GOP Concludes It Can't Win Close Races Without Court Intervention And Gaming Vote-Counting Process
Beyond the effort to incite some of the most extreme elements of its party, maybe the most noteworthy development by the Republican Party over the past year has been what appears to be a concerted new election strategy in any close contest -- starting with the Minnesota Senate recount and now extending to the NY-20 congressional special election.
This effort appears to be two-fold. First, challenge as many Democratic votes as possible (thus lowering the Democrat's preliminary vote totals) with the singular goal of being ahead at the end of any phase so that once those challenged ballots are properly added back to the Democratic candidate's column the GOP can then argue that obviously someone stole the election since they were previously ahead. Secondly, if the first step doesn't work, demand court intervention to tie-up matter indefinitely.
Obviously, in the case of the Coleman/Franken contest, this strategy has miserably failed so far. Not only did the courts unanimously smack down Coleman's efforts, but Franken actually gained votes in each phase of the vote counting and recounting. Nevertheless, Coleman is promising further appeals and may try to find a GOP-friendly, Bush-appointed judge in the federal courts to prolong the formality of Coleman's narrow defeat.
Sadly, the same thing is going on in New York's 20th Congressional District, as James Tedisco's (R) camp has been responsible for the vast majority of ballot challenges. Their desperation has grown so significantly of late that yesterday Tedisco unbelievably challenged Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-NY) own absentee ballot, arguing that she was in the district on Election Day and should have voted in person. Aside from the idiocy of that argument -- since New York law only requires an "expectation" that a voter might be out of the county on Election Day -- turns out that Gillibrand wasn't in the district in any event, despite the GOP's unsupported accusation. Also, the GOP has repeatedly hinted that a court challenge looms next, if they don't win the absentee ballot count.
Like Minnesota, the New York strategy appears to be nothing more than an attempt to buy some time and hope that some right-wing federal judge will hear the case and at least delay when Democrats can add another member to its Senate and House caucuses.
However, there's a much more disturbing narrative going on that the national media is too timid to highlight, and that's the growing perception that Republicans no longer believe they can win close races without the courts intervening and given the failure of the media to do its job, the GOP has concluded that there is no price to pay for doing anything they can think of to disenfranchise unfriendly voters and to game the vote-counting process ad nauseum. Also, the failure by the Democratic Party -- and maybe even President Obama -- to drop the hammer on this farce rather than wait out these insane tactics, might be adding to the media's sense that this is not worthy of exploring.
Nonetheless, with the absentee ballots now being tallied -- and not so shockingly -- Scott Murphy (D) has begun to widen his lead and appears headed to a clear but close victory as the next congressman from New York.
But it's worth keeping an eye on these pathetic new GOP tactics. In fact, the American public's extremely low opinion of the GOP might actually be a factor in the decision to go down this road and continue to be viewed as a non-serious political party. Like the junkie who will do anything to get his next fix, even if it means committing crimes to acquire cash, the depth of the GOP's desperation might be the very mechanism which provides them the willingness to do anything, no matter how far-fetched, to win at all costs -- even if that cost is looking like the biggest joke around.
I do believe we're witnessing the death of a major political party for the first time in more than 150 years.
Mark Nickolas is the Managing Editor of Political Base, and this story was from his original post, "GOP Concludes It Can't Win Close Races Without Court Intervention And Gaming Vote-Counting Process."
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Now i see why the G.O.P is against Obama...He is a big threat to their deceitful tactics..
Now i see why the G.O.P is against Obama...it is a big threat to their deceitful tactics....
RushpublicanT motto: "Don't bother us with facts, its what we believe that counts".
Works universally for them - elections, budget process, taxes, torture policy, environment, phone tapping, care for veterans, immigration, bail-outs, market crash, - everything.
Listen republicans, Americans don't like playing dirty and will smack you down every time that we find you're manipulating our votes. So stop it before you don't get another vote period (unless it's from your family and friends). Play fair or go home!
Remember the Chicago motto on election day of "Vote early, vote often" brought to us by a certain corrupt Democrat who was mayor of Chicago?
Don't be TOO quick to condemn the Republicans for doing what Democrats TAUGHT them to do.
They used the Supreme Court to put Bush in office......even though Gore actually had more votes......fortunately we have learned from this lesson.
THIS GAME SHOULD BE STOPPED BEFORE IT GETS WORSE.
We need voting reform nationally! VOTE BY MAIL, EARLY VOTING, AND PERMANENT ABSENTEE MAIL IN BALLOT. This would make vote suppression much more difficult. Increased criminal penalties and fines.
MOST states already have all of those things...
This has always been the case. America just doesn't want conservatives, it's that simple.
This has ALWAYS been a Liberal nation, and always will be.
"GOP Concludes It Can't Win Close Races Without Court Intervention And Gaming Vote-Counting Process"
Well Al Gore showed them the way. Of course, the republicans have better lawyers than the dems so we'll see what happens here.
Count the votes not the judges.
Even if the Republican party does splinter, we are still going to have to deal and put up with the fanatical teabaggers.
"the most noteworthy development by the Republican Party over the past year has been what appears to be a concerted new election strategy in any close contest"
New?
Where have you been since 2000?
New?
The Republicans have clearly demonstrated that they will lie, cheat, steal (nobody's proven that they will also kill to get elected - the incredible preponderance of Democrats killed in small plane crashes versus Republicans, i.e., the Paul Wellstone death, has not made it past conspiracy theory discussion - although a case can be made - Iraq - that they will get elected to kill) and who knows what else to get elected. And they will lie cheat and steal to make sure that Democrats don't get elected, or, if that fails, to take office.
The only important question now: Will Democrats decide they love democracy enough to fight for fair elections, and the acceptance of the will of the majority of voters.
Fascists will only ever pay lip service to democracy, to the extent that it goes their way. And they will corrupt it when it doesn't.
Democracy is not a right. It's a privilege, and you can't buy it one time. You have to pay for it, and earn it, every day.
Dude, The GOP cannot win ANY Contest at all without Fraud and Propaganda convincing the public that they have integrity, facts, honesty, and values. All of which they Do not have as a party.
Even the politicians that might normally have some decency in the GOP, do not by default that they support those in the party that Clearly are the worst perpetraitors of immoral and unethical behavior.
I agree that we are witnessing the death of a major political party. yet, we must be vigilant that this process does not turn into a period of rabid attacks by right wing loons against society as a whole. These attacks are becoming more hysterical and violent. These are troubling developments that require a serious set of countermeasures in order to stem the tide of a potentially destructive force.
Obama's most potent weapon is the massive support base which he mobilized with fine meticulous care during the 2008 elections. We need to shift gears now and begin to heed the call to volunteer, support grassroots activities aimed at building the country in this most difficult period. In this manner, we can harness the power of positive loving actions to help others through the current crisis.
What better way to draw a simple distinction. While republicans rail against Obama for taking away their wealth through so-called wealth distribution tax policies, the broad progressive movement carries out specific acts to help those most affected by the economic downturn: the unemployed, homeowners facing foreclosure and the poor.
I agree with you that the Republican party is likely to split. But this tactic isn't so new, it's how Bush got elected in the first place. In '04 the onus was on Kerry to press for litigation in Ohio but he didn't have the stomach for it apparently.
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