Third Time's the Charm: Why I'm Worried About Karl Rove...Again
Kristin Flickinger
Okay, I’m worried. I’m just going to admit it. I’m worried Karl Rove is going to do it again. That’s right, I think he just might steal another election. I know we’re watching. I know we’re hip to his game. The thing is, I’m afraid this time he’s gong to steal it for the Democrats.
We pretty much know how it works. We’re through the looking glass. We have been for the last 8 years. Whatever it is we’re told by the Republican machine, the truth is just the opposite. If Bush tells us that terrorists want to take away our liberties, Bush actually wants to take away our liberties. If McCain says the fundamentals of the economy are strong, we’re about to go into a freefall.
So, when the RNC, after stealing two presidential elections in a row, starts trumpeting that the “super-subversive” group ACORN is stealing the election for the Democrats, we know something is afoot.
In a country like the US, where we (rightly or wrongly) consider ourselves a model of electoral fairness, the only way someone would have been able to steal the presidency in 2000 was by walking in through the front doors and taking it, knowing full well that nobody would want to admit that our system could fail so spectacularly. Heck, the same person might have been able to do it twice, so long as he kept the electorate so busy and afraid that they didn’t have the time or inclination to look at the overwhelming facts – at least not while they were struggling with three jobs to put food on the table.
But to steal it three times, in an environment where fear is no longer the currency of the realm, would take something very, very different.
Almost 4 years ago, progressives started talking about the importance of a big turnout for the 2006 and 2008 elections. Knowing that in a close election, votes could be and had been stolen, we realized that we’d have to make sure that elections aren’t close anymore. People are voting early, standing in incredible lines for hours on end to make sure their votes count. Some take cameras to the polls to document their votes. Radio stations give out 1-800 numbers to call if something isn’t right at your local polling place. Huge voter registration and GOTV efforts are underway to make sure the Democratic margin is undeniable. Even with the vote suppression, caging, purging and robocalls, we’re in a much better position to make sure this election isn’t stolen.
At a time when our national nightmare is about to come to an end, everyone is watching. It would be insane to try to steal this election – unless you wanted to get caught. And if you knew you couldn’t steal without getting caught, you might just try delegitimizing the whole thing, by making it look like someone else stole it - say, the Democrats. That's what I'm worried about. If we've done such a good job that Rove can't steal the election for McCain, what's to say he wouldn't delegitimize the election by making it look like the Dems stole the election?
So for everyone who is going to watch the polls, watch the ballots, watch the legal battles that will ensue, let’s watch Rove and the folks who are known offenders; let’s also ask who the people were who were working for ACORN; let’s look at how many phony registrations were Democrats and how many were Republicans; let’s look at which states are affected by the alleged fraud. And, let’s make sure we’re watching ourselves, too. The story of the Trojan horse is one we should have all learned in school – even under No Child Left Behind.
(edited for clarification)
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Nov 3, '08
You have every reason to be concerned.
In 2000, George W. & Laura Bush were having dinner in an Austin Texas restaurant with George H. W. & Barbara Bush when W received a message that NBC had just called Florida for Gore. The little shrub excused himself from the table and made a phone call. A short time later, all the networks that had declared Gore the winner in Florida started to reverse their calls. Something happened because of that phone call and everything else Rove and W did to change the real results in Florida.
My hope is that Obama has beaten the pachyderms in too many places by too many votes too let them steal this one.
Nov 3, '08
For two weeks I've been bringing this topic up and the powerful resource of www.democracynow.org.
Today they provide a link to the fellow who did Rove's bidding and is now on McCain's staff.
You, too, can garner CURRENT stories to gird up the old being shared. Be the first one on your block to begin discussing, in detail, the mechanics of the next forty eight hours.
Thank you, Kristin, for introducing it in an article. Hopefully there will now be presented CURRENT research and present day discussion for the last twelve hours of the campaign.
It is entirely possible that this election could be stolen again, in plain sight, and the electorate lay down AGAIN. I reside no great expectations: only dogged hope.
And believe me, my friends in Europe are watching very closely. This is going to absolutely define our relationship to the entire rest of the planet for a long time to come.
Nov 3, '08
Karl Rove has officially predicted an Obama victory: 338 electoral votes http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/11/03/rove_predicts_obama_victory.html
Nov 3, '08
It is my sincerest wish that the day will come when the tired old long-since disproven myths surrounding the 2000 election are finally laid to rest. I don't like Bush, you don't like Bush, neither of us voted for him, but he won. Get over it.
W. is on his way out. Obama will be declared President Elect this week. No amount Rovian finagling or Acornian mischief will negate that outcome.
Relax & enjoy the ride.
Nov 3, '08
Brian C - do you have facts behind you on that? I'm interested.
Nov 3, '08
Relax and turn on MNF. The Redskins are loosing, guaranteeing an Obama victory tomorrow.
Nov 3, '08
mp - AAAGGGHHHH!!!! LOOSING? Their bowels or their hair? One is yucky the other might be sexy....
Hahaha... assuming you mean "losing"> hee hee. And of course you would mention the skins.
Bex
Nov 3, '08
Bex
Spellcheckers have destroyed my ability to spell. I don't even look at what I type anymore, I only look for red lines.
Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh
IT'S OFFICIAL...Pittsburgh Steelers win.
Obama is the 44th President of these United States of America. How sweet does that sound.
Nov 3, '08
Alright, maybe I wasn't clear. I'm worried that Rove will make it look like the Dems stole the election. I don't see him stealing it for McCain, but I do see him delegitimizing the election by making it look like organizations like ACORN committed fraud for the Dems. The fact that Rove has called the election for Obama makes sense through that lens.
Nov 3, '08
Yah, was not clear. But I've been babbling about THAT too. CF "narrative" in preparation. Lots of substantive materiel on that for over a month now...
Nov 4, '08
Brian C. wrote: "I don't like Bush, you don't like Bush, neither of us voted for him, but he won. Get over it."
NEVER!!! One of the biggest factors in this election not mentioned very often is the undisputable fact that Gore had more votes in Florida and that election was stolen. People thought Kerry would prevail in 2004. He was taken for granted, but Ken Blackwell in Ohio managed to allocate election machines to disable the Democratic precincts from voting. That election was close enough to steal and was.
This time, and I do not intend to take anything away from Obama, the people are less inclined to expect someone else to do the heavy lifting, to VOTE. [As if voting was some strenuous task ... okay, well it's not if one votes by mail ... YES!!!] This time people are mobilized and enthusiastic.
The media we all love to loathe did manage to deflate Dubya's delusions, one after the other. We went to war for oil ... not 9/11, not WMD,and not because Saddam was a bad guy. Dubya is a bad guy. That's why we went to war, IMHO.
The media also managed to revive its courage. This was probably due to the bloggers, who have so earnestly argued against the explanations of so many bad decisions made by this country. If we learned one thing from Dubya, it was that there is a lot at stake when we vote and a lot at stake when we don't, so we may as well vote and be able to say whether we let it happen, or made it happen.
Nov 4, '08
To those hoping today is going to be mark the end of them having to deal with charges that Americans may have actually stolen elections, committed war crimes, etc., don't even go there. Today not only isn't going to be the end of such discussions, it's not even going to the end of the beginning phase of such discussions.
Americans are only beginning to find out the horrible crimes that were committed by Bush Admin. officials and supporters.
Nov 4, '08
What if... the Republicans realized, months ago, that there was no way they could win and instead of trying to win made it look like they put up a good fight and lost... so that the next four years could be blamed on the Dems? Maybe they realized that they had screwed things up so bad that the smart thing to do was to walk away and regroup and leave someone else holding the bag(and the blame)? That, maybe, Sarah Palin was put in to make sure they lost so that there nefarious plan would come to fruition? Don't think for an instant the Republicans aren't smart enough to do this. The question I ask myself is did they lose on purpose or not? I only know that I have been awake since 1:30am this morning reading a book. And that here I am yet again, morning coffee in hand, reading online. And that I will spend all day watching the news and hoping that the good guys win. I just worry about what the evil Republicans will in the future... or maybe (hopefully) I'm paranoid...
7:41 a.m.
Nov 4, '08
Bradulio wrote (with edits): "What if... the [Democrats] realized, [four years] ago, that there was no way [Kerry] could win and instead of trying to win made it look like they put up a good fight and lost... so that the [last] four years could be blamed on the [Republicans]?"
Nov 4, '08
Kristin, also, there really is no way Rove can use ACORN. You would have to have mass numbers of fake votes thrown out. Will not happen. But what we HAVE had are court battles to stop GOP efforts to disenfranchise voters, particularly in key states.
9:18 a.m.
Nov 4, '08
The recent stock market meltdown gets blamed on Libruls who wanted to give loans to Welfare Queens......
Obama is a Manchurian candidate who will soon have us all voting in Kenyan elections and eating goat meat and speaking Swahili as a Second Language.........
Barack's personal friend Farrakan is firing up the barbecue right now, and we will all soon be required to develop a latest for The Other White Meat.........
ACORN is stealing the vote for the IslamoCommies........
Hell yes the stories will continue and will get increasingly outrageous. The beheaded snake will not suddenly quit snapping. Liber Karl lives in the fear zone and even though he's very good at playing there, it's only One Trick. He and his will now try to reprise the Clinton years smears, but they'll be playing against strong personal morality and a well designed zipper able to remain closed, as well as a citizenry willing to give our guy a lot of latitude.
The One has a whole Bag O Tricks and he's deploying 'em all........
minimum 300 electoral votes even with the theft calculated in.
Nov 4, '08
Feeling any better now Kristin? ;)
10:17 a.m.
Nov 5, '08
I don't have any question that the 2000 election was stolen, unfortunately with the collaboration of Al Gore who did not keep up the fight long enough or define it in the right way.
One aspect of the 2000 vote that made the theft worse was Gore's popular vote victory.
For 2004 matters are somewhat different. I think there was a lot of illegitimate voter suppression in Ohio that supports a certain kind of "theft" view but I don't think many of the other kinds of manipulations seen in Florida 2000 were present.
And the other aspect was that in 2004 I have no question that Bush won the popular vote by a very substantial margin. If Kerry had won Ohio and the electoral vote he would have been president on the weakest possible basis, and unlike Bush in 2000 would have faced at least one Republican controlled chamber of Congress run by deliberate strategic obstructionists.
Nov 5, '08
Thanks to President-elect Obama and Senator-elect Hagen, the politics of Rove and of "but negative campaigns work!" are dead.
Let's remember that 2 years from now, OK?
<h2>If you are registered on Washingtonpost.com, check out the animated Tenales cartoon of Lincoln's statue with an I VOTED sticker and a transistor radio blaring Obama's election victory, as Bush and Cheney slink out with suitcases to the exit door which slams at the end.</h2>