For those of you giving shit to Rendell, you do realize they're trying to steal the election in PA

[LynneSin]

McCain has pulled out his offices out of Michigan and now he's pulled out of former bush states of Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico. But McCain and/or Palin is constantly in Pennsylvania out there campaigning.

Have you wondered why?

Perhaps because Pennsylvania is easy pickings for voter harassment. The state votes all on one day which means the repuke goons need to spend just ONE DAY in Philadelphia & Pittsburgh harassing voters at the polls. Because if you can get low voter turn out in the two big urban areas then the state will go red.

And I've worked Philly polls before - they will pullout all the stops. False flyers will be sent around telling people the wrong day for voting, students have been threatened that they'll lose their scholarships if they vote in town where they go to college and voters have been told if they have any kind of outstanding warrants including something as benign as a parking ticket they'll be arrested. I've seen some serious shit going down in this city and McCain is rolling the dice that Pennsylvania will be the new Florida/Ohio.

And yes, Rendell, who I just saw 2 weeks ago enthusiastically endorse Obama in front of 50k folks at the Bruce Springsteen concert, is governor and may have some sway with the recounts that we did not have in Ohio or Florida. HOWEVER, if the McCain team takes this recount outside of Pennsylvania to the courts WE WILL LOSE!!!

So we need more than 10% of the votes out there - we need EVERYTHING WE GOT and trust me, Rendell and Casey each won by 20pts in Pennsylvania so it can be done.

So stop giving shit to Rendell, he knows what is going on and we need to make sure Pennsylvania goes solid blue. Because if McCain is conceding Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico AND Obama wins nothing else then but the Kerry States, then we have President Obama.

[Parche]

1. Virginia, Virginia, Virginia

Thats all...............:hi:

[rvablue]

10. The same thing could happen here in VA

there was a post on DU today that said some CITIES (i.e. where the majority of the VA AA population lives) are going to "have security at the polls."

It is well documented by the ACLU and others that when they did this in Chesterfield County (a red district, but where there is a SIGNIFIGANT AA pop.) that it intimidated voters from going to the polls.

[Beaverhausen]

2. Big K&R. I saw Thom Hartman the other night

He said the repubs are going to steal 6-7 million votes this time, more than 2004.

We have to have such overwhelming numbers of dem voters that they can't steal it.

The only way to do that is to not be complacent - we have to act like Obama is behind.

[Stephist]

3. Shhh!

This makes too much sense. :hide:

[Voltaire]

4. Fast Eddie Will Be Ready

And PA ain't going down on his watch. I wish I still lived there, I would love to spend the day supressing Voting Supressors

[tigereye]

47. from what I understand there will be plenty of poll watchers around...

[Cosmocat]

62. ALRIGHT ALREADY ...

Look ... yes, outside of absentee ballots, where in theory at least, you have to have a plausable reason that you definitely can not make it in to vote on election day. And, yes, a good portion of the state does not have a paper trail.

But, I repeat once again:

1) As others noted, two years ago, Rendell and Casey beat Swann and Santorum, and it wasn't even close. Santorum was the third ranked senator, and one of the biggest scumbag pols going - SERIOUSLY. IF there was any pol who would have been able and willing to cheat a win, it would have been Santorum, and again, he lost to Casey be nearly 20 points.

2) Pa went to both Gore and Kerry in their "loses."

3) Over 400,000 Ds have been registered since the start of the primaries, the Rs have had a net loss in registration.

4) Pa now has about a MILLION more registered Ds than Rs.

5) Rendell is a D, and one who was the former mayor of Philly - he runs that machine there, and has as much influece in the streets of a state this big as any governor can.

6) While there are mostly electronic voting machines in Pa, we have had no major, and minimal minor, voting issues here. This ain't Florida, or even Ohio.

7) BO has a MASSIVE ground game here. I live in a central Pa county that is mostly R, and he has THREE Offices here, one HUGE office that is manned with at least a dozen people on a regular basis - McCain's "office" isn't even open most of the time.

8) Back when poast primary polling had BO up double digits, I said no way he was going to win by that much, he was going to win by 6-7 points. A month and a half ago when some polling had it even or close, I said BO was going to win by 5-6 points. Today, I am telling everyone here - he is going to win by at least 5-6 points.

Look, McCain is batshiite crazy, and has made countless impulsive moves like this during his campaign - picking Palin, the "suspension" of his campaign for the would be hurricane and finanicial crisis, and he is more desperate now than ever. This is just his final, all in chips move. As someone else noted, he is hoping to catch an inside straight holding an off suit 5 and 9.

I said all along the only way Pa goes to McCain is if BO gets compeletely and totally thrashed. The train has left the station, and BO is going to win this thing, and Pa is going to be in his column.

[WinkyDink]

5. But you know we have a formidable GOTV with the union peeps and now students!

[firedupdem]

6. He's speaking against complacency....He knows what he is

doing..

[lamp_shade]

11. That was my thinking too.

[polichick]

7. imo voters have mostly wised up to that stuff - what I worry about is...

...machine tampering ~ is that possible here in PA, do you think?

[LynneSin]

9. Yes

anything is possible in Pennsylvania.

What pisses me off about Rendell is not opening up voting so we had more than just 1 day

[robertpaulsen]

8. A-Fucking-Men! Rendell's vigilance will put Obama's words to action: DON'T GET COCKY!

This is McFascist's last attempt to steal this motherfucker. TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED!

[Sanity Claws]

12. Obama is putting in a lot of effort in PA

He is putting together a team of attorneys, from various states, and trying to station them throughout the state. I'm one of them and will be coming from NY. So many of us are coming from NYC that the Obama campaign is doing training here in NYC.

[CTyankee]

21. Thank you. That was my question. Where were the 5,000 lawyers for Pa?

In VA they have paper trail backed voting machines. Is it not that way in PA? I hear conflicting reports...

[tigereye]

48. good for you!

:thumbsup:

[crazylikafox]

13. Ed Rendell doesn't kid around. If he says he needs our help in PA, he means it.

That said, I'm in Baltimore, I can travel to PA this weekend or on election day. Where can I be the most help? They've been sending us to York, but my gut tells me that we could do more elsewhere. Not too many undecideds left in that town.

[Barack_America]

28. The key isn't undecideds, it's GOTV in Philly.

We have to let voters know their rights and not to allow themselves to be intimidated.

If you're interested in volunteering in West Philly, PM me. I've been out of commission since the primaries, but with what I've been hearing about PA, I'm heading back over to the office this weekend.

[BlueStateGirl]

14. True that! When I went to see Hillary last week in Montco... every

single person on stage begged us to vote, and get all of our friends and relatives out. They were pleading. Practically telling us the Repubs were going to steal it.

I have been to a lot of campaign rallies and have never heard such urgent GOTV pleas.

Was unsettling.

Edited to add" There were also many pleas for volunteers to be poll watchers.

[LynneSin]

16. Ed announced before the Bruce concert that all students could register to vote at their college add.

sounds like a guy who doesn't want Obama to win

:eyes:

[Stevepol]

15. Could I suggest one more reason?

Try the voting machines and the lack of verification.

Maybe somebody knows PA better than I do, but I think it's one of the states most vulnerable to computer rigging and manipulation.

That's an opportunity that McCain likely didn't want to pass up, so he'll spend a good bit of time there to provide a good cover for the rigging fraud that amazingly gives PA to him in November.

Hope I'm wrong, but I don't see how McCain wins PA in any other way but the old-fashioned way: rigging the voting machines.

[iceman66]

22. I think you're right.

PA went blue in the last 4 elections.

Obama has a double-digit lead.

There is NO WAY McCain can win the state without fraud!

[tigereye]

49. I'm not sure we've had much voter fraud/ machine issues here

at least in the Western part of the state...


I've never seen quite this level of GOTV and I've been working on Dem campaigns here for years. Although when we did stuff for MOve-On in 2004, I did sit outside the polling place and asked voters I had left fliers for to let us know that they voted, and a lot of them did. We have Minority. and Majority inspectors here as part of the county apparatus, who tend to keep a good eye on things inside the polling stations.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. Rendell is pulling a Brer Rabbit

No, McCain, please don't throw me in the briar patch! That would be awful! Anything but that!

:rofl:

[Doctor_J]

18. If a few harassers are taken off in ambulances during the first few hours

of voting, things will move more quickly. what we need are a few large, jumpy men with weapons at each polling place to discourage voter harassment.

[prolesunited]

37. That is the stupidest idea ever

and sounds like it's coming from the meager brain of a freeper.

[Doctor_J]

39. Ouch

If we had taken such steps during the 2000 riots in Palm Beach, we wouldn't be dealing with it today.

[stillcool]

19. Can you even have recounts in PA?

for the most part it looks like there is no paper to count..
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/verifier/map.php?&topic_string=5std&ec=mixed&year=2008&state=Pennsylvania

edit to add: I know that both the Obama Campaign and everyone involved in PA Politics is well aware of that situation. I think they are signaling what they are doing, and no one will be taken by surprise.

[demokatgurrl]

27. You are right- no paper.

Just a total spit out at the end on a piece of paper like a cash register receipt.

[melonkali]

20. I share your concerns -- something seems rotten in PA

Although I do not live in that area, when I see McCain focusing so heavily on PA, which defies the logic of the polls, and I hear of potential vote fraud mechanisms with NO way to recount . . . I recall Florida in 2000 . . . I recall the wisdom of Josef Stalin: (paraphrasing) what matters is NOT who votes or how, what matters is who COUNTS the votes.

Will there be any independent voter pollsters in PA on election day? What precautions, if any, are in place?

[scheming daemons]

23. On my side of the state, I see it. Rendell needs our help if he says so.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. I have lived here in Philadelphia for almost 47 years and it ain't happening.

The AAs here aren't playing that. And there's a thing called street money Lynne. Don't ever forget it. The old machine is still around and hasn't gone away despite the loss of Lucien Blackwell (RIP). The fact that Santorum lost by as much as he did in 2006 was thanks to the folks here.

[ecstatic]

25. But the argument can be made that he is providing COVER for theft

by hinting that PA voters are racist, he's creating the narrative for the pundits to talk about an implausible "upset" by McShame.

[catgirl]

44. And McCain just mentioned the PA racists theme

That was an idiotic thing for Rendell to say, and it does make one question
why he would say that now? Remember when he said basically the same thing
during the primaries?

[Cha]

26. I went to a Mohawk Valley for

Obama meeting tonight in Utica, NY and we talked about this and about volunteers going to PA.

I'm glad Rendell is sounding alarms!

[canichelouis]

30. I'm in PA

Philly and Pgh have Election Protection in place.

More volunteers are needed.

This is a non-partisan voter protection group. Very effective.

If you would like to help this non-partisan organization

http://www.everybodyvote.com/

[Cha]

36. Thank you!

It pays to be over cautious when the only way your opponent can win is to steal the election.

[kath]

29. Re: "some sway with the recounts" -- these are BLACK BOX voting machines - there is no such thing as

a recount. No paper trail. It's faith-based voting -- there is no way in hell to tell if the "official" votes registered are what the voters intended.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

31. From what I've heard and seen of Rendell he's a brass-knuckles street fighter

and I can't imagine him letting McShits get away with anything in PA. And Philly - a city I thoroughly enjoy - is, what, 85-90% Dem registrations?

[meow2u3]

32. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is Democratic now

I doubt the repukes will be able to get away with their fraudulent attempts to prevent Democrats from voting.

[amborin]

33. they are following the strategy outlined in a ny times article a few days ago

for a narrow victory

penn was crucial

so too ohio, florida, nevada and one more

[MrSlayer]

34. We have 5 union guys at every poll in Philly.

There will be no Republican intimidation.

[Doctor_J]

40. That's what I like to hear

these GOP chickenhawks will wet their panties if anyone pushes back.

[LynneSin]

43. Oh I've worked Philly polls too but it still may not be enough

thing is, what Rendell did was smart but DUers just love to give shit to democrats. Go figure

[MrSlayer]

52. It will be more than enough in the city.

The middle of the state, not so much. But they already have the touchscreen Diebolds anyway so it doesn't matter. Kerry exit polled at 58-42 but actual polled at 51-49. This is an example of the lead being too big to steal.


I don't have a problem with what Rendell did.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

35. Well, then can someone explain to me why these Democratic governors aren't doing anything about

these machines? Rendell knew about these machines years ago. Why not go to paper ballots? Why not be prepared? I still don't understand this. How much can Rendell do if the machines are flipping votes with NO paper trail?

[melonkali]

38. Does the Federal election board (repub) trump state government?

Just asking -- I, too, find it odd that dem governors aren't doing more.

[mzmolly]

41. Doesn't PA lack the ability to recount (for the most part) given the lack of a paper trail?

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/verifier/map.php?ec=mixed&topicText=&state=pennsylvania&county=&stateText=

What has always concerned me about PA is the ability to steal the election there without a trace.

[AndyTiedye]

42. Rendell Can't Do Anything About the rob-pennsylvania.zip that is Likely in the Machinez Already

Rendell knows they can change the numbers and he is powerless to stop them.
That's why he is sounding the alarm. A 13 point lead is not enough.
The MSM is telling everyone to expect a "Bradley Effect" red shift of 6% from Obama to McCain,
which is just enough to consume Obama's lead. Of course, the "Bradley Effect" is really
the effect of various forms of election fraud.

[AndyTiedye]

45. Rendell OPPOSED Adding a Paper Trail to the Voting Machinez

We have to consider the possibility that he is either compromised (blackmailed) or complicit.

[Bonn1997]

51. Bingo. It's not hard to figure out why so few Dems are fighting against electronic voting

[tigereye]

46. We here is Pgh don't usually put up with that crap, but I have to say

I did see "traitor" posters about Kerry in 2004 - that is the first time I had ever seen anything like that here. :grr:

[Norrin Radd]

50. Rendell said we drank the Kool-Aid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2038n414WUw

And he thought Fox was fair and balanced:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkejwWGYNqw

I hope Rendell helps in Penna, but I will never trust him.

[amborin]

53. must read on Penn and more:

" How McCain Can Win -- The Arguments
22 Oct 2008 06:47 pm

Here is the argument that some McCain campaign advisers are making right now to donors and others who ask for a single, plausible scenario by which Sen. John McCain wins the election.

It rests on certain assumptions about the electorate that seem almost provably false at this point, but not provably false enough so as to render them completely bizarre.

The goal here is to give people a sense of what the candidate is being told by his advisers, nothing more. Think of what's below as a set of Republican talking points.

The Republican Party has built a presidential election machine that is tested and proven, the argument begins. Its voter database, Voter Vault, has 150 million potential Republican voters listed, each with dozens of psychographic datums appended.

The Party knows how to turn out Republican voters in red states. The Democratic Party has no record of turning out sporadic Democratic voters in presidential years in red states. It is not reasonable to assume, therefore, that Democrats can really turn out the voters they say they will, while Republicans have a record of turning out habitual Republican voters. How can Democrats build good and accurate voter lists in these red states?

Take Indiana: Gov. Mitch Daniels leads his Democratic opponent, Jill Long Thompson, by a healthy margin. Can you imagine Mitch Daniels voters choosing Obama?

Obama's in trouble in Pennsylvania. Why else is Ed Rendell begging Obama to return there?

In 2006, the Republican base was depressed after "Macaca" and Jim Webb still only barely managed a victory there.

The GOP will spend $70 million on GOTV in the next 13 days.

Obama isn't breaking 50% in Ohio and Florida. It's hard to imagine a big shift to him in the final ten days, when the mind is concentrated, when imponderables come into play.

Colorado is tough... but Pennsylvania is doable.

Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and Missouri will all revert to partisan form. Already, McCain's campaign has factored in census + 1 turnout for African Americans, and there are plausible scenarios under which McCain wins.

Several polls -- including McCain's internal polls -- show that some white male voters who broke away from McCain are coming back to McCain's fold.

Oh, and all this talk of Barack Obama leading in the early vote? So did John Kerry."

from the Atlantic

[sohndrsmith]

54. isn't Rendell pleading with Obama to campaign in PA? I would think he

knows his state... and if I heard the plea correctly, he's worried about something. Regardless of whether or not I agree or disagree with Rendell on other issues, I would pay attention to his concern.... but I dunno.

[Divine Discontent]

57. I would hope he calls them directly if he knows they will try this shit. good point, he should know

his own state. I see him wanting him to campaign there to keep it at 10 points so they can't steal it, because the gravity of seeing polling on the Monday before the election showing PENN up for Obama by 8-10 points makes their efforts more noticeable and less damaging if their blocking of tens of thousands of votes by harrassment or whatever means, ultimately does nothing because of a large win!

[sohndrsmith]

60. well said. I just don't think Rendell would make a request if 1) he didn't

consider it significant, or 2) he didn't have tangible, relevant concerns to do so.

If it's a matter of vote stealing, then surrogates, voter advocates and watchdog organization representatives and tons of volunteers, etc., should be deployed, like... yesterday.

The most disturbing thing worth remembering is that we have many effective, accurate systems to record, verify and process data in this country, and we should all be appalled that there is such an acceptance of dysfunction in our election process. But my concern goes beyond one state - it effects every state, every town, every ballot (including yours/mine)

There is ZERO excuse for this. Which is not the same as a reason - there are lots of reasons.... all of them unethical, inexcusable and intolerable.

The millions of consistently accurate machines that record and accept our information on a daily basis, by volume - far more than processing votes every 4 years, belie the fact that it is fully inappropriate and inexcusable that we can't rely on a just, valid vote because of myriad screw-ups.

The blatant deliberateness in keeping this process confusing and fallible should be the biggest affront to Americans, a pure disposal of our patriotism and violation of the Constitution, which, unbeknownst to Palin, is not something that is supposed to be interpreted at whim or fancy.

This degree of error - given the cutting edge technology and reliable systems we already have - is not something we should accept or acquiesce to. Yes, its a big headache. It's also the most meaningful part of what we mean to this country and what it means to us... it's not something we should be willing to minimize.

[Undercurrent]

55. .

We need to have all of our assets on the ground working together. The ward bosses, precinct captains, unions, students, community organizers, the African American churches, Fast Eddy, lawyers, poll watchers, transportation volunteers, all coordinating under the umbrella of the Obama machine.

I think we have the best winning shot possible.

And I hope Obama is not rejecting the giving out of street money now, like he did during the primaries.

[Divine Discontent]

56. The Keystone State and Old Dominion (PA & VA) will be states the dirty bastards target heavily

Great thread post.


The Keystone state, Pennsylvania, has been visited an AWFUL lot for a campaign that is down there further than DOUBLE DIGITS, don't you all think? Clearly designed to get it close a la Virginia, so they can finagle shit on election day the scum sucking bastards....

I hope Obama diverts hundreds of volunteers paid and unpaid to these two states on election day. This is the only way they seem to know how to "win".... CHEAT!


MORE AT www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[WallStreetNobody]

58. Pennsylvania has a bunch of blue states nearby

A lot of volunteers from NJ, NY, CT are going to go to PA on election day to get voters to the polls. They don't need to be in their home states which are solidly blue. I think we will be OK in Pennsylvania, I know McCain is putting a lot of effort into the state but all that means is the Obama camp will make sure to put even more effort into it and they have a lot more money and a lot more volunteers to back it up.

[barack the house]

59. If voted in early voting then a trip to PA is best and yeah Rendell got us good polling there so >

wise to give him props.

[PA Democrat]

61. Absolutely agree. Rendell may not be on some people's list of favorites, but

the guy is one of the smartest politicians out there. He will do everything he can to make sure PA goes for Obama. If that means instilling a little fear in the hearts of people who are a little too complacent, so be it.

Palin is going to be in western PA this afternoon; McCain held three rallies in PA earlier this week, and the McCain campaign, the RNC and a number of 527's are still running ads here for McCain.