Some inside info reWaPo story and graphic on slots v voting machines.

[blm]

First of all, the fact that the graphics editor allowed a graphic on that story proves they are now paying attention to it and that SOME journalists are still honest.

Second, I have heard that the reporter is very focused on this story and wrote it with a clear, strong graphic in mind, which really helps the casual reader.

Those of you working the press angle need to use this article at every opportunity. It will also propel Prof. Freeman into a greater spotlight when his book is released. This article and the accompanying graphic makes it so easy for anyone to finally "GET IT" in the way we do.

DU post w/article link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x687635


Kudos to Rich Morin, the columnist who wrote the piece - he understood that a graphic would propel the story in ways that words cannot and thought ahead to think "visually" from the start.

Kudos to Laura Stanton for a brilliantly simple graphic.

It's nice to know that serious people are with us on this and that not everyone at the WaPost is on the BushInc payroll.

Keep this graphic out there as long as possible - get it to the editors at your local papers.

[suziedemocrat]

1. kick and recommend !!!

This is THE story and THE crime - IMO. Without fudged elections - they lose the power they have to wage unnecessary wars and spy on people without warrants, etc. It's the elections stupid!!!!

[blm]

2. No kidding - the GOP controls most media and most voting machines

and those issues need to be dealt with before the others by the Dem party if we are ever going to advance. All other issues are contingent upon exposing that control.

[blm]

3. Kick for more eyeballs.

,

[Bill Bored]

4. Morin is the WaPo polling editor.

Does this mean he believes the unadjusted exit polls were right and Bush lost, or is he just setting Freeman up for a fall?

I'd suggest we stick to the voting machine issues and not push the exit poll stuff unless Morin agrees. I guess he'll send a signal at some point if does. Meanwhile, it's the voting systems stupid!

[blm]

5. Did you read the article and see the graphics? It's ALL about the MACHINES

.

[RazzleDazzle]

6. I'd suggest we not choose between "either" and "or" but do BOTH

and ALL -- EVERY chance we get, EVERY avenue, EVERY reporter, EVERY story, EVERY ANYthing. This ain't some product roll out, this is democracy at stake.

[OnTheOtherHand]

7. not likely Morin has changed his views on... those things

Morin wrote a few weeks after the election that "the 2004 election may have finally stripped exit polling of its reputation as the crown jewel of political surveys, somehow immune from the myriad problems that affect telephone polls and other types of public opinion surveys. Instead, this face-to-face, catch-the-voters-on-the-way-out poll has been revealed for what it is: just another poll, with all the problems and imperfections endemic to the craft.... Sometime soon... (t)he view of exit polls also will change, from blind awe and acceptance to respect tempered by a healthy skepticism. Thanks to the 2004 election and my new best friends the bloggers, we're closer to that day."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64906-2004Nov20.html

Sigh.

The machine arguments do stand on their own.

[blm]

13. That was then - alot of information on machines has come out since then.

He sounds like a believer in vote machine fraud to me.

[OnTheOtherHand]

14. we seem to be mixing topics

Evidence about the machines doesn't have much bearing on how one assesses the exit polls. They are separate arguments. As I said, the machine arguments stand on their own.

I can't help but hope that if I make that point enough times, a few more DUers will take it to heart. I think Freeman's arguments about the exit polls are still weak; I also think that DRE security is a travesty and that the machines are at best unreliable. No contradiction or even tension there. Morin may've changed his mind about the exit polls (I don't know why he would), but it doesn't matter.

Some folks think Bush stole the 2004 election, some folks don't, but it shouldn't prevent them from agreeing about the problems with DREs (and many other problems). Winning some argument about 2004 is not an end in itself. We need to fix what's broken.

I hope Morin stays on that beat.

[Amaryllis]

8. Can someone who knows how to post a graphic put it in GD politics? I

put the link there but don't know how to post the graphic and it didnt go anywhere.

[Zan_of_Texas]

15. Hey A! Here's a lesson on how to post a graphic.

1. On the original place where it's posted, place your cursor in the middle of the graphic.

2. Right click.

3. At the bottom of the list that pops up, left click on PROPERTIES

4. In the middle of the box, it will say

ADDRESS, and there will be a URL starting with http

5. Copy that URL using highlight, then control + C

6. Go to where you want to post the graphic.

7. Use this code -

{img src="http://whatevertheaddressisyoucopied"}

except here at DU, use brackets at the beginning and end, not { }

Other places use < >

[Amaryllis]

9. VEry heartening to see this finally hitting MSM. There is hope...

[bleever]

10. I do believe we've come a long way from being tin foil hatters.

Damn it's a good feeling, isn't it?

:patriot:


(ed: because without a colon in the end, :patriot: is just text on a page.)

[eridani]

11. That graphic makes a very good leaflet--

--for just about any election transparency group. Thanks, Ms. Stanton.

[blm]

12. Which is exactly why it's so valuable to the cause.

Doesn't hurt to have an established news source for reference, either.