The only political advantage the Bush Regime has is "electronic voting"

[Postman]

Ned Lamont is kicking Joe LIEberman's ass in CT....."in the polls."

Remember the exit polling from the last Presidential election? Kerry was on his way to victory, yet somehow Bush "won" the election???

There is nothing this authoritarian regime has done that has been politically popular with the people. Stands to reason that their poll numbers are in the 30's.

A majority of the American people realize now that without "checks and balances", with a compliant, allied, one party controlled Congress, the United States government has in effect become an authoritarian and sometimes fascist run state.

Like the boy with his finger in the dyke holding back the potential flood, the only thing holding back a democratic government in the US is control of the voting machines.

[movonne]

1. That is all they need....

[bryant69]

2. I don't think so

I don't know how total their control of voting is anyway; but a lot of our basic instutions are still standing and functioning more or less. I think President bush would need a certain compliance from a lot of quarters, not just the voting machines, to pull off continued domination.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[BeFree]

4. Control of voting

Check out the Tom Delay sponsored HAVA. HAVA spent $4 billion of federal dollars to buy the electronic voting machines for precincts from sea to shining sea. The companies that sold the machines under HAVA are owned by republicans, and those machines produced 80% of the official results in 2004.

That means the republicans had control of the voting.

[Postman]

6. "a lot of compliance"?

look at Florida in 2000, Ohio 2004

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) put into place nationally what happened in Florida in 2000.

It is rigging elections, plain and simple.

Why have the republicans refused to renew the Civil Rights Voting Act?

And how is it that a RIGHT can EXPIRE?????

Do your rights expire?????

[bryant69]

9. I guess you are right; we're all screwed.

[INdemo]

21. In 2000 their vote stealing scheme was just beginning

In 2002 that actually improved as they gained more power...Corporations were supplying the fund's,the media was their mouth piece and now that power has grown to the point that I think its almost unstoppable..Since Diebold and all the other electronic systems are controlled by Republican CEO's this power group becomes even stronger. Now how can we fight this..The Democrats are raising a very respectable amount of funds but until the Democratic Leaders address this issue we're screwed..Look we have had 2 years (actually 4+ years)and now here we are down to days and there hasn't been any real progress toward insuring that we can have fair elections and an accurate vote count.

[snacker]

5. Sad, but true. n/t

[Avalux]

3. Here's my question.

If the current poll numbers hold until November indicating people want Democrats in Congress but the election overwhelmingly re-elects Republicans, will the American people finally wake up?

Will they say "wait a minute this isn't right" and speak up or accept the reasons given by the media and our government?

I honestly can't answer those questions because I fear the latter.

[Postman]

10. the trick to success is not to "win overwhelmingly" as you put it...

That would be too obvious.

Just like now, how the country is slipping into a proto-fascist state ( as John Dean calls it).

Outright, blatant fascism would be too obvious.

They are masters of control. You have to allow a certain amount of "freedom" to exist to give the illusion that this is a "democracy"...to keep the people in their slumber.

[Avalux]

13. Yes, that makes sense.

But Republican poll numbers are so dismal, even if they win barely, it will be highly suspicious. Unless of course between now and November something is contrived to give the illusion they are winning. Pull something out of their bag of tricks, so to speak.

[Postman]

15. Maybe we are seeing the beginning of their strategy now in the Mid-East..

war and more war.

They have nothing else but fear.

Nothing but fear.

[EstimatedProphet]

14. The only thing keeping people from acting is no one acting

We let things slide IMO, not because we think they're OK, but because we don't want to be the only ones visibly trying to do something about the situation. There's already been enough that has happened in the last 5 years. Just the other day we lost the right to be free of unannounced search and seizure, and there was hardly a word about it. So, in that matter, it doesn't matter what happens in November-it only matters whether the ball will start rolling, and that takes someone getting it rolling.

[City Lights]

23. Maybe they'll try and outlaw polling so the people won't have

any idea who is expected to win.

[RethugAssKicker]

7. The Rethugs use many more methods of stealing elections

than just the voting machines....

Read RFK JRs Rolling Stone article for details..

[Minnesota Libra]

8. That's the only "advantage " they need too!! nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. And scrubbed voter rolls, and misinfo on when and where to vote

and more moeny than their opponents, and ownership of the media, and.....


:cry:

[AndyA]

12. The whole thing stinks - from the GOP all the up to the SCOTUS

Take the 2000 election, for instance. Over and over again the SCOTUS has stayed out of the election process, stating that it's a state issue, and should be up to the states to deal with.

Yet they had no problem telling Florida to stop the recount, which effectively made W the President, despite losing the popular vote.

Now we have electronic machines, with secret technology that election officials don't have access to. We have to trust the manufacturer of the machine as far as accuracy and reliability go. And the CEOs of those companies are GOP supporters.

We have state election officials running the campaigns for candidates. If that isn't a conflict of interest, I don't know what is. Any person of integrity would not allow themselves to be put in such a position, where they open themselves up to a compromising position.

It's time for another Boston Tea Party, another Civil Revolution, it's time for Americans to take back their country from the people who are taking away of rights and liberties. It's time for us to get representation that is truly representative of our interests, and not following a secret agenda that is not for the good of the people.

Election fraud is the #1 top issue we must deal with right now, it will be too late in November if we don't.

[LibDemAlways]

16. Electronic and other vote fraud only works in

a close election. If it looked like a landslide for the Dem, there isn't much they can do. That's why in 08 the Dems need to nominate a truly stellar, absolutely take-no-prisoners kick-ass team, go on the offensive immediately, and not take any shit from the repukes. I know. I know. That's asking a lot, and thus far we've seen little evidence Dems are inclined to be street fighters. But it's the only way to win elections and overcome the "Diebold" and dirty tricks advantage.

[Stevepol]

17. The machines can provide any percentage you want.

Why do you say they can't monkey with big numbers as well as small numbers? In OH in 05, the people were in favor of the voting referenda by about 60-40% according to very accurate polls (the Columbus newspaper had won awards for the accuracy of their polls) but the machines flipped the results to 60-40% against the measures, a 40-point flip. If you can flip a result like that and nobody even think it's particularly remarkable, anything's possible in the Wonderland of electronic vote counting.

[LibDemAlways]

20. I know there's still an excellent chance of fraud.

Just saying that if the election shaped up to be a blow out, it would be harder to make a "stunning come from behind victory" convincing - especially on a nationwide scale. Not that the repukes wouldn't try. And if the Dems did manage a convincing victory, I would expect repukes to shriek "vote fraud" to the heavens and demand recounts and mount all sorts of legal challenges to get it overturned. They don't take election losses lightly.

[EstimatedProphet]

22. No-not true

Think about it. How do you really know if an election is close? What way do you have, besides voting, to really know who is supported by the majority?

If we have a free, independent press and pollsters, then we can feel secure. However, if the voting machines are co-opted AND the press is co-opted AND the pollsters are co-opted (and ther have been a number of people suggesting just this situation), then there is no way we could ever know, period. Every single person in the United States could vote Democratic in that scenario, and Republicans could still rig it to win, and we'd never be able to prove anything else.

If the situation is really gone, then the elections have no meaning anymore whatsoever. they can make up whatever story they want, and there's no one to say otherwise.

[Skinner]

18. Are you sure Ned is "kicking Joe's Ass" in the polls?

To be clear: I'm not defending Joe here. It is true that Ned is giving Joe a run for his money, and it is true that Ned could win this thing. But I'm not so sure it is correct to say that Ned is "kicking ass" against Joe in the polls. What polls are you referring to?

[Peace Patriot]

19. Think strategically! What are our resources? Well, for one, 70% of the

American people despise the Bush junta. What if we got them all to vote by Absentee Ballot? People are doing this already (it's up to 50% in Los Angeles), trying to get their vote counted. Many don't know that AB votes are not secure, but they're protesting the rigged machines in the only way they can. Let's go with this indigenous citizen protest and make it big. If enough people do it, the rigged machines will be useless, obsolete before their time. THEN we have momentum to get rid of the central tabulators. 70% voting AB is a major REBELLION. It's feasible. It's an EASY protest that everyone can do. Many people would like a method to protest this junta. It will help turnout. It's not voting as usual. It's voting as PROTEST.

Lots of reasons to go with this. There are many great developments in the election reform movement, but nothing on the horizon that will prevent the junta from stealing Congress again in November, with Diebold/ES&S "trade secret" vote tabulation software. Except this. This--AB voting, if it gets very big--would be a major monkey wrench in the election theft system. Yeah, they'll try to steal AB votes, too, but, with A LOT of AB votes, it will get very difficult. And it will become obvious that people are really pissed off, and are PROTESTING the rigged machines.

My friends, things are bad, it's true. But we must never give up on our right to vote, or on our dream of democracy. Things were bad for Gandhi in India. Things were bad for M L King here. Things were bad for Nelson Mandela--in jail for 29 years. Things were bad throughout Latin America, with brutal oppression--look what's happening there now--peaceful, democratic, Leftist governments sweeping elections all over the continent (after boffo work on TRANSPARENT elections by the OAS, the Carter Center, EU election monitoring groups and local civic groups).

We're just not used to fascist oppression. It's a new thing to us, and we're slow to catch on and slow to react. It's difficult to comprehend. Secret corporate vote tabulation IS fascism.* It's here. And that's what we must fight in whatever way we can. I think an AB voting campaign is the way.

We also have to face that some Democrats are colluding on fascist vote counting. But the PEOPLE would not be for it, if they knew about it. Many more people are learning about it, as the result of grass roots election fraud/election reform activism. And they are turning to AB voting as a protest against the machines. I think the people can bring this system down, must by how they vote--just by requesting an AB ballot, if enough people do it.

--------

*(Posters here descry the OTHER forms of Bushite vote stealing. Yeah, they're all true, but Diebold/ES&S gives the Bushites a bottom line of false support--a "thumb on the scales" of about 5% to 10%, that gives them confidence, and gives them immunity on all other election crimes. It is the COUP DE GRACE of election theft. INVISIBLE, UNDETECTABLE vote stealing, at the speed of light, involving millions of votes. And because it is so new, and happened so fast, it's taken time for a lot of people to know about it. The Bushites are way ahead of us. But as soon as people learn about it, their reaction is often to request an Absentee Ballot. It is an attempt by people to subvert the vote stealing. It is a protest against the machines. And it is this kind of protest--an indigenous, citizen inspired protest--that often works, and brings down fascist regimes.)