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[ray of light]

Kerry's Dilemma in 2004
by mole333
Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 05:49:47 AM PDT
This diary is a followup to a discussion I had with another Kossack in another diary regarding whether Kerry gave up too soon in 2004. Actually, we both felt he DID give up too easily, but we also recognized that he faced such a strong uphill battle that it may well be understandable that he folded. What follows is not my writing but is a summary from a friend who worked with the Kerry campaign and is a strong Kerry supporter. For those who think Kerry screwed up by not fighting harder, here is the other view, for what it's worth. (Emphases in the diary are mine)

mole333's diary :: ::
Kerry was given information that it could not be won on the face of it, the
provisional votes, the Ohio courts, a non-existent Dem party, Blackwell kept
ignoring the law and subpoenas, and the media is still not buying into the
conspiracy. In fact, he held out longer than others' advised. Mark C.
Miller's recent article in Harper's admits how difficult going against the
media at the time. We still don't have discovery on those machines, central
tabulators. So many tried to be helpful with calling about incidents, but
ultimately not helpful because we came up empty. Too much time was spent on
smoke.

That said, he and Teresa went looking for the whistleblower, something of
pattern, anything to overturn. The fraud was done in many ways, from
disenfranchisement to vote switching on the computer. No one would admit on
record. Conceding is not binding if they found definitive proof from someone
who'd come forward. He still has two suits pending, despite PDA's misleading
email. Many more discovery efforts throughout the states, but they did too
much everywhere.

The Congressional Black Caucus did not want him to stand in January, but
look to the future. It wasn't to be about him, at that point understood
lost. We are in the minority trying for election reform, and even our own
Joe Andrews went awol.

The public at the time was still under the power of the press, and more than
55% didn't want a change. It would have to be during a war, and barely
knowing Kerry. Our own media was worse on Kerry than the MSM. There was not
a groundswell to topple Bush at the time, and their internals showing those
few points drop after the Bin Laden tape proves the fear. That's where we
were.

That said, Kerry believes in forward thinking. We lost state legislature
seats for 20 years until 2004, when we won. In fact, great advances, except
we lost Senate in the south in states we always would have lost. Clinton
didn't win the south. Texas redistricting took more House seats. So Kerry at
the top was not so terrible. Plus, we still have pro-security creds.

He's still trying to elect and build the Dem party from the ground up. He's
a public servant, like always. And a gressroots guy. Unfortunately, he had
to play by the margins to win, and not the way our diehards, nor I, would
have liked.

Bottom line to anyone, our own, they better had voted before passing
judgment. Reports show that more blue state popular vote would have given a
popular win, and bragging rights to force recounts, which weren't done
anywhere sufficiently. Most states still don't legislate enough of one,
impossible on electronic, which is why we need paper ballots. We can even
weigh them fast.

The packet fraud is from Teresa, www.wheresthepaper.org but the site at
the bottom is www.votersunite.org


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Save this link and info. I know it's legit!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/30/74947/6017

[TayTay]

1. That jibes with what a lot of people have said.

Firespirit has said in this forum before that the macines were not secure and could be hacked. (She knows the ins and outs of this far, far better than I do.) We have tape of voters leaving because of long lines. Sen. Kerry mentioned dirty tricks like telling voters that 'Democrats vote Wed.' that were used in Ohio. We know there were problems. But we don't have a definitive, 'this will stand up in court' evidence.

I agree, bookmark this thread. It is important and does show what was done and why the concession took place.

[fedupinBushcountry]

2. This sums it up perfectly

It was so hard for him to concede knowing what he knew, but he is so filled with Integrity, he did the right thing, even though it hurt so bad. Everytime, I think of that speech I well up. My son made me feel so much better that day, by calling me and saying how much more a man Kerry was for doing what he did, he called him a true statesman, that was what I needed to hear from a son who majored in history and minored in political science.

Thanks, Ray.

[ProSense]

3. Thanks! Excellent summary.

To this point, "We lost state legislature seats for 20 years until 2004, when we won," the following is a good article; although written with a few snarky comments typical of the press (which I say is BS):

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/state/2004-12-14-dems-hidden-election_x.htm

[_dynamicdems]

4. Thanks for posting that!

That about sums it up. One thing, I'd like to add: 2006!

The fraud case we had in NH (phone line jamming) has taken 3 years of struggle to bring the perpetrators to justice. We still have two people facing indictment, if I am not mistaken. It takes time to get to the bottom of things like this and the Republican stranglehold on our country makes things move even slower if it doesn't stall investigation completely.

After 2006, if a Democratic Congress becomes a reality, then things like voter fraud indictments and maybe even impeachment can be considered. Until then, there is nothing that can be done. Get Congress back first. That's the only way to fight. You simply can't win a fight when they have all the guns and you only have sticks and stones.