BBV Voting Story hits UK---All the President's votes?/The Independent

[Gloria]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=452972



All the President's votes?
A quiet revolution is taking place in US politics. By the time it's over, the integrity of elections will be in the unchallenged, unscrutinised control of a few large - and pro-Republican - corporations. Andrew Gumbel wonders if democracy in America can survive

14 October 2003

Something very odd happened in the mid-term elections in Georgia last November. On the eve of the vote, opinion polls showed Roy Barnes, the incumbent Democratic governor, leading by between nine and 11 points. In a somewhat closer, keenly watched Senate race, polls indicated that Max Cleland, the popular Democrat up for re-election, was ahead by two to five points against his Republican challenger, Saxby Chambliss.

Those figures were more or less what political experts would have expected in state with a long tradition of electing Democrats to statewide office. But then the results came in, and all of Georgia appeared to have been turned upside down. Barnes lost the governorship to the Republican, Sonny Perdue, 46 per cent to 51 per cent, a swing of as much as 16 percentage points from the last opinion polls. Cleland lost to Chambliss 46 per cent to 53, a last-minute swing of 9 to 12 points.

Red-faced opinion pollsters suddenly had a lot of explaining to do and launched internal investigations. Political analysts credited the upset - part of a pattern of Republican successes around the country - to a huge campaigning push by President Bush in the final days of the race. They also said that Roy Barnes had lost because of a surge of "angry white men" punishing him for eradicating all but a vestige of the old confederate symbol from the state flag.

But something about these explanations did not make sense, and they have made even less sense over time. When the Georgia secretary of state's office published its demographic breakdown of the election earlier this year, it turned out there was no surge of angry white men; in fact, the only subgroup showing even a modest increase in turnout was black women.

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[jbm]

1. great article!

Thanks for posting it!

[ParanoidPat]

2. Can anyone point out the Evil DU'er quoted in that story?

Thanks DEMActivist! :toast:
The rest of you take a lesson! You can do this. :evilgrin:

[DEMActivist]

3. Thanks PP. Interesting news from a friend in England

He tells me that this is a 4 page pull out special section in the Independent. Front page with the headline, and a picture of Shrub with hanging electronic ballots.....

Evidently, it's making quite the splash over there which probably accounts for the FAUX comment this afternoon about the "anti-American Independent."

My friend will scan the front page and send it in the AM.

[ParanoidPat]

4. I copied the web page.....

....but would love it if you'ld copy me on the scan! :)

[DEMActivist]

5. Will do n/t

[FrenchieCat]

6. Maybe they'll do something about this

after the next election?????????????

I Vote absentee.....at least that's paper.

I feel like we are trapped in quicksand. Good it does discussing our candidates on this site....when at the end, it won't even matter!

[Eloriel]

7. No, no

Join the battle. You're needed.

Don't get depressed -- help get it fixed!

Welcome to DU.

Eloriel

[ParanoidPat]

8. It's not up to 'them' to do something about this.....

.....it's up to ALL OF US to make them do something BEFORE the next election! :evilgrin:

Don't get angry get active!

:kick: