Reply #39: 2002 was the test ground for this sort of thing

[Piscis Austrinus]

Georgia's senatorial and gubernatorial results in this election are instructive for what we can expect. In both cases, the Democratic candidate held a significant lead only a few days before the election, only to see a large swing (15% or more) registered in the actual election. There has been evidence emerging since then that the vote totals were almost certainly tampered with. This took place in what is pretty well considered to be a GOP stronghold, so it hasn't raised the hue and cry one might expect.

What we need to be looking at here is the big picture. We all saw in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004 that the major election battlegrounds were known in advance by the GOP and that the groundwork for the chicanery was laid well in advance of the general election.

So, we go into the 2006 elections looking at numbers that strongly indicate a sweeping change in Congress. The GOP cannot afford this. The loss of even one house of Congress will open the rest of the government to scrutiny through Democratic-ordered investigation. Imagine John Conyers with subpoena power, and what he would do with it. Imagine the damage that would be done to the Republicans if a Democrat, and not Pat Roberts, held the chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee. These kinds of scenarios would put the GOP in a devastating lose-lose position: either they would have to go along with an investigation, which we all know would result in the publication of facts that would sweep away the tattered remnants of the Republicans' credibility in their few remaining "strong" issues, or they would resist and stonewall any investigation, which would lead to a confrontation in the public eye that they no longer can win. Too many people in this country have seen what this administration and their quislings in Congress have been up to: Iraq, NSA wiretapping, the bankruptcy bill, the K-Street project, Katrina, and most recently the Dubai ports fiasco. If the GOP tried to fight an investigation, I think most of the public would conclude - correctly - that this administration is hiding something. Or a lot of somethings. The cost in 2008 would be far greater than in 2006.

The GOP has to know this. They showed in 1994 that they know how to count. I am quite sure that they have already looked at the entire country, district by district, and have selected their positions.

What we need, and what we must do, is exactly the same thing. We should not be asking ourselves, "which races can we win?" We should ask the simple question: "If I were in the GOP, which combination of races would yield the lowest-cost, most-effective way to prevent the loss of one or both Congressional houses?"
If we look at it in this light, we probably would have a much clearer idea of exactly what to expect and where to expect it. Part of this calculation would have to include a margin of error; if the GOP expects to have 20 critical House races, expect that at least 25 races will be targeted as a cushion.

Does anyone know whether there is any type of online news database concerning the activities of voting machine companies, election officials, etc. by district? This would enable us to be able to match up what we think can happen with anything untoward that is going on now. I certainly expect that there already are pieces being moved into position on the 2006 chessboard. If we have countermeasures in place well before November, we can counter or neutralize their actions and assure that the elections are not rigged.

Remember this in 2006: the GOP has nothing to gain, and everything to lose. Do not expect a clean election; I sure don't, but if we are ready to jump in the moment that something goes amiss, or better, before it goes amiss, enough damage might be prevented to stem the scum tide.

Peace
PsA