Decision ‘08

If John Kerry Is The Answer…

Sen. John Kerry didn’t contest the results at the time, but now that he’s considering another run for the White House, he’s alleging election improprieties by the Ohio Republican who oversaw the deciding vote in 2004.

An e-mail will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland’s opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush’s honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state’s top election official.

“He used the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote,” said Kerry’s e-mail.

Kerry, D-Mass., conceded the election when he lost Ohio and its 20 electoral votes. A recount requested by minor-party candidates showed Bush won by about 118,000 votes out of 5.5 million cast. But Kerry’s e-mail says Blackwell “used his office to abuse our democracy and threaten basic voting rights.”

Multiple lawsuits by outside groups were unsuccessful in challenging Ohio’s 2004 election. One case filed by the League of Women Voters is still in U.S. District Court in Toledo. It claims Ohio’s election system discriminates against minority voters.

So Kerry didn’t contest it, a recount showed Bush won by over 100,000 votes, and no lawsuits contesting the results have been successful either - yet John Kerry, a sitting U.S. senator, doesn’t mind sowing public distrust of the democratic process for temporary political gain, at a time when voter cynicism is sky high.

That’s leadership for you!…

17 Responses to “If John Kerry Is The Answer…”

1 Sean P Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
So in other words, John Kerry actually conceeded the results of the election before I contested them.
2 Kerry on Changing the Voting Laws - Liberal Values - Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
[…] This confuses two separate issues, voter suppression and claims that the election was “stolen” and leads to analysis which fails to understand the situation such as this from Decision ‘08: So Kerry didn’t contest it, a recount showed Bush won by over 100,000 votes, and no lawsuits contesting the results have been successful either - yet John Kerry, a sitting U.S. senator, doesn’t mind sowing public distrust of the democratic process for temporary political gain, at a time when voter cynicism is sky high. […]
3 Ron Chusid Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
I’m afraid that you, to paraphrase your post, fail to understand the question. This is somewhat understandable in light of all the noise from some about stolen elections, etc, which is quite different from what Kerry is talking about.

I have a longer response at Liberal Values. Here’s the key part:

Some like Robert Kennedy, Jr.along with some irresponsible bloggers are making noise with unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen. They continue to spread absurd arguments about the exit polls and stealing of votes. This is not what John Kerry is talking about here.

John Kerry has been speaking out about measures which suppress the vote since the election. He is not saying the election was stolen. There is no way to know to what degree these measures affected the result. He is not even saying that all of the measures are illegal. The problem is that Blackwell’s actions may have been llegal under Ohio law, but should not be. Therefore the comments on court decisions are irrelevant to Kerry’s argument. What Kerry is saying is that changes are needed in the laws, and that the way to accomplish this is to elect Ted Strickland rather than Ken Blackwell.
4 Gwedd Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
So Ron,

What you are saying is that Kerry wants to get Ted Strickland elected in order to make certain that Democrats are elected from now on? Sort of like the way that the Democrats ran Broward County and Dade County and still had trouble fixing the election for Gore because of the evil Katherine Harris? Yeah…. that’s it…. just another example of how the Democrats want the states reduced to chattel status under an oppressive Federal Government.

In other words, the Democrats want to do to the nation what the Unions did to American Industry. Bankrupt it. Morally, Physically, Financially.

Kerry make think he’s the new JFK, but all he shares are initials. Sadly, the real JFK is dead and buried. Wannabe is only dead from the neck up.

Respects,

Gwedd
5 Mark Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Thanks for the comment - I see your point, somewhat, but I still say that Kerry is playing the fool (a role that no doubt comes easily to him) with his claims that Blackwell tried to suppress the Democratic vote.

Further, it seems to me that many measures that are sometimes touted as ’suppressing’ the vote are laughably commonsensical (i.e., proving you are who you say you are with a photo i.d.), so I suspect you and I are pretty far apart on this issue.

In any event, I have long learned that where John Kerry is concerned, the least charitable interpretation is more likely the correct one…
6 Dmac Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
At least look on the bright side - a candidate with Kerry’s endorsement is sure to get creamed.
7 Pamela Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
Mark

It seems that Blackwell has sunk rather low in the polls and Strickland appears to be the favored candidate in OH. Could it be that voters are waking up to what John Kerry points out in his email about Blackwell?

“As you know, in 2004 while serving as a co-chair of George W. Bush’s 2004 Presidential campaign in Ohio, Secretary of State Blackwell oversaw the state’s 2004 election.”

I would imagine that Republicans would be up in arms if a Dem was serving as co-chair of presidential election and overseeing the election as Sec of State.

Republicans would be smart to care about the issues with electronic voting machines and for that matter voter suppression. There are major issues with these machines - they are run by software and we all know software has glitches.

But hey, why worry, BushCo owns Diebold and Diebold is a BIG contributor to Blackwell, so you folks think Blackwell may still have it in the bag.

It’s your democracy too, incase you all forget. You think the less charitable interpretation is best where it comes to Kerry, funny thing is you ususally end up always proving yourself wrong, as Ron pointed out.
8 Pamela Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Dmac

If Rasmussen keeps showing Blackwell polling like this, I’m afraid you’ll be eating crow come November:

The latest poll from Rasmussen Reports shows Strickland leads Blackwell by an “intimidating 57% to 32%.“
9 Mark Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Pamela, BushCo owns Diebold? Oh, okay, so you’re one of…those…

Well, it’s a free country. Enjoy your paranoia!…
10 Pamela Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Mark

What you don’t get the figurative language. This country would be a lot better off if the paranoid in chief had not been selected.
11 Mark Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Pamela, I don’t mind you being a Bush opponent, but at least use common sense - George W. Bush is about as far from being paranoid as a grown man can be. It’s not in his nature…Dick Cheney, maybe, but GWB? Come off it…
12 Ginny in CO Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
“John Kerry, a sitting U.S. senator, doesn’t mind sowing public distrust of the democratic process for temporary political gain, at a time when voter cynicism is sky high.”

John Kerry has been working his tush off raising money and campaigning with Democratic candidates across the country. He has been warmly received in many places and wisely skipped any campaigns that were unsure of his ability to help (they still got the money).

The reality for Kerry, which seems to be true for most of us, is: to hell with ‘08, let’s focus on getting at least one, if not both chambers back. This is a temporary political gain for Kerry?

Doing that requires a lot of money, a lot of volunteers, support of all kinds, AND a reliable election process.

The Democratic leadership has been faulted for not doing anything on this. The problem with that is what this issue clearly illustrates: the election process is controlled at the state and local levels. It must be reformed at that level - until Congress can pass any legislation that affects national elections. Even then, state and local elections will be controlled at those levels.

Voter distrust of the process is sky high. Voter distrust of the GOP led Congress is sky high. Both of those are wise. The voters need to be verifying that their own local elections are going to be clean, fair and verifiable.

Mark, One definition of paranoia is “delusions of grandeur”. Which would be why he is so often portrayed as wearing the clothes of a king, sitting on a throne, etc.
If the degree of secrecy that he runs this administration*, the lack of interchange, discussion, or compromise do not indicate a high probability of paranoia, do tell us what would. (*eg; reclassifying old declassified documents - in enormous numbers)
13 Aaron Says:
August 29th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
Bush is “paranoid in cheif”? This coming from someone who claims he owns diebold. Sometimes I wish that Bush (or Blackwell, in this case) would lose, just to prove the conspiracy nuts wrong, even though I know it would just fill them with hubris, thinking that they were the new Solidarity or something.
14 Pamela Says:
August 30th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Mark
LOL! I must agree, Cheney is far more paraniod that George W.
15 Mark Says:
August 30th, 2006 at 11:06 am
No joke - I mean, really, leaving aside our partisan differences for the moment - when you think of paranoia, in a clinical sense, Cheney does show signs, does he not?

Whereas GWB is much more ‘balanced’…

Wow, am I ever playing armchair psychologist!…
16 Erin Says:
August 30th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Kerry told O’Reilly that Lieberman should bow out gracefully in that he lost the Democratic Primary how very hollow of him in that he nor Al Gore could quite seem to do the same.
17 Dmac Says:
August 30th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
“This country would be a lot better off if the paranoid in chief had not been selected…”

Pamela, you must’ve clicked on the wrong keys -you mean to be posting in Kos - Land, not here. They just love this kind of ranting and venting of spleen - no substance necessary! Give it a try - please.