There needs to be a debunking of Voting Irregularities.

Now Lonewacko wants to debunk this article by saying he’s a Newsmax editor. However the man does have good points. With the election over now and President Bush is still clearly the winner of the 2004 Election, Democrats left and right have been coming up with accusation except for one thing they lacked. Which Howard Troxler points out: Evidence.

Lonewacko wants Kerry President as evident in his blog however I still stand with the stance that Kerry conceded and lost the election to a War Incumbent which no President has ever been voted out during a war (Jefferson [Tripoli War], Madison [War of 1812], Lincoln [Civil War], Roosevelt [World War II], Johnson [Vietnam War]). Kerry also lost to a President that won by more than 3.9 million votes and 286 electoral votes. Especially the fact that the last 3 Democrat Presidents (Arkansas, Texas, Georgia) came from the South which Democrats are saying “Forget the South, we can win without them”. One thing has been put to rest. The Redskin Football game which they lost and the incumbent should lose, Bush won.

I’ll mention a couple strong points from the article I linked.

CLAIM: Kerry really won Ohio.

Furthermore, there also were 93,000 “spoiled” ballots in Ohio that, had they gone to Kerry by a miraculously large margin . . . uh, well, still wouldn’t have been enough. By the way, there were fewer undervotes and overvotes than in 2000.

CLAIM: A machine in Franklin County, Ohio, recorded an extra 3,893 votes for Bush.

At the risk of being labeled part of the plot, I want to point out that they caught this obvious mistake. You can’t “stuff’ the ballot box. There is a signed, independent record of how many people voted.

And Kerry conceded in the election and there is no way he can get the Presidency even if Kerry won by some miracle. When Inauguration Day comes, the voting irregularity will simply fade away.

Interesting thing I heard today, in Ohio, provisional ballots matter for Kerry but apparently in Washington, those provision ballots didn’t matter for the Democrat Candidate Gregoire. So those provisional ballots were thrown out by a judge which the Democrat Party contested and took to court which they won. Since that Gregoire is losing by a slim margin of 2,000+ to Dino Rossi and is expected to increase as more provisional ballots gets counted. Oh Washington Government is the source of the votes counted which is accurate. If you’re looking at USA Today, Fox News, or CNN, they’re outdated

You be the judge.

Paige plans still in the air - Education chief hasn't told friends or staff if he will resign

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Paige plans still in the air - Education chief hasn’t told friends or staff if he will resign

When former Houston schools Superintendent Rod Paige accepted President Bush’s offer to join his Cabinet as education secretary four years ago, he told friends he didn’t want to work past his 70th birthday.

Now 71, Paige has kept quiet about whether he’ll join the list of Cabinet members who won’t be around for Bush’s second term.

Bush has asked Cabinet members to let him know whether they plan to stay by week’s end, and some of them, including Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans, have resigned.

Paige’s friends in Houston said Wednesday they wouldn’t be surprised to see Paige back in town soon, since he’s accomplished his mission of implementing the controversial No Child Left Behind Act.

“If I were him, I would,” said Don McAdams, who along with Paige served on the Houston school board that ushered in the reforms that led to No Child Left Behind.

Technically, he could take his old job back at HISD…

UPDATE:
Rumors have been that he is leaving, official announcement to follow shortly.

Kerry Supporter Commits Suicide at Ground Zero

Apparently a Kerry supporter was so upset at Bush’s win that he traveled to Ground Zero and shot himself (hat tip).

Cofer Black Resigns

President Bush’s point man for international counterterrorism policy has quit, the first resignation by a senior official to be made public since Bush’s reelection, a U.S. official said on Friday.

Cofer Black, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism for the last two years, told his bosses of his decision well before the election, which Bush won campaigning as a strong leader in the war on terror.

“He informed the State Department a few weeks ago that the transition period after the election would be the right time for him to explore new professional opportunities,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told Reuters.

He plans to leave the government in a few weeks, added Ereli, who did not know what Black would move on to.

Read more…

So ... Now What?

[Update: I’m keeping this post up front all day … there’s new news just below. Also, for new readers, typically this sort of thing is on the Publisher’s Desk, a page you may not have yet seen. ~ Alan]

Well, there you go. Whew. Exhaaaaale.

It’s over. Right, Left, or Nader … it’s done.

Boy.

We started this page on June 8th, 2003, with a post that read Democratic Presidential Hopefuls In Eastern Iowa. And with that, the blogging of the race here was on … before Dean, before Blogs for Bush, before them all.

2,981 entries, 17,592 comments, and two nominating conventions later, it’s over.

Want a walk down memory lane? Click any of the categories over in the left-hand column under “Search The Post,” like “Clark” or “Moseley-Braun” or “Boston” …

.
..
…
….
…..
……
…….

(cough cough)

Ummm. Yes.

So … now what?

Keep this page? Make it about politics in general? Sort of a National Journal for the People?

Kill it? Relegate it to the archives (ours and that of the Library of Congress)?

Leave it here, like the Monolith in 2001 … a sentinel of something that came before, that we still don’t fully understand, but if we examine, we gain new knowledge?

Or should we just drink a beer, look back at all the news, all the history, and in particular, all the posts from our 86 citizen journalist “Command Post Pajamhadeen” over the past three days, and say, “boy, that was fun?”

I’d like to know … what would you like to see next?

Alternate Universe: Bush Lost

Ok, I know we’re all pretty happy with Bush winning re-election; But let’s turn the tables a little bit. Say Ohio went the other way? Post the articles you would’ve written in the light of a President-elect Kerry.

Cross-posted at Extraordinary Convergence

Michael Moore's Last Words on November 1st.....

….. before he severed the links on his website to any of the content. But despite being known for his thoroughness and precision, he unaccountably left the site in place : where an intrepid TCP reporter (or 10-year-old child) could access it in, oh, 5 seconds?. So here’s a quote from his Day Before post.

There’s a reason Bush calls Kerry the Number One Liberal in the Senate – THAT’S BECAUSE HE IS THE NUMBER ONE LIBERAL IN THE SENATE! What more do you want? My friends, this is about as good as it gets when voting for the Democrat. We don’t have the #29 Liberal running or the #14 Liberal or even the #2 Liberal – we got #1! When has that ever happened?
Those of us who may be to the left of the #1 liberal Democrat should remember that this year conservative Democrats have had to make a far greater shift in their position to back Kerry than we have. We’re the ones always being asked to make the huge compromises and to always vote holding our noses. No nose holding this time. This #1 liberal is not the tweedledee to Bush’s tweedledum.

It seems that many Americans believed him, and voted accordingly.

That’s it. See you at the polls – and at the victory party tomorrow night.

And from November 2nd, as polls opened :

It’s just a quick call to say “hi” and “PLEASE get to the polls as soon as possible.”

Hence the “fictitious” pro-Kerry results from the Exit polls…

P.S. To the millions of 18 to 29-year-olds I’ve met or seen on this tour, I truly believe YOU are the ones who are going to make the difference today.

…by staying away in droves, they did. So who said Michael Moore was an Elephant Irrelevant?

10 Things Kerry Should Have Changed

OK - let’s not get too carried away with Bush’s victory.

The fact of the matter is that the result of the election hung on just 68,000 voters in Ohio. That’s just 1.25% of the total Ohio vote. If 68,000 people in Ohio voted for Kerry instead of Bush - then we would have had a dead heat and the Ohio ballots would be in the courts today - giving us the 2000 election all over again.

John Kerry came within 68,000 votes of possibly winning the Presidency. Let that sink in for a moment.

Personally, I think John Kerry screwed up in a big way. His campaign was an embarrassment of poor decision making. Looking back - here are the 10 things Kerry should have changed which would have won him the election.

Continue reading - No Way to Run a Campaign - 20/20 Hindsight

Department of Redundancy Department II

CNN is reporting “Just over half — 51 percent — of 621 American adults surveyed said they were pleased with the outcome of the presidential election”. Well duh, as noted in the next paragraph, “He [Bush] also picked up 51 percent of the popular vote on his way to victory.” What part of, “Bush won with 51%,” do they not understand?

I would file this under the “I can’t believe they acutally voted for Bush and are happy about it” department, but I suspect this is just a bit of journalistic laziness.

How the USA Voted - County By County, 2000-2004

From USA Today :

The Situation in 2000

.

The Situation in 2004

.

And from Modern Crusader,

The Situation as some now see it

Media Bias at CNN? Say it ain't so...

Well, the picture says it all.

[click for full size]

Go and check it out for yourself.

Cross-posted at Extraordinary Convergence.

George Soros' Future Plans

From Newshounds “We watch Fox so you don’t have to” :

When asked what he planned to do if Kerry lost the election, Soros said that he plans to enter a monastery for a time because he will need to contemplate what is wrong with the people of this country.

Hat Tip : Tim Blair

The Second Inagural

Fellow countrymen …

At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then, a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new would be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war, seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully.

The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh”. If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether”.

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

My Two Cents

I suppose because I’m a declared centrist and someone who has tried to remain as bi-partisan on these pages as possible … and because I’ve been so close to the news, including attending both conventions … I’ve had lots of questions today about what I make of the election (as an “observer”).

I’ve posted my thoughts over on the Op-Ed page … yes, after helping run this place for 18 months, I finally posted original writing on Op-Ed. It’s just my impressions … again, as a centrist and as someone who’s been immersed in both sides of the story since last June.

Hope you find it thought-provoking.

Mary Beth Cahill: We Still Believe

Statement from Kerry Campaign Manager Mary Beth Cahill on Ohio:

“The vote count in Ohio has not been completed. There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio.”

Markets Expect Bush Win

Markets now expect George W Bush to win a second term, despite a refusal by contender John Kerry to concede defeat in the key swing state Ohio.

[…]

Oil, currency and equities markets moved on clear expectations of a Bush win.

Crude bounced back through USD 50 usd mark in overnight Tokyo trade, with the US December contract trading at USD50.12, up 50 cents from its New York close.

European stock markets were also called higher.

Read more…

What's the Hold Up?

A Q & A from the BBC, for those wondering just what the heck the problem is.

Highest Vote Count Since JFK v. Nixon

Voters across the country stormed the polls in record numbers yesterday to help decide one of the closest presidential races in recent history.

“I’ve been working in elections for 15 years, and I have never seen anything like this before,” said one poll worker in Silver Spring, Md.

Officials estimated that more than 125 million people voted yesterday — the highest turnout since the 1960 election, when John Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon.

The Gallup Organization forecast 60 percent of registered voters cast their ballots yesterday, compared to 63 percent in 1960.

In 2000, just 52 percent of the voting population — or 105 million Americans — voted.

Some areas are expected to break even older records. Washington state Secretary of State Sam Reed said he expected 84 percent of registered voters to vote, “the greatest percentage since World War II.”

Read more…

Changeover to Southern Hemisphere Crew

Alan and Michele have gone for a well-earned rest.

The Australian arm of TCP took over about 30 mins ago, and has been tracking the AP poll, CNN Asia, and BBC World in between updates.

The AP poll hasn’t changed for a while, but all commentators are saying Bush is back.

No Rest For the Wicked

It’s 3 a.m. on the East Coast, which is why I must be lonely. The Oregon vote count is still trickling in, and Kerry/Edwards is still hanging all of their hopes on Ohio. I’m getting tired, but at least it’s only midnight here, so when I hop my butt onto my bike to commute to work tomorrow morning, I’ll be hopping with at least six hours of sleep. If Bush wins New Mexico, Nevada, and/or Iowa, and if Ohio goes the way Republicans seem convinced it will go, I predict that Kerry/Edwards will not be “fighting for every vote” and instead will call it a day.

As far as actual results (rather than speculation), according to CNN at 12:05 a.m. Pacific Time, 98% of Ohio is in, with Bush beating Kerry by about 139,000 votes. That means that even if all of the estimate 130,000 provisional votes are valid, and they all go to Kerry — Kerry still won’t win Ohio. Baby, start the bus.

UPDATE: CNN also says 98% of Iowa is in, and Bush has a 10,000 vote lead there. 82% of Nevada is in, with Bush leading by 15,000+ votes. Folks, that may be all she wrote.

Ratherisms IV

This race is "cracking like a hickory fire."

"if we all had side pockets, we'd carry a handgun" (?)

Calls to mind that old song, "it's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely" for President Bush.

"Like a swan, every feather in place above the water, but below the water they are paddling like crazy worrying about ohio."

Ratherisms III

2004: Not the Year of the Youth Vote

This was not the breakout year for young voters that some had anticipated. Fewer than one in 10 voters Tuesday were 18 to 24, about the same proportion of the electorate as in 2000, exit polls indicated. Still, with voter turnout expected to be higher overall, more young people appeared to have come out.

A vigorous push on college campuses by both parties and national mobilization drives had raised expectations that 2004 would be the year of the youth vote.

Too little, too late, Eminem?

Sooo ....

… are we there yet? How you holding up? Michele’s brewing coffee, I just indulged in some mint chocolate chip ice cream, and we’re both digging in for the long haul.

Although I gotta tell you … knowing that we may be waiting for FL and PA until Thursday … doens’t brighten my night, you know?

I can see the folks in the chat are keeping active … but how are you holding up? Anything we can do to improve the coverage? Anything I can send over via special delivery?

Some Trivia

      We have no less than nine Presidential candidates on the ballot in MN this year.

      In addition to Kerry, Bush, and Nader, we have candidates from the Constitution Party (Michael Peroutka/Chuck Baldwin), the Green Party (David Cobb/Pat LaMarche), the Libertarian Party (Michael Badnarik/Richard Campagna), the Socialist Equality Party (Bill Van Auken/Jim Lawrence), the Socialist Workers Party (Róger Calero/Arrin Hawkins), and the Christian Freedom-Minnesota Party (Thomas Harens/Jennifer Ryan).  Where did all these parties come from?

      By the way, so far I haven’t seen any results for anyone but Kerry, Bush, and Nader.      This is either/both blatant discrimination on the part of television news, or cold-blooded realism.  Ralph Nader was complaining on Fox News that the system is stacked against Progressives like him — but at least they bother to announce his vote totals!

      In Minnesota, we have same day registration for voting.  As many as 20% of the Twin Cities metro area voters may have registered today.  8% of all voters told the exit pollsters they were voting for the first time.

      77% of Minnesotans made up their minds over a month ago, 18% in the last month, 5% TODAY!

      Exit poll data from KMSP Fox 9 News, candidate data from here, plus personal observation of the ballot.

Ratherisms II

"Election night is swinging like Count Basie."

"when John Kerry wrote Santa Claus, he said 'give me this state, please.'" re: Colorado

"George Bush is sweeping through the midwest like a big combine."

"Tacychardia inducing presidential race."

CBS has been "on these returns like white on rice."

11 States Close At 9 EST

They are: New York, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, South
Dakota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming. Keep an eye on WI, NM, and CO …

Instapundit on WBIR

Just saw Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a. Instapundit) on the local NBC station, WBIR, here in Knoxville. Just strange blogging about a blogger you are see on TV

Fox implies very tight race

      The exit polls remain top secret information, so we aren’t hearing who is ahead, but Fox did inadvertently mention one interesting set of statistics.  They imply a very tight race.

      55% believe the country is safer from terrorist attack, 43% believe it is less safe.  Bush received 78% of the votes of those feeling the country is safer, 12% of those feeling the country is less safe.  .55*.78 + .12*.43 = .4290 + .0516 = .4806, round to 48%.

      Kerry received 20% of the votes of those feeling the country was safer from terrorist attack, 86% of the votes of those feeling the country was less safe.  .20*.55 + .86*.43 = .1100 + .3698 = .4798, round to 48%.

      Of course, this doesn’t take account of the absentees, the early voters, or the two per cent who weren’t sure if the country was safer or less safe.  My gut is that the absentees break for Bush, but who knows how the others go?

18 States Up at 8:00

Alabama, Florida, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and the District of Columbia.

But don’t expect results for them all …

Another Sign Of The Impending Apocalypse

“Blogs Send Stocks Lower On Talk Of Kerry Victory.” Let me guess … we’re responsible for OBL getting away at Tora Bora, too?

Download Your Election Night Tote Sheet Here!

Less than one hour to the returns and the fun is about to start … and we have everything you need for a great Election Day party here at our party pack … inlcuding a state-by-state wager sheet (person who calls the most states correctly wins), and printable G. W. Bush and J. Kerry masks.

What’s an election, after all, without a wager?

Sorry, Folks ... We Broke The Internet

Seems the Internet is having a hell of a day. Our server at Hosting Matters, the greatest hosting service on the planet, has been absolutely ROCK SOLID all day. We did, however, burn through a ton of disk space today, and had a temporary interruption of service. They’ve got us upped to 3,000 Meg of disk space (yes, you read that correctly) now and we’re good. And for the curious: our bandwith this month? 30,665.88 Megabytes (yes … thirty thousand meg).

Did I mention the tip jar over there in the right-hand column? Donations are welcome …

Regardless, we should be solid throughout the night … so click early, and click often!

First American to Vote For President From Space

With a key stroke, Astronaut Leroy Chiao became the first American to vote for president from space. According to the Associated Press:

“It was just a small thing for me, but it is important symbolically to show that every vote does count,” Chiao said from the international space station a few hours after the polls opened 225 miles below.

[. . .]

I thought long and hard about it over the weekend, made my final decision and Sunday night went ahead and cast the ballot and pushed the send button,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It was a neat moment.”

Chiao’s vote was sent via secure e-mail connection to Mission Control in Houston and forwarded to the Galveston County clerk’s office in Texas, where Chiao normally resides.

Zogby: There May Be Some Surprises

Zogby’s web site is running this banner:

John Zogby: “Watch Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. There may be some big surprises!”

This is Zogby’s Electoral Vote summary:

Bush 252
Kerry 252

According to Zogby, it all coes down to two states:
Pennsylvania (21)
Virginia (13)

From California Yankee.

Presidential Betting Line

This morning I noticed that the line had move a bit in Bush’s favor to Bush -$155 and Kerry +$125. Now it is back to where the line started yesterday morning - Bush -$165 and Kerry +$135 (meaning you would have to risk $165 on Bush to win $100 or risk just $100 to win $135 on Kerry).

Yesterday the line dropped as low as Bush -$135 and Kerry +$105. I get the feeling that betting on a Bush win is as close to a sure thing as I’ll see for a long time.

3 Hours, 52 Minutes ...

… until the first polls close.

President Now In D.C.; Kerry In Boston

The candidates have returned to their respective corners, with the President in DC and Kerry in Boston for the rest of the night.

They, like you, will be constantly checking Command Post for updates …

Guam For Bush!

Results from a straw poll taken during Guam elections, via Pacific Daily News.

PRESIDENTIAL RACE
• George W. Bush 17,264
• John Kerry 9,540
• Ralph Nader 153
• Campagna Badnarik 53

Source: Guam Election Commission

The Election Day Chat Room Is Open!

We’ve opened the Command Post Chat for all your election day discourse … and in fact, we have set up five rooms you can join: General Chat, Republicans, Democrats, Nader, and Other Parties.

Please note: The chat program does not always work well with Firefox. I suggest an alternate browser for Firefox users, either IE or Opera.

We’ll be stopping in throughout the day to act as hosts and encourage friendly debate. We also ask that you remember the chat room rules: politeness and courtesy at all times. You will be asked to leave if you don’t follow that one simple guideline.

Thanks, and have fun!

Upload Your Election Day Photos!

We’ve opened our Photo Gallery and all readers are welcome to upload their Election Day photos. Get artsy, get serious … but get that camera and live that photojournalism dream! You may upload, and see, photos here.

They Jib, They Jab, We Laugh

The Los Angeles Times covers the satirical web videos that helped keep us political junkies sane during this long, long campaign:

In what analysts say is the future of campaigning, merciless Web videos — both sober and silly, some produced independently, others with partisan backing — played the role of provocateur in an election that has cemented the power of the Internet.

“Without question, [“This Land” has] been singularly the most widely viewed political ad in 2004,” says Larry Purpuro, the Republican National Committee’s deputy chief of staff and Internet strategist in 2000. “Any time you have a single communication watched by an estimated 50 million people, you’re talking about serious influential impact.”

These cartoons are “incredibly funny, they push the creative edge, and they didn’t have to go through 10 layers of focus groups and lowest common denominator lawyering,” Purpuro says. And thanks to broadband Internet access and Web cartooning tools, cutting and pasting your own political missive is increasingly easy. Many of these Web videos target a young, Internet-savvy audience that looks beyond cable news spinners for their news.

“Campaigns ignore these new animation videos at their peril,” Purpuro says.

From California Yankee.

Welcome; Thoughts On The Day

Greetings, folks. Good morning if you’re in the States, good day if you’re in W. Europe or Africa, good afternoon and evening for points East, and good night Asia.

There are few people, I think, who do not turn their face this morning, day, evening, and night toward America, and the choice we make this day. But it also strikes me that they look here not just to see the direction we will take to our future, but also to witness our process for doing so.

Since my early teens there have been two days that have been true holidays for me: Independence Day and Election Day. For me the democratic process and the principles upon which it rests are deeply important. Today that process and those principles come to life, and as is the case with each electoral cycle, the world will watch not just because our next leader will affect the world, but because the exercise of self determination has brought freedom to millions and brings hope to millions more.

So we are on display today, not just for who we choose, but for who we are. Choose with your conscience, but also choose knowing that, however dimmed by partisanship and troubled times, on Election Day America’s light still shines hope into the darkest corners of the world.

Me … I’ll bathe in that light today, soaking it’s warmth as I cast my own ballot, and as I witness the incredible display of democratic principles taking form not just across America, but across this very page … as citizen journalists around the country make history in reporting this election to the world.

Thank you for reading, and to our contributors, thank you for posting. And finally, to those millions who have sacrificed their most precious treasure to bring us to this point, thank you for your last full measure of devotion.

When I rose this morning and considered the day ahead, these words came to mind:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who died here that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Write-in Candidates: Way Out There

If Jack Grimes were in charge of America, he says, he would finally set things right.

He would establish a fascist dictatorship based on the teachings of Benito Mussolini and Saddam Hussein, and he would rely on telepathy and astrology to help him make his decisions.

It’s bound to happen, he says, since he’s been sent “by the gods” to revive the “Roman empire.”

Which is why Grimes, the leader of the United Fascist Union, is running for president this year. His destiny, he says, is nothing the American people should fear.

And he’s not the only “out there” candidate looking to get on write-in ballots.

They insist that they’re not only wise to a host of government conspiracies but that they’ve been chosen, as if by an occult hand, to take over the country.— — — Just ask Sterling Allan, a 40-year-old hopeful from Utah.

He’s conferred with his bibles, and they’ve suggested he might be just the person America needs to solve its problems.

Allan interpreted that message through the alphabetics bible code - a system he says he created and pushed so adamantly that the Mormon church excommunicated him for apostasy.

….

Randy Crow of Wilmington, N.C., argues that he’s the candidate hand-picked by God.

Crow, who in his Internet writings refers to himself as “The Lamb,” “The Lord of Lords” and “The Returning Christ,” points to the birthmarks on his right forearm as proof, saying they could be the “marks of spikes stuck in my wrists on the Cross the first time around.”

[…]

In a speech to the Flying Saucer Society of Dover, Del., in 1998, he suggested the government, in exchange for highly advanced technology, had agreed to allow aliens to kill off most of humanity before populating the Earth.

Read the rest…

Poll Closing Times

6 p.m.: Indiana and Kentucky

7 p.m. Georgia, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia

7:30 p.m.: North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia

8 p.m. Alabama, Florida, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and the District of Columbia

8:30 p.m.: Arkansas

9 p.m.: New York, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming

10 p.m.: Iowa, North Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada

11 p.m.: California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii

Networks Determined Not to Repeat 2000

From eye-popping backdrops to overhauled procedures, television will unfurl many changes Tuesday night in its coverage of the 2004 presidential election. But news executives agree on the biggest: They cannot repeat the debacle of 2000.

“Nobody wants to go to Congress and explain why we got it wrong twice,” said David Bohrman, CNN’s Washington bureau chief.

“We just don’t want to have another blow to our credibility,” said Bill Wheatley, NBC vice president of news.

[…]

Caution will be the approach this year, TV executives say. They will strive to be more transparent in relaying the results.

[…]

“The guiding principle of the projections is: Be accurate,” said Dan Merkle, ABC’s decision desk director. “If we’re not fully confident, we’ll wait for more data. If the race is too close, we won’t project. A new rule in place is that ABC News will not project a race if there’s less than 1 percentage margin between the candidates.”

Read more…

Election Day Weather Forecast

If you buy the old rule that weather hurts turnout (and thereby hurts challengers, and in this case, Kerry) it looks like Mother Nature might conspire to make tomorrow even more interesting: the forecast calls for rain in Seattle, Portland, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Houston, New Orleans, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, nearly all of Ohio, and evening showers in Boston.

Via a summary at Weather.com:

• Carolinas, Georgia, Florida: Warm and dry.

• Eastern Texas, western and northern Louisiana, southern and eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee: Rain will be widespread, locally heavy.

• Texas Panhandle and parts of West Texas: Locally accumulating snow (!).

• Extreme southern New England southward through New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and Virginia: Dry.

• Northern Maine: A mix of rain and snow showers is likely.

• Rest of Northeast: Rain late, but not in Philly or New York.

• Northwest states into Montana: Rain and moutnain snow.

• So Cal and Arizona: Windy.

• New Mexico: Rain.

• Ohio Valley and extreme southern Missouri: Rain much of the day.

• Southeastern Michigan, southeastern Indiana and much of Ohio: Rain.

• Plains and Upper Midwest: Sun.

2 Judges Bar Party Challengers at Polls

Two federal judges Monday barred Republican Party representatives from challenging the eligibility of voters at polling places on Election Day.

U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott said that a black couple suing over such challenges would probably be able to prove them unconstitutional. In a similar case in Akron, U.S. District Judge John Adams said it is up to regular poll workers to determine if voters are eligible.

In a related ruling in Newark, N.J., a federal judge said a GOP list challenging the registration of 23,000 voters in Ohio unfairly targeted minority voters, and violated a decades-old order prohibiting such tactics. The GOP had claimed many of the names were fraudulent.

“The public interest is always served by encouraging people to vote,” Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise said.

In the Akron ruling, the judge said people appointed as challengers cannot be at the polls for the sole purpose of challenging voters’ qualifications.

Read more…

Command Post Election Night Party Pack

Hosting an election night party? If not, you should … after all, the democratic process, no matter how divisive the race, is still a celebration of freedom and self determination, and is just as worthy of group conviviality as is the Super Bowl or Oscars.

But how do you ensure you have a star-spangled night as the returns come in? Command Post to the rescue! Host your friends, family … hell, even the opposition … with this Command Post Election 2004 Party Pack. And don’t forget to vote!

• Print a copy of Larry Rosin’s “What To Watch For On Election Night” and use it to inform your guests on how to get the most from the TV election coverage.

• Interested in a friendly wager? Download this TCP Election 2004 Party Pack Electoral College Tote Sheet. Print a copy for each guest and have them predict who will take each state before the first polls close at 7:00 p.m. EST. Place some stakes on the outcome; the person who correctly picks the most states wins. (This is also fun to play around the office and should make for good water cooler conversation Wednesday.)

• Come as your favorite candidate! Click here to download a full-color, printable George W. Bush mask (and click here to download his optional hat), or click here to download a full-color, printable John Kerry mask (and click here for his hat). (Masks courtesy Forbes.com).

• Gather the crowd around your PC and play this fantastic online election game at The Political Circus. Shooting candidates out of a cannon … there’s nothing better.

What to serve for dinner? If you’re having Republicans, we suggest:

• Cocktails: Texas Tea

• Appetizer: Colorado Potato Pancakes and Stuffed Jalapenos - West Texas Style.

• Salad: Iceberg lettuce salad with Senate Salad Dressing

• Entree: Texas barbecue and BBQ beans and Coors

• Dessert: Republican Pudding

And if you’re hosting Democrats:

• Cocktails: Carolina Dreams

• Appetizer: Oysters on the half shell and shrimp and corn patties.

• Soup: New England clam chowder

• Entree: A traditional New England clam bake with all the trimmings and Sam Adams

• Dessert: Chocolate Boston cream pie

Independent? Mix and match. Undecided? Pick with your eyes closed.

But most of all, have fun, and exercise your right to vote!

Voters Don't Believe in the System

AFP is reporting that only 62 percent of US voters believe that their ballot will be counted and counted correctly. Nice. Another 22% said they were “somewhat confident” that their ballot would be counted correctly.

The cornerstone of democracy, folks.

The World's View on the U.S. Election

The BBC has collected statements from newspapers around the world giving their impression of the global impact of the the U.S. election.

Press cynical on US poll

As Tuesday’s US presidential election approaches, many papers across the world wonder if the outcome will make any real difference.

Some reflect worries about the robustness of the voting system, while others are less shy in expressing a political preference. There is a distinct sense the world may be due for a change at the top.

Read the excerpts here.

Expect Highest Turnout Since 1968

Curtis Gans, an electoral expert, is on CNN TV forcasting a turnout higher than the 52% seein in 2000, and the highest since the election of 1968. He’s forecasting between 118 and 121 million votes cast tomorrow.

What To Watch For Tomorrow Night

Via friend and contributor NZ Bear I found a great roundup of “what to watch for on election night” over at Edison Media Research. Larry Rosin has some great tips, including this overview of how many electoral votes will be called at what times (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 PM - 58 Electoral Votes
• 7:30 PM - 40 EVs
• 8:00 PM - 171 EVs
• 8:30 PM - 6 EVs
• 9:00 PM - 159 EVs
• 10:00 PM - 20 EVs
• 11:00 PM - 81 EVs
• 1:00 AM - 3 EVs

If we presume a dead-heat race, the 270 EVs needed to win may not be met until 11 PM EST … and that presu