Reply #21: Not necessarily

[Dr Ron]

Dibold didn't have machines in Ohio.

Putting aside nefarious interpretations, this goes along with many legitimate interpretations of what happened. Bush got many more votes than expected from exurban and other areas.

Of course it is necessary to continue to investiagate any possible outright fraud, and change the laws which allowed for voter suppression (which by itself might have made the difference in Ohio). However it also does not help us long run to ignore the fact that there were people the Democrats didn't account for who the Republicans were able to mobilize.

This is particularly important as so many people voted Republican contrary to both their economic interests and contrary to their political views due to the tremendous misinformation campaign the Republicans had.

We are already at a disadvantage in much of the country due to the right wing noise machine. Having areas which in a sense really were invisible (because the were ignored by Democrats and virtually left uncontested) just makes the Republicans job easier.