The Ohio Recount Outrage

The American Prowler ^ | 12/13/2004 | Paul M. Weyrich

[nickcarraway]

WASHINGTON -- There once was a time when the Rev. Jesse Jackson intervened in instances of genuine injustice. At that time there was racial discrimination on a variety of fronts. I have never been a fan but I have to concede that he once did some good. That was then and this is now. Today Jackson seems to be continually in search of a cause, and seldom finds one that requires his presence.

Jackson is in Ohio, where liberals have raised enough money to fund a recount in the Presidential race. It was Ohio which put President Bush over the top in the Electoral College. That the President carried the state by approximately 117,000 votes is something that the far left cannot accept. Therefore, they are now inventing all sorts of problems which supposedly occurred during the 2004 elections.

It doesn't hinder Jackson and his compatriots that the Secretary of State of Ohio is a black man, Ken Blackwell. Do they actually think that Blackwell wants to suppress the Black vote? Then again Blackwell is a Republican, and from the far-left vantage point all Republicans want to prevent Blacks from voting.

Jackson and company charge that there were long lines at polling places in black precincts. I've got news for that crowd. There were hours-long lines where I voted. All over the country, when I talked with folks on Election Day they reported the same thing. Immeasurable media stories reported the same phenomena.

Jackson also charges that there were malfunctioning voting machines. Blackwell said there were occasional voting machine problems but nothing significant.

Jackson further charges that there was misinformation spread by Republicans in black precincts. He did not clarify the exact nature of the misinformation. In the past Jackson has charged that blacks were told the wrong date of an election and that polling places were changed. There was absolutely no evidence to support claims such as these in this election.

SO WHY THE RECOUNT IN A STATE where it is a certainty the results will not be overturned? It would seem that Jackson and his friends in Congress, some members of the Black Caucus, want to try to bring the legitimacy of President Bush's come-from-behind victory into question.

Jackson and his comrades can't complain this year as they did in 2000 that Bush was selected (by the Supreme Court), not elected.

They can't complain, as they did in 2000, that Bush only won the Electoral College and not the popular vote. Bush won approximately three and a half million more votes than did Senator John Kerry.

They can't complain, as they did in 2000, that Bush got favorable media attention. This election the major media wasn't just biased against Bush, it had a clear agenda the defeat of the President of the United States.

Therefore, with nothing to complain about, with the Red States having made a clear statement to the Blue States, the Jackson crowd has to gin up problems so they can have a basis for questioning the outcome of the 2004 election.

Recounts very seldom change results. Indeed, most of the leftwing groups which have paid for the Ohio recount have conceded that they will not change the result. Even if they have the money, there is no real reason for this recount. It is just wasting the time of good people. The Jackson claim that Senator Kerry conceded too soon and thus took the media scrutiny away from Ohio is absurd.

Does Jackson think if Senator Kerry and his firebrand running mate, Senator John Edwards, had any hope of turning the result around in Ohio they would have walked away? Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe promised the media that Bush "is a goner." If McAuliffe thought there was any chance that the Ohio result could have been changed, he would have thrown his body in front of Kerry and Edwards to keep them from conceding.

Congressman John Conyers, a longtime hard-line leftist, held a hearing on the alleged abuses against the black community in Ohio. Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, claimed that Ken Blackwell should be prosecuted for committing fraud in the Ohio elections. Just what it was that Blackwell supposedly did was not clear.

MEANWHILE, IN THE WASHINGTON STATE Governor's race a hand recount of the entire State is underway. Republican Dino Rossi has been certified the winner by just 42 votes out of the 2.9 million cast. The first recount, which was done by recalculating all of the voting machines in the state, cut down Rossi's margin from 219 to 42 votes. The hand recount (Washington state has backup paper ballots to the machine calculation) is the last-resort the Democrat Party retains. The party is in court attempting to have many ballots with irregularities counted which were thrown out in the original tabulation.

At this point it isn't clear if the gubernatorial race will be decided by the January deadline. Washington state absolutely has grounds for a hand recount. Moreover, you can't blame the Democrats for wanting to get those disputed ballots counted. Were the shoe on the other foot Republicans would be doing the same thing. This is a race where the results may indeed change because of the recount. When millions of voters cast their ballots and the result is that close, whatever cost is required to find out who really won is absolutely justified. The officials of both parties who are active in that recount are not meddling; they are performing a public service.

If you compare the Washington state experience with that in Ohio, it is a study in contrasts.

In Ohio there is no chance to overturn the result. In Washington State there is a real possibility that the result will be overturned.

In Ohio the leftists who raised the money for the recount are first-class meddlers. In Washington State only both major parties are involved.

In Ohio the desired result of the organizers of the recount is to discredit the system. In Washington state the desired of the party officials involved in the recount is to strengthen the democratic process -- namely, to reassure citizens that every single vote counts.

There have been examples of recounts waged in order to steal the election from the rightful winner. The Wisconsin legislature's famous Olson-Elfers recount in 1960 rigged the election in favor of Republican Olson. Likewise, in the Democratic Congress' recount of the 8th District of Indiana in 1984 (the recount extended into 1985) Democrats stole the House seat from Republican Rick McIntyre, the rightful victor.

However, most recounts are honest. In most states recounts are required when the result separates the major candidates by less than one percent of the vote. Recounts when the vote separating the major candidates is more than 200 almost never change the results. But that is not always the case. Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) was thought to have won his re-election bid in 2000 but the recount reversed the results and today Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has his seat.

In short, ordinarily recounts are a regular process to insure that close elections are properly counted. That is why Ohio is such an outrage. That recount is only for the purpose of making trouble. There ought to be a law outlawing that kind of recount.

[quietolong]

You know when someone leaves a quiet smelley one is the first to shout PU! and points to someone else.

Democratic Party Chief Arrested (Hey, 'Rats... HERE'S Your "Massive Voter Fraud" -- !)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1298597/posts

[gop_gene]

In short, ordinarily recounts are a regular process to insure that close elections are properly counted. That is why Ohio is such an outrage. That recount is only for the purpose of making trouble. There ought to be a law outlawing that kind of recount.

After all the trouble-making the dems have caused and are trying to cause in OH, the state should pass a law in time for the next election that a party has no right to a recount unless they have a chance of winning the state, or at the very least, that they have to reach a certain threshold of the vote (say for argument's sake, 1%). That would stop these 3rd fringe-party candidates from future trouble-making and acting as "cover" for the dems. If the dems want a recount, they should have the guts to come out with it themselves and go it alone.

In fact, such a law would be a good idea not just in OH, but in other swing states as well that could very well become the victims of such actions as we are now seeing.

[shibumi]

By the time the libs finish with their recounts of recounts and court challenges of recounted recounts, they'll be claiming fraud because 5 -10% of the people who voted will have died.

[taxesareforever]

In Ohio there is no chance to overturn the result. In Washington State there is a real possibility that the result will be overturned.

Yeah, if it is left up to leftist judges it will be overturned and I am not holding my breath on how they will rule. I have a feeling that they will say count the disallowed ballots which is against the law. But that has never stopped our activist judges. I'll eat my words if they rule otherwise.

[drt1]

"There once was a time when the Rev. Jesse Jackson intervened in instances of genuine injustice

Oh yes? And when might that have been?

[goldstategop]

The Ohio State Legislature's first act of business in 2005 should be to amend the OH Elections Code to require any one petitioning for a recount to pay the full actual costs of holding one. This ought to discourage frivolous cases where the money is simply raised to pay the nominal as opposed to the real costs of the procedure. If this safeguard had been in place for this election, OH would not be a political circus today.

[Darkwolf377]

If for some reason Sec. Blackwell chose not to cast a ballot for president in the election, Jesse Jackson would have accused Blackwell of black voter suppression...

[goldstategop]

J.J would have accused Blackwell of being David Duke in black face. That's the way he thinks.

[stylin19a]

There once was a time when the Rev. Jesse Jackson intervened in instances of genuine injustice

I had to gag my way past this sentence.

[fire_eye]

I think I'm FOR the recounts because I think they will change nothing AND end up making the Demonrats look even stupider (if that's possible).

But I could be wrong... (naah... never happened before...)

[Cobra64]

This fiasco in OH reminds me of an old auditor I hired 20 years ago. He would describe the process as "mental masturbation with zero results."

[Oreo Kookey]

And do you want to foot the bill for making the Democrats look even stupider. It in no way would change anything; thank the Good Lord. There is no point.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[Cobra64]

You are correct. I know a lot of Dems. Few cannot name the top five Cabinet members. The only letter they can read is "D". It is a pathetic mindset for people who live in a Republic allowing them to vote. And there are... you name it. Pathetic creatures, devoid of intellect or reasoning.

[this_ol_patriot]

...the legitimacy of President Bush's come-from-behind victory into question.

I see this nonsense has slipped into general thinking, even from our side.

[Vigilanteman]

It was Ohio which put President Bush over the top in the Electoral College.

Another error in fact. Ohio put the total at 269, 1 vote short of a clear electoral majority. Nevada was the state which put Bush over 270. It also bears repeating that Pennsylvania produced a smaller margin for Kerry on election night than Ohio did for Bush, but the networks had no trouble calling Pennsylvania for Kerry the instant the result was clear . . . and well before the voting was done in our precinct.

[drt1]

I never said that. Think you replied to someone else's falsehoods. Mine are different. :-)

[treeclimber]

If the Dems were so concerned about counting votes, they might ought to start in Wisconsin where Kerry won by less than 12,000 votes. Surely there are some votes that didnt get counted there...

Or is it only the votes that would change the outcome of the election that he wants counted?

I think we all know the answer to that one.

Keep digging Dems...you're almost there...

[redcountyrepublican]

Likewise, in the Democratic Congress' recount of the 8th District of Indiana in 1984 (the recount extended into 1985) Democrats stole the House seat from Republican Rick McIntyre, the rightful victor.

This is when I went from a Independent to voting a straight Republican ticket.

[xzins]

Yeah, if it is left up to leftist judges it will be overturned and I am not holding my breath on how they will rule.

The Ohio Supreme Court is 7-2 Republican. The Chief Justice is Republican.

The US Supreme Court doesn't want to get involved in these issue because the state's voting procedures belong to that state. Therefore, any Fed judge that tries to overrule the Ohio Supreme Court would himself be over-ruled.

There is no chance that the Ohio vote will change.