''Dead voted in governor's race'' (UPDATED)

That's the headline for this "exclusive" P-I story that provides one specific to answer the question, which candidate was the beneficiary of this group's political support? "Bob Holmgren said yesterday that he voted on behalf of his late wife, Charlette Holmgren, who died Sept. 29. The West Seattle man filled out his own ballot and hers, and signed both of them."Her vote was important to her," Holmgren said. "She was very strongly against Governor-elect Gregoire." 'I want you to vote for me,' dying wife said," is the headline to the sidebar story. She would have been happy, then, that all of her fifteen minutes of fame will celebrate that sentiment. The Seattle Times story Friday morning, "GOP expected to file suit over Gregoire's win," takes a less startling approach to headline-writing. The article says the suit will focus on "mishandled provisional ballots in King County and lingering questions about why the county shows more votes counted than people voting on Nov. 2." TIME/CNN has this quip about the race, reported by Sandeep Kaushik, whose work usually appears in The Stranger: "As Rossi called for a new election last week, a Democratic spokeswoman scoffed:"This isn't a video game where you can go and feed in more quarters." Update: KOMO News has, "Sec. Of State Presents Election Reform Package," that mentions "all absentees in hand at Auditor's offices by Election Day, rather than mailed on or before Election Day" and other proposals, but nothing about "paper trails" or state-wide procedures and standards. Update: An editorial from the Tri-City Herald says, "Prove election fraud or silence allegations: "Now, it's state Republican Chairman Chris Vance's turn to hint at voter fraud, splattering a lot of mud with talk of dead voters casting ballots and other misdeeds, but failing to reveal evidence for anything more sinister than human error." Update: Robert Jamieson, Jr.'s column in the P-I today slaps down both sides in the fracas: "Republicans are resorting to politics of distortion and half-truths that distract -- and unnecessarily so -- from their reasonable questions about the election process. The Democrats, meanwhile, have turned wimpy, fending off Republican fangs with the ferocity of Little Red Riding Hood." Nevertheless, if you believe the glass is half-full, the Gregoire Campaign is taking reservations for "The 2005 Governor's Inaugural Ball. Info: "Tickets are $75 per person. You may mail your payment to: PO Box 1086 Shelton WA 98584-Phone: (360) 427-6881-Email: IBC2005@hotmail.com. A Letter to the Editor in today's P-I takes Ralph Munro's VoteHere company spokesperson to task: "Jim Adler of VoteHere, claims that his product "provides for a voter-verified paper trail and independent audit -- just like a bank." This claim, opaque as voter-verification software, does nothing that allows voters to ensure that their vote has been counted as it was cast." Scroll down to the "GOVERNOR'S ELECTION" headline there.

Let the Debriefing Begin (UPDATED)

"Evidence of Voter Irregularities in Snohomish County, Washington, General Election 2004"---These are not the kind of "Irregularities" Chris Vance is yelping about. David Swanson from ILCA does a quick job of thinking about today's challenge in Congress and answering the question: "What does it mean?" Kos has "Media Coverage of the Ohio Challenge." Air America's Randi Rhodes has posted a bunch of stuff on her site tonight. Update: From Portland State's Daily Vanguard comes, "The donkey that refused to kick: Spineless Kerry should have embraced evidence of election fraud, supported protests." Better late than never, NPR had this audio report on Thursday morning, "Kerry Diehards Hold Vigil in Beacon Hill." From Ray Beckerman's Ohio Election Fraud site: "I believe history will record January 6, 2005, as the day on which the United States of America completed a 4-year descent from democracy into dictatorship, by abandoning the rule of law in its electoral process, thus ensuring that the party in control cannot be removed." Consistent Clarity Department: "Keep Objecting": from John Nichols in The Nation. Update: The Boston Globe story on the Ohio challenge was notable for this quote: "A similar objection by Democratic House members after the 2000 election failed to move forward because no members of the Senate joined them, in an episode depicted in the movie ''Fahrenheit 9/11." Several members of Congress -- including Boxer, whose objection to the Ohio tally allowed yesterday's debate to begin -- said that scene in the Michael Moore film played a role in persuading them to speak out on the vote this year, after election irregularities emerged in Ohio." Here's the "It's the Media, Stupid!" story of the week, from Consortiumnews. It's not just chance that the current #1 on Yahoo's Most Popular Photos is this one of Barbara Boxer. Steve Freeman, of the Center for Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania, who wrote one of the dense statistical analyses of the exit poll "discrepancies," has this commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle that even the layman can understand. Update: Like some other Air America programs, Friday morning's "Al Franken Show" spent the first half hour debunking GOP objections to the Ohio challenge in Congress yesterday. If I run across a link, it'll be here. Otherwise you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Congressman Jim AWOL on Ohio Challenge

In spite of noises and a letter he signed earlier, our 7th District Congressman did not vote "yes" in support of further examination of the Ohio misdeeds. In fairness, he may be on a "fact-finding trip" somewhere and wasn't present. Maybe he's showing Kerry around Bagdad, a city Jim has visited previously. Here's the Honor Roll from the House vote. You may have to scroll down as there is no permalink. The Senate version is easy to remember by heart: Boxer.

''Democrats to Force Debate on Ohio Results''

AP just put out this story, reporter Senator Barbara Boxer's official announcement. Update: "The Boxer Rebellion," from truthout's Will Pitt. Update: "The Boxer Rebellion," from truthout's Will Pitt. I received the following information for viewing the Ohio challenge in Congress today, scheduled for 10 AM: "http://www.cspan.org and you can listen or watch. They may be overwhelmed so also try cnn.com, msnbc.com, etc., etc. Also try http://www.airamericaradio.com -- you can listen online." This message also said that Sens. Clinton, Obama and Dodd would be joining Barbara Boxer in supporting the challenge. Update: Send Barbara Boxer an email thanking her for her courage and vision and send an email to Senator Reid and Congresswoman Pelosi urging them to take a leadership role in election reform. Will Pitt is blogging as the roll is being called in the Senate. So far, only Senator Boxer has voted to uphold the challenge. Senator Cantwell has now voted "no" on the motion. In the House, the Rovians are accusing Boxer and her supporters of being in the "Michael Moore wing of the Democratic party" who are aiding the terrorist enemies of America. Failing to demonstrate consistency with their allies in Washington state, the Rovians are encouraging their colleagues in Congress to "put the vote behind them" and get to work on the issues they were elected to address. Update: Today's vote marks "Kerry's Last Flip-Flop," according to this commentary on Consortiumnews.com. A Costco-size free sample: "Time and again, Democratic leaders have asked their grassroots supporters to get organized for one more campaign. Then, those same Democratic leaders pull their punches and try to squeak out electoral victories by the narrowest of margins. That strategy created, in Elections 2000 and 2004, the opportunity for the Republicans to use last-minute dirty tricks to grab victories. Many rank-and-file Democrats are sick and tired of these well-paid Washington-based consultants who constantly advise Democratic politicians to finesse controversial issues and not to be too shrill." In the House, "27 votes to support the objection," according to Pitt's Blog. "33 Votes," if you're not following this on cspan or Pitt's blog. Now he says 32. In the Senate, only 75 of the 100 showed up for work today.

''Call your Democratic Senators''

From Progressive Democrats of America: "PDA has received a tremendous amount of feedback regarding the Democratic Party's lack of concern for adequately protecting our electoral rights. We have also heard from many supporters who say they will not vote Democrat in the future if the Party leadership does not fight for us today. Now is the time to tell that to our representatives. Call your Senators, especially if they are up for re-election in 2006 (Sen. Maria Cantwell-202-224-3441 ) and let them know how important today's vote is to you. Call Minority Leader Reid and tell him how the Party's future is on the line. Act now, we can still make the Democratic Party our party, but we have to work for it. This is an important step. The Senate switchboard opens at 9:00 A.M. EST. The vote is at 1:00 P.M. EST. Call early and often." Sen. Harry Reid- Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7372. Update: "Why the Vote Count Challenge Matters." from the Progressive Democrats lays out their arguments.

Dean, the Democratic Party and the DNC (Continued)

"Dean for Chairman?" shows up on the conservative site, "Town Hall," whose articles I usually ignore when they turn up on a Google search. Somewhat surprisingly, this one is glowing and respectful. On the other hand, this AP story, "Dems ask McAuliffe to remain party chair," practically ignores Dean by noting that "None of the early candidates for chairman has gained momentum." If you love the way the Dems are currently being led at the national level, this news should delight you. What?? You don't? It was just a matter of time before the Beltway counter-attacked Dean's attempt to move into the neighborhood.

Ohio: ''D-Day in DC'': Up to Six Senators to Join Protest

Today the Congress decides at 10am Pacific Time whether to accept the electors chosen in Ohio and the other states. Some feel, as this letter writer from truthout does: "If no Senators come forward to demand the investigation that the evidence requires, then the very Party that once produced the great social advances now systematically being destroyed by those who stole this election will itself start to dissolve. But that dissolution will have been self-initiated." Yesterday, Jesse Jackson said, “The anomalies in Ohio are greater than the anomalies in Florida in 2000," before making a last ditch appeal to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Some Beltway insiders like this congressional staff member, quoted in today's Boston Globe, believe that ''We lost. We need to move on." The New York Times story today, Election Results to Be Certified, With Little Fuss From Kerry makes this claim, backed up by a quote from the GOP: "Such a debate could prove uncomfortable for Democrats, who do not want to be viewed as sore losers. But Republicans seemed eager for it. "They are really just trying to stir up their loony left," John Feehery, a spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, said of the Democrats." Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio attorney representing the challengers in court has this today, in an article in the Columbus Free Press: "Today, you are being asked to certify the reported votes of the Electoral College...on the basis of ...The faith-based neocon fallacy that vote counts do not have to be independently verified. This new "con" holds that facts may be overcome by assertions of faith by those in power. Thus, the Bush campaign co-chair for Ohio and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell need not count 106,000 as yet uncounted Ohio ballots, because he has faith they would not make a difference in the reported 119,000 vote difference, even though these uncounted votes all are in areas of Ohio that demonstrated strong support for John Kerry, and because, as Secretary of State he has the power not to count them." John Conyers, who has been the leader in the Congress of the effort to investigate the Ohio vote, puts it this way, from the AP story, "Dem Lays Out Case Against Bush's Ohio Win": "We have found numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election. There are ample grounds for challenging the electors from the state of Ohio. In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio." Bloggerman makes a prediction: "Nothing is in writing and daybreak is a long way away, but it appeared all but certain in early evening Wednesday that House Democrats had secured the support of up to half a dozen Senators to formally challenge the Electoral College slate from Ohio," from his latest post, "Challengers are go." Michael Moore breaks it down: "C'mon Senators! Especially you Democrats. Here is your one shining moment of courage. Will you allow the gavel to come down on our black members of Congress once again? Or will you stand up for their right to object? We will all be watching."- from his "Just One Senator... An Open Letter to the U.S. Senate." Because of the deafening silence from editorial pages all over the country, I forgot that they could support the challenge to the Ohio vote, until I read this, from The Capital Times in Madison, WI: "Don't certify Ohio results." Senator Feingold, are you listening?

''Healers or spoilers?''

In an editorial. commenting on the GOP's "smoking gun of the day" media message blitz, the P-I says Thursday that, "There are several roles a minority party can play in a legislative body. Roles run from the laudable "loyal opposition" to the lamentable pouting obstructionist. The state Republican Party hints of assuming the latter role in its vitriol over the gubernatorial election." Exhibit One: "State Republicans Wednesday charged that hundreds of provisional ballots MAY have been counted on Election Day without being verified," from the AP story, "Wash. GOP Demands New Governor Election." Exhibit Two: "Two King County election workers, BOTH REPUBLICANS. yesterday said they believe hundreds of provisional ballots were illegally fed through vote-counting machines on Election Day." from today's Seattle Times story, "GOP: Hundreds of ballots suspect." Exhibit Three: "Escalating his daily drumbeat for a revote for governor...GOP announces 'bombshell' in voting...There may be many smoking guns."-from the new P-I story Thursday: "At a Bellevue news conference, Vance produced a Republican-appointed King County election worker, Joe O'Donnell, who said he personally witnessed about 150 to 300 provisional ballots go straight into AccuVote tabulating machines on Election Day without any voter verification. And county election officials continued to take umbrage at what they said were the Republicans' unwarranted suggestions that election fraud occurred. The officials blamed the accusations on a misunderstanding of why the number of votes cast in the Nov. 2 election may have been several thousand more than the number of people credited with voting. "It's not fraud. It's not understanding how the elections process really works and then it's this stirring of the pot with inaccurate information," said Carolyn Diepenbrock, the Snohomish County elections manager. Snohomish County's Diepenbrock said the 300-vote discrepancy in her county was probably due mostly to human errors in the tedious, labor-intensive, post-election process of entering general election voters' names into files as part of the process of updating voter records for future elections. "I would like to say there should never, ever, ever be any discrepancy. But that's not reality," Diepenbrock said. She added, "It's unfortunate that this (vote) crediting process is being attached to the election process," because they are separate, unrelated procedures. Exhibit Four: The Weekly looks inside the recount process and finds that some of the GOP appointed counters were "underhanded and blatantly partisan." But they did retreat to the GOP lounge to pray daily. Exhibit Five: The Seattle Times has this, in a commentary Wednesday from Floyd J. McKay, a journalism professor emeritus at Western Washington University: "The law clearly says that the hand count is the final count. This is not a baseball playoff, winning two of three counts means nothing. The hand count, presumed by the law to be the most accurate, is final. For a winning candidate to go through three counts and then agree to another election would defy all the laws of politics (and reason). For a candidate losing the third count to call for such an election is — well, politics again. Republicans will do all of us a favor if they take their charges to court, rather than running a four-year campaign of innuendo and slander. Tim Eyman is already on that task, urging his fans to write Olympia." Exhibit Six: "For devotees of conservative talk radio, nirvana looks a lot like the Washington governor's race, especially if Democrat Christine Gregoire hangs on and becomes governor."-from the column in Thursday's Seattle Times, "Lighting up the phone lines with a 'we-were-had' lament." Final tasty tidbit: "The Republican attack on the election is by now a near-military operation — air, land and sea. Scour death records to find dead voters. Search records to find felons who voted in violation of the law. Compare the number of voters to votes cast. Hold the outraged — OUTRAGED! — press conference du jour. Do anything and everything to put Rossi back on top. No matter what."

''Call your legislators''

From Paul Berendt, Chair, Washington State Democrats: "Last Thursday the Secretary of State certified Chris Gregoire governor-elect. We have just finished the longest, most scrutinized election in Washington State history. Ballots have been checked, double-checked, and triple-checked. Democrats and Republicans from across the state have joined together to make this the most accurate election in state history. But, instead of taking Chris Gregoire's call for unity to move our state forward, Dino Rossi and the Republican Party have gone off on a bitter battle to tear down this election. They are trashing the Republican Secretary of State, they are trashing county auditors across the state, and they are trashing their own Republican and Democratic observers. They're even shamelessly manipulating military families to falsely suggest that our soldiers' ballots weren't counted. All because they didn't like the result of this election. And after two weeks of wild, unfounded accusations they still have no evidence of any wrongdoing. Not a one. I need you to take action right now. On Tuesday the legislature will vote to certify the election. We already know that Republican operatives are working hard to pressure legislators to undo the results of this election. We need to fight back. Right now, call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators to do the right thing, stand up to Republican rhetoric, do their duty and certify the election on Tuesday. It's time to get on with the business of moving our state forward. The Republicans are working hard to make this election a circus. Let's make sure they do not succeed."

''What Went Wrong in Ohio'' (UPDATED

John Conyers has released this one page summary of his "Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff." Locally, a group of ten us met this morning with Jay Pearson of Senator Cantwell's staff. We were Greens, Democrats and Independents. He was generous with his time, spending about 30 minutes with us in his private office and giving all of us who wanted to say something the opportunity to speak. We talked about the need for the Senator to show progressive democrats that she was willing to stand up and fight for "democratic" and "Democratic" values. Some in our group felt that if she didn't step up on this issue, she would lose the opportunity to ever have their support, in light of her disappointing vote on the Iraqui war resolution. Jay was very attentive and receptive and promised to pass on our comments. If any of the participants has something to add to this posting, please email me with your comments. The same offer goes to Jay. As I told him, we'll be watching and listening. Update: MoveOn just sent an email to its list today. Here's an excerpt from the one I received: "No more Ohios. When Congress reconvenes this Thursday to ratify the 2004 Presidential election, Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) will object to the vote count in Ohio, and if even one Senator joins him, Congress will have to debate the widespread voting problems that have been exposed. Nobody expects this election to be overturned, but it's time in this country to seriously grapple with the issues of voting rights, un-auditable computerized voting, and the suppression of minority votes. Call your Democratic Senators today and ask them to join Representative Conyers in challenging the 2004 voting process. With your support, they can step forward and force this important debate. Just call:Senator Patty Murray: 202-224-2621 and Senator Maria Cantwell: 202-224-3441. Please let us know you called. Thanks for everything you do." Update: Annie Robbins sent me this report from the group's meeting later in Senator Murray's office: "Some of us met with Sen. Murray's Deputy State Director Karen Waters. Even though we came in unannounced and Karen had a prior engagement waiting in the office, she took the time to meet with us and was extremely receptive to our desire to communicate to Patty that she join with Conyers to contest the Ohio electoral votes. She said that she would be receptive to hearing from more of us, and she would pass on this message to Senator Murray. It's not too late to call the office in Washington, DC. Leave a message she can pick up in the morning.Her number is (202) 224-2621." Update: Our Congressman Jim one of the 24 members from the House who signed a letter issued to the full House and Senate this afternoon in a last-minute bid to encourage the Senate to open discussion on the electoral vote tally Thursday

Conyers on Air America, 1090AM in Seattle-8:06AM Today

Listen there now or online.

What You Can Do Today to Make a Difference Tomorrow

Contact US Senators from here and elsewhere: they are keeping track of contacts, even from citizens out of state. Use that free national long distance cell phone!! "In Seattle Wednesday you can drop in and visit at the offices of our US Senators, to urge their support for Representative John Conyers and the GAO's investigation of the widespread and systematic voting fraud that took place in Ohio, New Mexico, and Florida on November 2nd. A group of us are meeting at 9:00 AM at 823 1st Avenue (at the Starbucks, cross street Marion). We're briefly discussing strategy, then sending ourselves up to Senator Murray's office, followed by Senator Cantwell's office, to let our elected officials know how important we believe a fair election to be. If you're interested in participating, but unavailable at 9:00 AM, give me a call and I'll let you know the "skinny" is on what you can do... I am hoping to have this go on all day, so night people can get in on the action, too! My contact info is 206-789-4397 hm, 206-383-9738 mobile or email me at forrestajackson@earthlink.net."-from Forrest Jackson.

''Seven key reasons why the vote must be challenged at the electoral college''

One more day until Congress looks in the mirror:1. Exit Polls Did Not Match Actual Vote in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida2. Voting machines owned by private, partisan companies subject to manipulation3. Uncounted and Provisional Ballots disproportionately affected African American voters4. Inexplicable Vote disparities5. Voting Rights Act Violations6. The Recount did not Recount the Votes7. Challenge at January 6 Joint Session of Congress--"If America is to be a champion of democracy abroad, it must clean up its elections at home. If it is to complain of fraudulent and dishonest election practices abroad, it cannot condone them at home. But more important, if our own elections are to be legitimate, then they must be honest, open, with high national standards. We need national standards for voting, an end to partisan control of the election process by state officials, accompanied by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to vote for all Americans." Jesse Jackson provides the details. These photos from the rally in Columbus yesterday provide the pictures. Update: If you're still undecided: "The "Crime of November 2": The human side of how Bush stole Ohio, and why Congress must investigate rather than ratify the Electoral College."-from the Columbus Free Press today: "It's also ironic that an apparently defeated Republican candidate for governor in the state of Washington is now calling for a revote to overturn a recount. We support that demand, and ask the same for Ohio. In breaking news, the freepress.org team now has in its possession an official Franklin County Board of Election document entitled "Machine Assignments for General Election 2004" showing the serial numbers of 76 machines, all in Democrat-rich Columbus, that were blacked out and kept in the warehouse or on trucks during the election, while thousands of inner city voters stood in the rain. Conversely, none of the machines designated for Republican-dominated suburbs were blacked out on the list and held back. Those and other crucial discrepancies will be discussed today at a 2pm (11am, PST) press conference at the National Press Club in Washington. We have been told the conference will be covered by C-SPAN. We will catalog as much of the evidence presented there as possible in future articles, and in an upcoming book and documentary film." While the nature of the irregularities here in Washington state are vastly different than those in Ohio, tell Rove I would accept a revote here if we have one there.

''A Swift Marine for a Revote''

As expected, "On Tuesday, radio stations began running ads paid for by the state Republican party, declaring the governor's election a "certified mess" and urging people to petition the Legislature for a revote. The ad focuses on a Marine wounded in Fallujah, Tyler Farmer of Everett, who didn't get his ballot until Nov. 3. Republicans have adopted military voters as the poster children for the revote effort, claiming many were wrongly disenfranchised while fighting to defend democracy."-from the P-I story tonight, "Democrats in Legislature quash hopes for revote in governor's race." The article quotes Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, who says, ""We are following the rules and we need to live by those rules, and not just call for a do-over because we don't like the results" and mentions that "Secretary of State Sam Reed, also a Republican, said there's no evidence of any systemic problems with the military vote. Every county in the state mailed absentee ballots to registered military voters by early October, Reed said, and the U.S. Department of Justice even watched over the process to make sure it was done right." The article ends with "State Republican leaders planned a revote rally in Olympia for next Tuesday, the second day of the 2005 legislative session." And finally, it provides the website address for the revote call. Update: The Wednesday morning Seattle Times story, "Election scrutiny reveals provisional-vote flaws," raises new doubts about the integrity of the local vote and is prompting new questions about King County's election procedures. The problem: "An unknown number of provisional voters, some of whom may not even have been registered to vote, improperly put their ballots directly into vote-counting machines at polling places, King County's elections superintendent said yesterday." The article gives Rossi supporters another opportunity to score points in the spin wars: "State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance, who plans to discuss the provisional-ballot issue at a news conference today, said it constituted a serious lapse in election security." Unlike the Times story, a new story in the Wednesday morning P-I, "GOP may object to ratification of governor vote," allows the other side have a voice in the message battle: "Gregoire said she thinks the Republicans' threats are bad for the people of Washington. "I find it highly unfortunate that we continue to have this kind of rhetoric that I hear out there. The idea that these individuals as auditors have not performed their jobs admirably -- there's nothing further from the truth. She implored people to reserve judgment about discrepancies between votes counted and lists of voters who cast ballots until county elections officials have time to explain. "Calm down," Gregoire said. "Let the process take its place." KOMO News goes with the AP story that the P-I used Tuesday night.

OBJECTIONS TO OHIO ELECTORS GROWS: PROTESTS PLANNED

A letter writer in Statesman Journal from Salem, OR uses the problems with vote counting in Washington state, exit polling and the Bush administration's objections to the recent election in the Ukraine to advocate "U.S. voters should protest fraud in presidential election." The Chicago Sun-Times has this: "Senators should object to Ohio vote," from Jesse Jackson. Michael Arvey takes the "mainstream liberal media" to task in "Get Over It, Winners on OpEdNews.com. Democratic Underground has this post: "Boxer on board?" The Progressive Democrats of America are having a press conference in Washington DC tomorrow: "BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT, BUSH DID NOT WIN THE OHIO OR NATIONAL VOTE" is their story line. There are several other events planned this week: "From SELMA to WASHINGTON: 40 Years Marching For Our Voting Rights," "January 5th Freedom Ride From Columbus to Washington," and Rally at 10:00 A.M. on January 6th -- Lafayette Park, Washington, DC. Randi Rhodes devoted much of her Air America show today to Thursday's challenge of the Ohio vote. Update: From Forrest Jackson: "In Seattle tomorrow you can drop in and visit at the offices of our US Senators, to urge their support for Representative John Conyers and the GAO's investigation of the widespread and systematic voting fraud that took place in Ohio, New Mexico, and Florida on November 2nd. A group of us are meeting at 9:00 AM at 823 1st Avenue (at the Starbucks, cross street Marion). We're briefly discussing strategy, then sending ourselves up to Senator Murray's office, followed by Senator Cantwell's office, to let our elected officials know how important we believe a fair election to be. If you're interested in participating, but unavailable at 9:00 AM, give me a call and I'll let you know the "skinny" is on what you can do... I am hoping to have this go on all day, so night people can get in on the action, too! My contact info is 206-789-4397 hm, 206-383-9738 mobile or email me at forrestajackson@earthlink.net." William Rivers Pitt pleads "Stand Up, Senator" from truthout.org. Intelligence Squad offers us, "The Democrats’ Last Chance to Reveal a Spine."

Dean, the Democratic Party and the DNC (Continued)

AlterNet did this interview with Howard Dean in December. Tidbit: "What about the job as head of the DNC – how is it going? Well, that is a complicated background dance, behind the scenes with the some of same phenomenon we're talking about here – the need for change. There is enormous angst in Democratic Party, among those who are running it, whose grip is slipping and the push toward decentralization." New York magazine handicaps the race in "Chair War." They even give you odds on each candidate, if you're a gambler. The tone of the article makes me ashamed of my hometown. Only decent quotes: "[I’ve] concluded it’s faster to change the party from the inside,” he told Tim Russert. Dean has surprised DNC voters by mounting the most methodical, persistent campaign. “Howard has been workin’ it,” says one Democrat who’s been on the receiving end of pro-Dean e-mails and phone calls." Update: Jerome Armstrong on MyDD catches up with recent developments in "DNC Chair CattleCall: New Year Edition." Tempting morsel: "Under the radar, Dean's campaign has the most persisent targeting of the party activists (where the votes are) with emails and phone calls. It's a campaign, and Dean's running." Update: Ickes, Kirk Pull Out of DNC Chair Race. The Beltway (WA Post) speaks: "Field of Candidates for DNC Chairman Narrows to Four." From "The Hill": "Murtha: Give Dean DNC chair" ---The endorsement of the leading antiwar presidential candidate by one of the Democrats’ most prominent early supporters of the Iraq invasion signals a rehabilitation of Dean’s image in the House and greatly increases his prospects of leading the party, many Democratic lawmakers and aides said." MyDD adds this: "Kirk out, "Give it to Dean" says Rep. Murtha." Free sample: "This is great news for Dean, a real breakthrough has occurred. As for Pelosi, she's really dug herself into a hole on this race..."

Kerry Will Be MIA on Thursday for Conyers Ohio Vote Challenge (UPDATED)

"When Congress meets in a special joint session Thursday to count electoral ballots from the presidential race, Sen. John F. Kerry will be noticeably absent - thousands of miles away on a fact-finding trip in the Middle East."-from the story this morning in the Boston Herald. Less surprising is this AP story, "Bush Asks Judge to Toss Ohio Election Suit." David Swanson posts this, "More Trials and Tribulations for Ohio" on the ILCA site, from Tova Andrea Wang of The Century Foundation. Political Wire quotes Slate's Mickey Kaus: new leaked exit poll "vindicates bloggers who posted results early on election day." Update: To get an idea of Kerry's current game plan, see this from today's Boston Globe: "Kerry's skills on display in Mideast trip." Thom Hartmann writes on Common Dreams, "Dialing In For Democracy - Now Is Critical." Radio Inside Scoop will webcast "Challenging the Presidential Electors," Wednesday at noon, PST. Update: This article in counterpunch asks, "Is There One Senator Who Will Stand Up for Black Voters?" Courtesy of "Ben Cohen-the ice cream guy," you can send a message to your US Senators: "No More Ohios."

''Democracy for Washington: Organizational meeting this Saturday, January 8th!!'

Check out the agenda, rsvp and see the responses to their "State Party Chair Questionnaire" from the four candidates. on their site

GOP Turns Its ''Wrath'' On State Election Process

In spite of Secretary of State Sam Reed's certification of a Gregoire victory and claims from numerous sources that "vote discrepancies"--- referring to public records that show nearly 8,500 more ballots than voters in five counties-- are normal immediately after elections, "Republicans laid the groundwork Monday for a potential legal challenge to the governor's election," according to the story in tonight's P-I. Former Governor Dan Evans added his name to the list of public officials, all Republican, who want a revote. "King County election workers will allow Republican observers to watch as they try to reconcile the voter list, with results expected by the end of the week," the P-I story says. Adding to the GOP push for a revote is a story on KING5 televison tonight that offers poll results claiming 59% of "not just registered voters, but a sampling of residents across the state" want a revote. The poll also said 56% thought Rossi had won the election. While admitting that public opinion "may change again." the KING 5 story and its poll results raise the spectre of "uncertainty" about the results and fuel doubts about the accuracy of the vote count. Don't expect the spin wars to end anytime soon. Update: The P-I's Olympia beat reporter checks in Tuesday morning with "Rossi given fresh hope as 'mystery voters' grow," a headline that seems to advance the GOP story line. But the article goes on to offer explanations for the problem and quotes former Governor Dan Evans: ""Democracy may be messy, but its principles are why it still serves us best," Evans wrote for the Web site www.revotewa.com "If we screw up the implementation, let's go back to the principles. The voters' will is paramount." He proposed a special election next month. Yesterday, Evans said his appetite for a revote depends heavily on how King County answers questions about the 3,500-vote difference between voter rolls and certified ballots. "If they can explain that and there are no other significant errors, in spite of the fact of a close election, it's time to say 'OK, we'll accept it,' " Evans said." Tuesday's morning edition of the Seattle Times has, "Rossi backers push for revote." Dan Evans is quoted again: "But former Gov. Dan Evans, who lent his name and support to the group, said he doesn't think the Democratic-controlled Legislature convening next week is likely to give Rossi satisfaction. Instead, Evans said, if Republicans find credible evidence that puts the election outcome in doubt, Rossi needs to contest the election in court." The article also offers the following on the subject of the alleged discrepancies: "But election officials in three of the other counties cited by Vance said he had his facts wrong. "We hear these allegations, but no one called our county to let us know where these numbers came from," Kitsap County Auditor Karen Flynn said. Pierce and Kitsap county officials said Republicans apparently based their analysis on post-election registration lists that don't include the names of previously "inactive" voters who voted Nov. 2, or of voters whose names were taken off the registration list after voting." The KOMO News website repeats much of the material from the Seattle Times story.

''The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy''

This is a new revision of the paper by Steven Freeman from the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Organizational Dynamics. If can get through this and understand it, you should probably be able to get some course credit. If you are able to digest it and send me something I can post, I have a gift for you. Update: Jesse Jackson has kicked it up a notch with this: "Jackson and civil rights lawyers who were also on the conference call said they would like access to a laptop belonging to Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, to determine what communication was transmitted between Rove and Ohio Republicans during the election."-from BlackAmericaWeb.com tonight. Update: I received the first attempt to decipher the Freeman paper from the local blogger known as "Sleepless," for those of you who lived on the Blog for America in 2004: "The guy says the odds of all three 'battleground' states having skewed exit poll data are 666,000 to 1 --- well nigh impossible. Probably about the same odds of you being hit by lightning while being eaten by a grizzly. He also states that all the other lame excuses being used by the networks to discredit the polls --- too many of one gender, Bush voters not wanting to be interviewed, talking to people early in the day ---are horseshit." Sleepless is a plain-talker!