Every once in a while, George Will gets something right. His review of Shelby Steele's "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win," is one of those times. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Nevertheless, for his comparison to Fred Astaire alone, Will deserves credit:

So far, Obama is the Fred Astaire of politics -- graceful and elegant, with a surface so pleasing to the eye that it seems mistaken, even greedy, to demand depth.

See why over the fold.

This email was forwarded to me from a Florida Dem County Chair, and I thought it would be of interest, so am passing it along. I'll add a copy of the referred-to attachment as well (excerpt).

Dear Democrat:
If you haven't already received this it will make you real mad. Open up the attachment and then open the link to Democratic Rep Ron Gelber's exchange. The importance of this it gives us a true picture of the attitude of the Republicans in Tallahassee. You will hear the Republicans mock and laugh at Rep Gilber as he pleads with them not to move the Presidential Primary to January 29. Remember it was a Republican Legislature and the Republican Governor that made this happen. Please forward this to your friends; we need to get the word out.

Chair, Hernando County Democratic Executive Committee
Spring Hill, FL 34611

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
For Immediate Release: March 7, 2008
re: Crist's Concern for Dem Voters

TALLAHASSEE - While Florida's governor plays the role of nonpartisan leader on television, he's a true partisan Republican in real life. During his week-long media tour to "help" Democrats, Crist seems to have conveniently forgotten that he vowed to veto legislation proposed by Democrats to move the primary to February 5th.

Michigan and Florida in Modern Times
by Bob Franken, March 10, 2008 |

Actually, by "We", I mean "Me" but what the hell. By "Opportunity" I mean the chance to be unbound by the old-fashioned ways of solving this idiotic dillema.
About the most adventurous idea they're discussing beyond the traditional voting booth or caucus is a postcard primary.

Wowee-zowee! Is that edgy or what? Actually the word that more comes to mind is "timid". Isn't it time we started thinking outside the ballot box?

Actually, there are some alternatives in plain sight, particularly if you watch Fox network during primetime.

I'm thinking, of course, of American Idol. Instead of a debate, each candidate performs his and her song-and-dance. Rather than passing judgement, Randy, Paula and Simon get to ask some dumb followup question. Following that, the residents of Michigan and Florida vote by phone.
Each must press in a registration number, which is used one then disabled to prevent duplication.

This email was forwarded to me from a Florida Dem County Chair, and I thought it would be of interest, so am passing it along. I'll add a copy of the referred-to attachment as well (excerpt).

Dear Democrat:
If you haven't already received this it will make you real mad. Open up the attachment and then open the link to Democratic Rep Ron Gelber's exchange. The importance of this it gives us a true picture of the attitude of the Republicans in Tallahassee. You will hear the Republicans mock and laugh at Rep Gilber as he pleads with them not to move the Presidential Primary to January 29. Remember it was a Republican Legislature and the Republican Governor that made this happen. Please forward this to your friends; we need to get the word out.

Chair, Hernando County Democratic Executive Committee
Spring Hill, FL 34611

NEWS FROM THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
For Immediate Release: March 7, 2008
re: Crist's Concern for Dem Voters

TALLAHASSEE - While Florida's governor plays the role of nonpartisan leader on television, he's a true partisan Republican in real life. During his week-long media tour to "help" Democrats, Crist seems to have conveniently forgotten that he vowed to veto legislation proposed by Democrats to move the primary to February 5th.

The recent post All Votes Must Count mysteriously left out the petition website. Please go to the following website to read and sign the petition demanding the DNC not disenfranchise millions of its own voters.

Florida-delegates.com

You can go directly to read and sign the petition here

There is a fast growing movement to make sure Florida and Michigan voters are not disenfranchised. Since my own mother is one of Florida's disenfranchised voters, I have strong feelings about this. (as does she!)

Please read, sign and forward the petition below.

Please keep these facts in mind:

The Florida Democratic primary election ballot had all Democratic presidential candidates listed.
Florida Dems have been disenfranchised, through no fault of their own.
HB537 was written by a Florida Republican to change Florida's primary date.
The Florida legislature has an overwhelming Republican majority.
The state of Florida has a Republican Governor.
HB537 was passed by the Republican-ruled Legislature in May 2007 & legislatively changed the Florida primary date.
The Florida Democratic Party did NOT change this date.
The citizens of the state of Florida did NOT vote on this date change.
This date was, and still is, unalterable by the Florida Democrats.

Passage of Florida legislative bill HB 537 has caused 2.6 Million voters to become disenfranchised. Democrats made up the bulk of those, with 1.7 million voters, an all-time record-breaking turnout. This may have been a manipulation of the legislative process to intentionally influence the outcome of a presidential race. Please help us reinstate the voting rights of Florida Democrats. How you can help:

FL Delegate Tempest Could Give State To The GOP
by Ron Levitt,

Florida Democrats, at first "just angry" over the Democratic National Committee's refusal to accept its Jan. 29 Florida primary results, are now engaging in infighting that could put the Sunshine State in the Republican column in November, and that, once again, might mean the presidency.

Even the state's leading newspaper, which rarely editorializes on intra-party political decisions, entered the fray Friday calling the DNC's decision to blacklist Florida's delegates a "kamikaze tradition" which will benefit the GOP.

The newspaper editorial, titled Time to Fix the State's Primary Mess, noted that the 1.7 million record Democratic turnout would be disenfranchised if not counted the same as other states, and "the party stands to lose any claim they have to the loyalty and support of the voters of this state."

"We will not sit on the sidelines and see our votes ignored," said one Democratic activist. She recalled that it was only a handful of ballots that cost Al Gore Florida's electoral votes and the loss of the 2000 election. "The DNC is now doing it again with its ridiculous punishment."

Here's some background on DNC rules, and this research (by Andre Walker) covers those rules pertinent to early primaries. Of course, the devilish details are not reported in the big newspapers or covered by major television news programs. Doesn't anybody in the media check the facts anymore? The DNC has a Convention Credentials Committee and anyone concerned about Election Integrity should be contacting them as well as the Rules Committee. (We're talking over 1.7 million Dem voters in Florida -- an all-time record-breaking turnout -- who have been disenfranchised by its own Party).

Note to the DNC: Apply the rules equally & fairly
by Andre Walker (andrewalker08, firedoglake)

As a prelude to this diary, I am serving notice to anyone who may feel the need to opine about how the Florida & Michigan delegations should not have their voting rights restored at the Democratic National Convention; and how it is breaking the rules by seeking to have those two states' delegations votes count in Denver; notice is hereby given that before you hit that "submit" button to post your comments, you better make damn sure that what you're saying is consistent with the Charter & Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States, the Call to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules for the Democratic National Convention, and the Regulations of the Rules & Bylaws Committee for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Dear Friends,

Today I'm announcing with regret my withdrawal from the campaign to represent New Hampshire in the US Senate. I remain committed to the goals of our campaign, but I do not have the financial resources needed to campaign full-time for the next nine months, which is what would be required to beat John Sununu.

I would like to thank all the people who have volunteered their time, money, and energy to support the campaign. I'm proud that our campaign has brought the need for an Apollo Program for Energy to the forefront of the Senate debate here in New Hampshire, and I’m going to continue to work for the issues that have been the foundation of our campaign, including:

• Promoting the awareness that America’s energy policy is crucial to our national security and economy as well as to our environment.
• Keeping our nation a leader in the global economy by investing in education, supporting science and technology research and development, and providing affordable, portable health care for all Americans.
• Eliminating the excessive power of special interests in our political process.

SOURCE: Bluehampshire

by elwood

The recount of the New Hampshire primary is well underway. 79,344 ballots - some 27% of the statewide Democratic total - have been recounted in public view. That total now includes 14 towns using hand counts, where 5,661 votes were cast.

Key results so far:

1)The raw miscount rate - that is, changes between the election night total and the recount total - is 857 votes.

2)There are an additional hand-counted 70 write-in votes originally lumped together as 'scatter' that were reallocated to obscure candidates, accounting for another 140 changes in total.

3)The raw miscount rate was 1.08%.

4)The miscount rate in scanner precincts was 1%.

5)The miscount rate in hand count towns was 2.6%.

6)Of the 857 miscounts, 401 from both scanner and hand count precincts are known to be or clearly appear to be simple human error.*

7)Subtracting the human errors, the maximum error attributable to the scanners is 0.57%.

I just returned from two days of campaigning for Ron Paul in New Hampshire and I am LIVID about the potential voters fraud in New Hampshire. http://ronrox.com/paulstats.php. Notwithstanding the fact that the AG office in NH just announced 'no fraud' this must not be taken seriously IF there were NO source codes released to determine how the voting machines were programmed. Without these codes there is NO way of knowing.

As for how Ron Paul got 2-3 times more votes in those with Paper Ballots, (than the electronic machines), I would not have believed it without my own eyes!

SCREEN CAPTURE FROM BOSTON GLOBE WEBSITE SHOWING REAL TIME AP PRECINCT TALLIES TELLS THE REAL STORY: RON PAUL GOT ROBBED. Whether LHS rigged this (election via Diebold machines exactly the way Bev Harris of Black Box Voting Predicted) can't be certain, but the source codes for these machines needs to be evaluated immediately. Obviously, you are probably aware that they have never released such code and consequently, how they're programmed can't be learned. As promoters of justice, this must have you concerned, doesn't it?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2007

CONTACT:
Farrell Seiler
(603) 568-4916
Farrell@DraftGoreNH.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE GORE SUPPORTERS ENDORSE JOHN EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT

Organization Cites Edwards’ Realistic, Sensible Solutions to Tackling the Challenge of Global Warming On Eve of First in the Nation Primary

Littleton, NH – Today, on the eve of New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary, Draft Gore New Hampshire, a statewide group of Granite state voters concerned about the impact of global warming, announced its endorsement of Senator John Edwards.

Draft Gore News Hampshire is encouraging all its members and voters across the state sharing their strong environmental values to vote for Edwards in tomorrow’s primary election.

For six months, Draft Gore New Hampshire had been organizing an effort to encourage New Hampshire voters write in Nobelist Al Gore’s name on the primary ballot.

“As an organization, we quickly came to realize that more aggressive national and worldwide leadership is needed to find workable solutions to the critical issues of global warming and climate change,” said Farrell Seiler, state coordinator for Draft Gore New Hampshire.

John just finished a wildly successful two-day trip through the Granite State with Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne and the momentum was palpable. Earlier, we noted that Bonnie and Jackson joined John for events in Nashua, Keene, and Lebanon (where MSNBC’s Chris Matthews caught up with John for a great interview!). The events in Manchester and Portsmouth were just as exciting, with overflow crowds packing into the Palace Theater and the Frank Jones Center. The Concord Monitor noted the enthusiastic crowd in Manchester:

The crowd - about 600 people, according to the campaign's count - that filled the main floor of the Manchester theater and some of the gallery gave standing ovations to the music stars and the candidate alike.

The Valley News remarked on Edwards' impact on the crowd in Lebanon:

Pressing his populist campaign with greater intensity and aided by rock 'n' roll star power, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards yesterday told 500 Upper Valley voters that he has the experience and determination to fight moneyed interests in Washington ... Several voters said they were drawn by Edwards’ passion and conviction.”

John once again emphasized his America Rising message and encouraged the audience to fight up for New Hampshire’s poor, health care coverage for New Hampshire’s 135,000 uninsured, and the opportunity for every child to get a college education and fulfill the American dream. Every time we stand up and fight for a better America, Edwards said, America rises. Edwards said:

I take it very personally when I see powerful, well-financed interests taking over this democracy, and taking it away from regular Americans. We've got to stand right and reclaim our democracy to make absolutely certain that America rises again. Every time that we stand up for 135,000 people in New Hampshire who have no health care coverage, America rises. Every time we speak up for the 85,000 Granite Staters living in poverty, America rises. When we make sure that a high school graduate in rural New Hampshire knows that college is in the cards for them, and that they'll be able to find a good job in their community, America rises. And I'll tell you this. You can feel the New Hampshire voters rising up right now and giving voice to all those in this country who deserve a voice – for the poor, for the disenfranchised, for the working middle class in America. That's what this election is about.

John returns to New Hampshire on December 26th for events in Conway, Laconia, Manchester and Salem. For details, CLICK HERE.

We've been getting small doses of what is going to be one of the worst fraud ever perpetrated in recent times.

Sure that all the Party leaders in charge of straw polls and handling ballots cringe at the suggestion -how dare we?- that the cast ballots should remain in view while they are counted and at all other times. Do we dare accuse them of being dishonest?

The ServeNext Presidential Straw Poll is now ready for your vote! Designed celebrate the season of service, create some friendly competition between campaigns, and address the unprecedented critical food shortage faced by residents in need this winter, the contest will benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank and its local agencies across the state.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

Craddick committee directive and GOP vote suppression think tank will attempt to justify denying Texans access to the ballot
Academic studies, media reports and fact based voter analysis consistently demonstrate that systematic, widespread or frequent voter fraud in Texas, or anywhere else in the United States, simply does not exist. Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, however, has directed a State House committee to conduct an interim study on voter fraud with the clear intention of recommending legislation to limit the ability of thousands of eligible Texans to vote......

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