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Rossi should take a cue from Gore ( barf alert)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer | January 2, 2005 | Mark Trahant

Posted on 01/02/2005 8:36:48 AM PST by jmaroneps37

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Rossi should take a cue from Gore Sunday, January 2, 2005

By MARK TRAHANT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL COLUMNIST

This was an election that raised more questions than answers. Voters were split, roughly 50-50, and the conclusion was not at all satisfying. The division was so bad that the very process of elections and how we count votes became its own legitimate political issue.

Al Gore conceded anyway.

"I accept the finality of this outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College," Gore said four years ago. Then he went on to declare that the new president was not illegitimate and, "I personally will be at his disposal."

That was then. Could it be there's more principle in the other Washington?

On Wednesday, Republican Dino Rossi, whose title of governor-elect will now be marked with an asterisk, offered a different message for this Washington.

"Our next governor should enter office without any doubt about the legitimacy of his or her office," Rossi said in a letter to Democrat Christine Gregoire. "The people of Washington deserve to know that their governor was elected fair and square. Unfortunately, the events of the past few weeks now make it impossible for you or me to take office on Jan. 12 without being shrouded in suspicion."

Rossi says we need a new law, creating a new election.

Imagine how much fun that could be.

Just in presidential terms there were enough questions to have at least a couple of votes between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1800; John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson in 1824; or even Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Indeed, in Jackson's case he made the election a campaign theme for his next try -- and easily won the next time around.

U.S. elections are not perfect and there's no guarantee a new election would be any more satisfying than the November race.

Rossi wrote to Gregoire: "If our roles were reversed, if you had won twice and I had only won in the less-accurate hand recount, I would support a revote. I would not want to enter office with so many people viewing my governorship as illegitimate."

Was this election illegitimate or fair and square?

The secretary of state's Web page said this: "In recent history, election counts in Washington have been 99.99 percent accurate. In this election, the election can be 99.99 percent accurate and 280 votes can change out of 2.8 million cast."

That, to me, seems awfully close to fair and square. Of course there were election problems -- and these problems ought to be fixed. But too often election reform is only an issue after a difficult poll. It would be great if Rossi and Gregoire could start working together now on election reform ... for the next election cycle.

In his letter, for example, Rossi complained about "wrongfully disenfranchised people across the state -- including many members of our military -- have been denied the opportunity to have their votes counted."

One way to improve access for military voters is to move the primary election back, allowing more time for ballots to be printed and mailed.

Beyond the next election, though, Rossi could make Gregoire legitimate, the same way Al Gore blessed President Bush. He could stand behind the new governor, offer his help and tell his supporters to move on.

Ultimately, the question of legitimacy will not be answered by Rossi, a court or even a new election. It will be something that must be earned by Gregoire. It will be determined by how well she leads and governs the state.

If she's effective, it will be tough for any Republican (Rossi included) to win office four years from now. And if she fails, Rossi or another Republican ought to win easily.

This very point defined the Bush presidency. Many Americans did not see him as a legitimate leader, but he was effective (whether you agree with him or not). He led the country through a trying ordeal on 9/11 and championed a conservative agenda despite the closeness of the election. Bush governed.

Four years ago, when conceding, Gore talked about what he learned from his father's election defeat in Tennessee. "No matter how hard the loss," he said, "defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out."

We need that kind of glory, too.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark Trahant is editor of the editorial page. E-mail: marktrahant@seattlepi.com.

© 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: dinorossi; statesrights; stealingelections; votefraud; washingtongovernor
Isn't quaint how this rat completely leaves out the fact that algore turned on Bush almost immediately? The ratmedia is so glad they got away with this one because they KNOW the curtain is coming down on their total control of the flow of news. This may go down as the last of the old Chicago style stolen elections.
1 posted on 01/02/2005 8:36:48 AM PST by jmaroneps37
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To: jmaroneps37

2 posted on 01/02/2005 8:39:14 AM PST by sionnsar († trad-anglican.faithweb.com † || Iran Azadi || Gregoirovich, NYET!! www.revotewa.com)
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To: jmaroneps37

To me, it seems that he is taking a cue from Gore.


3 posted on 01/02/2005 8:40:09 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: sionnsar

Of course in 2000 Bush WON every recount that was held!!!!


4 posted on 01/02/2005 8:42:32 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: jmaroneps37

Rossi should take a cue from Gore? Gore sued until the lights went out, and has been trash-talking ever since.


5 posted on 01/02/2005 8:43:59 AM PST by jimtorr
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To: jmaroneps37
From soundpolitics.com:

Another disenfranchised voter

Reader Kevin DeGraaf of Sammamish posted a comment earlier telling us what he discovered when he looked himself up in the Seattle Times database of King County voters:

According to this database, they have me listed in the wrong precinct, and said I didn't vote. They have my wife just fine, and we both received absentee ballots and voted together. I voted for Dino Rossi, and now I wonder if they even counted my vote.
No, they didn't count his vote. The verifiable elements of Kevin's story check out: He and his wife, Evangeline, live at 20526 22nd Ct in Sammamish 98074. Evangeline is registered there and her absentee ballot was counted.

But Kevin is recorded as not having voted. It turns out that he is registered on W Galer St in Seattle 98199. The King County database shows that he has not voted since November 1992. Kevin responds:

The address is more than 10 years old, which is strange, since I got my absentee ballot, and have voted non-absentee with my address and information apparently correct and up to date. I'll be contacting the Dino Rossi campaign about this.
...
I have voted in every major election since 1992 (I might have missed some minor ones), until maybe 5 years ago, I voted in person at the local precinct without any apparent problem. I have been receiving absentee ballots along with my wife since then, so I presumed my registration info was accurate.
I have no way to confirm that he did vote all these years even though the King County database says otherwise. But I've seen enough errors in the county records to believe readers like Kevin before I believe the county.

Larry Phillips might not help a Sammamish voter, but I know the Rossi campaign will.

If you have a similar story of King County Elections incompetence and disenfranchisement, please drop us a line. More importantly, tell the Rossi campaign. Help them help you overturn this filthy election.

6 posted on 01/02/2005 8:44:47 AM PST by sionnsar († trad-anglican.faithweb.com † || Iran Azadi || Gregoirovich, NYET!! www.revotewa.com)
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To: sionnsar

The "recounts" alone were so dirty, not to mention the disenfranchisement, no way was this a fair election.


7 posted on 01/02/2005 8:46:48 AM PST by sionnsar († trad-anglican.faithweb.com † || Iran Azadi || Gregoirovich, NYET!! www.revotewa.com)
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: Baynative
In a three count series; Gregiore is down two counts to one and calls herself the winner?

Could we all please stop making that argument? This is not a two-out-of-three falls wrestling match. There are good arguments for why this result cannot be accepted as legitimate. "Rossi won two out of three" is not one of them.

9 posted on 01/02/2005 9:08:20 AM PST by ScottFromSpokane (We're none of us prefect.)
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To: jmaroneps37

Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Hmmm, I seem to remember that there used to be a newspaper by that name.

Awful commie-lovin thing.

I wonder whatever became of them?


10 posted on 01/02/2005 9:20:31 AM PST by rockrr (Revote or Revolt! It's up to you Washington!)
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To: jmaroneps37
Al Gore conceded anyway. "I accept the finality of this outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College," Gore said four years ago. Then he went on to declare that the new president was not illegitimate and, "I personally will be at his disposal."

That was then. Could it be there's more principle in the other Washington?

He leaves out that Gore went on well past any hope of legally winning. The only options he didn't pursue were convincing Republican Electors to vote for him, or a Republican Congress to vote for him.

Washington state has no Electoral College...so this can go on and on.

11 posted on 01/02/2005 9:30:38 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: jmaroneps37
Rossi should take a cue from Gore

Why would Rossi want to disenfranchise military voters?

13 posted on 01/02/2005 9:32:35 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: jmaroneps37

This guys memory is different from mine, I seem to remember Gore conceded then he unconceded, then he wnet to court , the we recounted a few times then Gore made his concession speech, then he went right out and started attacking President Bush..
At least in Florida they counted SOME of the military votes In Washington state they threw out the whole batch.

At least in Florida they picked through chads they didnt make up votes out of wholoe cloth.

In Florida they didnt have 3500 more people vote than were registered.

Washington state has participated in voter fraud and they flaunt it, A federal investigation is warranted.


14 posted on 01/02/2005 9:38:54 AM PST by sgtbono2002
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To: jmaroneps37
This analogy to the Gore case in 2000 is getting so ludicrous it is unbearable. Gore never led at any time during the voting. He never took a lead in any of the re-counts. Gregoire trailed after the initial counts, and after the first recount. The lead only changed hands when they went to a flawed hand-count process, wherein the rules changed during that process.

The only valid parallel to the Gore case is that Gregoire and the WA state 'Rats were able to pull off what Gore wanted to do in FL, keep counting until they got the result they wanted, then quit.

The 'Rats were similarly successful in '84 with the 8th Congressional District seat in Indiana. The 'Rats know that if they do this kind of theft at the state or local level, and especially when they control the vote-counting apparatus, they can "win" close elections (via fraud). They couldn't do it in FL because of some courageous local people who took to the streets, and the USSC who put an end to the fraudulent recount.

These latter two points are the ones Rossi should learn from the Gore case.

15 posted on 01/03/2005 6:24:34 AM PST by chimera
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