Democratic chief says Rove lurks behind GOP suit

Seattle Times, by David Postman
Saturday, March 5, 2005 - Page updated at 12:40 a.m.

Berendt warned of "guerrilla tactics" by "right-wing attorneys" and "extremist operatives." He said they are "meticulously crafting a case to unseat Christine Gregoire."....
.....In an interview yesterday, Berendt described the letter as "more hard-hitting" than the party's regular fund-raising appeals. ..."But we believe this, too," he said. "We believe that Rove is in regular contact with people here." .....
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002197732_demos05m.html

In his letter, Berendt summarized an article in the November issue of The Atlantic Monthly that detailed a 1994 Alabama state Supreme Court election Rove was involved in. Rove's client lost by 304 votes and he launched an aggressive effort for a recount and a public-relations strategy "to drive home the idea that the election was being stolen," according to the magazine article.

There are parallels to the current dispute here over the governor's election. In both cases, Republicans held a news conference with the parents of a military voter to question whether overseas ballots were handled properly. Republicans in both states filed a lawsuit that named a long list of public officials as respondents. Both held rallies; business groups financed media campaigns.

In Alabama, the Republican candidate eventually won.

the damned Democratic leadership basically has done NOTHING.

Kerry threw in the towel -- and I am sorry guys -- but he acted like a wimp when he did that.

Why the hell can't the Democratic leadership LEARN how the "game" is played --

They yell -- sore loser --

We yell -- why are you afraid to count ALL the votes -- what is the GOP trying to hide.


And instead of kicking ass -- the damned Democratic leadership started trying to please the frickin right -- ignoring the FACT that KERRY WON.

Until the Democratic leadership comes to grip with the fact that the GOP cheat and will always cheat because the GOP cannot win a fair election -- no matter what we do -- no matter how much money our side raises, no matter how many new voters are registered, no matter how large our get out the vote efforts are --

it won't mean a damned thing -- it will be a waste of time and money -- because the GOP will cheat -- they can't win an election fair and square.

While I supported him in this past election, his post-election buckling was indeed sad. Edwards seemed to have a stouter spine than Kerry.

I don't think he can rise to the top once again and it won't bother me to see a fresh face emerge for the next election.

The margin in Washington State was 129 votes. Totally different situation.

I do not understand what people think would have happened in Ohio if Kerry hadn't conceded. The same 3% recount that we got? The exact same way we got it with the exact same results.

Everything was fought that could be fought and the votes couldn't be found. Which is exactly what Kerry said when he conceded, the votes just weren't there.

It isn't to say fraud didn't happen, it just couldn't be proved. K/E lawyers are still fighting and still trying to get records to uncover everything that was wrong in the vote. That's the only way to get it fixed in the future and that's the more important issue.

long before a vast number of votes were counted.
With extremely troubling voting irregularities especially in Ohio.

K/E lawyers fighting still? Don't make me laugh.
To imply that they are legitimate you'd then have to acknowledge that the elections outcome can still be affected.
Completely absurd.

They got what they wanted -- Skull and Bones won.
Kerry is dead to me.

Kerry was always dead to you. Just make sure you always mention Skull & Bones in your anti-Kerry posts so people know your philosophical leanings and that your anti-Kerry and anti-Democratic rants have nothing to do with the election in the first place.

Don't pull that Freeper shit on me, "Anti-Democratic, Anti-Kerry" nyah nyah nyah and ignoring the points.
Nice tactics.

Use your search, I was for Kerry until he threw in the towel virtually prematurely. Once he gave up, it was OVER.

There was only one explanation for him doing that, using Ockham's razor -- Skull and Bones.
Otherwise he was in some collusion with the Republicans in some other way. "I've got your back" indeed! He LIED to us as much as Bush lies.

You're not answering HOW Kerry/Edwards lawyers 'are still fighting'

Tell me all about it and how they will effect change.
I really want to know.

Anybody who would throw up Skull & Bones as an excuse couldn't possibly come up with that conclusion unless they were suspicious all along.

The K/E lawyers are still in court questioning everything that happened in Ohio. Do you really think him going around the country yelling "stolen election" would help get voting changes enacted? That's what you're saying. He would had have had to continue to run around the country saying the election was stolen from him all these months later. Even though nothing has been proven and there's nothing more he could have done by not conceding. What kind of effective leader could he be with "stolen election whiner" hanging around his head?

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/24/183243/756
http://www.truthout.org/pdf/kerryedwardssummarychart22405.pdf

he gave up so damn fast our heads were spinning!

Kerry GAVE UP, and went on vacation.
Sound familiar?

Hey! Maybe it WASN'T Skull and Bones -- it was VACATION!
/sarcasm

And you know I am FAR from alone in that opinion -- guess that makes everyone who disagrees with you "Anti-Democratic Party and Anti-Kerry" too?

Well, after what he pulled Nov. 3, the second is appropriate.
AFTER.

As one DU member put it:
People will follow a leader. Kerry just plain gave up after the election. Who is going to follow that???

When Kerry takes to the streets, maybe I'll follow. But I'm not making any plans.

She said it perfectly.

Yet I STILL backed him, as did so very many good people.
And oh how he repaid us.

You wrote:
Do you really think him going around the country yelling "stolen election" would help get voting changes enacted?

YES! If HE doesn't make a fuss than who the hell SHOULD?!
Or he could show SOME kind of backbone other than GIVE UP ASAP!
Do SOMETHING for God's --or the People's-- sake!

Show ACTIONS over words!
BACK UP his own rhetoric 'We'll fight to the end...'
He had his chance, and this smart man blew it so well and so thoroughly one can't help but wonder what ulterior motive was behind it.

And so far all these K/E lawyers have accomplished NOTHING other than empty --and delayed (Justice delayed is justice denied)-- words.
By inaction those words are rendered meaningless.

He betrayed us. I got news for you -- Bush is already sworn in . And if you think Kerry and "his lawyers" are going to do ANYTHING, effect ANY CHANGE, you are fooling yourself.

He's undeserving of even one inch, one millimeter of support. It's not just me, he is virtually dead to the Democratic Party. WHO could ever depend on him again?
Other than you, that is.

"And you know I am FAR from alone in that opinion -- guess that makes everyone who disagrees with you "Anti-Democratic Party and Anti-Kerry" too?"

Exactly. The people I've heard ranting about Kerry are people who never wanted Kerry as the candidate in the first place. Many of them would have preferred to vote for Nader. So I don't give their opinion much weight.

No, Kerry is not going to become President. I accepted that after the NH recount. We found nothing. I didn't figure we'd find anything in Ohio either, they aren't that stupid.

If Kerry hadn't conceded, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did with some of the shenanigans in Ohio though. I suspect you could shine a light on almost any state and find the same sorts of problems. With a Presidential legal battle, they would have worked alot harder to cover their tracks and obscure the issues.

So now we have election legislation that actually addresses all these issues. If we'd stop screaming fraud and start screaming election reform, and use the WA election too, maybe we could gain the support of the public. It's the right way to go. Kerry knew that on Nov 2, I don't know why the rest of the Democratic Party can't figure that out.

well, the first thing I'd like to know is how this thread (like so many others) turned into a Kerry-bashing thread?

I would like to know realistically what people expected Kerry to do. Had he done what it seems people expected him to do, he would have looked like an ass, and so would the entire party. There were irregularities, yes. There was no PROOF. Look again, at Gore - he HAD the votes, and the RW spin made him look like a fool. These people own the media, own the voting machines, and fool a lot of the people a lot of the time. Kerry did not have the votes, as Gore did. He would have been branded a foolish "sore loser", with nothing to back up his claims of fraud, and it would have come back to haunt the entire democratic party. The RW spin machine DESTROYS people.

I also can't believe people are actually serious about the skull and bones thing. It is beyond foolish. If you have read anything at all about Kerry (aside from Swift Boat Liars), you should know that running for President was his lifelong dream. He wanted it BADLY. He may have known the election was stolen, but he also knew he didn't have a chance in hell of proving it. He was also well aware of the kind of criminals he was running against.

What he is doing has nothing to do with the outcome of the election, but everything to do with the future of our democracy. They stole it, it's over, the only thing left is to try to get to the bottom of it, and make sure it doesn't happen again.

John Kerry is a man of integrity, and also very, very intelligent. I am certain that he did the best he could with the information he had at the time.

How long are we going to continue bashing our own, before we see that it serves no purpose?

I tore off all of my Kerry stickers and dumped them, togther with the Kerry signs I held up at public gatherings and on election night and dumped them in the trash the moment I heard him concede. I feel as betrayed by him as I did by Nader.

And I've not felt an ounce of regret for turning my back on either of them.

they feed at the same trough as the rethugs. Get behind people like Howard Dean and we will change it.

the better. For more than four years there has a vast silence, people too afraid to speak up, to take him on. Now that the ice has been broken with people like Berendt and Hinchley, perhaps the truth will begin to seep out, even if it is a trickle to begin with.

that the AWOL docs were real so it waters down the attack on rove.

Mentioning Rove's name in the same sentence as dirty tricks etc., can have an effect, water on a stone I'll grant you at this point. But there is a gathering going on here, and as KKKarl knows better than anyone, repetition has an effect. Welcome to Du, by the way.

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I don't think so.

Rovian tactics wouldn't work with our message. Only if you're a fascist tool could you possibly keep working with such vile garbage. I'd much rather fix the voting machines and win on truth and good sense.

The ACCESS is "owned" by republican compnaies who like things just the way they are :(

This is why we must JUNK the whole electronic voting thing. It's TOO easy to CHEAT..

The only way to ensure a FAIR election is to make elections for nationally held offices every 2 years in EVEN years. That way people would ONLY be voting for a maximum of 3 office-holders..EVER..

congress
senate
president.(every 4 yrs)

It would make for short lines, easy ballots and little chance for "error"..

There could also be ballot standardization...May I suggest a 5 x 7 CARD and a sharpie pen..that could easily be recounted, and stored.

I am all for rights for the disabled, but EVERY disabled person I have ever met HAS a trusted family member or friend who would/could be very happey to help them vote..

This whole "disabled voter" crap is just a Briar Patch technique the repubes love to use, since Dems are the true advocates of the disabled. If THEY suggest that e-voting is for THEM, and we oppose it, then WE are accused of being anti-disabled.


edited to add:

ballot initiatives and state & local elections could be in ODD years.

Is there no one on the Dem's side that can counter Rove? Jesus Christ.

across the globe.

any ideals on it ??

:kick:

If you Democrats are worried about Rove's "Machieviellian" abilities in State politics why don't you just get a full "Watergate" type investigation on the Plame "outing" at the Federal level!! If the Rethuglicans can do it with "Whitewater" and "Lewinsky" why can't Democrats do it with this!!! This is a "Treasonable" offence!!! I don't think Whitewater or Lewinsky was?????

Seriously, there's nobody who can take him down?!?

... by 8000 (yes, 8000) votes. The Republican judges are busy throwing out Democratic votes.