Keep in mind that Kerry still has 7 millions raised for his legal fund. Dems in Congress are sorry bunch. As my mom said to me, Kerry took a dive on purpose and it is ringing so ever louder as days pass.

Kerry turned out to be a pussycat instead of fighter. I made a mistake voting for him.

I for one, am starting to agree with you John...

I don't believe "I made a mistake" in voting for him, but I DO believe there was something very strange about the way he simply threw up his hands and said, "I give...!!" almost immediately.

At first, I kind of understood and respected his remark about "this countries elections are not going to be decided by a long, protracted legal process." But, by the same token, I ALSO very much agreed with Mr Edward's remark prior to Kerry's consession phone call, "We will NOT stop until EVERY VOTE IS COUNTED...!!!"

Very nice piece Steve. I am in complete agreement that this was/is much too little, too late. Check out this blog by a good friend of mine, very well documented posted Sunday, December 05, 2004 titled:
20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA

Both disturbing and enlightening...

Ok, the "I give!" reaction is problably because Kerry didn't get a majority of votes nationwide -- that's gotta hurt the ego.

National election board -- populated by representatives (congress; senators maybe?) in INVERSE proportion to the seats in that house. If 52 Repubs, 48 Dems then the election board would be 5 Dems, 4 Repubs. The Dems in the appropriate house choose who serves on the Dem side, etc.

That'll never fly, will it?

Kerry winning Ohio on any recount or investigation was virtually a statistical impossibility. Obviously, accuracy in elections is a work in process. As a nation we have to move forward and keep improving the process. Both Gore and Kerry did the right thing. Accept defeat gracefully, and move the nation forward.

Both Gore and Kerry did the right thing. Accept defeat gracefully, and move the nation forward.

That's exactly right...

...except...

....Gore did the right thing....and nobody did anything to move the nation forward for four years. Now Kerry did the right thing too. Let's hope not with the same result.

But you can't improve the process if you don't open up an honest dialog about what happened, whether or not it affected the outcome of the election. Questioning the process, wanting to find out if things went wrong and then addressing ways to improve it should not label me as unpatriotic or a sore loser. Asking questions is what democracy is all about.

And move the nation forward to where? Look what we have now, it's certainly not a place I'm happy with. A don't ask questions policy is what they want.

We need to fix the "small" problems now, before they become more blatant "problems". Slippery slope stuff, because if you let these thing go uncorrected now, how do I trust what happens next time?

I got an email from the nytimes (after I wrote them about the "deafening silence" on the election irregs.....probably my insult "paper of record? bah humbug" got to them. The person wrote:

We have an article today and we're covering the hearings.
and a merry christmas to you, too.

So I apologized for my rudeness and looked up their article.

nytimes article

Either we are committed to fair, inclusive and competently conducted elections in the United States or we are not. Getting 40 states right and having the rest questionable or downright shady is not OK. Notice one thing...all the questions now and in 2000 revolve around various mechanisms that shaved Democrat votes. None, that I know of, had GOP candidates losing because of questions at the polls. As a Nation, total fairness at the polls must be an absolute guarantee. Is it?

Soto:

Why the nonplussed reaction by the media and frankly the Kerry campaign?

I asked y'all this weeks ago. If there's such a bunch of fraud going on in Ohio, why haven't the Kerrion been out in front of the cameras every day for the past six weeks complaining about it?

Kerry's got plenty of money left over. He should have ponied up for a statewide recount in Ohio. Is there something else he was saving it for?

Is there something else he was saving it for?

Surely he has his eye on a nice little French chateau.

Thanks, Steve, for at least talking about this on your blog. I've been following all the events closely and the one thing that troubles me more than anything is the vast media silence on the subject. When one or two of them do break the silence, they feel compelled to ridicule those of us who feel that this is the most important issue we have right now.

I have a son who just came back from Iraq. He was there for a year and we all worry that, even though he is supposed to get out of the army in February, that they will send him back anyway. He voted for Kerry absentee. Did his vote count? Did my vote count? Did yours? Our kids are dying for a pointless war and we may never be able to get rid of the thugs that have done this to us, if our elections are rigged. They have other really bad plans as well -- to "fix" social security, medicaid and so on. At the very least, we have the right to have this question answered: Was the election fair? After 2000, we have earned the right to be paranoid if that's all it comes to.

However, I believe that the solid evidence of voter suppression, statistical problems and the voices of people like Chuck Herrin --a Republican --who say that the machines were rigged without question -- AND the fact that all the errors went in favor of Bush --make me a believer.

Thanks for helping.

I too am a believer - It is beyond my comprehension why all Dems and Dem leaders have not wanted to investigate the problems in Ohio - it's merely a matter of wanting an accurate count.

Ligon:

It is beyond my comprehension why all Dems and Dem leaders have not wanted to investigate the problems in Ohio

But McAuliffe has called for all hands on deck to launch investigations into the vote in Ohio. Why do you not know this? I should know since he sent me an e-mail telling me what a fantastic job I had done for the Party.

- it's merely a matter of wanting an accurate count.

Horseshit. This is the Democrats' last, desperate shaft before they pack it in for this cycle. It's a sorry lesson you people learned from Gore the Younger, who lacked the character to gracefully accept his defeat in 2000 and, instead, dragged this country through five weeks of court battles and vitriol.

I will say it again: the Election of 2000 did more to traumatize the liberal Left in this country than did the atrocities of 11 September 2001. There's no contradicting that. And, because it's so, America declined to reward your party last month when presented a choice between a man of moral clarity and a dissembling pessimist.

Beinart's right: until the Democratic Party comes to terms with its obligations to fighting the good fight ---as Harry Truman and even John Kennedy once did--- they will be lost in the wilderness for many more years.

fighting the good fight means making sure every vote is counted. 'Nuff Said.

And how dare you Tony, a Republican, use the names of two of our greatest democratic leaders against us.

What if I said Eisenhower would have been ashamed of the way Bush is runing the Whitehouse.

Toby, haven't you heard that when the votes were counted, GORE WON FLORIDA 2000? If the SCOTUS hadn't stopped the count, the Criminal in Chief would be picking up brush in Texas. And we'd all be alot safer.

...a man of moral clarity...?? You are as deluded as Bush is.

but I DO believe there was something very strange about the way he simply threw up his hands and said, "I give...!!" almost immediately

Well, if the Bush family record of making people disappear has anything to do with it, maybe a late night call telling Kerry he was going to be a lot more like Kennedy than he wanted to be might have done it.

the Election of 2000 did more to traumatize the liberal Left in this country than did the atrocities of 11 September 2001.

You mean the Supreme Court decision of 2000, I'm sure.

America declined to reward your party last month when presented a choice between a man of moral clarity and a dissembling pessimist.

You forgot the mandate. By all accounts, when he got really lit-up in the 70's, he had a few man dates. Probably better for him to wake up hugging a guys groin with an alcohol related defense mechanism to soothe the super-ego, don't you think? I would call that moral Claret, of which he imbibed.

God knows he is religious. Every time he ran for office or made a "big" business deal he switched religions for position. What a guy! Did I mention moral?

Yep, republi-cons and neo-cant's won. If the next four years are anything like the last, you will have won a lot. Sometimes though, winning is really losing in the final analysis, loser.

America declined to reward your party last month when presented a choice between a man of moral clarity and a dissembling pessimist.

Why oh why then did they choose the dissembling (okay, let's call it lying and be done with it) pessimist? You could have added hypocritical deserting drunken cokehead, too, if you wanted to be really accurate about it.

Nice that you realize that Kerry is a man of moral clarity, though...

America declined to reward your party last month when presented a choice between a man of moral clarity and a dissembling pessimist.

Why oh why then did they choose the dissembling (okay, let's call it lying and be done with it) pessimist? You could have added hypocritical deserting drunken cokehead, too, if you wanted to be really accurate about it.

Nice that you realize that Kerry is a man of moral clarity, though...

Damn you, double post!

Damn you, double post!

Toby is the last person who should be giving advice. After all, he contributed to the demise of the Dem party in Texas. And now he's become a Nazi, you should listen to him even less!

Vote tabulation using proprietary accounting software is unacceptable. I am working locally to make sure it is not used in my county. I my efforts fail, I shall not participate in the bogus voting system of the future.

Boycott e-voting!