President Bush’s exit from the political scene is replete with irony. In 2000, many thought he won an election by disenfranchising thousands of African-American voters in Florida through the intervention of the partisan U.S. Supreme Court. Now, the outgoing president is handing over power to the nation’s first African-American president (“The Obamas check out future home,” News, Last Tuesday).
(Greeting the future: President Bush hosts last Monday’s visit to the White House by President-elect Barack Obama)
The 2000 Florida race had a distinct Third World aura about it, featuring nepotism, biased officials, questionable counting of ballots and transparent voter intimidation. Allegations abounded of police barricades near polling places to intimidate voters, refusal to accept voter registrations from blacks and a disproportionate number of faulty voting machines in predominantly black areas. Also, a highly confusing ballot was used in a predominantly Democratic county.
The race also saw an unprecedented mobilization among African-American voters who supported then-vice president Al Gore over Bush by more than 90% to 9%.
With the election of Barack Obama, history has given its final verdict on Bush, who will remain a permanent scar on American democracy.
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NOTE 1:GOP back to square one with Hispanics — John McCain won just 31 percent of the Hispanic vote. In 2004, Bush won 54 percent of Latino Protestants. This year, Obama won 67 percent. While the economic crisis eclipsed cultural values among all voters, the shift in the Hispanic vote was especially pronounced. McCain’s reputation among Hispanics was damaged when he backed away from his failed 2007 immigration reform bill in this year’s Republican primary, as anger among the party faithful about illegal immigration led to a competition among the candidates to offer the most aggressively enforcement-oriented immigration plans. McCain said he would not vote for his own bill if it were to be reintroduced. — [MORE]
NOTE 2:The Republicans are in serious denial. — The post-election Republican soul searching has featured a convenient amnesia about the party’s race-based ‘Southern strategy.‘
A few heretics excepted, they hope to blame all their woes on their unpopular president, the inept McCain campaign and their party’s latent greed for budget-busting earmarks. The trouble is far more fundamental than that. The G.O.P. ran out of steam and ideas well before George W. Bush took office and Tom DeLay ran amok, and it is now more representative of 20th-century South Africa during apartheid than 21st-century America. The proof is in the vanilla pudding. When David Letterman said that the 10 G.O.P. presidential candidates at an early debate looked like ‘guys waiting to tee off at a restricted country club,‘ he was the first to correctly call the election.
Scare tactics, dirty tricks used to sway voters — Desperate McCain-Palin camp and the GOP machine “climbing walls” like scared “hissing cockroaches.” The rotting corpse of the Republican Party is stinking up the United States from top to bottom.
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Report By: Associated Press
[Enlarge] In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.
The intent usually is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation.
Complaints have surfaced in predominantly black neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.
In Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal have appeared saying fears of high voter turnout had prompted officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.
In New Mexico, two Hispanic women sued last week, saying they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration officials, even though they are U.S. citizens.
“He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter,” said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking for her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. “He totally, totally scared the heck out of her.”
Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen “an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities.”
Mccain’s Sex-Talk Robocalls
Hate on Halloween
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References:
1.The Right’s Final Attack:Obama is a Black Muslim, Anti-Christian Socialist Plotting with an Evil Jewish Billionaire 2.
….All the above in order to elect FRAUDULENTLY — A washed up, half-dead, dazed and confused WHITE man and his semi-illiterate lying COW!
West Virginia voters say voting machines are switching votes. In several cases, Democratic votes flipped to GOP. An electronic vote for “Barack Obama” flips to “John McCain”.
Some early W.Va. voters angry over switched votes — Jackson County touch-screens switched votes, 3 residents say. At least three early voters in Jackson County had a hard time voting for candidates they want to win.
By Paul J. Nyden Staff writer
At least three early voters in Jackson County had a hard time voting for candidates they want to win.
Virginia Matheney and Calvin Thomas said touch-screen machines in the county clerk’s office in Ripley kept switching their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates.
“When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain,” said Matheney, who lives in Kenna.
When she reported the problem, she said, the poll worker in charge “responded that everything was all right. It was just that the screen was sensitive and I was touching the screen too hard. She instructed me to use only my fingernail.”
Even after she began using her fingernail, Matheney said, the problem persisted.
When she tried to vote for candidates running for two open seats on the Supreme Court, the electronic machine canceled her second vote twice.
On her third try, Matheney managed to cast votes for both Menis Ketchum and Margaret Workman, Democratic candidates for the two open seats.
Calvin Thomas, 81, who retired from Kaiser Aluminum in Ravenswood in 1983 and now lives in Ripley, experienced the same problem.
“When I pushed Obama, it jumped to McCain. When I went down to governor’s office and punched [Gov. Joe] Manchin, it went to the other dude. When I went to Karen Facemyer [the incumbent Republican state senator], I pushed the Democrat, but it jumped again.
“The rest of them were OK, but the machine sent my votes for those top three offices from the Democrat to the Republican,” Thomas said.
“When I hollered about that, the girl who worked there said, ‘Push it again.’ I pushed Obama again and it stayed there. Then, the machine did the same thing for other candidates.
“Why didn’t she [the polling clerk] tell me before I even used the machine that might happen? And how many people, especially my age, didn’t notice that? …..[MORE]
More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes — In six cases, Democratic votes flipped to GOP
Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week. This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for “Barack Obama” kept flipping to “John McCain”.
By Paul J. Nyden Staff writer
WINFIELD, W.Va. — Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for “Barack Obama” kept flipping to “John McCain”.
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
“People make mistakes more than machines,” said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.
“I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican,” she said. “I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
“I asked them for a printout of my votes,” Ketchum said. “But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.
“I heard from some other people they also had trouble. But no one in there knew how to fix it,” said Ketchum, who is not related to Menis Ketchum, a Democratic Supreme Court candidate.
Ketchum’s son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.
“I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead,” Oates said of her experience Thursday.
She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk’s office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.
When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, “I’m absolutely positive.”
Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said on Saturday that he is upset there are “so many negative stories out there and not enough positive ones. We want people to vote. People need to know the facts.
“But we haven’t had any major issues. We try to explain to voters how the machines work then they come in,” Wood said.
In Putnam County, early voters have the option of asking for either touch-screen machines or optical scan ballots — paper ballots on which people mark in their election choices.
Wood said some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices.
WINFIELD, W.Va. — Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for “Barack Obama” kept flipping to “John McCain”.
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
“People make mistakes more than machines,” said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.
“I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican,” she said. “I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
“I asked them for a printout of my votes,” Ketchum said. “But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.
“I heard from some other people they also had trouble. But no one in there knew how to fix it,” said Ketchum, who is not related to Menis Ketchum, a Democratic Supreme Court candidate.
Ketchum’s son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.
“I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead,” Oates said of her experience Thursday.
She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk’s office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.
When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, “I’m absolutely positive.”
Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood said on Saturday that he is upset there are “so many negative stories out there and not enough positive ones. We want people to vote. People need to know the facts.
“But we haven’t had any major issues. We try to explain to voters how the machines work then they come in,” Wood said.
In Putnam County, early voters have the option of asking for either touch-screen machines or optical scan ballots — paper ballots on which people mark in their election choices.
Wood said some voters might not realize that touch-screen voting machines may take a few seconds to record their choices.
“The reaction time [on the machines] may be different. And when you hit the screen a second time, it cancels your vote,” Wood said. “When you get in a hurry, if you go to fast and hit it again, you can cancel what you just did.
“The main thing people need to remember is that when you are done voting, make sure everybody you wanted to vote for has a check mark beside them,” Wood said.
Ketchum said, “I am educated person. I know what I wanted. I am anxious to see who wins.
“My son Chris said, ‘Mom, I didn’t vote for the people who came up on that machine. I wanted to go back and vote again. I called the lady at the polls and she said it was my fault because of the way I was punching the buttons.’
“I want a paper ballot. I think it was very bad when they did away with paper ballots. I wish you had something in your hand that is a record of how you voted.
“I never felt that way before. It was early voting, so we went over there to get it over with. We won’t do that again,” Ketchum said.
Last week, three Jackson County residents said they experienced similar problems when they cast early ballots at the county courthouse in Ripley.
Virginia Matheney, one of those voters, said Friday, “When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain.”
Retired factory worker Calvin Thomas of Ripley said he experienced the same problem.
“When I pushed Obama, it jumped to McCain. When I went down to governor’s office and punched [Gov. Joe] Manchin, it went to the other dude.
“After I finished, my daughter voted. When she pushed Obama, it went to McCain. It happened to her the same way it happened to me,” Thomas said.
Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright, a Republican, said 400 other people voted without reporting any problems.
Wood said he and Waybright are both very careful to guarantee people’s votes are recorded properly.
Wood said, “Voting machines are very reliable. I hate the fact that stories like this are printed. It makes everybody get scared.
“That is not good for anybody. Where the fault is, I don’t know and the voter doesn’t know. There needs to be good communication between the voters and the poll workers.”
Wood offered this advice to voters: “The best way to solve this whole problem is that before you leave the voting booth, make sure on the review screen that everybody you want to vote for is checked.”
More than 1,000 voters from 48 local precincts in Putnam County cast early ballots in the past three days, Wood said. Putnam County has 36,000 registered voters….[MORE]
This piece of garbage had the gal to go to Kenya to promote his lies, bigotry and Republican swift-boat racism!! Jinga Huyu! — A few lashes at Kamiti Maximum Prison would have been very appropriate. After all that’s what his cousins, the despicable colonial Brits used to do to Kenyans before the country achieved independence in the early sixties.
Immigration officer Dume Wanda (right) leads Dr Jerome Corsi, the WorldNetDaily writer and author of The Obama Nation, to a waiting security vehicle at Laico Regency hotel, on Tuesday.
Jerome Corsi was arrested shortly after 8a.m. just as he was about to address a news conference to launch his anti-Obama book in Nairobi.
He was taken to the Immigration headquarters at Nyayo House and later deported on the British Airways midnight flight out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
He was due to launch the book, which depicts Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan, as a sympathizer of radical Islam and communism, at the Laico Regency Hotel.
But he was arrested there before he could speak and driven with an assistant, Mr Timothy M. Bueler, to Nyayo House, around 500 metres away.
The Immigration officials also impounded copies of the Obama book.
At Nyayo House, the two were held for four hours and questioned by officials led by the Director of Immigration, Mr Albert Musasia, about his presence in Kenya.
The decision to deport him was made after it emerged that Dr Corsi and Mr Bueler had entered the country as tourists, stating they intended to visit game parks.
The book launch was a commercial venture, therefore, they had contravened their immigration status.
After questioning, the two were taken to the office of the Permanent Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Kisombe, and from there through the basement to a car in which they were driven to the house where Dr Corsi had been staying in Runda for verification of his passport and visa before they were escorted to the airport.
There he and his aide were held in the Immigration office to await their flight out of the country.
A US embassy official said they were not told officially about the arrests, saying they had learnt about them from the media.
The official said Dr Corsi’s was a private individual’s visit and did not warrant comment from the embassy since he was not a US government official.
Questioned
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe commented later that the two US citizens were summoned by the Immigration department to be questioned on the status of their stay in the country.
He also said that they had chosen to fly out of the country voluntarily after being questioned.
Dr Corsi flew into Kenya last Tuesday and was booked to stay at the Laico Regency (formerly Grand Regency) at 7.55am, although hotel communications manager Jenifer Wanza said he had been staying in Runda.
Dr Corsi was expected to stay at the hotel for one month.
General manager Solomon Adede later issued a statement distancing the hotel from the planned news conference, scheduled to take place at the Bogoria room.
He said the management would not allow such a function, and added: ‘Laico Regency is a law-abiding institution and does not condone any smear campaigns.‘
He said the booking for the Press conference had been made by Mr Peter Mbae, editor-in-chief of The Eagle Christian magazine.
NTV Kenya — Obama smear author deported
Mr Mbae founded the newspaper and has played an active role in religious organisations. Posters that were announcing the news conference were quickly pulled down at the hotel.
Kenya features prominently in Dr Corsi’s book, The Obama Nation, which has been seen primarily as a vehicle to run a smear campaign against Mr Obama.
Dr Corsi states early in the book that Kenya will play a key part in his account because ‘Barack Obama himself tells us that Kenya is an important part of who he is, even today.’
But the book has been widely criticised for containing many inaccuracies and distortions.
When it was released, Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said: ‘Jerome Corsi is a discredited liar who is peddling another piece of garbage to continue the Bush-Cheney politics he helped perpetuate four years ago.‘
Similar attacks were published about former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton during their campaigns to reach the White House.
Perhaps significantly both went on to win the presidency.
Dr Corsi, a well-known right-wing author, used Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a means of attacking Mr Obama on the two fronts of radical Islam and communism.
The Prime Minister, portrayed as a close associate of Mr Obama, is described as ‘a Muslim sympathizer with well-known communist political roots.”
Obama’s father
The book suggests that Mr Odinga might be a Muslim, even though, as it admits, he ‘today professes to be an Anglican.”
The book also attacks Obama’s father Mr Barack Obama Snr, who came from Siaya in Nyanza Province and who died in 1982, referring to him as ‘an alcoholic polygamist‘ and a Muslim who gravitated to the ‘more extreme communist position openly advocated by and identified with Oginga Odinga.‘
The book distorts Mr Obama’s political views and associations — often by means of inaccuracies — in an attempt to destroy his image as a new-style politician able to bridge cultural, racial and ideological divides.
kept switching their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates.
Immigration officer Dume Wanda (right) leads Dr Jerome Corsi, the WorldNetDaily writer and author of 
