LA Times is reporting tonight that the good guys may have won one for a change…
Plagued by a lack of money, supporters of a statewide initiative drive to change the way California’s 55 electoral votes are apportioned, first revealed here by Top of the Ticket in July, are pulling the plug on that effort.
In an exclusive report to appear on this website late tonight and in Friday’s print editions, The Times’ Dan Morain reports that the proposal to change the winner-take-all electoral vote allocation to one by congressional district is virtually dead with the resignation of key supporters, internal disputes and a lack of funds.
The scam of the attempted Electoral College coup was best exposed in August by Hendrik Hertzberg at New Yorker and more recently found by SF Chronicle to have been backed by a mysteriously funded Missouri(!) front group tied to Rudolph Giuliani.
More at the Times’ blog, though we’d urge caution. GOP attempts to steal 2008 any way they can will not end here, not by a long shot, even if this particular initiative really is dead.
A leading opponent of the measure, Democratic consultant Chris Lehane, told the Times, “We want to to make sure this is not the Freddie Kruger of initiatives…that comes back to life. We’ll continue to monitor it.”
As will we. Good on the Dems for (maybe) nipping this one in the bud…for a change.
Thanks for all the work you do to insure the integrity of our electoral process. There’s additional information about the initiative’s organizer Thomas Hiltachk and the initiative’s biggest donor, Take Initiative America and its founder Charles A. Hurth III that I wrote about in The Blue Voice that you might be interested in. LINK
Get the word out to those that receive Republican mailings with postage paid return envelopes.
An old trick but, tape a few heavy washers to the return inside of the envelope, they have to pay the excess postage weight.
A little sneaky but WTF, every little bit helps.
I don’t get them anymore for some reason 😉
Hey 99, Did you see this one with John Cusack and Naomi Klein ?
Very good interview about her new book.
Link
I saw your Buchanan link too, hard to believe that Pat is the only sane one around foggy bottom besides Dennis and a very few others
This is great news. Their comment that it was because of no money is, of course, total BS. What killed it is the NewYorker magazine article, followed by yesterday’s excellent reporting in the SFChronicle by Carla Marinucci.
Oh, where, oh, where has the turdblossom gone? And where will he reappear next?
Yes that is good news indeed.
Where will the fat little face of KKKarl rove pop up next to derail/steal – fair, free, and honest elections in 2008 – with a devious plan to throw the election results in the favor of the fascist Republican 100 year majority rule plans ?
KKKarl is not playing golf or yachting off the coast of Bimini, he is in the background, but off the radar screen – planning, plotting, and scheming to steal the 2008 election. Remain vigilant.
Was there not a plan to do the same thing in the State of New York too ?
If it is a Blue State and you can’t win the electoral votes in a fair election. By way of stealth through the state legislature or citizen initiative put the question on the ballot to change the law to allow you to steal a bunch of the Blue State electoral votes – that maybe all it takes to put another Republican in the White House.
Scheme after scheme – KKKarl rove never sleeps. Like the movies, could someone just drive a wooden stake through his heart ? I’ve got a good sledgehammer you can borrow.
I am delighted to hear this and certainly hope it is true. If ALL states would practice it, there might be an argument to be made for some form of proportional allotment of electoral votes, whether based on Congressional districts or on percentage of total popular vote. But if ONLY california were to do this while all the major traditionally Republican states, such as Texas, continue with the winner-take-all policy, then it becomes nothing but a blatant attempt to give the Republican party a big unfair advantage.
Ultimately, what we really ought to do is scrap the electoral college altogether and elect the president by direct popular vote. That would eliminate the possibility of the candidate who actually had less support winding up as the “winner”.
Great news! I’ve been following this closely…
Hey, thanks, Flo. I’d seen her discussing her book elsewhere, but this interview was pretty good. They don’t exactly mention that capitalism has reached its natural breakdown point, and without creating the endless war footing to keep destroying stuff at an apocalyptic rate, the rich can no longer grow richer. Instead of thoughtful and decent people finding ways to raise the quality of life and lower the footprint, greedy and unscrupulous people have found the door wide open to exploit the situataion this way. I’m about dead of waiting for the decent to pull together and make the change for real. It’s still possible, but every hour it gets harder.
That Buchanan piece really gave me a lift. Seems he, and some others, even a cartoonist, have picked up on a piece in the latest issue of TIME, of all things, and are trying to make some points that way.
These people all need to be under one roof, and giving policy, talking points — an education — to congress. Writing speeches! Using their own media outlet to get this stuff to the people, giving the politicians a way off the downward spiral garbage chute prepared for them by the oligarchy. As it is, even if one or two of them have ideas about a truly better world, they can’t get the authority behind it, the media coverage or any help to prevail. They’re going to keep selling out until there is this kind of support, and soon not this kind of support will be impossible to provide. The only support they have now are the special interest groups, NONE of which have the good of humanity or the planet at heart.
Always be vigilant with these repugs. Let us not forget to read Naomi Wolf’s article, “Fascist America, in 10 easy step”, published in the Guardian, 4/24/07 and look for her book, “The End Of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.” Both Naomi Klein and Naomi Wolf are right on target!
On a related note, caught this over at Daily Kos:
The Missouri Connection to California’s Petition Drive
Hmmmmmm……
That Brad guy is somehow connected to Missouri isn’t he ? What was his name Brad,.. Brad,.. last name begins with an “F” if I recall correctly.
No,.. no,.. I was think’n of Thor Hearne. Oh yeah,.. Thor Hearne is the election fraud charlatan that that Brad guy outed and chased back into his cold, dark, dreary, damp, afraid of the daylight, CAVE.
(SNARK)
Click to Hearne link.
In other news…
EVM cracker caging ritual(tm)
Why is is so damn important to verify WHO the voter is suddenly, instead of validating the voter’s actual damned vote?
Okay you heathens.
I got a peek at the book of shadows from the EVIL VOTING MACHINE coven.
Light three black candles and then shred (not like shredding on guitar, like shredding in the crosscut paper shreader) three million voter registrations. (this needs to happen before the nearest full moon to the election) Have sex with a stranger and at the moment, focus your energy to give Blackwater strength. Imagine the constitution on fire and as it burns up, and Blackwater surrounded by pure white light as they machine gun down residents of the next disaster area.
When the ghosts of all the people you killed by your actions arrive at your home, build a wooden spirit house, Inside the house, put hair from SOS, a glass of blood, and a pizza crust, tie a silk thread to your front doorknob, weave the silk thread in and out of every door, nook an cranny, get an assistant to carry a dangerous oil burning tray with oil and beeswax through the house and take up the string while shouting, “your votes are not here, they and freedom are on the other side, follow the string or I will banish you to dark shades of gitmo.”
When you reach the end, go out to the spirit house and bind the spirits in the wooden house, saying, “Everything you need is here, I bind you inside.”
Take the wooden box out in the woods and burn it with the rest of the paper ballots. Spread the Ashes to the four winds.
NEVER GO BACK
I think we should totally do away with the electoral vote and let the people decide. Which we would do if we could ever bring Democracy to America.
Funny how Hillary vowed in 2000 to eliminate the Electoral College and now you guys are defending it.
I guess it depends on whose ox is gored.