Tuesday, 12 October 2004
Election laws changed to get Bush on ballot
In the world of work there are deadlines. When you are assigned a project you are expected to get it done by a specific time. Can you extend the deadline? Sure. There are many factors to extend a deadline. Death in the family and personal illness are very acceptable reasons. Assorted delays associated with a big project. What about extending the deadline so you can have a party? Is that a reason your boss will accept to extend a deadline? Heck no. So why have election laws been changed so George W. Bush can accept his nomination in September? Yup, the deadlines in several states have been moved in order for Bush to get his name on the ballot. Without those changes he would have to be a write-in candidate.
The GOP chose to hold their convention late August and early September in New York City and the excuse the republicans gave for such a late convention was Olympic coverage. They did not want to have a convention during the Olympics. For some reason the 1996 Democratic and Republican conventions were held without any interference from the Olympics and election laws didn't have to be changed. The real reason the convention was held so late this year was to capitalize on 9/11 and the photo-ops that will be available. "Then reality set in, in the form of victim's families who rightly said," "We don't want ground zero to be politicized." It was too late to change the dates so the convention had to go on and the risk of Bush not being on the ballot was for nothing. Or was it? Bush and his cohorts have still been able to invoke 9/11 at every turn and he will count on the kindness of strangers to change the deadline to help him.
In some states the deadline to certify a presidential candidate for the ballot is the last day of August or first day of September, which was just a little too early for when Bush officially accepts his parties nomination. Washington DC, with its 3 electoral college votes has moved its deadline and Alabama with 9 electoral college votes pushed theirs off to a comfortable September 5th. Idaho with its 4 votes gave Bush a five-day grace period and Indiana with 11 did the same. California with 55 electoral college votes and West Virginia with 5 votes have also moved their deadline to accommodate Bush's convention party. Florida, the ?battleground? state that had so many problems in the 2000 election has given Bush a pass on the deadline law so the states 25 electoral votes are still in play for Bush.
Wouldn't it be nice to tell your boss "Hey, I'm having a party so I won't get my work done by the deadline?" and the boss says "Sure, we'll push the deadline back for ya!" We have six states that have changed their laws for one man. We should question if this is not only ethical but also legal. Would those states change other deadlines set by state law for other citizens or just one citizen? I doubt that very much. So why is Bush getting laws changed to benefit just him? We know he has lived a privileged life surviving from one failed business to another with the help of family friends but now we have state legislatures making sure he gets what he needs.
You might wonder why the electoral college numbers are mentioned. States with a total of 112 electoral college votes gave Bush an early Christmas present and changed laws so the his supporters need not write in his name on November 2nd. How would it affect the election if he were a write-in? The race is close as it was in 2000 and the loss of a state with even 4 electoral votes means a sure defeat. Would Bush be able to count on his supporters to fill out a write-in ballot? He should ask that the laws stand as-is and trust his loyal followers.
Posted by blog2/politicsland at 9:30 PM EDT