Buck Naked Politics

Florida Ex-Felons Regain Voting Rights

by Damozel | Charlie Crist---the Republican Governor of my very own state--- is right:    “Once somebody has truly paid their debt to society, we should recognize it, and we should honor it and we should welcome them back into society and give them that second chance.”  (NYT)   I've always thought that it was disgraceful that Florida permanently banned ex-felons from voting, serving on juries, or obtaining state licenses, unless they went through a prolonged process of getting their rights restored. This didn't often happen.

I always assumed that there must be other states had the same rules, but it turns --- according to The New York Times --- out that in 47 of them, ex-inmates get their rights restored automatically.   So Florida was in a tiny minority, the other members of which are Kentucky and Virginia.  I'm glad Gov. Crist has moved us forward, even though it's just a few baby steps.

More on the Indiana Voter ID Case and the Probable Long-Term Effects of the Supremes' Decision

Posted by Damozel | Now that SCOTUS has held that Indiana can require voters to produce government-issued identification (BN-Politics), expect more states to pass similar legislation, says The New York Times.  Oh, and expect more litigation over the limits of the states' ability to require it.

“The court’s opinion is likely to perform the same function for the photo ID debate as the Pennsylvania primary did for the Democratic presidential nomination — hardening positions while doing little if anything to illuminate a path to resolving the conflict,” said Doug Chapin, director of the Pew Center on the States Web site, electionline.org....

Scalia---'Mister Justice'--- Defends Bush v. Gore ("Get Over it!" It was Al Gore Who Went "Looking for Trouble"!)

Posted by Damozel | In other words, leave the Court alone and it'll leave you alone!  What do you want from the Justice System...justice?

Watch him say it ---- well, more or less say it --- here:

Rasmussen: Hillary Would be Well Ahead if Dems Used 'Winner Take All System'

Posted by Damozel | I thought this was interesting, considered from the standpoint of "it might have been."  It's not exactly news to me, since my co-blogger D Cupples has been saying it for weeks.  I just haven't seen it squarely confronted in the media.

If the Democrats were to allot their current state delegate totals in a winner-take-all format, Clinton would actually have a significant delegate advantage. Despite having won only 14 recognized contests to Obama's 30, Clinton would currently have a 120 (1738 to 1618) total delegate lead and a remarkable 167 (1427 to 1260) pledged delegate lead. These numbers give Texas' "prima-caucus" delegates to Clinton and do not include Florida, Michigan or the 693 total delegates and 566 pledged delegates still to be won in the next few months. (Rasmussen Reports)

As the article points out, it's too late now for the Clintons to argue for a new system.  Well, obviously.  Still, it's food for reflection.  And perhaps also argument:

DNC Off the Hook---at Least for Now---for Florida

Posted by Damozel | This note was forwarded to me by a friend of mine, an attorney. 

Via Fastcase:

The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has dismissed a suit brought by Victor DiMaio, a Florida Democrat, against the Democratic National Committee for barring the Florida delegates from the upcoming national convention. The court argued that DiMaio had no standing to sue since the suit was filed in 2007, before primary voting had even taken place, and wrote:

"Since DiMaio's complaint does not allege any actual or imminent injury, nor suggest in any way how that 'injury' could be redressed by a favorable judgment, we are without jurisdiction to entertain the appeal."

Florida Plans for a Mail-in Do-Over; Florida Dems in Congress Say "Uh, No" (update)

Posted by Damozel |  UPDATE.  Speaking as one of the disenfranchised, I am was extremely hopeful that Florida will would be allowed a do-over, even a mail-in one (described below). (McClatchy).  I just posted to say so---but it looks as if the proposed mail-in do-over (discussed below) ain't happening.  Via Marc Ambinder:

Moments ago, Democrats representing Florida in Congress released this joint statement, effectively putting the kibosh on a mail-in re-do primary:

Jeremy Paxman Takes on Ralph Nader

by Damozel | First, a big, heartfelt  THANK YOU is going out to BBC America from Nicholas and me for giving us a weekly helping of  Newsnight,  especially now that Real Time with Bill Maher seems to be turning into an incessant and increasingly embarrassing tongue-bath for Barack Obama.

Paxman is an investigative journalist of the ruthless pit bull sort they don't manufacture here and I was all set to jeer at Nader, whom I have never, never forgiven for the 2000 election (which Nader himself argues was stolen from Al Gore.)

Ex-GOP Official Off the Hook in Phone Jamming Case (for now)

From the Associated Press (via Memeorandum):

"A federal judge on Thursday acquitted former Republican Party official James Tobin in the 2002 Election Day phone-jamming case in New Hampshire but said the case will return to an appeals court for further review."

Save Us, Al Gore?

by Damozel | I've never disguised my love for Al Gore.  I loved Al Gore before it was cool.  I always thought he was handsome, brilliant, prophetic, an engaging speaker, etc. etc., and I feel approximately the same way about him that Obama's fan base feels about him.  Though I am glad he is not running in this disappointing circus of a Democratic election, I would be down with this scenario, allegedly now under discussion by 'party insider,' according to this Eleanor Clift article posted by Andrew Romano in the Newsweek blogs:

Al Gore on the second ballot: A scenario that a few weeks ago seemed preposterous is beginning to look plausible to some nervous Democrats looking for a way out of the deadlock between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It goes like this: 

Note from a Disenfranchised Floridian to the Rule-Obsessed DNC

by Teh Nutroots | I am almost too pissed off about this to blog about it.  But I WOULD like to point out to all the self-righteous nitwits who are praising Nancy Pelosi for (finally) taking a stand about something, and to insist that the superdelegates 'not overrule voters' that the will of Florida voters is not going to be represented at the Convention at all.  Where is the person who will speak for us?  We had no control over the events that lost us our delegates.   I've lost all respect for the DNC and its rules.

It's like the form-over-substance morons on the Committee and the ones who are preaching about not overriding the will of the majority can't tell the difference between the state and the individual voters like me who couldn't prevent 'the state' from making a decision we didn't approve and couldn't prevent.  I'm a Democratic voter.  What about my will?   Talk about your 'legal fictions':

A Clinton Supporter Asks: If Obama Wins it All, What Then?

Posted by Damozel |

First the Obama campaign successfully shut down any resistance from the Clintons by succeeding in getting them tagged in the Clinton-loathing media as 'racist' or, at least, 'racist-like'.  (i.e., racist if you ignore the actual meaning of the word 'racist,' plus all known facts about Clinton and ignore common sense and the plain meaning of her remark.)

Once the obstreperous pit bull Bill Clinton was muzzled (as I concede he needed to be), Obama's campaign proceeded to---how shall I put this?---creatively reframe Hillary's health care package, his own relationship to corporate money, and Hillary's stance on various issues.  Not only did Obama not step in to prevent his supporters' use of right-wing style slur tactics against Hillary, but his wife went on Good Morning America to say that she just wasn't all that sure that she'd be able to bring herself to support Hillary if Hillary got the nomination.  Yep, that's what she said.  And that's how the 'Clinton rules' work:  one rule for Bill and Hillary, another for whoever is on the opposite side of the fence.  FOR NOW.

Election Irregularities: Huckabee Wants Washington Recount

Posted by D. Cupples |  Yesterday, Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee's campaign put out a press release, in part containing the following:

"The Huckabee campaign is deeply disturbed by the obvious irregularities in the Washington State Republican precinct caucuses. It is very unfortunate that the Washington State Party Chairman, Luke Esser, chose to call the race for John McCain after only 87 percent of the vote was counted....

Vote-Counting Problems in Los Angeles

Posted by D. Cupples | Right after Election 2000, I felt a tad embarrassed to be a Floridian, given that my state's election officials had actually approved Palm Beach County's butterfly ballot (that and Florida's voter purges, under then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris).

Apparently, eight years later, some California election officials are rightly under fire for creating confusing ballots and possibly disenfranchising thousands of voters.  Crooks & Liars explains:

Ex-Republican Operative Tells Jon Stewart about Voter Suppression Efforts

Former Republican operative Allen Raymond, who went to jail over his involvement in the 2002 phone-jamming scheme in New Hampshire, talks pretty candidly with Jon Stewart (video about 6 minutes).

Raymond said that the scheme came from the Republican National Committee, suggested by a former colleague who later became chairman of the Bush-Cheney Campaign in 2004.

 

Why We Need Real Campaign-Finance Reform: CREW Files Complaint Against Yet Another Senator

by D. Cupples (photo from Senate.gov) |  Instead of focusing on ineffective lobbying reforms that give the false appearance of accomplishment, Congress should finally pass real campaign-finance reforms.

Today, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) brings us yet another example of why our nation needs to tackle the roots of political corruption by enacting real campaign-finance reform.  The problem: most members of Congress benefit from the gushing flow of corporate cash, making them less than eager to turn off the tap. CREW reports:

Some States Worried about Paperless Voting

by D. Cupples |  With the 2008 primary elections nearing, some states are finally moving toward replacing their paperless, electronic voting machines.  I say "finally," because paperless-machine problems have been reported for years. 

In May 2004, for example, the National Committee on Voting Integrity (whose members include experts like Vincent Lipsio and Rebecca Mercuri) testified before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission that electronic machines are "too insecure for deployment without a voter verified paper ballot" (see  testimony here). 

Last month, Colorado and Ohio election officials stated that they doubt the integrity of some widely used paperless machines.  California and Florida have also found problems.  The Los Angeles Times reports:

"Jesus is My Running Mate"

Posted by Damozel | This is my humble recommendation to the Huckabee campaign for a kick-ass campaign slogan, given that Huckabee himself believes that God has endorsed him  Jesus would be way better than Brownback or Tancredo, and would be an old-fashioned sort of pre-Cheney hands-off sort of VP. And of course, Huckabee supporters will be used to Jesus being present only in spirit.  Though if that somehow didn't turn out to be true---say Jesus gets tired of playing a background role--- "Jesus is my Co-President" would be way more reassuring than "Brownback/Tancredo is my Co-President." or (God forbid) "Giuliani is my Co-President."

Primary Education for Voters: Is the whole primary process a sham (or a scam)? (Updated!)

Posted by Damozel | If school children were taught how the presidential primary system works, says Michael Scherer, "even a fourth-grader would get up from his desk and walk out of the classroom in protest."(Salon)

And where would that leave the nation, if all the 10-year-olds knew their political system was built on a lie, that empty hooey about all Americans being entitled to a single, equal vote? What would it mean if they knew every time President Bush and President Clinton and President Reagan had bragged about bringing democracy to the world, they were hiding the fact that pure representative democracy has never come to the United States? (Salon)

Scherer calls the process a "scam," which may seem kind of harsh.  But hey, I'm from Florida.  And as Scherer points out, my vote isn't even going to count because the Democratic National Committee is annoyed with Karen Thurman and to spank the uppity FlaDems,  they've taken everyone's vote away and made all the candidates cross their hearts and hope to die if they do any campaigning in our state during primary season. That'll teach us!  Even though our Republican legislature set the primary date, that'll teach us! 

Fred, You Naughty Boy, You

Posted by PBS Mind | Fred Thompson's not even a declared candidate (oh please, who is he kidding?) and he's already being investigated by the Federal Elections Commission, according to Yahoo! News / Associated Press and our own The Crux.

The one thing I wonder about regarding all this is what the GOP's reaction is. Here's a guy who's siphoning off loads of contribution money (more than 3 million at last report), which, legally, cannot be used once he declares candidacy (assuming he does). Moreover, if he does declare, he already has a black cloud over his head (like the GOP can afford any more of those!). And his activities are crippling other, potentially viable, Republican candidates (who could certainly use the money) in a year when viable Republican candidates (meaning people that even the majority of Republicans could stomach, let alone any Democrats) seem to be pretty thin on the ground.

If I were the GOP, I'd be tapping old Fred on the shoulder and telling him that as soon as he can get his head out of there, I'd like to have a little chat. But that's just me.

Ohio Counties Lost or Destroyed Ballots, Despite Court Order

In August 2006, the King-Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association (and others) filed suit against Ohio’s former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (and others) over “irregularities” during the 2004 election. (See BN-Politics and a pdf of the complaint.)

In April 2007, a federal court ordered Ohio’s 88 county election boards to preserve all ballots from the 2004 election, because they were key evidence in the lawsuit (see court order). State law required the counties to preserve the ballots for 22 months, and the court merely extended the period.

According to AlterNet, despite that court order, two thirds of Ohio's counties either lost or destroyed ballots from the 2004 election (Truthout).

Unless the judge opts to presume guilt on the part of the party who lost or destroyed the evidence, the King-Lincoln plaintiffs may have just lost their case -- and the public may have lost its opportunity to find out what happened in Ohio.

Frankly, I have no clue why those Ohio election officials failed to preserve the ballots. It's better to look incompetent than mal-intentioned, and I suspect that tampering with an election brings heavier criminal penalties than a contempt citation for blowing off a court order.