"It's an area of opportunity. It's that little extra percentage we're trying to make up in Lucas County that could pull Ohio through for the president in a close race."
--Bernadette Noe, chairwoman of the Lucas County Republican Party
PART ONE HERE
The
Columbus Dispatch has an interesting article about Dick Cheney's appearance in Sylvania, Ohio on Thursday.
While in Sylvania speaking to a crowd of 500 supporters, Cheney said:
"What Senator Kerry is trying hardest of all to hide is his record on national security."
Very interesting, considering that the Bush administration lied (boldfaced) to us consistently, handing us almost thirty different rationales for attacking Iraq while they kept their real intentions in tight secrecy and, to this day, waver, swerve, and dodge the obvious realities of failure on the ground in Iraq.
Frankly, all I've seen John Kerry doing is pointing out those realities.
Who's trying to bury their national security record and lies to America in a near-fantasy world of wild optimism, fables of grand coalitions, and (knowing Iraq will be a hardline fundamentalist democracy at best), a child's tale of freedom and liberty to rival "My Pet Goat"?
You know who: Dick and George.
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There are disturbing things happening in Lucas County That Are Happening Across America
At the Sylvania rally, a Bush/Cheney supporter named Rita Fournier cited the Iraq war in Iraq as the top issue for this election, saying:
"We were right to go there because we needed to do something to protect our country. John Kerry is two-faced about the war; he says what people want to hear."
If anyone watched the three presidential debates, they should clearly understand that John Kerry has, indeed, been consistent with his plan for national security. All they needed to do was to listen with a discerning and open, independent mind.
Rita is just one out of many Bush/Cheney supporters who have been systematically trained to misunderstand the reality which has unfolded before them in Iraq. A recent study shows similar cognitive dissonance with many Bush/Cheney supporters.
There have been studies tracking the public's misperceptions of major news events and polling people to find out just where they go to get things flat out wrong. It is interesting, but not surprising, to find that, statistically, those who consistently get the actual facts wrong about what our country has done and is doing - and about much of what is happening in the world - use Fox News as their usual source of information.
PIPA- The Program on International Policy Attitudes - has released a recent study titled Public Perceptions of the Foreign Policy Positions of the Presidential Candidates- Bush Supporters Misread Many of His Foreign Policy Positions- pdf file. There are two subheadings which speak volumes. "Kerry Supporters Largely Accurate" and "Swing Voters Also Misread Bush, But Not Kerry."
Related article at 'Just Above Sunset'
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DAILY KOS: The GOP is hiring recruits and paying them $100 on election day to "challenge" the validity of voters' registrations!
Toledo Blade- Ohio GOP to deploy 3,600 for challenges
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places Nov. 2 to challenge the qualifications of voters who they suspect may not be eligible to cast ballots. In Lucas County (and other Ohio counties), Republicans are trying to blame Democrat '527' fund groups for "undermining the Ohio election". David Sullivan, voter protection coordinator for the Ohio Democratic Party, called the latest challenges an "unprecedented effort to throw tens of thousands of voters off of Ohio's voting rolls." (Question: If the 527 ads sparked voter interest and participation, how is the election process undermined? Sour grapes, GOP!
Bad News for all would-be voters: Judge Carr issued a decision favorable to Mr. Blackwell when he ruled late Thursday against the Lucas County and Ohio Democratic Parties.
As I described to you on Thursday, the case involved a space, Box 10, on Ohio Voter registration forms asking applicants to provide their driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Blackwell's office told county boards of elections that the registration applications couldn't be accepted if Box 10 wasn't filled and the form was submitted in person at a county elections board, a public library, or vehicle department. Democracy loses this one particular battle.