that we'll have the kind of treatment of these individuals that we believe they deserve,' said Vice President Dick Cheney, who was a driving force behind the policy.
(More ... The New York Times > International > International Special > After Terror, a Secret Rewriting of Military Law) ¶ 11:46 0 comments
10.23.2004
Battle of the Bulge (Scoop.co.nz)
By SAM SMITH, Editor
The Progressive Review
The failure of the archaic media to evince more than a passing interest in the matter of the bulge in George Bush's back is an excellent example of a preeminent characteristic of the contemporary press: cowardice.
For a reporter to press the matter would be to risk ridicule and/or censure from one's boss, colleagues and sources, in this case including those working in the White House. It is simpler and safer to either ignore the matter or to ridicule it oneself.
For such reasons, I learned long ago to stay (away) from the Washington press corps, knowing that it has much the same deadening effect on one's curiosity and thought as being in any fraternity based on aggressively common presumptions.
Of course, the difference with the media, as opposed, say, to a fundamental religious community, is that the former is supposed to be curious and skeptical. The suppression of inquisitiveness should be considered by journalists a mortal sin; instead they increasingly see it as their professional salvation.
(More ... Scoop: Sam Smith: Battle Of The Bulge) ¶ 20:09 0 comments
The Progressive Review
The failure of the archaic media to evince more than a passing interest in the matter of the bulge in George Bush's back is an excellent example of a preeminent characteristic of the contemporary press: cowardice.
For a reporter to press the matter would be to risk ridicule and/or censure from one's boss, colleagues and sources, in this case including those working in the White House. It is simpler and safer to either ignore the matter or to ridicule it oneself.
For such reasons, I learned long ago to stay (away) from the Washington press corps, knowing that it has much the same deadening effect on one's curiosity and thought as being in any fraternity based on aggressively common presumptions.
Of course, the difference with the media, as opposed, say, to a fundamental religious community, is that the former is supposed to be curious and skeptical. The suppression of inquisitiveness should be considered by journalists a mortal sin; instead they increasingly see it as their professional salvation.
(More ... Scoop: Sam Smith: Battle Of The Bulge) ¶ 20:09 0 comments
The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters (UMd-PIPA)
A new study from the University of Maryland supports the thesis that Kerry and Bush supporters apparently live in different universes, complete with different facts and probably different laws of physics. Bush supporters believe it is a fact that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction; Kerry supporters don't. Bush supporters believe Saddam was supporting al Qaeda; Kerry supporters don't. Bush supporters believe most people in other countries approve of the war in Iraq; Kerry supporters don't. Read it for yourself.
Download Report: The PIPA/Knowledge Networks Poll: The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supports ¶ 19:43 0 comments
Download Report: The PIPA/Knowledge Networks Poll: The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supports ¶ 19:43 0 comments
Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State (NYTimes.com)
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: October 23, 2004
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State) ¶ 17:08 0 comments
Published: October 23, 2004
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Big G.O.P. Bid to Challenge Voters at Polls in Key State) ¶ 17:08 0 comments
Small States Could Swing Electoral College (CNN.com)
CNN analysis: Bush ahead in very tight race
By John Mercurio and Molly Levinson
CNN Political Unit
The race between Sen. John Kerry and President Bush could be decided by a state with few electoral votes.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush maintains a thin lead over John Kerry in the battle for electoral votes in a race so tight that, despite a national focus on three larger swing states, could be decided by states with less pull in the Electoral College, like Iowa, Wisconsin or New Mexico, a new CNN analysis indicates.
If the election were held today, Bush would win 277 electoral votes to Kerry's 261, according to a new CNN survey based on state polling, as well as interviews with campaign aides and independent analysts. The map is unchanged from last week. A candidate wins the election with 270 electoral votes, regardless of the popular vote.
Each week, CNN's political unit prepares a comprehensive analysis of the most recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup polling and public polling, combined with a look at turnout trends, interviews with strategists from both campaigns and parties, independent pollsters, and the latest campaign and party spending on advertising in the states.
(More ... CNN.com - Small states could swing Electoral College - Oct 22, 2004) ¶ 15:52 0 comments
By John Mercurio and Molly Levinson
CNN Political Unit
The race between Sen. John Kerry and President Bush could be decided by a state with few electoral votes.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush maintains a thin lead over John Kerry in the battle for electoral votes in a race so tight that, despite a national focus on three larger swing states, could be decided by states with less pull in the Electoral College, like Iowa, Wisconsin or New Mexico, a new CNN analysis indicates.
If the election were held today, Bush would win 277 electoral votes to Kerry's 261, according to a new CNN survey based on state polling, as well as interviews with campaign aides and independent analysts. The map is unchanged from last week. A candidate wins the election with 270 electoral votes, regardless of the popular vote.
Each week, CNN's political unit prepares a comprehensive analysis of the most recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup polling and public polling, combined with a look at turnout trends, interviews with strategists from both campaigns and parties, independent pollsters, and the latest campaign and party spending on advertising in the states.
(More ... CNN.com - Small states could swing Electoral College - Oct 22, 2004) ¶ 15:52 0 comments
10.22.2004
Joke of the Day
Q. What's the difference between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War?
A. George W. Bush had a plan to get out of the Vietnam War.
From: Taegan Goddard's Political Wire ¶ 21:50 0 comments
A. George W. Bush had a plan to get out of the Vietnam War.
From: Taegan Goddard's Political Wire ¶ 21:50 0 comments
The Dunce (Salon.com)
His former Harvard Business School professor recalls George W. Bush not just as a terrible student but as spoiled, loutish and a pathological liar.
By Mary Jacoby
Published: 16 Septemer 2004
For 25 years, Yoshi Tsurumi, one of George W. Bush's professors at Harvard Business School, was content with his green-card status as a permanent legal resident of the United States. But Bush's ascension to the presidency in 2001 prompted the Japanese native to secure his American citizenship. The reason: to be able to speak out with the full authority of citizenship about why he believes Bush lacks the character and intellect to lead the world's oldest and most powerful democracy.
"I don't remember all the students in detail unless I'm prompted by something," Tsurumi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I always remember two types of students. One is the very excellent student, the type as a professor you feel honored to be working with. Someone with strong social values, compassion and intellect -- the very rare person you never forget. And then you remember students like George Bush, those who are totally the opposite."
(More ... Salon.com News | The dunce) ¶ 21:21 0 comments
By Mary Jacoby
Published: 16 Septemer 2004
For 25 years, Yoshi Tsurumi, one of George W. Bush's professors at Harvard Business School, was content with his green-card status as a permanent legal resident of the United States. But Bush's ascension to the presidency in 2001 prompted the Japanese native to secure his American citizenship. The reason: to be able to speak out with the full authority of citizenship about why he believes Bush lacks the character and intellect to lead the world's oldest and most powerful democracy.
"I don't remember all the students in detail unless I'm prompted by something," Tsurumi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I always remember two types of students. One is the very excellent student, the type as a professor you feel honored to be working with. Someone with strong social values, compassion and intellect -- the very rare person you never forget. And then you remember students like George Bush, those who are totally the opposite."
(More ... Salon.com News | The dunce) ¶ 21:21 0 comments
West Virginia Elector May Not Vote for Bush (AP)
New York Times: Campaign Briefing: The Constituencies
One of West Virginia's five Republican electors says even if President Bush wins the state he might not vote for him in the Electoral College to protest the administration's economic and foreign policies. The elector, Mayor Richie Robb of South Charleston, a moderate Republican who has a reputation as a maverick, said that based on his research, an elector had 'qualified discretion' when it came to casting a vote. Mayor Robb said his dissatisfaction with Mr. Bush stemmed from the president's decision to invade Iraq and economic policies that the mayor said caused the loss of nearly 1,000 chemical and manufacturing jobs in his town of about 13,000 residents. Mr. Robb said he might cast his vote for Vice President Dick Cheney or another Republican. (AP)
The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Campaign Briefing: The Constituencies ¶ 19:12 0 comments
One of West Virginia's five Republican electors says even if President Bush wins the state he might not vote for him in the Electoral College to protest the administration's economic and foreign policies. The elector, Mayor Richie Robb of South Charleston, a moderate Republican who has a reputation as a maverick, said that based on his research, an elector had 'qualified discretion' when it came to casting a vote. Mayor Robb said his dissatisfaction with Mr. Bush stemmed from the president's decision to invade Iraq and economic policies that the mayor said caused the loss of nearly 1,000 chemical and manufacturing jobs in his town of about 13,000 residents. Mr. Robb said he might cast his vote for Vice President Dick Cheney or another Republican. (AP)
The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Campaign Briefing: The Constituencies ¶ 19:12 0 comments
Bush: A Man of His Words (ZNet)
By Saul Landau
Published: 11 October 2004
The Presidential debates revealed aspects of George W. Bush’s character that bear careful scrutiny – if not acute psychiatric care. The media made much of his body language and facial expressions, especially his reactions to John Kerry when his opponent appeared to be scoring a direct hit when he accused Bush of “misleading the American people.”
In his 2000 encounters with Al Gore, Bush occasionally flashed that “deer-caught-in-the-headlights” look, that befuddled, almost pathetic expression of surprise. But he recovered to resume the combative, jousting presence that his parents must have instilled in him as “proper” for a young man with limited intelligence and capabilities. Bush repeated phrases from his limited vocabulary. He used some of them again, with modifiers, in the 2004 debates, like “Leaders lead.” This kind of proclamation often followed an embarrassingly long pause in which Bush appeared to ponder whether he should offer an Alfred E. Newman grin – “What, me worry?” – or resort to the pugnacious posture with which he seems equally comfortable.
Bush’s behavior led Professor of Social Work Katherine Van Wormer to label him “a dry drunk,” (October 11, 2002 Counterpunch) referring to “a slang term used by members and supporters of Alcoholics Anonymous and substance abuse counselors to describe the recovering alcoholic who is no longer drinking, one who is dry, but whose thinking is clouded. Such an individual is said to be dry but not truly sober. Such an individual tends to go to extremes.”
(More ... ZNet > Bush: A Man of His Words > 11 Oct 2004) ¶ 13:16 0 comments
Published: 11 October 2004
The Presidential debates revealed aspects of George W. Bush’s character that bear careful scrutiny – if not acute psychiatric care. The media made much of his body language and facial expressions, especially his reactions to John Kerry when his opponent appeared to be scoring a direct hit when he accused Bush of “misleading the American people.”
In his 2000 encounters with Al Gore, Bush occasionally flashed that “deer-caught-in-the-headlights” look, that befuddled, almost pathetic expression of surprise. But he recovered to resume the combative, jousting presence that his parents must have instilled in him as “proper” for a young man with limited intelligence and capabilities. Bush repeated phrases from his limited vocabulary. He used some of them again, with modifiers, in the 2004 debates, like “Leaders lead.” This kind of proclamation often followed an embarrassingly long pause in which Bush appeared to ponder whether he should offer an Alfred E. Newman grin – “What, me worry?” – or resort to the pugnacious posture with which he seems equally comfortable.
Bush’s behavior led Professor of Social Work Katherine Van Wormer to label him “a dry drunk,” (October 11, 2002 Counterpunch) referring to “a slang term used by members and supporters of Alcoholics Anonymous and substance abuse counselors to describe the recovering alcoholic who is no longer drinking, one who is dry, but whose thinking is clouded. Such an individual is said to be dry but not truly sober. Such an individual tends to go to extremes.”
(More ... ZNet > Bush: A Man of His Words > 11 Oct 2004) ¶ 13:16 0 comments
10.21.2004
Kids Opt for Kerry in Online Poll (Stuff.co.nz)
LOS ANGELES: The kids have spoken, and it's Senator John Kerry with a convincing victory over US President George W Bush on November 2.
An unusual opinion poll that has correctly predicted the winner of the last four presidential elections has given Democratic challenger Kerry 57 per cent against 43 per cent for Bush, according to results released yesterday.
The Nickelodeon cable channel, better known for programmes "SpongeBob Squarepants" and "Jimmy Neutron", conducted "Kids Vote", an online survey of almost 400,000 children on Tuesday.
(More ... STUFF : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website) ¶ 21:25 0 comments
An unusual opinion poll that has correctly predicted the winner of the last four presidential elections has given Democratic challenger Kerry 57 per cent against 43 per cent for Bush, according to results released yesterday.
The Nickelodeon cable channel, better known for programmes "SpongeBob Squarepants" and "Jimmy Neutron", conducted "Kids Vote", an online survey of almost 400,000 children on Tuesday.
(More ... STUFF : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website) ¶ 21:25 0 comments
Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004
News from the Votemaster
Wow! 41 new polls today. Zogby has released new polls conducted in the battleground states Oct. 13-18 and there is good news and bad news for each candidate. For Bush, the good news is that he is now leading in seven of the 16 battleground states (Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia), his best showing ever in the Zogby poll. The bad news is that all of these leads are within the margin of error, so they are statistical ties. For Kerry, the good news is that his leads in Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington are all outside the margin of error, which ranges from 2% to 4%.
But there are other polls today as well. A new poll from the University of Cincinnati shows Kerry ahead in Ohio, 48% to 46%. Rasmussen's tracking poll shows Bush and Kerry tied at 47% each in Ohio, the first time Bush has not led there for weeks. ABC News says its Kerry 50%, Bush 47%, but Fox News says it is the other way: Kerry 45% and Bush 47%. On the other hand, Survey USA has Kerry ahead 49% to 47%. All in all, Ohio is a complete tossup at the moment; it could go either way. My rule is still: most recent poll (based on the middle date) wins, with ties resolved in favor of the shortest poll. If two or more polls with the same dates are most recent, they are averaged. Currently, The Fox/Opinion Dynamics poll is the most recent by 0.5 day, so it is being used today. The complete list of polls is given at the polling data link to the right of the map.
Some people have said I should average over some time interval, but when I did that in early October, there was massive objection to the idea, so I am going to stick with the most recent poll from here to election day. No more discussion. It is the most objective system. But it should be obvious that many states are
(More ... Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004) ¶ 19:59 0 comments
Wow! 41 new polls today. Zogby has released new polls conducted in the battleground states Oct. 13-18 and there is good news and bad news for each candidate. For Bush, the good news is that he is now leading in seven of the 16 battleground states (Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia), his best showing ever in the Zogby poll. The bad news is that all of these leads are within the margin of error, so they are statistical ties. For Kerry, the good news is that his leads in Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington are all outside the margin of error, which ranges from 2% to 4%.
But there are other polls today as well. A new poll from the University of Cincinnati shows Kerry ahead in Ohio, 48% to 46%. Rasmussen's tracking poll shows Bush and Kerry tied at 47% each in Ohio, the first time Bush has not led there for weeks. ABC News says its Kerry 50%, Bush 47%, but Fox News says it is the other way: Kerry 45% and Bush 47%. On the other hand, Survey USA has Kerry ahead 49% to 47%. All in all, Ohio is a complete tossup at the moment; it could go either way. My rule is still: most recent poll (based on the middle date) wins, with ties resolved in favor of the shortest poll. If two or more polls with the same dates are most recent, they are averaged. Currently, The Fox/Opinion Dynamics poll is the most recent by 0.5 day, so it is being used today. The complete list of polls is given at the polling data link to the right of the map.
Some people have said I should average over some time interval, but when I did that in early October, there was massive objection to the idea, so I am going to stick with the most recent poll from here to election day. No more discussion. It is the most objective system. But it should be obvious that many states are
(More ... Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004) ¶ 19:59 0 comments
October Surprise (DemocraticUnderground.com)
October 20, 2004
By The Plaid Adder
In 2000, Nader garnered most of his electoral support by making the argument that the two major parties had grown so close together that there were no longer any significant differences. He's still trying to make that argument now, but just about nobody is buying it.
Especially this October, the differences have become pretty dramatic. You see, right now, even if you can't make head or tail of the ideological positions, there's one very easy way to tell the two parties apart. The Democrats are busting their asses to get voters to the polls, and the Republicans are busting their asses trying to keep voters away.
That has always just baffled me. I know many fine upstanding Republicans, and all right, fine, on many an issue dear to my heart I can still see room for honest disagreement. But how you go to bed at night knowing that your party depends on voter intimidation and election fraud to stay in power I do not understand.
(More ... October Surprise, by The Plaid Adder - Democratic Underground) ¶ 19:44 0 comments
By The Plaid Adder
In 2000, Nader garnered most of his electoral support by making the argument that the two major parties had grown so close together that there were no longer any significant differences. He's still trying to make that argument now, but just about nobody is buying it.
Especially this October, the differences have become pretty dramatic. You see, right now, even if you can't make head or tail of the ideological positions, there's one very easy way to tell the two parties apart. The Democrats are busting their asses to get voters to the polls, and the Republicans are busting their asses trying to keep voters away.
That has always just baffled me. I know many fine upstanding Republicans, and all right, fine, on many an issue dear to my heart I can still see room for honest disagreement. But how you go to bed at night knowing that your party depends on voter intimidation and election fraud to stay in power I do not understand.
(More ... October Surprise, by The Plaid Adder - Democratic Underground) ¶ 19:44 0 comments
Group Warns of Florida-style Election Fiasco (Knight-Ridder)
By Frank Davies
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - When tens of millions of voters flock to the polls in less than two weeks, the nation could experience another Florida-style meltdown because of confusion over rules, disputes over new voting systems, a lack of poll workers and the high potential for court battles in any close contest.
That's the warning from the Election Reform Information Project, a nonpartisan clearinghouse on all aspects of voting, in its pre-election survey of 50 states and the District of Columbia, which was released Tuesday.
The report did find some cause for optimism: "Some critical changes have been made to the administration of elections around the country that could head off the type of problems that caused chaos four years ago."
(More ... KR Washington Bureau | 10/19/2004 | Group warns of Florida-style election fiasco) ¶ 19:39 0 comments
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - When tens of millions of voters flock to the polls in less than two weeks, the nation could experience another Florida-style meltdown because of confusion over rules, disputes over new voting systems, a lack of poll workers and the high potential for court battles in any close contest.
That's the warning from the Election Reform Information Project, a nonpartisan clearinghouse on all aspects of voting, in its pre-election survey of 50 states and the District of Columbia, which was released Tuesday.
The report did find some cause for optimism: "Some critical changes have been made to the administration of elections around the country that could head off the type of problems that caused chaos four years ago."
(More ... KR Washington Bureau | 10/19/2004 | Group warns of Florida-style election fiasco) ¶ 19:39 0 comments
Pentagon to Place U.S. Ballot on Internet for Overseas Voters (NYTimes.com)
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: October 20, 2004
Bowing to pressure from both the Republican and Democratic Parties, the Pentagon has decided to post a federal write-in ballot on its Web site for civilian and military voters to use overseas if their regular ballots fail to arrive in time.
Political wrangling and late primaries caused local election offices in at least eight swing states to miss the deadline of Sept. 19 for sending out ballots to ensure their timely return from far-flung locales where mail service is slow.
Partisan groups vying to get out the overseas vote had begun posting the substitute write-in ballot, which covers federal but not local races or measures, on their Internet sites out of concern that its distribution to consulates has made it too hard to get.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Pentagon to Place U.S. Ballot on Internet for Overseas Voters) ¶ 13:06 0 comments
Published: October 20, 2004
Bowing to pressure from both the Republican and Democratic Parties, the Pentagon has decided to post a federal write-in ballot on its Web site for civilian and military voters to use overseas if their regular ballots fail to arrive in time.
Political wrangling and late primaries caused local election offices in at least eight swing states to miss the deadline of Sept. 19 for sending out ballots to ensure their timely return from far-flung locales where mail service is slow.
Partisan groups vying to get out the overseas vote had begun posting the substitute write-in ballot, which covers federal but not local races or measures, on their Internet sites out of concern that its distribution to consulates has made it too hard to get.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > Pentagon to Place U.S. Ballot on Internet for Overseas Voters) ¶ 13:06 0 comments
Anti-Kerry Film Won't Be Aired (WashingtonPost.com)
Democrats, Investors Push TV Conglomerate to Alter Broadcast Plans
By Frank Ahrens and Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A07
Under mounting political, legal and financial pressure, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. yesterday backed away from its plan to carry a film attacking John F. Kerry's Vietnam War record, saying it would air only portions of the movie in an hour-long special scheduled for Friday.
"The experience of preparing to air this news special has been trying for many of those involved," Sinclair chief executive David D. Smith said in a statement. "The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature, as well as calls on our advertisers and our viewers to boycott our stations and on our shareholders to sell their stock."
Chad Clanton, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign, which had demanded equal time to respond to the planned airing of the 42-minute film "Stolen Honor," said Sinclair "has been all over the map on this issue. One thing that's certain is that they have a partisan agenda."
(More ... Anti-Kerry Film Won't Be Aired (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:20 0 comments
By Frank Ahrens and Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A07
Under mounting political, legal and financial pressure, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. yesterday backed away from its plan to carry a film attacking John F. Kerry's Vietnam War record, saying it would air only portions of the movie in an hour-long special scheduled for Friday.
"The experience of preparing to air this news special has been trying for many of those involved," Sinclair chief executive David D. Smith said in a statement. "The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature, as well as calls on our advertisers and our viewers to boycott our stations and on our shareholders to sell their stock."
Chad Clanton, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign, which had demanded equal time to respond to the planned airing of the 42-minute film "Stolen Honor," said Sinclair "has been all over the map on this issue. One thing that's certain is that they have a partisan agenda."
(More ... Anti-Kerry Film Won't Be Aired (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:20 0 comments
Rice Hitting the Road to Speak (WashingtonPost.com)
National Security Adviser's Trips to Swing States Break Precedent
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A02
In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 election, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has traveled across the country making speeches in key battleground states, including Oregon, Washington, North Carolina and Ohio. In the next five days, she also plans speeches in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida.
The frequency and location of her speeches differ sharply from those before this election year -- and appear to break with the long-standing precedent that the national security adviser try to avoid overt involvement in the presidential campaign. Her predecessors generally restricted themselves to an occasional speech, often in Washington, but counting next week's speeches, Rice will have made nine outside Washington since Labor Day.
Rice frequently supplements her speeches with interviews with local media, generating positive coverage -- including a Page One news story in Portland's largest newspaper. Although she does not mention Democratic challenger John F. Kerry and avoids answering overtly political questions, the target of her speeches is not lost on local audiences. The Seattle Times, reporting on a Sept. 7 speech to the University of Washington, said, "Rice sounded at times like a candidate" as she received "rousing ovations" in defending the administration's handling of the war on terrorism.
(More ... Rice Hitting the Road to Speak (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:15 0 comments
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A02
In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 election, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has traveled across the country making speeches in key battleground states, including Oregon, Washington, North Carolina and Ohio. In the next five days, she also plans speeches in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida.
The frequency and location of her speeches differ sharply from those before this election year -- and appear to break with the long-standing precedent that the national security adviser try to avoid overt involvement in the presidential campaign. Her predecessors generally restricted themselves to an occasional speech, often in Washington, but counting next week's speeches, Rice will have made nine outside Washington since Labor Day.
Rice frequently supplements her speeches with interviews with local media, generating positive coverage -- including a Page One news story in Portland's largest newspaper. Although she does not mention Democratic challenger John F. Kerry and avoids answering overtly political questions, the target of her speeches is not lost on local audiences. The Seattle Times, reporting on a Sept. 7 speech to the University of Washington, said, "Rice sounded at times like a candidate" as she received "rousing ovations" in defending the administration's handling of the war on terrorism.
(More ... Rice Hitting the Road to Speak (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:15 0 comments
Bush May Get Larger Portion of Black Vote (WashingtonPost.com)
By Darryl Fears
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A08
A significant number of black Americans -- 18 percent -- said they are willing to vote for President Bush, even though his job-approval ratings in the community are quite low, according to a national opinion survey released yesterday by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, an African American think tank.
In a hypothetical match-up between the presidential candidates, black Americans favored Sen. John F. Kerry to Bush, 69 to 18 percent, the survey said. But the 18 percent for Bush is 10 percentage points higher than the president's vote total in exit polling among this population in the 2000 election.
Eddie N. Williams, the center's president, said black Americans "are holding conservative positions on some wedge issues like same-sex marriage and civil unions." About half the survey's black respondents opposed marriage and civil unions for gays, compared with 39 percent of nonblack respondents.
(More ... Bush May Get Larger Portion of Black Vote (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:06 0 comments
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A08
A significant number of black Americans -- 18 percent -- said they are willing to vote for President Bush, even though his job-approval ratings in the community are quite low, according to a national opinion survey released yesterday by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, an African American think tank.
In a hypothetical match-up between the presidential candidates, black Americans favored Sen. John F. Kerry to Bush, 69 to 18 percent, the survey said. But the 18 percent for Bush is 10 percentage points higher than the president's vote total in exit polling among this population in the 2000 election.
Eddie N. Williams, the center's president, said black Americans "are holding conservative positions on some wedge issues like same-sex marriage and civil unions." About half the survey's black respondents opposed marriage and civil unions for gays, compared with 39 percent of nonblack respondents.
(More ... Bush May Get Larger Portion of Black Vote (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:06 0 comments
Lawmakers request CIA's 9/11 report
Some say administration behind delay
By Greg Miller
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published October 20, 2004
WASHINGTON -- The ranking members of the House Intelligence Committee have asked the CIA to turn over an internal report on whether agency employees should be held accountable for intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, congressional officials said Tuesday.
The CIA so far hasn't responded to the request, raising concerns among some Democrats in Congress that the report is being withheld to avoid political embarrassment for the Bush administration in the final weeks before the presidential election.
The report was drafted in response to a demand from Congress nearly two years ago for the CIA to conduct an inquiry into the performance of agency personnel before the attacks. In particular, the agency was asked "to determine whether and to what extent personnel at all levels should be held accountable" for intelligence breakdowns catalogued in a joint congressional investigation of Sept. 11, 2001.
(More ... Chicago Tribune | Lawmakers request CIA's 9/11 report) ¶ 08:01 0 comments
By Greg Miller
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published October 20, 2004
WASHINGTON -- The ranking members of the House Intelligence Committee have asked the CIA to turn over an internal report on whether agency employees should be held accountable for intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, congressional officials said Tuesday.
The CIA so far hasn't responded to the request, raising concerns among some Democrats in Congress that the report is being withheld to avoid political embarrassment for the Bush administration in the final weeks before the presidential election.
The report was drafted in response to a demand from Congress nearly two years ago for the CIA to conduct an inquiry into the performance of agency personnel before the attacks. In particular, the agency was asked "to determine whether and to what extent personnel at all levels should be held accountable" for intelligence breakdowns catalogued in a joint congressional investigation of Sept. 11, 2001.
(More ... Chicago Tribune | Lawmakers request CIA's 9/11 report) ¶ 08:01 0 comments
10.20.2004
Legal Battle for Presidency Underway (WashingtonPost.com)
Lawsuits Over Election Rules Pending, With Both Sides Gearing Up for More
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A01
The ballots have yet to be counted, much less recounted. But attorneys for President Bush and John F. Kerry are already engaged in an intense legal battle for the presidency that could once again give the courts a say in who is declared the winner.
With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, an unprecedented number of lawsuits challenging basic election rules are pending in many of the battleground states. Both sides are in the final stages of training thousands of lawyers who will descend on the polls on Nov. 2 to watch for voter fraud or intimidation.
Each campaign has teams of attorneys ready in the event of a recount in one or more states. Both are hitting up donors to pay the legal tabs in case there is a disputed outcome that leaves the winner in doubt after the polls close.
(More ... Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Legal Battle for Presidency Underway) ¶ 20:26 0 comments
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 20, 2004; Page A01
The ballots have yet to be counted, much less recounted. But attorneys for President Bush and John F. Kerry are already engaged in an intense legal battle for the presidency that could once again give the courts a say in who is declared the winner.
With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, an unprecedented number of lawsuits challenging basic election rules are pending in many of the battleground states. Both sides are in the final stages of training thousands of lawyers who will descend on the polls on Nov. 2 to watch for voter fraud or intimidation.
Each campaign has teams of attorneys ready in the event of a recount in one or more states. Both are hitting up donors to pay the legal tabs in case there is a disputed outcome that leaves the winner in doubt after the polls close.
(More ... Politics > Elections > 2004 Election > Legal Battle for Presidency Underway) ¶ 20:26 0 comments
America's New "Entrepreneurs" (Scoop.co.nz)
President George W. Bush, in an effort to counteract the news of ever-increasing unemployment as the result of out-sourcing and recession, constantly harps on the fact that Americans are turning to ''entrepeneurship'' in droves, going into business for themselves and ''growing the economy''. This claim could use a little closer look. I know a few of these "entrepeneurs" and their stories are not nearly so rosy as he depicts them.
One man of my acquaintance lost his job three years ago, and began to work in the local gas fields as a maintenance man for the pumps and lines through which the natural gas is distributed to surrounding communities. The gas is directed from local fields through a metered system and purchased by local comsumers who are billed for it by the multi-national petroleum companies who, in trun, pay the owners of the gas fields. Now, you might call the men who do the work of pumping and delivering this product "entrepeneurs" since they are not considered "employees".
These men are considered "contract workers" which relieves the employer of responsibilty for collecting Federal withholding taxes, Social Security payroll deductions, or of maintaining workers' comprehensive or unemployment insurance. In any other business, this would not be allowed but, for some reason, the oil companies are exempt from the requirements with which all other employers must comply.
(More ... Opinion: Mary Pitt: America's New "Entrepeneurs") ¶ 10:27 0 comments
One man of my acquaintance lost his job three years ago, and began to work in the local gas fields as a maintenance man for the pumps and lines through which the natural gas is distributed to surrounding communities. The gas is directed from local fields through a metered system and purchased by local comsumers who are billed for it by the multi-national petroleum companies who, in trun, pay the owners of the gas fields. Now, you might call the men who do the work of pumping and delivering this product "entrepeneurs" since they are not considered "employees".
These men are considered "contract workers" which relieves the employer of responsibilty for collecting Federal withholding taxes, Social Security payroll deductions, or of maintaining workers' comprehensive or unemployment insurance. In any other business, this would not be allowed but, for some reason, the oil companies are exempt from the requirements with which all other employers must comply.
(More ... Opinion: Mary Pitt: America's New "Entrepeneurs") ¶ 10:27 0 comments
Putin Backs Bush Victory
Julian Borger and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Tuesday October 19, 2004
Vladimir Putin waded into the American election campaign in support of George Bush yesterday, declaring that if the president lost, it would lead to the "spread of terrorism" around the world.
The endorsement was a significant boost for Mr Bush who has been under fire from John Kerry for failing to maintain international support for the US "war on terror".
"International terrorists have set as their goal inflicting the maximum damage to Bush, to prevent his election to a second term," the Russian president said at a central Asian summit in Tajikistan.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Putin backs Bush victory) ¶ 08:06 0 comments
Tuesday October 19, 2004
Vladimir Putin waded into the American election campaign in support of George Bush yesterday, declaring that if the president lost, it would lead to the "spread of terrorism" around the world.
The endorsement was a significant boost for Mr Bush who has been under fire from John Kerry for failing to maintain international support for the US "war on terror".
"International terrorists have set as their goal inflicting the maximum damage to Bush, to prevent his election to a second term," the Russian president said at a central Asian summit in Tajikistan.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Putin backs Bush victory) ¶ 08:06 0 comments
Without a Doubt
By Ron Suskind
For the New York Times Magazine
Published: 17 October 2004
Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a treasury official for the first President Bush, told me recently that ''if Bush wins, there will be a civil war in the Republican Party starting on Nov. 3.'' The nature of that conflict, as Bartlett sees it? Essentially, the same as the one raging across much of the world: a battle between modernists and fundamentalists, pragmatists and true believers, reason and religion.
''Just in the past few months,'' Bartlett said, ''I think a light has gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do.'' Bartlett, a 53-year-old columnist and self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been a champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's governance, went on to say: ''This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he's just like them. . . .
(More ... In the Magazine: Without a Doubt) ¶ 08:02 0 comments
For the New York Times Magazine
Published: 17 October 2004
Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a treasury official for the first President Bush, told me recently that ''if Bush wins, there will be a civil war in the Republican Party starting on Nov. 3.'' The nature of that conflict, as Bartlett sees it? Essentially, the same as the one raging across much of the world: a battle between modernists and fundamentalists, pragmatists and true believers, reason and religion.
''Just in the past few months,'' Bartlett said, ''I think a light has gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do.'' Bartlett, a 53-year-old columnist and self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been a champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's governance, went on to say: ''This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he's just like them. . . .
(More ... In the Magazine: Without a Doubt) ¶ 08:02 0 comments
Bush vs. the Laureates: How Science Became a Partisan Issue
Why is science seemingly at war with President Bush?
For nearly four years, and with rising intensity, scientists in and out of government have criticized the Bush administration, saying it has selected or suppressed research findings to suit preset policies, skewed advisory panels or ignored unwelcome advice, and quashed discussion within federal research agencies.
Administration officials see some of the criticism as partisan, and some perhaps a function of unrealistic expectations on the part of scientists about their role in policy debates. "This administration really does not like regulation and it believes in market processes in general," said Dr. John H. Marburger III, the president's science adviser, who is a Democrat.
"So there's always going to be a tilt in an administration like this one to a certain set of actions that you take to achieve some policy objective," he went on. "In general, science may give you some limits and tell you some boundary conditions on that set of actions, but it really doesn't tell you what to do."
(More ... Bush vs. the Laureates: How Science Became a Partisan Issue) ¶ 07:55 0 comments
For nearly four years, and with rising intensity, scientists in and out of government have criticized the Bush administration, saying it has selected or suppressed research findings to suit preset policies, skewed advisory panels or ignored unwelcome advice, and quashed discussion within federal research agencies.
Administration officials see some of the criticism as partisan, and some perhaps a function of unrealistic expectations on the part of scientists about their role in policy debates. "This administration really does not like regulation and it believes in market processes in general," said Dr. John H. Marburger III, the president's science adviser, who is a Democrat.
"So there's always going to be a tilt in an administration like this one to a certain set of actions that you take to achieve some policy objective," he went on. "In general, science may give you some limits and tell you some boundary conditions on that set of actions, but it really doesn't tell you what to do."
(More ... Bush vs. the Laureates: How Science Became a Partisan Issue) ¶ 07:55 0 comments
10.19.2004
Balloting: As Election Nears, Parties Begin Another Round of Legal Battles (NYTimes.com)
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 15 - As the secretary of state of Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who is unabashed about his ambition to be governor, has issued a series of rulings on obscure issues like provisional ballots, voting notices to parolees and the weight of registration forms.
To Democrats, who say he has repeatedly tried to disenfranchise Democratic voters with those rulings, Mr. Blackwell is reminiscent of Katherine Harris, the Florida secretary of state who made her name in the chaotic election of 2000. On Friday they challenged him again, filing suit to block a directive they say will require election workers to reject thousands of registrations by first-time Democratic voters.
But Mr. Blackwell's aides say he has been scrupulously evenhanded in his efforts to guard the integrity of voting in this crucial swing state. Each of his directives has followed Ohio law, they say, and most have been guided by one unassailable goal: to prevent fraud. The charges against him, they say, are baseless and political.
(More ... Balloting: As Election Nears, Parties Begin Another Round of Legal Battles) ¶ 21:28 0 comments
To Democrats, who say he has repeatedly tried to disenfranchise Democratic voters with those rulings, Mr. Blackwell is reminiscent of Katherine Harris, the Florida secretary of state who made her name in the chaotic election of 2000. On Friday they challenged him again, filing suit to block a directive they say will require election workers to reject thousands of registrations by first-time Democratic voters.
But Mr. Blackwell's aides say he has been scrupulously evenhanded in his efforts to guard the integrity of voting in this crucial swing state. Each of his directives has followed Ohio law, they say, and most have been guided by one unassailable goal: to prevent fraud. The charges against him, they say, are baseless and political.
(More ... Balloting: As Election Nears, Parties Begin Another Round of Legal Battles) ¶ 21:28 0 comments
Sinclair Fires Critic of Plan to Broadcast Anti-Kerry Film (WashingtonPost.com)
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 19, 2004; Page C01
The Washington bureau chief of Sinclair Broadcast Group was fired yesterday after accusing the media company of "indefensible" conduct for planning to air a movie attacking Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam record in the coming days.
Jon Lieberman, who also was the lead political reporter for the 62-station television chain, told CNN last night that he was terminated for his criticism, which was quoted in yesterday's Baltimore Sun. He spoke out, he said, because "I feel so strongly that our credibility is at issue here. . . . I feel our company is trying to sway this election."
The Baltimore-based firm, which has drawn harsh criticism from Kerry and the Democrats, found itself explaining why it dismissed a top journalist for speaking to the media.
(More ... Sinclair Fires Critic of Plan To Broadcast Anti-Kerry Film) ¶ 20:41 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 19, 2004; Page C01
The Washington bureau chief of Sinclair Broadcast Group was fired yesterday after accusing the media company of "indefensible" conduct for planning to air a movie attacking Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam record in the coming days.
Jon Lieberman, who also was the lead political reporter for the 62-station television chain, told CNN last night that he was terminated for his criticism, which was quoted in yesterday's Baltimore Sun. He spoke out, he said, because "I feel so strongly that our credibility is at issue here. . . . I feel our company is trying to sway this election."
The Baltimore-based firm, which has drawn harsh criticism from Kerry and the Democrats, found itself explaining why it dismissed a top journalist for speaking to the media.
(More ... Sinclair Fires Critic of Plan To Broadcast Anti-Kerry Film) ¶ 20:41 0 comments
Early Voting for President Starts in Florida (Reuters.com)
MIAMI (Reuters) - Early voting for next month's presidential election began in Florida on Monday, with Democrats in particular urging supporters to use their early ballot as a means of avoiding a repeat of the recount fiasco in the 2000 election.
Both Republican President Bush and his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, have focused a large part of their campaign effort in Florida.
The state decided the election for Bush four years ago only after a bitter five-week legal battle over ballot recounts and is again one of about 10 tightly fought states in the race toward the Nov. 2 election.
(More ... Internet News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:06 0 comments
Both Republican President Bush and his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, have focused a large part of their campaign effort in Florida.
The state decided the election for Bush four years ago only after a bitter five-week legal battle over ballot recounts and is again one of about 10 tightly fought states in the race toward the Nov. 2 election.
(More ... Internet News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:06 0 comments
Supreme Court Orders Texas Redistricting Review (Reuters.com)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ordered on Monday further consideration of a challenge by Democrats and minority groups to a controversial Republican-backed congressional redistricting plan in Texas.
The justices in a brief order granted an appeal by those challenging the plan and set aside a ruling by a federal three-judge panel in January that upheld the bitterly contested map.
The justices ordered further consideration by the federal panel in view of their ruling in April that upheld a Pennsylvania redistricting case. They did not elaborate further.
(More ... US News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:05 0 comments
The justices in a brief order granted an appeal by those challenging the plan and set aside a ruling by a federal three-judge panel in January that upheld the bitterly contested map.
The justices ordered further consideration by the federal panel in view of their ruling in April that upheld a Pennsylvania redistricting case. They did not elaborate further.
(More ... US News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:05 0 comments
10.18.2004
Hoax: Why Americans Are Suckered by White House Lies (Amazon.com)
From Publishers Weekly
In the spate of post-Iraq War books, Von Hoffman's tirade is a smart, elegant standout. A columnist for the New York Observer (and author of several books, including Citizen Cohn), Von Hoffman argues that U.S. citizens have been willingly hoaxed into supporting America's foreign policies, most egregiously the recent invasion of Iraq.
Von Hoffman employs the metaphor of a giant dome or biosphere that shields America and causes its people to interpret world events in uniquely American terms ('Nations are often imbued with the belief that they are special, but the American credo is that the US is special-special'). Instead of poll data and statistics, Von Hoffman relies on subtle, nuanced cultural analyses to examine the peculiarity of America's hermetic view of itself.
A unique confluence of ideology, religion, culture, economics and history has, he says, settled Americans in a belief that its government does little wrong-and certainly a lot more right than many other governments. Von Hoffman points to an array of factors for this belief, notably an almost secular faith in 'manifest destiny' and the morality of democracy, media that act as a collective handmaiden to government action, and a smugness that hatred of the U.S. is simply born of envy of American wealth.
While Von Hoffman's metaphors and histrionics are better suited to the polemical necessities of a newspaper column, this book is a worthy contribution to postwar annals. The author's informed, unblinking critique of America may not be palatable to the blindly patriotic, but it will resonate for those who question many of the Bush administration's decisions.
Amazon.com: Books: Hoax: Why Americans Are Suckered by White House Lies ¶ 22:26 0 comments
In the spate of post-Iraq War books, Von Hoffman's tirade is a smart, elegant standout. A columnist for the New York Observer (and author of several books, including Citizen Cohn), Von Hoffman argues that U.S. citizens have been willingly hoaxed into supporting America's foreign policies, most egregiously the recent invasion of Iraq.
Von Hoffman employs the metaphor of a giant dome or biosphere that shields America and causes its people to interpret world events in uniquely American terms ('Nations are often imbued with the belief that they are special, but the American credo is that the US is special-special'). Instead of poll data and statistics, Von Hoffman relies on subtle, nuanced cultural analyses to examine the peculiarity of America's hermetic view of itself.
A unique confluence of ideology, religion, culture, economics and history has, he says, settled Americans in a belief that its government does little wrong-and certainly a lot more right than many other governments. Von Hoffman points to an array of factors for this belief, notably an almost secular faith in 'manifest destiny' and the morality of democracy, media that act as a collective handmaiden to government action, and a smugness that hatred of the U.S. is simply born of envy of American wealth.
While Von Hoffman's metaphors and histrionics are better suited to the polemical necessities of a newspaper column, this book is a worthy contribution to postwar annals. The author's informed, unblinking critique of America may not be palatable to the blindly patriotic, but it will resonate for those who question many of the Bush administration's decisions.
Amazon.com: Books: Hoax: Why Americans Are Suckered by White House Lies ¶ 22:26 0 comments
White House Letter: Talk of Bubble Leads to Battle Over Bulge
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: October 18, 2004
WASHINGTON
In these closing weeks of the presidential campaign, the talk at an edgy White House is of polls, turnout, swing voters and polls. There are also two story lines from the presidential debates that to the exasperation of President Bush's advisers won't go away: the bubble and the bulge.
The bulge - the strange rectangular box visible between the president's shoulder blades in the first debate - has set off so much frenzied speculation on the Internet that it has become what literary critics call an objective correlative, or an object that evokes large emotions and ideas.
The bulge is in many ways related to the bubble, which is the word Mr. Bush himself uses to describe the isolation of the presidency. In this case, Mr. Bush's critics argue that he has so walled himself off from dissent in his bubble that he was ill-prepared to take on the challenge of Senator John Kerry in their three debates.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > White House Letter: Talk of Bubble Leads to Battle Over Bulge) ¶ 18:28 0 comments
Published: October 18, 2004
WASHINGTON
In these closing weeks of the presidential campaign, the talk at an edgy White House is of polls, turnout, swing voters and polls. There are also two story lines from the presidential debates that to the exasperation of President Bush's advisers won't go away: the bubble and the bulge.
The bulge - the strange rectangular box visible between the president's shoulder blades in the first debate - has set off so much frenzied speculation on the Internet that it has become what literary critics call an objective correlative, or an object that evokes large emotions and ideas.
The bulge is in many ways related to the bubble, which is the word Mr. Bush himself uses to describe the isolation of the presidency. In this case, Mr. Bush's critics argue that he has so walled himself off from dissent in his bubble that he was ill-prepared to take on the challenge of Senator John Kerry in their three debates.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > White House Letter: Talk of Bubble Leads to Battle Over Bulge) ¶ 18:28 0 comments
Reaction from the US to the Guardian's Clark County project
Dear Limey assholes
Last week G2 launched Operation Clark County to help readers have a say in the American election by writing to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio. In the first three days, more than 11,000 people requested addresses. Here is some of the reaction to the project that we received from the US
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Reaction from the US to the Guardian's Clark County project) ¶ 18:17 0 comments
Last week G2 launched Operation Clark County to help readers have a say in the American election by writing to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio. In the first three days, more than 11,000 people requested addresses. Here is some of the reaction to the project that we received from the US
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | Reaction from the US to the Guardian's Clark County project) ¶ 18:17 0 comments
Opinion: Block the Vote (NYTimes.com)
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 15, 2004
Earlier this week former employees of Sproul & Associates (operating under the name Voters Outreach of America), a firm hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters, told a Nevada TV station that their supervisors systematically tore up Democratic registrations.
The accusations are backed by physical evidence and appear credible. Officials have begun a criminal investigation into reports of similar actions by Sproul in Oregon.
Republicans claim, of course, that they did nothing wrong - and that besides, Democrats do it, too. But there haven't been any comparably credible accusations against Democratic voter-registration organizations. And there is a pattern of Republican efforts to disenfranchise Democrats, by any means possible.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Block the Vote) ¶ 07:55 0 comments
Published: October 15, 2004
Earlier this week former employees of Sproul & Associates (operating under the name Voters Outreach of America), a firm hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters, told a Nevada TV station that their supervisors systematically tore up Democratic registrations.
The accusations are backed by physical evidence and appear credible. Officials have begun a criminal investigation into reports of similar actions by Sproul in Oregon.
Republicans claim, of course, that they did nothing wrong - and that besides, Democrats do it, too. But there haven't been any comparably credible accusations against Democratic voter-registration organizations. And there is a pattern of Republican efforts to disenfranchise Democrats, by any means possible.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Block the Vote) ¶ 07:55 0 comments
GOP-backed voter registration group accused of culling Democrats (North County Times--AP)
By ADAM GOLDMAN
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The chief executive of an Arizona consulting firm denied Wednesday that a group he hired to register Republicans in Nevada deliberately tore up Democratic voter registration forms.
State and federal officials said they were aware of allegations that Voters Outreach of America failed to register Democrats and were trying to determine if any laws might have been broken.
Nathan Sproul of Sproul & Associates in Chandler, Ariz., told The Associated Press that there was no truth to the accusations by Eric Russell, who he called a disgruntled employee who was fired last month.
Russell, a former Voters Outreach of America employee in Las Vegas, said he witnessed his supervisor shred eight to 10 Democratic registration forms from prospective voters. Russell could not recall his supervisor's name.
(More ... North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists) ¶ 07:53 0 comments
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The chief executive of an Arizona consulting firm denied Wednesday that a group he hired to register Republicans in Nevada deliberately tore up Democratic voter registration forms.
State and federal officials said they were aware of allegations that Voters Outreach of America failed to register Democrats and were trying to determine if any laws might have been broken.
Nathan Sproul of Sproul & Associates in Chandler, Ariz., told The Associated Press that there was no truth to the accusations by Eric Russell, who he called a disgruntled employee who was fired last month.
Russell, a former Voters Outreach of America employee in Las Vegas, said he witnessed his supervisor shred eight to 10 Democratic registration forms from prospective voters. Russell could not recall his supervisor's name.
(More ... North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists) ¶ 07:53 0 comments
10.17.2004
James Baker's Double Life (TheNation.com)
A Special Investigation
by Naomi Klein
Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq's debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker's job "a noble mission." At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker's extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
Until now, there has been no concrete evidence that Baker's loyalties are split, or that his power as Special Presidential Envoy--an unpaid position--has been used to benefit any of his corporate clients or employers. But according to documents obtained by The Nation, that is precisely what has happened. Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker's influence as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever.
(More ... James Baker's Double Life) ¶ 21:50 0 comments
by Naomi Klein
Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq's debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker's job "a noble mission." At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker's extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
Until now, there has been no concrete evidence that Baker's loyalties are split, or that his power as Special Presidential Envoy--an unpaid position--has been used to benefit any of his corporate clients or employers. But according to documents obtained by The Nation, that is precisely what has happened. Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker's influence as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever.
(More ... James Baker's Double Life) ¶ 21:50 0 comments
California To Allow Its Citizens Overseas to Return Absentee Ballots by Fax
California’s newly enacted election reform bill (AB 2941) permits any voter covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), who are legal residents of California and outside of the United States, to return his or her voted ballot via facsimile. The bill provides that an absentee ballot returned via fax must be accompanied by a declaration in which the voter waives his or her right to cast a secret ballot.
All faxed ballots must be received by county elections officials by the close of the polls (8:00 p.m. PST) on Election Day, November 2, 2004.
Citizens may receive the blank ballot via fax and return the voted ballot by fax. Citizens of California who desire to receive their absentee ballot by fax should provide their county election official with their complete commercial or DSN (military) fax number, including country codes necessary when dialing from the U.S. This can be done by faxing a Federal Post Card Application as a request to your county of residence in California. Contact information for county elections offices can be found at http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm.
(More ... News Release #14, 2004) ¶ 21:26 0 comments
All faxed ballots must be received by county elections officials by the close of the polls (8:00 p.m. PST) on Election Day, November 2, 2004.
Citizens may receive the blank ballot via fax and return the voted ballot by fax. Citizens of California who desire to receive their absentee ballot by fax should provide their county election official with their complete commercial or DSN (military) fax number, including country codes necessary when dialing from the U.S. This can be done by faxing a Federal Post Card Application as a request to your county of residence in California. Contact information for county elections offices can be found at http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm.
(More ... News Release #14, 2004) ¶ 21:26 0 comments
Americans in NZ urged to vote in presidential election (NZ Herald on Sunday)
By Jonathan Milne
Political Editor
Herald on Sunday, 17 Oct 2004, page 8
It's not like casting a vote on the day at one of Florida's controversial chad machines, but Americans in New Zealand are flocking to be counted in next month's whisker-tight presidential race.
With an estimated 15,000 Americans living here, Democrats Abroad international chair Rachelle Jailer Valladares has travelled from London to get her fellow citizens out to vote.
Fresh off the plane in Auckland, she told the Herald on Sunday votes from the seven million Americans living abroad could be critical in deciding whether Democrat challenger John Kerry knocked President George W Bush out of the White House on November 2.
"Americans seem to be flocking down here," she said. "Their vote is absolutely vital. This is going to be one of the tightest elections we have ever seen.
(More ... New Zealand News - - Americans in NZ urged to vote in presidential election) ¶ 18:47 0 comments
Political Editor
Herald on Sunday, 17 Oct 2004, page 8
It's not like casting a vote on the day at one of Florida's controversial chad machines, but Americans in New Zealand are flocking to be counted in next month's whisker-tight presidential race.
With an estimated 15,000 Americans living here, Democrats Abroad international chair Rachelle Jailer Valladares has travelled from London to get her fellow citizens out to vote.
Fresh off the plane in Auckland, she told the Herald on Sunday votes from the seven million Americans living abroad could be critical in deciding whether Democrat challenger John Kerry knocked President George W Bush out of the White House on November 2.
"Americans seem to be flocking down here," she said. "Their vote is absolutely vital. This is going to be one of the tightest elections we have ever seen.
(More ... New Zealand News - - Americans in NZ urged to vote in presidential election) ¶ 18:47 0 comments
Opinion: Vote and Be Damned (NYTimes.com)
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: October 17, 2004
First Dick Cheney said that supporting John Kerry could lead to another terrorist attack.
Then Dennis Hastert said Al Qaeda would be more successful under a Kerry presidency than under President Bush.
Now the Catholic bishops have upped the ante, indicating that voting for a candidate with Mr. Kerry's policies could lead to eternal damnation.
Conservative bishops and conservative Republicans are working hard to spread the gospel that anyone who supports the Catholic candidate and onetime Boston altar boy who carries a rosary and a Bible with him on the trail is aligned with the forces of evil.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Vote and Be Damned) ¶ 15:28 0 comments
Published: October 17, 2004
First Dick Cheney said that supporting John Kerry could lead to another terrorist attack.
Then Dennis Hastert said Al Qaeda would be more successful under a Kerry presidency than under President Bush.
Now the Catholic bishops have upped the ante, indicating that voting for a candidate with Mr. Kerry's policies could lead to eternal damnation.
Conservative bishops and conservative Republicans are working hard to spread the gospel that anyone who supports the Catholic candidate and onetime Boston altar boy who carries a rosary and a Bible with him on the trail is aligned with the forces of evil.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Vote and Be Damned) ¶ 15:28 0 comments
Opinion: John Kerry for President (NYTimes.com)
Senator John Kerry goes toward the election with a base that is built more on opposition to George W. Bush than loyalty to his own candidacy. But over the last year we have come to know Mr. Kerry as more than just an alternative to the status quo. We like what we've seen. He has qualities that could be the basis for a great chief executive, not just a modest improvement on the incumbent.
We have been impressed with Mr. Kerry's wide knowledge and clear thinking - something that became more apparent once he was reined in by that two-minute debate light. He is blessedly willing to re-evaluate decisions when conditions change. And while Mr. Kerry's service in Vietnam was first over-promoted and then over-pilloried, his entire life has been devoted to public service, from the war to a series of elected offices. He strikes us, above all, as a man with a strong moral core.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > John Kerry for President) ¶ 15:25 0 comments
We have been impressed with Mr. Kerry's wide knowledge and clear thinking - something that became more apparent once he was reined in by that two-minute debate light. He is blessedly willing to re-evaluate decisions when conditions change. And while Mr. Kerry's service in Vietnam was first over-promoted and then over-pilloried, his entire life has been devoted to public service, from the war to a series of elected offices. He strikes us, above all, as a man with a strong moral core.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > John Kerry for President) ¶ 15:25 0 comments
Remarks of Senator John Kerry at Xenia High School in Ohio (U.S. Newswire)
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Xenia, Ohio (My Home Town)
It's great to be here with all of you at Xenia High School.
For the past two years, I've traveled across America meeting people just like you -- people who love their families, love their country, and are determined to build a better life for their kids. But while they're working hard and doing everything right, they can't get ahead -- they can barely even stay in place -- because today's economy is leaving them behind.
In the past four years, we've lost 1.6 million private sector jobs. In Ohio alone we've lost 237,000 jobs -- 173,000 of them in manufacturing. And the jobs we're creating today pay $9,000 less than the ones we've lost. So we're losing good jobs and replacing them with ones that don't pay the bills. And, as we learned just yesterday, consumer confidence is plunging as Americans become more and more worried about the state of our economy.
And you know what the Bush Administration says to all this? Just this week, President Bush's Treasury Secretary, John Snow, came right here to Ohio -- a state with some of the worst job losses in America -- and stated that job losses are nothing but a "myth." It's right here, on the front page of the Findlay Courier. Right next to a column about how many of our jobs pay so little that almost 39 million Americans -- 20 million of them children -- can barely afford things like food and housing.
(More ...)
U.S. Newswire : Releases : "Remarks of Senator John Kerry at Xenia High School in Ohio" ¶ 11:17 0 comments
Xenia, Ohio (My Home Town)
It's great to be here with all of you at Xenia High School.
For the past two years, I've traveled across America meeting people just like you -- people who love their families, love their country, and are determined to build a better life for their kids. But while they're working hard and doing everything right, they can't get ahead -- they can barely even stay in place -- because today's economy is leaving them behind.
In the past four years, we've lost 1.6 million private sector jobs. In Ohio alone we've lost 237,000 jobs -- 173,000 of them in manufacturing. And the jobs we're creating today pay $9,000 less than the ones we've lost. So we're losing good jobs and replacing them with ones that don't pay the bills. And, as we learned just yesterday, consumer confidence is plunging as Americans become more and more worried about the state of our economy.
And you know what the Bush Administration says to all this? Just this week, President Bush's Treasury Secretary, John Snow, came right here to Ohio -- a state with some of the worst job losses in America -- and stated that job losses are nothing but a "myth." It's right here, on the front page of the Findlay Courier. Right next to a column about how many of our jobs pay so little that almost 39 million Americans -- 20 million of them children -- can barely afford things like food and housing.
(More ...)
U.S. Newswire : Releases : "Remarks of Senator John Kerry at Xenia High School in Ohio" ¶ 11:17 0 comments
The Republican Language: A Report From the Field (DemocraticUnderground.com)
October 16, 2004
Satire by Jacob Owen
John Kerry is a flip-flopper. Or so I hear. The last person who told me that lost a finger. And while I casually tossed his bloody digit in the trash can behind the bar, I thought about the nature of being Republican. Do Republicans run away like this guy and leave behind appendages cut off in a knife fight or do they stay and hold their ground, demanding not only that I give his finger back but that I rush him to the hospital as soon as possible? Had he asked I might have done so, on moral grounds.
As I was saying, Democrats are moralists. We believe in helping the underdog, in Christian-like charity, in a strong, healthy society. Very nurturing. Republicans believe in natural selection, might makes right and the heavy hand of government not intervening to level the playing field. Very natural. There isn’t, for instance, a benevolent force to step in and save the family cat from being carried off by a great horned owl. After all, in the animal world the rule is eat or be eaten.
The Republican Language: A Report From the Field, by Jacob Owen - Democratic Underground ¶ 11:10 0 comments
Satire by Jacob Owen
John Kerry is a flip-flopper. Or so I hear. The last person who told me that lost a finger. And while I casually tossed his bloody digit in the trash can behind the bar, I thought about the nature of being Republican. Do Republicans run away like this guy and leave behind appendages cut off in a knife fight or do they stay and hold their ground, demanding not only that I give his finger back but that I rush him to the hospital as soon as possible? Had he asked I might have done so, on moral grounds.
As I was saying, Democrats are moralists. We believe in helping the underdog, in Christian-like charity, in a strong, healthy society. Very nurturing. Republicans believe in natural selection, might makes right and the heavy hand of government not intervening to level the playing field. Very natural. There isn’t, for instance, a benevolent force to step in and save the family cat from being carried off by a great horned owl. After all, in the animal world the rule is eat or be eaten.
The Republican Language: A Report From the Field, by Jacob Owen - Democratic Underground ¶ 11:10 0 comments
