Reply #19: Possibly but....

[davidgmills]

it will probably die on the vine. If you want really good discovery, you need the judge to be on your side and hammering the hell out of the opposition. If he doesn't, they will stonewall the hell out of you. To get the judge's attention, you have to have him believing that your case probably will make a difference in the outcome of things. If the judge believes that the possiblity for making a difference is slight, he's likely not to give you much help.

But a really good legitimate exit poll which shows Kerry won or should have won, changes the dynamics. Especially with what has happeneed in the Ukraine. A judge will see the double standard instantly if the Republicans start to argue that a really legitimate poll was flawed.

To me, a solid exit-poll is nothing but a very valid check of the system. If it does not check out, it throws up a red flag and people are almost obligated to check the system out.

Suppose for example the news tomorrow was that three highly respected pollsters, Zogby, Harris and Gallup had, in a joint venture for the good of the country, polled 16,000 voters in Ohio and found that they had voted for Kerry 52% to Bush's 48%? Suppose they also said their poll was accurate within 1%.

What would happen when the news got out? Not only will the media be covering it but any judge would instantly take a different viewpoint on the case. Would Kerry then look like a sore loser if he got active in the lawsuit? Would what Conyers is doing be taken seriously? Might some senators balk on January 6? I think the answer to all of these questions is yes.

Did the Ukraine elections get set aside for any reason other than the exit polls? No.

In hindsight, I think one of the major mistakes of the 2000 election is that extremely accurate exit polls weren't taken. If the Supreme Court of the US was faced with extremely accurate exit polls of Florida that showed Gore won by 2%, maybe they would not have decided the way they did. Judges are political animals. It would have been a much tougher decision for the moderate voices on the court.