Is this bravado, or is it something more sinister?
Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill are bracing for losses of 25 House seats or more. But party operatives say Rove is predicting that, at worst, Republicans will lose only 8 to 10 seats — shy of the 15-seat threshold that would cede control to Democrats for the first time since the 1994 elections and probably hobble the balance of Bush’s second term.
In the Senate, Rove and associates believe, a Democratic victory would require the opposition to “run the table,” as one official put it, to pick up the necessary six seats — a prospect the White House seems to regard as nearly inconceivable.
I understand why Bush and Rove want to project an aura of confidence. If the GOP looks like a losing party headed for huges losses, it could be become a self-inforcing perception. They know that midterm elections are about base turnout, and they know that their base is much less energized this time around. They need to try to keep up hope and morale. I understand that. But…
They keep pushing this mythical 72-hour turn-out miracle, which could just be a cover for explaining the ability to consistently outperform pre-election polling. For example:
The RNC is also planning another big get-out-the-vote drive in the final three days before the elections. Rove believes that many of the polls in individual House and Senate races understate what he expects to be a GOP advantage in turnout, according to one party strategist who has heard him discuss the midterms.
I’ve got to be honest. I don’t like the sound of that. That kind of rhetoric seems to be setting the groundwork to steal votes. What are we going to do if the GOP defies the polls all over the country, or in key Senate races, and they try to explain that have mastered the art of turnout?
I’m putting this down here now, for the record. Anything fishy happens on election day, remember, you heard me warning about this. What do you think?
It would seem that NOTHING is beyond the pale when it comes to maintaining a majority.
At this point in time I truely believe that an attempt at stealing the election is a given. It is just a matter of how hard Dems are willing to fight for their right to a fair and legal vote. Kerry was all talk and no action in 2004. And most Dems across the nation sat on their hands as well.
The bulk of any action was taken by indies and “tiny party candidates”… Are you Dems going to leave us hanging like a chad in Florida/Ohio again this election?
I think most of you Dems have realized by now that this is a fair and honest question for indies to ask of you.
P.S.: I would not ask this question at dKos because they hate to see a mirror held up to themselves when it reveals the real truths about themselves (and how they are perceived by “outside lefties”), BUT this site, and others like MLW, have always taken this issue a little more seriously especially as the evidence piled up. And even the ones here at BooTrib that might not truely believe that votes have already been stolen at least understand that it “might be” a possibility by now.
So we need to be ready for the Dems to be faltering and uncertain. The best thing we can do if all of this comes to pass is to be ready to hit the streets.
I am encouraging everyone I know to take Wed the 8th off of work.
We cannot expect the Dems to see us as a source of strnegth and ask al their DC insider coctail buddies to do the same, but we have to get out there, and make clear that there is outrage. Only by working the demonstrations can we even begin to establish some kind of leverage.
And let me be clear: I am not saying this is a likely or good outcome. I am saying it is the only move we have if it comes to it, and we need to acknowledge the real possibility that it could come to it.
Otherwise we just have a day off to drink coffee and go for a walk. Not so bad.
But I am still far more optimistic that most here seem to be. Our local control of elections in this country will make it extremely difficult to pull off fraud on a broad scale. For example, Colorado requires paper back-ups for electronic machines (though some machines in Denver are being grandfathered for this election). And at least half of the votes this year will be absentee – on paper. So it will be very, very difficult to steal an election here unless it is very close. There will be recounts if the results are far off from the exit polls, and paper ballots to recount.
And I am sure that Colorado is not the only state to improve ballot securtity over the last few years. It is not true that nothing has been done.
I think that those with the big voices should be pushing everybody running for the oval office in 08 to take a
VISIBLE & LOUD STAND AGAINST ELECTION FRAUD NOW
and adopt a comprehensive plan to expose and prosecute those who perpetrate it.
In other words, if you are running for president in 08, then start leading, and if you make your living in politics/punditry, then push for leadership that enables actual democracy.
I think you’re right. The problem is the media will not report on “rumors” of election theft before or after the fact.
This is the principle reason I won’t believe in a Democratic victory until I see it.
See my question above^^^^
Does anyone expect the MSM to take this matter seriously unless the Dems start to look at the realities of Diebold, etc.?
The REASON that they would not report such things is that the “For the good of the country” fix was in on the BushCo side.
Now it is in on the OTHER side. BushCo has been BAD for the country.
For business, more precisely. (“The business of America is business” Calvin Coolidge (R)- 1925. Worthy of Yogi Berra. And no less true for that.)
The fix IS in.
Listen. Short of a revolution….not bloody likely here in the U.S…in any fairly well developed capitalist system the fix is ALWAYS in.
Bet on it.
“Freedom” is being able to INFLUENCE the fix.
All we are doing here is pushing for a changed fix.
And it appears that we have to some degree succeeded.
We shall see.
Keep pushing.
AG
AG, you are such a skeptic, but on this issue, I agree with you. It almost takes a negative weight off ones demeanor to look at America this way.
I was just thinking the other day about what advice would I give a new immigrant to this country to help them survive with minimal hassles. You know what I came up with? Never believe anything you see on TV, especially on a commercial!
How about others here. What single line of advice would you give a new immigrant to help them survive in America with minimal hassles?
If one can be simultaneously a skeptic and a believer in the absolute perfection of the universe…then yes, I will cop to your description.
Otherwise…no.
I am not complaining about what is, NG. Nor am I disbelieving it. Merely commenting upon reality as I see it and recommending useful tactics with which one can DEAL with it.
I actually think…on the evidence…that this country is so far the most effective set of compromises between human freedom and the necessity for social organization in the name of sheer survival that has ever appeared on the planet.
The compromises are ongoing.
Make the right ones, and we will survive and prosper.
Do NOT make them, and we will perish. Sink beneath the sea of history as yet another good try.
Talk about taking a negative weight off one’s demeanor???
Yup.
Sink or swim, and today is a good day to die.
Out to have fun now…
Later…
AG
Let’s rephrase that just a little.
When you watch TV, never believe anything you see on a commercial, and believe only about 20% of everything else.
And no, there’s no way for them to tell right off which 20% is the credible part. But having not grown up in this country, they are probably better equipped to determine what is BS and what is useful than those of us who were born here are.
It seems to me that a vote-stealing system would have to be focused on certain vulnerable areas where there are tight races. I can see that happening in statewide senate races, but its more difficult to imagine in house races. How would they know where to focus with enough time to get things in place? This time its not enough to focus on Florida or Ohio. With so many different voting systems, it would take many different strategies targeted at just the right races.
From what I hear, we are pretty safe here in MN with paper ballots that are scanned by a computer system. There are also going to be a random sample of paper ballot counts around the state to ensure accurate counting.
So, I don’t doubt that this might happen – especially in the Senate. But I wonder how they could pull it off to save the house.
It will be very interesting to see how panicked the Republicans are by how vicious their RNC funded attack ads against Amy Klobuchar get.
I think the RNC might have given up on this race. But we’ll see.
Yeah. I saw Amy Klobuchar and Mark Kennedy on Meet the Press yesterday and Russert asked Kennedy what he thought of the RNC not supporting him. I was laughing too hard to hear Kenndy’s response but having listened to him for the debate, I can’t imagine it was anything coherent or meaningful. He is doofus exemplifiedus.
Since the Bush family has succeeded in turning our republic into another third world, third rate dictatorship we need to ask the following countries to send election monitors for the Novermber 2006 elections: Norway, Japan, Sweden, Australia, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Russia, China, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Maybe we could get Pat Robertson to get his friends and business associates in Liberia to honcho the effort.
I’ve been saying the same thing for months. The only thing we have going in our favor is that it appears the tide against the GOP will be overwhelming. If so, I don’t see how they can steal enough votes and not make it seem obvious that something was rotten. Can they steal a handful of seats? Sure. A few senate races? No problem (which is why we will not retake the senate this year). But can they steal 30-50 house seats? I’m not so sure they can pull that off without calling attention to the fraud, especially since there are now at least a few people in the MSM who seem to be aware of what’s going on. Still, Billbray in CA-50, was sworn in before all the votes were counted and the courts ruled that that was just fine and dandy. Voters? What are those?
We won’t retake anything. We might pick up a few seats in the house and senate, but the GOP will remain in control. It has to. Otherwise, impeachment hearings are inevitable. They will not let this happen.
Period.
Hence, the Bush swagger.
p.s. Nice to have you on the tin-foil-hat express, Boo. Have a drink. There are still plenty of seats in the bar car.
Like many others here, I will believe a Dem victory when it actually has happened. As for Rove and Bush, it could be denial, it could be that “the fix is in”…again, it could be that the Persian Gulf will erupt just before our elections, it could be another “terrorist” attack here, it could be almost anything. Is this a great country..or what?
they STILL try to say there is no proof about voting irregularities. It beats me why we do not have some plan of attack for this election that would ensure that some kind of ruffles would be stirred if yet again election results were not what were anticipated.
this worries me too. I think they’re going to try to steal it, and worse I think they’ll succeed again, with their friends in Big Media and the rollover, limp-dick Democratic “leadership” willing to cut off their ow n balls at a moment’s notice.
The odd thing is…. someone told me (she is still registered as a Republican even though the last time she voted for one was nearly a decade ago) that she got a robo-call from Gov. Ehrlich’s office, urging her to vote absentee this November (and vote Republican of course), in order to make sure her vote was counted…. (in Maryland, after the mess we had at the primary, this advice is coming around from both parties now).
We not only need to be ready to challenge Republican election fraud, but be prepared to defend against similiar charges should Democrats win sufficient seats to change the majority in either house… hell, even if we don’t. It seems to be a favorite tactic of theirs, to blatantly and without real evidence, accuse their political opponants of the crime or sin they themselves are committing….