Congressional Republicans Do Not Intend On Improving Elections
I’m supremely disappointed by the Republican reaction to the objection of Ohio’s electoral votes. Many of the speeches given on the floors of the House and Senate by Republicans were defensive. I hope to have time to post excerpts on this blog once they’re on the net. Rep. DeLey (R-Leader) made the remark that this “isn’t about justice; it’s about noise.” The chairman of the Republican Party has said that Democrats are making noise because they lost and had Kerry won, they wouldn’t be objecting. How the hell does he know this? Is that the point? What are they so afraid of? The news isn’t listening, only one Senator objected, and all–ALL–of the Democrats in the Senate, including John Kerry, have said that they do not intend on challenging the outcome of the election but merely want to focus on injustices in our system. Democrats spent much of their speeches pointing this out. Republicans spent much of their speeches belittling these efforts. Why won’t they even consider the possibility that the problems are real and deserve more than just two hours of their time? As I’ve said before, both parties are hurt by election imperfections.
I’m disappointed because I had hoped that since the outcome was not in question, this would be a great opportunity for Republicans in our government to grow up and fix what’s clearly broken. They have little to lose and a lot to gain. We all do. AND it’s the right thing to do. But most importantly, with vast control of all branches, it is up to Republicans to do it. It’s clear to me today that they have no intention of fixing a damn thing.
White House Spokesman Scott McClellan on the objection:
"I think the American people expect members of Congress to work together and move forward on the real priorities facing this country, instead of engaging in conspiracy theories and rehashing issues that were settled long ago."
I know that many Republicans want to improve elections. It's up to these Republicans to push their party to do the right thing. Otherwise, unless they replace the leaders of the party, democracy will continue to run like a Ford Pinto.
posted by The Decider @ 2:16 PM
5 Comments:
Here's a link to the votes for the Electoral Vote Objection:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00001
Sen. Boxer was the only one voting YEA for the objection.
Nan-
In my last post on this subject (perhaps memorable because I agreed with you) I argued that this problem would not be fixed in Washington because there was no constituency for change.
The people of Ohio need to press their state and local governments to clean up the problem. You need to tell your governor, state legislator, county boards, and mayors that you are embarrassed and that you expect more.
Many of the laws pertaining to elections, and virtually all of the dollars for voting technolgy are controlled at lower levels of government. This is a good thing. You and a hundred people who share your concern are more likely to be heard in Columbus than in Washington -- and far more likely to be heard in your county government.
You have a right to peaceably assemble and petition your government. Use it or lose it, dude!
-Chris
Agreed! Go get 'em Nan...if you need me to handpaint a sign, I'm your guy.
Terrific. That's awesome! McClellan, who I will call "The White House," has basically chalked up the embarrassing execution of elections in Ohio as not only not a "real" issue (I say that if the voting issues in Ohio aren't "real," then neither is the resulting Republican win, since one is a result of the other--unless the rules have changed and we can selectively acknowledge historical events, in which case I select to NOT acknowledge Bush's victory. So, either way, by The White House's logic, Bush ISN'T president.) but a conspiracy theory. So sad.
For those who haven't read the whole article posted above, Boxer makes a great point (which I will elaborate on in a way that she perhaps did not intend): She said that it is especially important that we address the fault in the system by which we realize democracy, especially at a time when we have men and women dying every day to spread this democracy to other regions. My guess is that she was speaking superficially and safely: don't hand over a faulty system. But since this is the latest White-House-generated excuse for going into Iraq--and the one that has stuck--I suggest they get behind it a little more by not making a farce of the very democracy they claim to want to "share" with others. That is, if they've succeeded in getting us to swallow that particular reason, they should try a bit harder to not instantly invalidate it with insensitive and undemocratic comments from The White House.
To Nan -
Good post. I too was disgusted by the comments of our dear Senators on the other side of the aisle.
To Chris -
You may be right that we need to address this problem here in Ohio but the system is so corrupt it's probably not going to happen quickly. Consider that the man in charge - Kenneth Blackwell - was both the Sec. of State overseeing the election and the co-chair of Bush/Cheney's Ohio campaign, as well as the main poobah and watercarrier for the Christian right's anti-gay, pro-hetero-marriage referendum on the November ballot.
This guy actually auto-dialed hundreds of thousands of homes, using his position of influence to get that issue passed.
At the county level, the boards of election seem almost totally corrupted by the fact that Blackwell appoints them (although, of course, they all claim to be "bipartisan," which they are, if you count totally cowed and submissive Democrats as a separate party).
The Repubs control all major state offices in Ohio as well as the Ohio Legislature.
At least when Reagan was in office, the Ohio Governor and Legislature were Democratic.
We have a hard row to hoe here, Chris. Not saying you don't make a good point, just pointing out the obstacles.
In fact, CASE-Ohio (Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections) has been working for the past year to get some of these changes made in Ohio. Now the Atty General of Ohio is suing some of my friends, Susan Truitt among them, lawyers who sued after the election to challenge Ohio's voters. The message is clear: Stay submissive, Democrats, or we'll come after you personally. It's not easy, Chris -- we're doing our best, but it ain't easy.
-Barbara
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