Posted on 11/12/2009 6:18:26 AM PST by EternalVigilance
Word in from NY 23 that Conservative Doug Hoffman now trails by just 3000 votes as the official tabulation process continues. "The new vote totals mean the race will be decided by absentee ballots, of which about 10,200 were distributed." Among the absentee ballots that remain uncounted are "military and overseas ballots received by this coming Monday (and postmarked by Nov. 2)..."
But Bill Owens "was quickly sworn into office on Friday, a day before the rare weekend vote in the House of Representatives. His support sealed his party's narrow victory on the health care legislation."
By what right does anyone declare and act on an election outcome before all the votes are counted? Whatever candidates do to declare or concede victory, elections are decided by what the people do with their votes, not what the candidates do with their speeches. Or at least that's the way its supposed to be when government of, by and for the people still functions.
Sad on this day after veterans day, to reflect on the fact that among the votes still uncounted when Owens was being sworn in are many cast by people who are right now risking their lives in service to their country. Yet we let ambitious political parties hijack the electoral process in a fashion that sends the clear signal- your votes don't matter.
By such carelessness does a free people discard the respect for their sovereignty that is the essence of liberty. I assume that if the vote turns out to favor Doug Hoffman, Owens will have to give up the seat he would thus prematurely have assumed. But maybe not. After all, once the candidates and the Parties agree to an election outcome, why should the voters matter?
It's ironic that when it comes to ignoring the Constitution's eligibility requirements for the Presidency, the politicos want us to accept the notion that all that matters is the electoral majority. Now when it comes to deciding who's sworn in after an election, the people's votes remain uncounted, and all that matters is the candidates' declarations of victory or concession. For those willing to understand, this little episode reveals the truth. Once respect for the Constitution and its principles has been discarded, we'll quickly discover that the notion of majority rule has been thrown away as well. The American people will find themselves cast down, to languish as other peoples have historically done, under the boot heel of arrogant elites who will resume their accustomed place as the dictators of human destiny.
Double-”frankened,” maybe. After all, Doug was taking on both “major” parties, whose officials completely control the entire election process.
Gore conceeded to President Bush in November 2000 ... before he UN-conceeded, but we still had 6 or 7 weeks of a recount circus.
Maybe it's time to start playing dirty like the Rats do. Do I hear a Franken?
No more Mr. Nice Guy...
Seems to be the only thing he had enthusiasm for. There is no fight in the GOP - the party of concession, resignation and surrender. I’m sure conservative women could do much better and even chew up Libs along the way.
It will likely be redistricted after the 2010 census and may indeed be combined with another if NY state loses seats after the census. But the redistricting wouldn't take place until 2012 at the earliest leaving the district intact for next year's elections. And Hoffman may not even be the Republican candidate if voters get to choose in a primary.
1. The Constitution leaves decisions like those up to the states.
2. Doing that would favor one coast over another.
You tell’em Alan!
This could get interesting.
Bottom line, it goes back to the GOP in 2010 in the GOP sweep!
Like the Minnesota Senate seat this would appear to be another close election stolen by Democrats. How active was ACORN in this district?
I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but guffaw at the question. Not only did the Democrat receive his supposed winning margin from a minor party that is nothing but a front group for ACORN, (Hoffman and the Conservative Party of NY got more votes than Owens got on the Democrat line) the REPUBLICAN in this race, the person who threw the election to the Democrat, has long-standing, close ties to ACORN as well.
Personally, I think it is naive to think that this election was "stolen by the Democrats." It was stolen by the Republicans and the Democrats, from the people.
"For Doug to win, we needed a three-way race," Ryan said, adding that the campaign’s internal polls showed Hoffman would win with all three candidates.
Shout out to all the FReepers who kept disagreeing with me when I kept saying that Dee Dee was splitting the Liberal/Dem vote. (Prolly why she dropped out, IMO).
“I’m somepne who doesn’t like to look back”...Bob Ryan Hoffman campaign manager...Yea, if I were Ryan I’d like to forget that blunder too.
Thanks for the insight into that decision, which I consider amateurish and that mistake is too often made by political novices. There are later threads on this race posted in this FR cycle replete with videos unrelated to the subject which the administrator has locked down because of “spooky postings”.
If any FR has close ties with a syndicated talkie they should call this to their attention (including their congressman) because of the rush to seat Ownens before he was certified the winner of this election.
As far as the Hoffman election goes they failed to do an in depth polling to understand what the election results were turning up and instead based their decision on a faulty assumption
http://www.theusmat.com/home.htm.
Hoffman made a mistake conceding. Now Owens has the perception of victory, the quickie swearing in, and a deciding vote in the House healthcare vote. Even if Hoffman wound up with the most votes, consider this:
In the Indiana Bloody 8th (1984), Rep. Frank McCloskey lost by 418 votes on election day. the Dem controlled House overturned that result and declared (selected) him winner by four votes.
No matter what is said, and no matter what the final vote total, the Pelosi House will not give up Owens.
While possible, how practicable is that idea in nations covering as many time zones as ours do?
Canada: Nfld, East, Central, Mountain, Pacific.
USA: East, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska. That’s excluding the far Eastern territories and Diego Garcia, too.
The polls would be closing in NY at 10PM. while in AK it’s only 6 PM.
Hardly fair and equitable, nor does that give the Western vote the same weight as an Eastern vote, since with the polls open that much later, more folks out East would be more likely to cast their ballot.
We’re witnessing the slow strangulation death of American republican self-government and liberty.
-PJ
Then why did Hoffman concede? “
Perhaps he was a bit premature, but if the votes come out differently after all the absentees are counted, and the NY authorities then put their stamp on things, based upon the total count-—would the correct person then be sworn in?
Total MO of the Democraps- stall counting the absentee votes and hustle to swear the ‘winner’ into office.
If Hoffman comes out the actutal winner, does this go to court in NY?
According to unofficial results emailed me by John Conklin at my request, Tuesday afternoon, November 10, 2009, but with note "As of 11/5/09 at bottom,
63,672 votes were cast for Douglas L. Hoffman as the Conservative Party candidate;
61,725 votes were cast for William L. Owens as the Democratic Party candidate.
However, some of the counties counted Working Families Party votes for candidate William L. Owens as for him as a Democratic Party candidates. The remaining counties added 4,973 votes for William L. Owens on the Working Families Party line. From these totals, as of then 66, 698 votes were counted for William L. Owens giving him the apparent plurality. In New York, a candidate can run on more than one party line. Dede Scozzafava has run previously on the Working Families Party line. This time she ran on the Republican Party line; 5,565 votes were counted for her on the Republican Party line, which includes Independence Party line votes from two counties; the other counties added 920 Independence Party votes to her total.
I find these results interesting, especially considering all the words about the impossibility of a third party candidate's winning. Whatever the voter party registration records, the Conservative Party, at this point in the tally of the election results, was the Party receiving the largest number of votes, the Democratic Party, the second, and the Republican Party the third. Here the Republican Party was truly the third party. The fourth party, the Working Families Party, a party with which Dede Scozzafava has been associated, has thus far apparently provided the victory for the Democratic candidate. Had more Republican leaders, both local and national, earlier urged voting for Hoffman, and pointed out that voting for Scozzafava would likely help the Democrat and end up supporting offensive and burdensome Democratic policies, we might already have had a different result in New York's Congressional District 23, and in Congress on Saturday, November 7. Scozzafava's leanings were clearly revealed in her late "withdrawal" and endorsement of the Democratic candidate. She could hardly have done more to help him (and Speaker Pelosi) win.
But the one thing that is clear is that Hoffman should NOT have conceded -- even if it was only to delay Owens' certification and hence to holdup queen pelosi's hc bill.
Not that I would have expected Hoffman to know all that detail... but the GOP House leadership should have known... but they weren't on Hoffman's side anyway, were they?
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