Paul Krugman has an excellent piece in the NY Times today (as usual), laying out all the recent events showing that Republicans are trying to steal the election. Krugman writes:
"The important point to realize is that these abuses aren't aberrations. They're the inevitable result of a Republican Party culture in which dirty tricks that distort the vote are rewarded, not punished. It's a culture that will persist until voters - whose will still does count, if expressed strongly enough - hold that party accountable."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/15/opinion/15krugman.html?hp
We knew this was coming. Despite all the biased polls, the talking head media, and fear tactics of the Bush administration, this election is, and always was, all about turnout. If turnout is high, we win, and we probably win big. We know it and obviously, they know it, or else they would not be trying so hard to keep people from voting.
So, our mission is clear. Stay focused on GOTV and protection of voting rights. We cannot afford to be distracted by "Mary Cheney" nonsense or any other phony outrage put forth by BC04. We are powerful and they are trying to put on us the defensive.
What can we do?
- Volunteer for GOTV efforts. Do it now - early voting is beginning in many states, and we need to bank as many votes as possible.
- Volunteer with electionprotection.org to monitor polls on election day.
- Call your local election supervisors to verify their readiness for election day. Ask these questions - Do they have enough ballots for all voters? What is their policy for accepting provisional ballots? When will provisional ballots be counted? When will absentee ballots be counted? What will they do if the lines are long and people are waiting to vote past the poll closing deadline? Do they have a backup plan in case any electronic voting machines fail?
If you find any problems, you can report them at verifiedvoting.org. They have setup an election incident reporting database.
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
Stay Strong. Stay Powerful. Believe.