John Edwards, do you not have concerns about legitimacy of our elections?

[flpoljunkie]

Let us hope so. With 2006 mid-terms looming, Avi Rubin, professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins, said recently on the Diane Rehm show, the only thing we can do now to avoid tampering is to "physically secure the machines and to observe anyone who has access to the machines" during the voting and tabulation process. I would like to see, not only John Edwards, but all the Democratic leadership, speaking out now. Ohio was a disaster in 2004. We must protect the sanctity of the electoral process, or watch what is left of our democracy crumble.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/12/opinion/edkemp.php

We need to be tough with Russia

By John Edwards and Jack Kemp International Herald Tribune

Published: July 12, 2006

WASHINGTON Fifteen years ago, when the leaders of the world's seven leading industrialized democracies first invited Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to attend their meeting in London, they extended a hand to their faltering adversary in the hopes of bringing it into the West. It signaled the Cold War's end; by the end of that year, the Soviet Union itself no longer existed.

In this context, this week's meeting in St. Petersburg marks a turning point: For the first time, Russia will play host as a full-fledged member of what is now the Group of 8, and not as a supplicant. It is a measure of how far Russia has come - but regrettably, also a stark reminder of how far it has to go.

For the United States and Europe, a strong relationship with Russia is essential to handling the most difficult global challenges we face. Terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, tight energy markets, climate change, the drug trade, infectious diseases, human trafficking - all these problems are more manageable when we have Russia on our side rather than aligned against it.

<>Then there is the 2008 question. Russia is entering a critical political phase, with parliamentary elections next year and presidential elections in 2008. America and the European Union should begin working now to make clear the criteria by which we will judge this process to be legitimate, and we should communicate this publicly and privately.

If today's reality of Russian politics continues - with opposition candidates kept off the ballot arbitrarily, unable to access the media or raise funds; with opposition parties unable to form because of "technicalities," or with independent domestic monitoring organizations kept out - then there is the real risk that Russia's leadership will be seen, externally and internally, as illegitimate.