Last night
I asked who would represent me. Senator Barbara Boxer of California stood up and said "I will." For that I will always be grateful, and will happily contribute to her reelection campaign. She did what Kerry could not do. She stood up in the face of overwhelming GOP domination and fear mongering, and seemingly caught them off guard by signing Representative John Conyers objection to the certification of Ohio's Electors. Bravo Senator. Bravo.
What ensued was political theatre the like of which has not been seen since 1877. Allow me to provide the "Poor Bloggers' Summary" of this debate for you after the break...
Dem: Fight for electoral justice.
GOP: Sour grapes. Gripe, gripe, gripe.
Dem: Voter injustice, long lines, right to vote.
GOP: Get over it, Bush won.
Dem: Not about Bush, About constitutional right to vote.
GOP: Get over it. Bush won.
Dem: Constitutional amendment regarding right to vote.
White House: Conspiracy theories. Bush won.
Dem: Every ballot must be counted.
GOP: Sore losers. Accept defeat.
Dem: Right to vote is cornerstone of our democracy.
GOP: This is a waste of time and taxpayer dollars!
Dem: 4500 votes in a county with 800 registered voters.
GOP: Lies, Liars, Lies!!
Dem: Blackwell repeatedly violated Ohio election laws.
GOP: Crazy talk. Michael Moore is the devil.
Dem: ATM's provide a receipt, why can't voting machines?
GOP: Kerry conceded. Get over it.
Dem: The right to vote secures all other rights we have.
GOP: You evil Democrats are sowing Insidious seeds of doubt.
Dem: Differences in voter treatment based on wealth and race.
GOP: Don't you know there's a war on terror!
So I took liberties. You get the picture. The Democrats want every vote counted. The GOP doesn't. The Democrats argued for election reform and investigation into election issues. The GOP called them names and told them basically to shut up and get over it. So based on this America, which party do you in charge of election reform?
Hopefully this historic debate will bring about some change in the sorry state of elections in this country. At the very least, I hope it will help put a few Republicans on the defensive by providing some great video for Michael Moore or one of their Democratic opponents next election cycle.
Regardless, Bravo to Representative Conyers and Senator Boxer. I thank you for representing me.
And I will not forget.