My mother just bitch slapped me!

[freetobegay]

I was ranting about how they are trying to steal votes here in Florida & she jumps all over me & tells me to get a grip on reality!
She said 2000 took us by surprise & that it won't happen this year.

This is coming from a life long Democrat that has helped in political campaigns her whole life.

I so want to believe her, have I become to cynical?

[Atman]

1. Sorry, your mother is delusional. In denial.

Like so many other good Americans, she so wants to believe that her country cannot possibly be turning into a third-world banana republic. This type of fraud against the people and the constitution is not supposed to happen here.

Innocence dies a slow, often painful death.

[Downtown Hound]

2. She's right that people are paying more attention this year

but that just means that the Repukes are going to get more devious. They will try to pull things. And they will succeed in some cases. But I don't think they're going to have nearly as much success this time as they did in the last election. Last time they knocked off over a hundred thousand votes in Florida. This time, I don't think they're going to get anywhere near that many.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Repubs Will Steal Millions of Votes Across the Country

It's already started.

Police intimidation of recently-registered voters.

Thousands of dem voter registrations torn up by Sproul & assoc.

Early voting machines have been recording Kerry votes for Boosh.
It apparently takes several tries to enter a vote for Kerry.

Thousands of wrongfully-disenfranchised Floridians are STILL disenfranchised.

Refusal to accept provisional ballots from out-of-presinct voters,
coupled with massive changes in polling places, and phone calls
to voters misleading them about where they should go to vote.

One state has already severely restricted poll watchers, and
prevented our lawyers from monitoring the election.

We need to do everything we can to limit their ability to steal
votes.

We need to get enough other Dems out to vote to make up for all
the votes they are stealing.

[Philostopher]

3. Tell her about the voting machines in Bernalillo County, NM

Here's a thread on it, from this morning:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1138123

That's Albuquerque, by the way. The short story is, they're showing the wrong candidates after people make their selections, on the preview, regardless who you vote for. These aren't Diebold machines, either. They're the same Sequoia machines that are being used in many places that used them as a second choice when the Diebold equipment proved too buggy.

Whether deliberate or not (and I'm willing to allow it may be stupidity and incompetence, not ill will), it still stinks. HAVA was just a way of making money for voting machine makers. It should have been called the 'Help America Vote For Bush* Act,' it's so nakedly opportunistic and has provided very little positive change.

[sandnsea]

5. Have her read this

Print it and force her to read it in your presence. I keep thinking I can't get any madder...

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/green

[demokatgurrl]

6. Yeah, she's in denial like my boss-

who says, Jeez, I HOPE there aren't recounts, it will be so bad for the country.
As if we weren't already up to our necks in shit.