Campaign 2008

By David Swanson

Trying to squeeze any sort of peace on earth out of our government in Washington has been a steep uphill climb for years. For the most part we no longer have representatives in Congress, because of the corruption of money, the weakness of the media, and the strength of parties. There are not 535 opinions on Capitol Hill on truly important matters, but 2. Our supposed representatives work for their party leaders, not for us. Luckily, one of the two parties claims to want to work for us.

When the Democrats were in the minority and out of the White House, they told us they wanted to work for us but needed to be in the majority. So, in 2006, we put them there. Then they told us that they really wished they could work for us but they needed bigger majorities and the White House. So, in 2008/2009, we gave them those things, and deprived them of two key excuses for inaction. We took away the veto excuse and the filibuster excuse.

Glenn Greenwald compared the pre-election polls to actual results in the battleground states and discovered Obama did better than the polls predicted in every single state.

As Greenwald explains, this data disproves some popular theories of the right, left, and center:

WINA reports:
"State law calls for a mandatory recount when the separation in the vote total is less than one-half of one percent."

But here's a citation of state law stating that a recount must be requested by apparently losing candidate.

Check the official results.

Be glad if you voted on paper because for most voters in Virginia's Fifth District there simply ain't nothing to recount.

AUDIO OF A PERRIELLO INTERVIEW TODAY.

And an encouraging statement from Perriello.

And a call for help:
"Remember the friends that I told you about who are working on a state campaign in Virginia? Well, it came down to within a few hundred votes and they need help getting the word out to election lawyers/political operatives who can help with a re-count. Would you mind forwarding this info to your list? The campaign is Tom Perriello's run for Representative in VA's 5th. David Madden is the contact person. His number is (202) 550-6461 and his e-mail is david_madden@post.harvard.edu "

And an analysis of Perriello's success, and a prediction the recount will take till Christmas, and something very strange: votes oddly eliminated and added:

VERIS is the new (and controversial) state voter registration database system. I just did an analysis of the changes due to the VERIS malfunction (?). In Danville, Tom Perriello’s vote totals (”original value”) were REDUCED by 308, while Virgil Goode’s vote totals were INCREASED by 1819. I do not understand why vote totals would have been affected by VERIS “going down after midnight,” as the VBE update page states. It seems the system is used to report vote totals. So precincts were able to report vote totals before midnight (presumably, these are the “original values”), but were prevented from finishing until this morning, when (it seems) the system was rebooted. Why, then, would vote totals have been decreased as well as increased? Also, the data from the missing precinct in Lunenberg were just added (9:58am): 351 Goode, 207 Perriello.

Possible explanation here.

And another mystery.

By David Swanson

There is still hope that Virginia's Fifth District can be rid of Virgil Goode, but the final count has him in the lead. A recount is possible, and if there is any basis for it, I hope that Democratic candidate Tom Perriello will request it. Even if he loses a recount, Perriello would earn our respect as someone who stands up to see that every vote is counted, rather than someone who runs in fear of being called names like "sore loser."

The many complaints of polling place problems recorded yesterday by Election Protection in Virginia do not appear to be concentrated in the Fifth District. But there are serious complaints there, which if verified would throw the election in a very bad light. I've pasted some of the reports below.

Meteor Blades compiled the results of "culture war" referenda. Abortion rights are now mainstream even in rural states, but gay marriages are still feared even in "liberal" states.

The two attempts to outlaw abortions failed in South Dakota and Colorado, and parental notification failed in California. The three attempts to outlaw gay marriage succeeded in Florida, Arizona, and California, as did the ban on gay adoption in Arkansas. Arizona likes cheap illegal immigrant labor, despite Lou Dobbs. Nebraska banned affirmative action while Colorado narrowly kept it, no doubt a reflection of the relative numbers of minorities in the two states. Assisted suicide passed in Washington, medical marijuana passed in Michigan.

(The numbers in parentheses are the percentage of precincts counted.)

By David Swanson

Virginia and the rest of the old South always voted for Democrats for president when the Democratic party stood for racism, and for Republicans when the Republican party stood for racism, until tonight. Virginia just voted for a Democrat for president, while the Republican party still carries the banner of racism. In fact, the Republican candidates played up their racism more this year than in other recent elections. In addition, the Democratic candidate was black. It's a new South.

Virginia is now a blue state, as is Florida, and at the time I wrote this it looked likely that North Carolina would be too. Other new blue states are: Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. Other undecided states that used to be red are: Indiana, Missouri, Montana, and Alaska. It's a whole new map.

"Tom Tom Tom!" chants by huge crowd at the Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville VA right across the street from Virgil Goode's office, where we have so often marched, protested, and sat-in, but never been represented. Perriello is talking "change" and "a new kind of politics," and the applause is ecstatic. People are commenting to each other about how long they've been losing. They're still scared to believe they've won something. Perriello is talking "unity." Huge applause. Very brief remarks. Now he's doing more interviews. I'm not sure he'll be a progressive leader. I am sure that the worst member of the United States Congress must now seek other employment.

• Stephen Colbert congratulated America's first Hawaiian president.
• McCain concedes; says the failure is his, not his supporters. Calls Sarah Palin an impressive new voice in the Republican party.
• McCain wished Obama Godspeed, called him the man who will be his President, and called on all Americans to believe in the promise and greatness of America.
• Reverend Jesse Jackson moved to tears of joy.
• Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) reflected on the sacrifices of all the people, famous and not, who contributed to the Civil Rights movement, helping to make this moment possible.
• Huge crowd fills Grant Park, Chicago, to celebrate President Obama. He'll be speaking at the top of the next hour (11 PM CST; 12 Midnight EST).
• Senator Clinton extends congratulations.
• President-Elect Obama's motorcade enroute to Grant Park.
• Bishop T.D. Jakes (Potter's House) prays for a restoration of civility, that we stand in a greater dimension of truth to heal the breaches of anger and hostility.
• President-Elect Obama arrives on stage; is now at the podium. Crowd estimated at 200,000.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America!...Change has come to America!

This victory belongs to you! This victory proves that after 2 centuries, government for, of, and by the people, has not perished from this earth.

The values we share: self-reliance, individual liberty and national unity.

Democratic Party has won a great victory, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I hear your voices, I need your help, I will be your President, too.

The true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. That's the true genius of America, that America can change. Our union can be perfected.

Out of many, we are one. Yes! We can! God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America!

Read the full text of President Elect Obama's speech

• Vice-President Elect Biden greets President-Elect Obama on stage, hugs in congratulations.
• Reverend Jackson cries joyous tears.
• Oprah is awe-struck: "It feels like hope won. It feels like America did the right thing. It feels like there's a shift in consciousness - like something really big and bold....It feels like anything is now possible....Colin Powell understood when he said: 'All villages matter!'"
• The couples embrace; family members join them, they wave and then exit the stage.

"America is a center-right country." As ThinkProgress documents, those 6 words are coming out of the mouths of every far-right pundit and politician. But what makes this claim absolutely ludicrous is the fact that two center-left Democrats won a landslide victory, while center-right Republicans are becoming extinct!

Here's a quick list of prominent Senators (Republicans in italics). Two of the few remaining center-right Republicans - Norm Coleman and Gordon Smith - are heading towards recounts. In 2010, Arlen Specter will voluntarily or involuntarily retire. If these dominoes all fall, there will be exactly 1 center-right Senator out of 100, not surprisingly from the quirky state of Maine.