Red Wine with Fish

People who know me would say I am a cynic. In fact, the only thing that prevents me from being a conspiracy theorist is my lack of faith in humans ability to organize themselves in concert and keep their mouths shut.

I certainly don’t know what is going to happen. It is hard to imagine that in many critical ways Obama will disappoint. Despite the Democratic majority, and in spite of promises to the contrary, politics will still exist in Washington. Times are hard and I deeply believe that no-one really knows what we need to do to fix the failing economy.

That said, I have more hope for change than I have had in a long time. The people are calling for a real healthcare system and now, finally, we have someone who wants to give him one. Obama’s proposed tax package is very progressive and he has as mandate to pass it: I just heard on NPR that Obama actually managed to get a majority of the votes from people with incomes exceeding $250,000, the very same group he is planning to tax so the rest of us can get social services and tax relief. Pretty amazing.

And, of course, something has changed in the US when an African-American can get elected President. Yes, he is a man of priviledge and education, but the fact remains that a black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama is going to be President. I didn’t think I would see it in my lifetime.

I don’t know where I am heading with these thoughts, but that there is room for optimism for the first time in a long time, despite the dark clouds that still hang above us.

Great article in the Washington Monthly about the role of consultants and how they help the Democrats lose over and over again. Via Pandagon:

Every sports fan knows that if a team boasts a losing record several seasons in a row, the coach has to be replaced with someone who can win. Yet when it comes to political consultants, Democrats seem incapable of taking this basic managerial step.

Read the whole article. It’s worth it.

From the Seattle Times - Republican Reed faces GOP wrath over recount decisions:

On Christmas Eve, Secretary of State Sam Reed took a little of what has been precious free time during the gubernatorial recount to e-mail about 25 close advisers he calls his “kitchen cabinet.”

Reed told them that his role overseeing the recount — a role that meant the Republican would soon certify the Democrat the victor in the race — had created “some very raw nerves and emotions.”

Poor Sam. As I predicted, he is caught in an awkward situation. Now it sounds like the party (Ralph Munro excepted) wants his head.

Meanwhile, over at Josef’s Public Journal, Josef A.K. continues to wax weird. Mr A.K. is pushing me to sign an online petition to re-run the election. I am debating. In the meantime, this is what I would like to see:

• An online petition other than revotewa.com with its snide anti-Gregioire tone. I am not a big Gregoire fan but I am not going to associate my name with an online poll asking for a fair election that bashes either candidate
• Mr A.K. makes an effort to stop his partisan bashing on his own site. He talks very reasonably in the comments on my site when I am reticent about Gregoire, but on his own site, the vitriol pours forth. And AK really should stop comparing this situation to the Ukraine. It’s just silly.
• A promise on the part of whoever wins this godforsaken election to work on election reform

I re-iterate: this really doesn’t look like a stolen election to me. It looks a hell of a lot more like a system that is just broken. It needs to be fixed. Let’s see somebody commit to doing so.

We could start right now. Let’s hear some recommendations from the candidates from the candidates (mostly Rossi right now since the ball is really in his “court”), to prevent this re-vote from being another debacle. What if it is close again? How are we going to prevent this from happening again in another month?

From the Seattle Times:

Former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a key supporter of Republican Dino Rossi during the contentious recounts in Washington’s race for governor, says it may be time to toss out all of the votes and do the election over.

Munro, who oversaw the state’s elections system for 20 years before retiring in 2000, said a new vote is probably the only way to restore voter confidence and get a clear winner.

Ralph Munro might be Washington’s most widely respected public servant. If Ralph thinks we need a re-vote, I think we need one. I said before that I felt uncomfortable with the re-recount, but at this point, I just feel kind of depressed about the state of elections in this country.

Why Washington state allows a manual recount after an electronic one, I don’t really understand. I don’t think that there is any research that suggests manual recounts are more accurate and less prone to error than electronic.

But the fact that the law (according to our awful partisan Supreme Court) means literally just a “count” of already accepted ballots does not change the fact that ballots are being thrown out that shouldn’t be. The system is just broken.

I think we need the ability to have “mis-votes” like we have mistrials. If a greater number of votes are judged to have been handled incorrectly than the margin of victory, then you start over.

And I am starting to agree with my friend Isaac, that we need a way of handling ties. When the separation between the winner and loser are less than the margin of error as calculated by a statistician, then you need a system to pick the winner. I am starting to favor the idea of a duel, but given that that probably won’t fly, perhaps a coin-flip will have to do.

In the meantime, this whole Washington Gubernatorial race keeps sinking lower and lower. I don’t believe that the Democrats are fabricating new votes and I don’t believe that the votes that were accidentally thrown out were a Republican plot. I think the system is just too fragile for a race this tight.

Over the last week, MoveOn and the Washington Democratic Party have been sending me requests for money and help for a hand recount in the Washington Gubernatorial election.

Although I support MoveOn and the Washington Dems, and although I would strongly prefer to see Gregoire beat Rossi, I am feeling a little bit uncomfortable with this recount. I don’t really understand Washington election law or the Democrats problems with the first recount well enough to know whether another recount is really in order.

I do know that they are doing a very poor job making the case. If I am feeling uneasy about it, you can bet that every registered Republican in this state thinks that the Dems are going to keep counting until they get the result they want.

The Democrats have been on the right side of these election battles over the last few years. They can’t afford to lose moral authority or be seen as trying to game the system. If this recount is really necessary they need to make a better case for it, rather than just spewing rhetoric about “counting every vote”.

I would also like to see Sam Reed, Washington’s Secretary of State make a statement about this. Mr. Reed holds the distinction of being the only Republican I have ever voted for. He is widely respected. He has certified the election, but perhaps he is keeping out of it because he doesn’t want to look partisan. I suppose that is fair. It is his job to enforce voting law–which states pretty clearly that the Democrats have a legal right to a hand recount if they pay for it–not to get involved in the politics of the election. On second thought, I suppose it is better for him to keep quiet for now.

If the results do get reversed after a hand recount, you can bet he is not going to be very popular with his party.

I hope this gets resolved soon and that the integrity of the Washington State voting system, Mr. Reed and the Democratic party are not damaged by the end.

If there are truly systemic problems preventing all votes getting counted then it is about damn time the Democrats get proactive about them, rather than waiting for situations like this to arise. And if there is illegal disenfranchisement by the Republicans occurring, then it belongs in the courts. If there is fear that the electronic voting machines have been hacked or tampered with, then a recount is in order and so is an investigation. So far, I have not heard of any such accusations.

At a stripmall in Ft. Lauderdale:

I have been a bit too depressed to talk about my experience in Florida until now. I suppose I would have been less depressed, although more indignant, if the administration had stolen another election. There are still systemic problems and probably, if every vote was truly counted, the Dems would have won, or come closer to winning, however, the election was in reach and that is enough for me to be severely embarrassed on behalf of the America voting published.

I spent election day and a few days before in Broward County, Florida, volunteering for the Election Protection Coalition, sponsored by the NAACP, Working Assets and a host of other non-profits. Broward County alone had 700 volunteers.

The two days before the election we canvassed churches and some of the poorest neighborhoods I have ever seen, handing out brochures enumerating Florida’s voting laws and an 800 number to call if any of the laws were violated.

On the day of the election, we greeted voters and handed them brochures. For the most part, things went smoothly and the many dozens of lawyers were rarely needed. There were a few cases of people being denied their voting rights, but at my polling place election protection lawyers clarified the law with the poll worker and the person was eventually allowed to vote. Our polling place had particularly reasonable poll workers who weren’t so trigger happy with the denials of provisional ballots.

I think we made a significant difference. Many voters were thrilled to have a brochure explaining the new electronic voting machine. A number said that it made all the difference.

The other significant service we provided was parking direction. Our polling place was in a tiny VFW hall in southern Broward county. There was a long one lane driveway for entering and leaving the parking lot. I stood on one side of the driveway and shouted down to my peer on the other side, alternating in-coming and out-going traffic. It wasn’t glamorous work, but without us, I think there would have been snarled mess.

I don’t know what lessons are to be learned from Bush’s re-election. I suppose, in the end, the never say sorry, never admit you made a mistake bravado paid off.

A couple of lessons that definitely should NOT be learned from this election, despite many claims in our so-called press:

1. Only a Southern-Democrat will ever win the White House.

   If Kerry had been a Senator from Ohio, he would almost certainly have won. The Democrats would have been likely to get their asses kicked in the South even if Edwards had been the Presidential candidate

2. The Democrats must swing farther toward the center.

   I have said it before and I will say it again, over and over, if necessary. The Democrats don’t lose because they are too “liberal”. They lose because they just don’t hold their ground. Polls unequivocally show that the majority of voters support legal abortions, yet a majority are willing to vote for an administration who is avowedly in favor of making it illegal. Why is this?

   Because many voters are not single-issue voters. The last two presidential races have been close ones and the voter on the margin seems to react to perceived character over rational policy. I believe voters on the margin are often poorly informed but able to smell fear. When Bush looks America in the eye and rehashes whatever illogical bullshit Rove has come up for him to say, he looks like he believes it. Hell, he probably does. When Kerry or Gore or any other centrist Dem looks America in the eye, they look like apologists.

3. America’s Democracy is alive and well

   Just because the courts didn’t determine the result of this election, doesn’t mean that all our fears about Diebold and voter disenfranchisement aren’t justified. Between the sad state of America’s consolidated media, our woeful election security and our hopelessly out-of-date electoral college, American Democracy is not at its peak.

You can bet in another four years, I am going to be out at the polling places again.

Via The Rude Pundit

How many times does a guy have to be shot in the ass running across rice paddies in Vietnam in order to look tougher than the cheerleader from Andover?

Bradley Whitford
Actor, West Wing
Oct. 22nd Episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher”

This Saturday, I fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida all the way from Seattle. As most of my faithful readers know, I am rather aggressively partisan, but have never been a big fan of John Kerry.

I have therefore rebuffed a number of people approaching me to canvas with Kerry flyers or make phone calls on his behalf–something I hate to do anyway. Instead, I am going to be in Florida serving as a poll monitor. The organization is the Election Protection Coalition, a non-partisan poll-monitoring group.

Essentially, we stand near the polls, making sure they open on time, don’t close too early and don’t run out of ballots. We make sure there is no intimidation or misdirection. If there is, we call one of the Election Protection lawyers who are driving around the neighborhoods. When called, they show up and start gathering information.

The organization will create a database of incident reports and if there is a lawsuit, they will have gathered good info.

To me, serving as a poll monitor is a non-partisan way of helping to ensure that what little power we are affording via the vote is safe. And although I will not be campaigning for anyone, I think this will help the Democrats who suffer when voters, particularly minorities, are disenfranchised.

They still need people, particularly lawyers, law-students and Spanish speakers, not just in Florida, but all over the country.

I do not know if I will be able to write from the road since I don’t know what my internet connection status will be, but expect some interesting stories when I get back.

Atrios has a brief link over to Thane Peterson’s article in today’s Business Week about the lack of civility in American politics.

I’m not talking about ads or speeches that contain inaccurate or distorted messages, though their incidence is way up this election year, according to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, who tracks campaign rhetoric. I’m talking about name-calling and ads that impugn a candidate’s motives, such as the ones implying that President Bush is lying when he says he won’t institute a military draft or those that suggest Senator Kerry volunteered for Vietnam simply to pad his résumé. We shouldn’t confuse negativity, which is often justified and informative, with incivility, which isn’t.

Mr. Peterson goes on to defend Mr. Civility himself, Zell Miller, for publicly proclaiming that he wishes we lived in an era where he could challenge Chris Matthews to a duel. He further goes on to defend Daniel Okrent, NY Times ombudsmen for publishing the name of a blogger who wrote something nasty to the Times. Retaliatory incivility is obviously acceptable to Peterson.

Besides the obvious hypocrisy in Mr. Peterson’s article, the idea that the problem with politics today is the lack of civility strikes me as more than a bit precious compared to the deceit, ignorance and abuse of power that dominates Washington politics and national media.

I am not convinced that Peterson really knows what civility means. He talks about the anti-Semitic mail Paul Krugman and David Brook receive in terms of civility. But to lump anti-Semitic hate mail together with Chris Matthews aggressive interviewing style is ridiculous and trivializes the real problems in our divided nation. I don’t like Chris Matthews work very much, but generally my objects have more to do with journalistic integrity, rather than civility.

Abuse of power, like Okrent’s, or hateful rhetoric divisiveness rhetoric, like Miller’s are much more destructive problems facing political discourse in the country. Our incivility is a symptom of our deep divisions and our fear, not the cause. Politeness, gentility and mildness or manner are all well and good, but they are shallow compared to integrity, compassion and wisdom.

There is nothing civil about civil disobedience. Where would we be today if labor and civil rights activists hadn’t been willing to get into the streets and protest? I have no doubt that many genteel teatimes and chess games were disrupted by the unruly mob.

But sometimes you just have to say, “fuck civility” for the sake of civilization.