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"Perhaps the best option is to allow Johnson to be seated but reserve the right to change that call (either a new election or seating Thune) the if the FBI investigations uncover more questionable votes than the margin of error. It will take longer, but if the FBI can prove fraud occured, and there's enough of it to raise into question the election... the Senate can make the shift."

NO, no, no! Once a Senator has the seat, getting the full Senate to make the switch would be essentially impossible. "Possession is 9/10 of the law"; once someone already has possession of anything it is much harder to get it back. Thune should do whatever he can to hold the seat open until the issue is completely settled. I simply cannot believe he honestly lost that race in a state that Bush carried so handily and visited so often.

Your posts regarding all aspects of this election have shown a consistently defeatist attitude. I question your motives in posting on FR.

Your posts regarding all aspects of this election have shown a consistently defeatist attitude. I question your motives in posting on FR.

Irene --
You must look at all these situations through the "eye of the press" -- if Thune immediately insists on a re-count, he will be raked over the coals as a poor loser, as a whiner, etc. When you consider the unprecedented "whumping" the Dems took in this mid-term election, you have to know that the press is just looking for a whipping boy to stir up bad feelings, and Thune would be perfect... The media will NOT treat him in the same way they treated Algore. Why do you think Pres. Bush issued a no-gloating "rule"? Yes, he is a class act, but he also knows this nation's media well, and he doesn't want to give them even the tiniest excuse to turn this fantastic election result into a devisive issue.

If enough fraud exists to change the outcome in SD, it will be found. Maybe it will be found quickly and Thune will be declared the winner. If not, we will bide our time, and the people of SD will have a mistake to rectify...2 years isn't that long, and we have a majority in both House and Senate...we CAN afford to be gracious (for now)

I'm going to lay out what I see the situation as:

1. They are already calling this a clean election - without so much as a PEEP about fraud from Thune yet. They clearly know there is something to hide.

2. There is an FBI investigation that has been in progress since OCTOBER over the vote fraud schemes that were found before then. Since this occured on Indian reservations, this is their turf, and we ought to let them handle it for the most part, particularly since they are seen as NON-PARTISAN.

3. Since the irregularities involve the Indian reservations, the Democarp strategy could by - no, let me correct myself. The Democrats WILL play the race card over this matter and to NOT take that into account is foolish in the extreme. They can tar US with the race card and make it stick in enough minds to make things ugly. I do NOT think that the FBI and DOJ (both of which are involved in this) can be tarred with it, though, so let THEM do the investigating, and let them do their jobs.

They are trying to set it up so that any protest is questioning the integrity of South Dakota's election process and disenfranchising members of a minority for partisan purposes. So deny them that card by having FBI and DOJ investigate.

I think there was foul play. I also think we have to deal with it in a VERY careful manner, and get the evidence to prove to everyone (except the most hard-core DU member) that foul play occured. Once that is proven we then have to PROVE that it reversed the election, and then PROVE that the right thing to do is to hold a special election OR seat Thune.

Belief that it occured or disbelief that is was fair just won't cut it in a court of law, much less the court of public opinion. Ask Congressman Billybob about standards of proof.

Furthermore, to question my motives is unfair. My only crime is that I'm not going to get overconfident as I did in the run-up to the 2000 election. I learned THAT lesson. Plan for the worst, plan for Mr. Murphy, be pleasantly surprised if he doesn't show up, and don't be surprised by anything the Dems pull has been my motto since November 2000 and will remain so. It's not defeatist, it's realisitc.

NO, no, no! Once a Senator has the seat, getting the full Senate to make the switch would be essentially impossible.

Johnson can be seated on a provisional basis, with full seating contingent on the outcome of the investigation.

hchutch is correct about making sure that this thing gets played properly, and avoiding insertion of the GOP into the fray; we could win Thune's seat and lose several others in the future. The Democrats were very smart; they set this up so that they could play the race card onto the GOP if it backfired. The countermove is simple: don't use the GOP.

Your posts regarding all aspects of this election have shown a consistently defeatist attitude. I question your motives in posting on FR.

hchutch is hell of a lot more honorable than most of the "my way or the highway" types here on FR, sweetie. I leave the questioning of ideological purity to the Mikhail Suslov types.