[lbo-talk] No Stolen Elections!

[Dennis Perrin]

> So say Kerry won Ohio - he still would have lost the pop vote by 3m+. When 
> Bush lost the pop vote by 500k and won the electoral vote, we denounced 
> that as an antidemocratic abomination, which it was. But while 500k is 
> virtual tie, a 3m pop vote lead is serious. Would we want to call a Kerry 
> electoral college victory under those circs legitimate?
>
> The fraud & intimidation should be investigated and denounced. But saying 
> "Kerry won" is delusional and hypocritical.
>
> Doug

I agree with you, Doug. I wouldn't have titled a piece on this with "Kerry 
Won." It draws readers & heats up the base, sure, but it's ultimately 
meaningless, esp when Kerry himself obviously (privately?) disagrees. Still, 
if we are to take electoral politics seriously, then we have to investigate 
what seems to be a growing trend -- attempts at suppressing the vote in 
poorer areas, use of Diebold machines and the privatization of vote 
counting. In other words, we have to show greater America that for all its 
talk about the Beauty of Democracy, there's a nasty, malicious underside 
that is expanding. We'll get slammed as "conspiracy nuts," which is why we 
need to be careful. But it's not as if we're making this shit up.

DP