The Wall Street Journal explains motives behind those shouting "FRAUD"

[EMunster]

EXPLAINING OHIO

A few readers have written to us wondering what the Democrats are up to in Ohio. As the Associated Press reported the other day, the party says it plans an "investigation" of "voting problems" there. Terry McAuliffe, the departing party chairman, "said it's too early to tell if Republicans were behind any fraud that may have influenced the outcome in Ohio." Yet "McAuliffe said the party is not seeking to overturn the result"--an implicit acknowledgment that Bush won fair and square.

Meanwhile, the Dems have joined the Libertarian and Green parties in calling for a statewide recount in Ohio, even though President Bush's victory there, by a margin of well over 100,000 votes, has been certified.

Some readers have written us asking if there is a possibility that the Democrats actually will manage to steal the election. The answer is no. Yet it's a reasonable enough question, for why else would they be pursuing this seemingly pointless exercise? Our guess is they're doing so with future elections in mind:

* There are a certain number of bitter-enders who are impervious to the reality that George W. Bush is a legitimate president, and thus will never accept the result of the election. Democrats likely fear alienating this part of their base unless they make at least some symbolic effort to "count every vote."

* By pressing for such things as permissive standards for counting provisional ballots, Democrats may be hoping to establish precedents they can use in future elections that actually are close.

* Ohio's top election official, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, is a promising young Republican politician--and he is black. For reasons we discussed in the preceding item, Democrats are eager to discredit him; see this vicious Jesse Jackson column for a sample.

There you have it. Kerry isn't going to pull a rabbit out of his hat, and the Democrats aren't crazy (well, except the bitter-enders). They just have smaller things to worry about than the outcome of the election.


http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110006002


Funny that not one of these three reasons has entered my mind until now.