Obama: Do Not Concede!

Mark Crispin Miller said it: There are two types of people in the world; those who address election integrity issues, and the happy people.

I started down this path just over four years ago. Having traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to organize lawyers for the 2004 election, I witnessed not only the long lines but the less well known problems caused by such simple things as a lack of electrical power in a polling place (That's one of the reasons I'm opposed to any and all electronics at the poll.) We've since seen the evidence on Ohio from Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, authors of How the GOP Stole America's 2004 Election & Is Rigging 2008 and Richard Hayes Phillips, author of Witness to a Crime, which includes photos of 30,000 doctored ballots and poll books (This evidence was introduced to Congress by Rep. John Conyers.) I watched Dan Rather's special report, in which whistle blowers from Sequoia elections systems told how the company changed their paper standards prior to the 2000 election, solely so as to send unworkable ballots to heavily Democratic Palm Beach, Florida.

I learned that the "HAVA" laws introduced after the 2000 election debacle, ostensibly to fix things -- especially through electronic voting -- were substantially written by the disgraced Republican lobbyist and felon Jack Abramoff.

I became acquainted with Diebold's use of uncertified code in California, and their surreal claim that the memory cards used by their voting machines could not hold data, let alone an election-stealing software. I learned that some election activists were so outraged -- not only with the compromised elections, but at the refusal of officials to believe in or act on these problems -- that they ran for office and became elections officials themselves. Ion Sancho did just that in Florida, and he promptly invited computer hacker Harri Hursti to demonstrate that Diebold was lying (again), and that electronic elections could be flipped without a trace. For good measure, Princeton University weighed in with a very professional video, showing exactly how to game such machines; an addendum notes that a hacker could gain access with the same generic keys used for mini-bars. (BTW, Diebold now hides behind the name, "Premiere.")

I read RFK, Jr.'s front page Rolling Stone story, "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?," and the Harper's cover story, "None Dare Call it Stolen." I learned that programmer Clint Curtis turned whistle blower, testifying he had been asked to hack an election (Curtis ran for Congress against the man who hired him to steal an election, but got essentially no help from the Democratic Party.) I helped elect to higher office one of the few officials to seriously address these issues, California's Debra Bowen, who as a state senator had introduced legislation requiring paper "trails" for electronic touchscreen machines. I was aghast to see a judge negate that law -- in a mandated recount, he ignored the paper, and ordered that the computer results simply be run again. As a delegate to the California Democratic Party, I changed the party platform to reflect that the paper ballot should be the ballot of record, and added language calling on candidates not to concede until every vote was counted (Hardly an airtight position, when Republican officials and Republican-owned machines do the counting.) By the time Debra Bowen, as California Secretary of State, ordered a "top-to-bottom" review of all voting systems, I was unsurprised to see that every company and every system failed every test -- oh, except for ES&S, which had declined to submit to the review, with good reason: they had illegally changed their software since submitting it for escrow, and may now be barred from doing business in the state.

Above all, I re-watched the footage of the news anchors of election night, 2004, as many states stopped and then restarted their results: Numbers that had agreed with both the polls and the exit polls were now flipped, handing about 10 swing states to Bush. The explanation, swallowed by the telecasters, John Kerry and the Democratic Party, was that the exit polls must have been wrong (To watch this footage, download Stealing America: Vote by Vote. This documentary is reported to be under consideration for an Oscar nomination.)

In short, I learned that every nightmare I'd heard from election protection activists was true. The added nightmare is that the Democratic Party seems to consider election fraud the issue that dare not speak its name. It's been reported to me that some of the most senior Party leaders believe acknowledgment of election theft would only depress Democratic vote. I think that, as of 2008, the opposite is true: Too many ordinary Democrats are aware of the evidence, are terrified at the prospect of a third stolen and prematurely conceded presidential election, and are wondering why their Party isn't overtly addressing these stories and protecting their vote. This Saturday's New York Times featured a front-page article on concerns by Democratic voters that an Obama win could slip away; the explanation by the very first interviewee was, "We've had a couple of elections stolen already." So, dear Party, everyone knows the secret -- everyone but you. Maybe that voter had read some of the Times' dozens and dozens of editorials on our broken election system, such as the one from just over a year ago, in which they called for an outright ban on touch-screen voting.

Many have begged the Democratic Party to get religion on this issue, to no avail (Maybe we should have the Times' editorial staff run the Party's election activities?). I know that some senior figures have tried to convince Senator Obama about this, and have also, reportedly, come away disappointed. Certainly Obama's inaction after the New Hampshire primary does not bode well: In that election, those precincts using paper precisely agreed with the polls and the exit polls, while the 75% of the state voting on Diebold machines went to Hillary. The stark, inexplicable nature of that double-digit flip led candidate Dennis Kucinich to file a complaint, on behalf of Obama and election justice in general -- but the Senator declined to engage.

And so, I've asked Party members, investigators, authors and election activists to sign a letter to the Democratic presidential candidate and the leadership of the Party. At this stage, there's not much we can do about the now long-accomplished purging of voter registrations (over 19% in Colorado) and systemic "caging" (fooling) of voters, nor the electronic vote-flipping seen in five states during early voting (ask Oprah how well her machine worked last week). My concern is the absolute end-game, down at the 1-yard line, when the "results" are announced: What will Obama do, if push comes to shove? If results are announced by Republican officials, handing the election to McCain, will Obama concede "for the good of the country", or will he tough it out through the hundreds of lawsuits and perhaps months and months necessary to prove what was proven after the last two elections?

Know that we wouldn't be writing if we didn't want Obama -- and all Democrats -- to win, and my assumption is that we're going to see an electoral college landslide. If that is not the case, and if Republican-controlled states flip, inexplicably, by wide margins, as in 2004 (and as in New Hampshire, 2008,) I'd be OK with a constitutional crisis in which a president is not seated for a year or so (well, OK except for the fact that Bush would remain President.) Nothing would be worth the illegitimate seating of another Republican administration, and I happen to think it would be good for the entire country to learn what some learned in the years following the last election: That America's election system is a farce. Think this is radical? Hey, I'm not the one who botched and conceded the last two election end games -- an astonishing dereliction of duty by our Party and candidates, with consequences which will reverberate for centuries. That's radical.

We are collectively sending Obama into the ring, and we ask that he stay there until the whole job is done. That job may include proving how the election was run. We ask that he and the Democratic Party do not take the word of any Republican election official or the results from any Republican-owned election system (that's about 90% of the machines, by the way). We ask that Obama not concede until every avenue of suspicion, every possibility of systemic election fraud, has been investigated and resolved.

Do not concede.

Below is the letter to Obama, signed by Gore Vidal and numerous Party members, activists and investigators. You can sign this yourself, at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/donotconcede.

An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership:

On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE!

"Eight years is too much" is how Barack Obama explained why we must win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we receive the most votes, will we win the election?

DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush "for the good of the country."

Some good.

Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.

DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machines corporation to hide behind a new corporate name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to have learned nothing.

THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging of Democratic voters, and "flipping" of votes in early voting on electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud?

Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand firm, come what may on election night. You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back; we ask that you promise to have our back: We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt as to any part of the process. Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we see you promise to stand firm.

Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election,

DO NOT CONCEDE!

Signed: (Titles for identification purposes only)

To add your name, register, log in, and sign the petition. [These steps are necessary to prevent spam machines from signing the petition.]

Gore Vidal
Author

Bob Fitrakis,
Professor of Political Science, Columbus State Community College
Attorney; Editor of The Free Press (freepress.org)

Harvey Wasserman
Senior Editor, FreePress.org, Author of SOLARTOPIA! Our Green-Powered Earth

Mark Crispin Miller,
Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University
Author of Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Election

Tim Carpenter
Director, Progressive Democrats of America

Mimi Kennedy,
Chair, National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America

David Swanson,
Co-Founder, After Downing Street

Eric Bauman
Chair, Los Angeles County Democratic Party

Garry S. Shay
Member, Democratic National Committee (CA)
Lead Chair, Rules Committee, California Democratic Party

Jo Olson, MD
Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party

Mal Burnstein
Co-Chair, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party

Medea Benjamin
Co-founder, Global Exchange and CODEPINK

Jodie Evans,
Co-founder, CODEPINK: Women for Peace

Marcy Winograd,
Executive Board representative, California Democratic Party, 41st AD
Former Chair, Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles

David Earnhardt
Filmmaker, "Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections"

Dorothy Fadiman
Filmmaker/Producer, "STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote"

Don Goldmacher,
Chair, Election Integrity, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party

Michael Jay,
Progressive Democrats of America, Special Projects
Former Delegate, California Democratic Party, 42nd AD

Sheri Myers,
Director, "Wake Up and Save Your Country"

Robert A. Feuer
Former Chairman, Stockbridge, MA Town Democratic Committee

Thomas Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Region 3 Vice Chair, Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Chair, Irish American Caucus, California Democratic Party

Howard Jennings
PDA-Virginia, State Co-Coordinator

Sarah Stott
Chapter Chair, PDA-Virginia

Lisa Pease
Co-editor, "The Assassinations: Probe Magazine on JFK, MLK, RFK and Malcolm X"

Cindy Asner
Former Delegate, California Democratic Party
Member, National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America

Julie Lopez Dad
President, Santa Monica Democratic Club
Chair, 41st AD Committee, Los Angeles County Democratic Party

Dr. Bill Honigman
PDA California State Coordinator and Orange County Chapter Leader
Delegate, California Democratic Party, 73rd AD

Linda Milazzo
Senior Editor, OpEdNews.com
Blogger, Huffington Post

Rady Ananda
Senior Editor, OpEdNews.com

Jan Baumgartner
Managing Editor, OpEdNews.com

Cheryl Biren-Wright
Managing Editor, OpEdNews.com

Joan Brunwasser
Election Integrity Editor, OpEdNews.com

Sherry Healy
Co-Founder California Election Protection Network
Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance

Laura Bonham
Summit County, UT Democratic Party Chairperson

Evi Klett
PDA co- state Organizer for Colorado

Jeff Tiedrich
Publisher, SmirkingChimp.com

Susie Shannon
Executive Board representative, California Democratic Party, 42nd AD
Founder, Poverty Matters

Karen Bernal
Executive Board representative, California Democratic Party, 5th AD
Officer, Progressive Caucus, California Democratic Party

Albert E. Fairchild
Retired Foreign Service Officer

Dorathea Peters
Precinct Captain, Alexandria, VA Democratic Committee

Lori Price,
Managing Editor, Citizens For Legitimate Government

Garda Ghista,
President, World Prout Assembly

Kevin Zeese,
Executive Director, True Vote (www.TrueVote.US)

Nick Mottern,
Director, Consumers for Peace.org

 

Comments

[peterg76]

07:22 AM on 11/04/2008

Hopefully this time the Democrats won't be looking for any excuse to hand power over to the Republicans.

[ChewyToy22]

06:15 AM on 11/04/2008

Why is it exactly that the Democrats are afraid to tackle election fraud (or whatever name is best suited) head-on?

The USA needs some really serious election reform. I am of the opinion that the election of a president should not be run by so many different independent parties. There should be one set of rules governing everyone and election officials (from both sides) put in place to ensure fairness. No one should be able to change the rules to suit his party; the same rules should apply everyone.

I find this system a travesty; no wonder the elections have been stolen continuously. This whole Diebold/Premiere aspect is ridiculous. No company or person should be able to manipulate voting machines. Why, oh why, haven't the Democrats done anything about this?

[Gronkie]

01:42 AM on 11/04/2008

I always say that people are most suspicious of that which they are most capable. Republicans are running around screaming Acorn voter fraud because they are the experts on voter fraud. That, and they are setting up their rationalization for their sour grapes when they get crushed in the presidential, senate, house and local races. I am a bit worried about Republican voter fraud, but Obama's tsunami is going to be overwhelming. Even Rove is already conceding defeat. Voter fraud can only really work when it is a close enough vote to look plausible.

For details on how the 2000 election was stolen by only 537 votes, read Greg Palast's excellent book "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy."

For an excellent documentary on he Diebold electronic voting machine fraud, see HBO's "Hacking Democracy."

Both of them will scare the bejeepers out of you.

[ThinkForYourself2]

09:58 PM on 11/03/2008

In the 2004 presidential election, 57,000 voting irregularities, such as problems with voting machines and voter suppression, where filed with the Government Accountability Office mostly favoring Bush and hurting Kerry. Yes 57,000! If you're a journalist who has courage to speak up, look at the information presented and let it be known to the public.

http://www.electionfraud2004.org/presentation/index.html

[KimJW]

07:13 PM on 11/03/2008

I have to agree with juanjo, much as I dislike it. Post election I'd rather keep to my Clark Kent unassuming life of going to work and unwinding at home cooking dinner and then setting in My Chair with a novel. Best not to rock any boats in these uncertain economic times; at 51-years-old I certainly can't afford to lose my job. However....should it seem that election fraud has handed the presidency to McCain, I'm afraid I'll have to haul my middle-aged *** out of My Chair and go out into the streets to stand with like-minded people. Whatever the consequences in this McCain-leading state, it would be worse to know that in this moment in history, when America seems to be teetering on the edge of maintaining itself as a democracy with certain unalienable rights for its citizens, that once again I did nothing but wince and stay planted in my chair, flipping the remote to try to find a decent Law and Order SVU rerun.

Maybe there won't be too many people beside me here in the street. But this time I'll never forgive myself if I don't take simple, physical and evident action to express my anger and mourning for the loss of our republic.

Yeah, that sounds histrionic. But this time if need be, grumbling all the way, I'll be out there with you, juanjo.

[7crows]

05:38 PM on 11/03/2008

I honestly don't think we should have any fear of Obama conceding. He has not run the kind of campaign he has, covering every conceivable base just to concede. I don't doubt that he has understood the potential for a messy outcome since long before he announced his candidacy and has contingency plans in place. The vast number of attorneys stationed at the polling places is surely just a small, early indication of his preparedness. His ability to envision multiple outcomes before making decisions is one of the things that make him presidential. Al Gore is a very intelligent man and I admire him greatly but his concession in 2000 was a huge disappointment to those who had faith in him as a potential president. No, it was not 'for the good of the country' and a concession now would be devastating. Obama understands that very well, I am sure.

[notomccain]

05:01 PM on 11/03/2008

I, like all of you, hope like h*ll this letter is unneeded. However, I don't trust the republicans any farther than I could throw the whole lot of them. For goodness sake, everyone should get on and sign this letter, just in case. If something does happen and god forbid, McCain is announced winner of this contest tomorrow night, Obama MUST stand against it. He MUST continue to work for the Change he is promoting! Especially if the ugly theives of the republican party try to rip us off... AGAIN!!!

[jakkib]

06:09 PM on 11/03/2008

Micheal Moore said it best" the best way to fight these problems is with piece of paper and a #2 pencil.
Let's stop relying on machines and computers to do everything for us. It's simple- a piece o paerp with eeach candidates names on them and a # 2 pencil. Circle the candidate you're voting for and slip it in a ballot box. Why is this so hard ?

[lucylou]

04:45 PM on 11/03/2008

Can somebody please explain the collective lobotomy as to why we must accept 90% of voting machines from Diebold? Is it rocket science? And why, in this day and age (and 8 years ago too), they insist that electronic voting can have no paper trail? If we can send a fax from space I think a computer can spit out a receipt.

[zitlight73]

04:33 PM on 11/03/2008

In 2004 when two members of Skull and Bones ran against each other I thought the odds of that happening were suspicious. Then when one of those candidates lost in the final few hours of the election, in a way that professors of math say that was all but impossible then waited too long to challenge the vote in Ohio, I became even more suspicious that the whole thing was rigged from the start. After eight years of the most despised presidents in US history who was aided and abetted for six of those year by a Republican congress if Obama loses in the key states that the polls say he's winning but concedes to McCain anyway all my fears and suspicions will be confirmed.

[M1nkyb0y]

03:59 PM on 11/03/2008

This is the one concern that I too share. If the time comes, Obama do not pull a Gore!!

[Joseph A. Palermo]

03:32 PM on 11/03/2008

Thank you, thank you, thank you! If I hears Tom Brokaw's marble-filled mouth sputtering on about the
"Bradley Effect" and how Virginia, Penn, Colorado, and New Mexico are just too close to call -- I'm going to lose it! Florida for Gore! No, wait, Florida a Toss Up! Ohio for Kerry! No, wait, Ohio a Toss Up! Virginia and Pennsylvania for Obama! No, Wait, They're Toss Ups! Ugh! Pass the Ambien

[BearsLeft]

03:17 PM on 11/03/2008

This election is not close enough to steal without massive civil unrest.

[solarflares]

03:06 PM on 11/03/2008

I completely understand the sentiment here,
but if the McCain camp pulled this, we would be livid.

[PDinCA]

03:44 PM on 11/03/2008

We were livid the last two times. This time, we need to DO something.

[paxorbis]

01:24 PM on 11/03/2008

This is premature. I think this letter will be unneeded. Obviously, given the polls, any result other than Obama winning the EV would be highly improbable, and very suspicious!

[NCIndependent]

02:35 PM on 11/03/2008

It may or may not be premature. I dont trust the Republicans depsite what the polls show. There is no way there they are going quietly. They cant. George Bush and his cronies don't want to be charged with war crimes and so they will do whatever they can to try to steal this election. Why are the McCain people so confident that John McCain is going to make a come back? Why are they so sure that he is going to win this election? Why are they so relaxed, calm and cetain as they spew their dialy talking points on TV? I dont trust them and something may very well be up. We will know on tomorrow because there is no way that John McCain can walk away from this election having won fairly.

[redstateblue]

03:57 PM on 11/03/2008

Amen!

[c64audio]

12:57 PM on 11/03/2008

Word.

[juanjo]

05:01 PM on 11/03/2008

When Ferdinand Marcos attempted to steal one election too many, the Filipino people took to the streets, blocking them and not allowing business as usual until the man fled the country. I hate to think of the United States turning into another cheesy third world so called republic. If the people in power attempt to steal this election, it is time that the American people rise up off their football watching rear ends and do the same, take to the streets and interstates, block them and shut down the country. No more business as usual until the real election results are tallied and the real winner in declared. Our founding fathers would approve.

[Arcipox]

02:12 AM on 11/04/2008

See above reply to BearsLeft on this one.