Interview: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Planning a Loser Lawsuit Over 2004 Elections!)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and son of liberal icon Bobby Kennedy, wrote the article, available, along with supporting research, at rollingstone.com. Kennedy spoke to PRWeek about the story.

PRWeek: How did you come to write this piece?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: I had not paid much attention to this issue. And then a number of books came out, and I read them because I [wanted to use them] to interview people on my radio show. And then I read the [Rep. John] Conyers report, [a 2005 Congressional inquiry into the election], and started talking with people in Ohio. And at one point, I said, "Holy cow, this is real." And then I talked to [RS editor] Jann Wenner about it. I encouraged him to do a piece, and he said "We'll print one if you write it."

PRWeek: Tell me about the process of putting the story together - it obviously took a while.
Kennedy: I read the literature out there, and read the articles. Then I interviewed voters in Ohio, and public officials, and people who were involved in the election from all over the country.

PRWeek: Why do you think this wasn't covered heavily by major media directly after the election?
Kennedy: I think the mainstream media took up the Republican echo chamber, and just echoed the right-wing talking points.

PRWeek: Why didn't the Democrats themselves pursue this?
Kennedy: Well, there was a lot of complaining; there were a lot of lawsuits. But it got very little traction in the media. But you know, the Democrats on this issue have been abysmal as well.

PRWeek: Your story wasn't based on any secret information, correct?
Kennedy: No, that's the whole thing. This was not a secret conspiracy. This was done openly and shamelessly. Across Ohio, there were people who did everything they could to stop this.

PRWeek: Have you had any indication that the national media will take another look at this issue?
Kennedy: I had a good indication [June 7]. The New York Times, as its lead editorial, did a piece on [Ohio secretary of state] Kenneth Blackwell's current efforts to suppress registration drives in Ohio. And the Republicans are doing the same thing in Florida, and the Times talked about that, as well.

PRWeek: What reaction have you seen from the general public?
Kennedy: There's a huge reaction. Rolling Stone told me that it's gotten two and a half times as many e-mails [about this article] as it's ever gotten for any other story in its history. So there's a huge appetite for this story.

PRWeek: This story didn't have a 'smoking gun'; was there one person coordinating this entire operation?
Kennedy: There's never going to be 100% certitude that the election was stolen, because the only way you could get that is by recounting the ballots, and the recount was illegally derailed by Republican operatives. The mastermind behind the efforts in Ohio was Kenneth Blackwell, along with…[Toledo elections official] Bernadette Noe. But on a national level, it's [Republican National Committee chairman] Kenneth Mehlman and Karl Rove.

PRWeek: Have you gotten any reaction from the Republican Party on this?
Kennedy: I've gotten, certainly, reaction in the blogosphere. But most of the reaction has been supportive.

PRWeek: Is there a next step?
Kennedy: I've been meeting with attorneys... to devise a litigation strategy. And I would say that very soon we'll be announcing lawsuits against some of the individuals and companies involved.

PRWeek: Who exactly would that litigation be targeting?
Kennedy: I wouldn't say, right now.

PRWeek: The election is over. Is it too late now?
Kennedy: There's another election soon. And as the Times [just] reported, the same people are up to the same shenanigans.

Name: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Outlet: Rolling Stone
Title: Author
Preferred contact method: nora.haynes@wennermedia.com (Rolling Stone publicist)
Web site: www.rollingstone.com

How Voter Fraud in Philadelphia Affect Us All

By 2banana

According to CNN, Bush lost Pennsylvania to Kerry by 144,248 votes (out of more than 5.7 million cast - a razor thin margin that was even closer than the "too close to call" Ohio vote).

Also according to CNN, Kerry received about 542,000 votes and Bush received about 130,000 votes in Philadelphia (or a ratio of 4.16 for Kerry).

Now, for the really interesting numbers. According to the recent US Census, the Population of Philadelphia that is of voting age is 1,105,066. This number includes people who by law can not vote (non-American citizens, felons, out of state college students, etc.). In 2004, there were 1,035,395 registered voters in Philadelphia, up 34,000 from 2001.

So, what does this mean?

First, even as Philadelphia looses population, the number of registered voters continues to increase, year after year. Today, in Philadelphia, nearly 100% of every person of voting age must registered to vote (as compared to a national average of 60% by the Census Bureau). Consider, since 1995, Philadelphia's voter rolls have jumped 24 percent while at the same time that the city's population has declined by 13 percent.

Second, the total lopsidedness of the 4.16 ratio is an absolutely astounding number - even heavily democratic Broward Country, FL (one of the only places Gore wanted recounted in 2000) only went for Kerry 2:1 and Cook County, IL (Chicago - THE definition of the democrat voting machine) only went for Kerry 2.5:1.

Either Philadelphia has the most engaged and civic population in the history of the World, or there is massive voter fraud.

And the amount of fraud easily exceeds the margin of loss of President Bush. For instance, if the registration was above average and if Philadelphia was just your "average-democrat-rustbelt-city-union-stronghold with a 50 year democrat political machine," the vote for Kerry in Philadelphia would have been just over 350,000. The voter fraud in Philadelphia is worth about 150,000 votes - a deficit that any Republican running for statewide office must overcome with real votes.

But is this "real" fraud or is it one of the easily predicted "unintended consequences" of the Clinton Motor-Voter Law? A few nights before the 2004 presidential election, Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, Andrea Mitchell and the Mayor of Philadelphia (John Street) were on Hardball. They were all laughing away about how the election was great for the economy of Philadelphia, and suggesting that there would plenty of "street money" around to "get out the vote." And these are the same people who are going to stop or report any kind of voter fraud?

I find it ironic that a country like Afghanistan (where I had combat tour of duty), with no history of democracy, has a country wide and nearly fraud free election under the oversight of us - Americans. But we instituted a few rules like - you had to prove you are an Afghan, you had to get a voter ID, show the voter ID when you voted, your name had to match the voter roll, and you had to get your thumb stamped by permanent ink so you couldn't vote twice.

Maybe, one day, in Philadelphia, we will have free and fair elections with a minimum of fraud on the level of the recent vote in Afghanistan.

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