So...why didn't the Reps steal it this time?

[CoffeeCat]

We all know that the Reps engaged in a concerted vote-stealing effort in
04. There were many things they did---vote switching, suppression, lack
of voting machines, intimidation, tampering with the machines, etc.

Yes, there was some hanky panky, and the robocalls. However, they didn't
engage in a major, orchestrated, stolen-election effort this time.

In all honesty, I was braced for major heartache and stealing. I'm glad
it didn't happen. Majorly relieved.

However--I can't help but wonder why they didn't do it this time.

[lildreamer316]

1. Was JUST thinking about that very thing.

Will wait to see what others think.

[princehal]

2. I think they tried

But there were too many of us watching.

[blogslut]

3. Numbers, baby

:)

[ecstatic]

4. 2008

If Democrats don't do something about the machines by then, we will be driven into the wilderness again.

[Old and In the Way]

Foregone conclusion.

1st order of business - fix the voting system, everyone's vote counts....bad news for the minority party.

[BuyingThyme]

5. They did.

But we caught 'em.

[lapfog_1]

41. They did, we didn't catch them

we simply overwhelmed their ability to steal..

What I'm saying is that we likely won by much larger numbers than reported... much much larger.
and likely we should have won races we didn't.

They can't steal by more than 5 percent or so... otherwise it would simply be too obvious. So the software thefts were simply programed to randomly flip votes to about 5 percent. But we still won.

I stake my professional reputation on it.

I've been a "hacker" since before the term "hacker" was used.

[longship]

6. Too damned many races.

In a Pres election, they could focus on one or two important statewide races and grab it. But there's been 70-80 seats (House + Senate) in play here. No way to jigger that many races.

[bling bling]

32. Exactly. A lot easier to steal for just one guy. n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. they couldn't

the blue wave was too strong.

:bounce:

[The Count]

8. Oh, our real numbers are much bigger

And we fought every inch of the way - law suits, FBI visits, we let them know we're watching them!

[LynnTheDem]

9. Easier to steal close races. Not so easy in large-gap races.

We're flooding the bastards so deeply they can't steal enough without it being obvious even to the wingnuts. :)

[speedoo]

10. They still could, if there's a Virginia recount.

And Tester has not won yet.... his lead's down to 8,000.

[uppityperson]

11. They tried but couldn't. Too many against them this time.

Too many.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

12. Easier to control electoral vote results in 1-2 key states, esp. where you have

the Governor and Sec. of State.

Broad disaffection among the general public, across hundreds of races in all states, it's a lot harder to get control of the voting apparatus in all those places.

This is why we still have a narrow window of opportunity, winning this election, to introduce legislation to "fix" the deficiencies of HAVA.

[Roxy66]

13. They knew the Nation was on to them.....

[progressivebydesign]

14. They tried.. if you've been reading DU for the past week.

You'd know that they tried everything!! The robocalls, the felonious calls, the signs, the hurried amendments to try and force ID to vote, the purged voting rolls, the dirty campaigning, the machine malfunctions and not giving Blue districts proper equipment. they tried.. but if it's not close enough to cheat, it doesn't work. They brought a rowboat to a tidal wave... and got swamped. You can only cheat so much if the electorate is determined enough.

[Canuckistanian]

36. "They brought a rowboat to a tidal wave"

That about sums it up.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. I think KKKarl and Bush underestimated their opposition.

They probably thought that the robocalls and other funny business would take care of it. But because of their arrogance and isolation they didn't realize how much their guts are hated outside their little White House cocoon. We just outvoted them. Their fraud couldn't keep up.

[CC]

16. They tried but too many

people showed up, too many people knew about election theft, too many people were watching for it and the media was finally reporting on election fraud letting light in to chase away the dark.

[casus belli]

17. It's hard to steal when everyone's watching you.

[karmaqueen]

18. All the attention to past fraud.

I think so many people knew that they stole it the last two elections they knew they couldn't get away with it again.

[strategery blunder]

19. Oh they tried.

But this time, there were too many of us, and not enough of them.

I voted in fundieville.

The fundies didn't show like they did in 2004.

When I cast my vote two hours after the polls opened, I was the fourteenth voter.

The rethuglicans needed to keep the margin of victory below five percent for them to steal. They knew we were coming and tried desperately to keep us away.

Operation: Voter Suppression so Diebold can Deliver=phail.

[Jack Rabbit]

20. It was beyond stealing

For weeks, every poll in the country showed the Democrats were going to win, with every new poll showing their strength snowballing.

If the Republicans stole this election, it would have been too obvious. There would have been chaos in the streets tomorrow.

[WinkyDink]

21. The Internets and The Google stopped them in their tracks.

[American Jesus]

22. I predicted this very possibility just a few days ago.

Assuming they actually didn't try to steal it, it was a strategic move on the Republican's part. Chimpy is a lame duck either way, and there's really nothing left they can do. Add to that the fact that the whore media actually WAS talking about all the potential problems with electro fraud.

Now that the election supposedly went off normally, most people will drop their guard. Which will allow them to steal it again in 2008, and when resistance to that outcome is voiced, it will be met with "Oh not this shit again".

[Fridays Child]

23. Maybe the GOP *did* make an all out effort to steal this election and ...

...what we're seeing tonight is, in reality, a landslide.

Now, we have the unique opportunity to get a bipartisan push for paper trail/verifiable voting systems, nationwide. Rank and file Republicans--freepers, fundies, and the like--will probably start saying that Dems stole this election and demand voting system reform.

If we let this chance at stopping vote theft, once and for all, shame on us.

[magellan]

24. Maybe we gave the machines too much credit

Really, there's only so much vote-stealing you can do when the numbers are as far out as they were in many races tonight. That doesn't mean these machines aren't a problem. As I said elsewhere, I'd love to see what the results would be if the GOP hadn't pulled all the stunts they did. I bet the Dem wins would be way more significant in certain races.

[txindy]

25. Overwhelming numbers made wholesale theft impossible.

Although I'll bet we lost some seats/initiatives due to it. The closest races were the most vulnerable. And the smaller races.

[Oak2004]

42. Yep, I think they did try and may have succeeded

but only on a small scale and only in "safer" states (i.e. Georgia, Florida).

Too much attention has been drawn to the fraud issue for the low-end people, whose neck would be on the block if they were caught, to be as cooperative as they needed them to be with regard to machine tampering and ballot spoiling. In fact many of those low-end people are probably disgusted with Washington Republicans, too, at this point in time.

Of necessity I'm going to be very vague here, but some decades past I helped to expose some of the crimes of a domestic terrorist group. I kept myself safe by keeping myself in the public eye. These people, who had previously killed other people and threatened others into silence, could not touch me. It would have been obvious who killed me, obvious that what I was saying about them was true, and ultimately my death would have destroyed their group faster and more thoroughly than anything I could do against them in life. Moral of the story: even the most contemptible criminals will not commit their crimes under public scrutiny.

[Tommymac]

26. As Greg Palast said...

Their vile and immoral suppression efforts stole them a 4.5 million vote lead before the race even started ...we needed to come up with 5.5 million to beat them...and we did it.

WE THE PEOPLE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

50+ Million American's voted today ...in a MID-TERM election!

GOTV BABY!!! WE DID IT!!!!!

[Rainscents]

29. Ye, it was power of numbers did it!!!

[karlrschneider]

27. Too much scrutiny! I guarantee it! DU and other similar sites kept

their antics in public view. I honestly think that! :D

[bluetrain]

28. They already got what they were after: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Yeah, they coulda tried harder to steal this one, too, but it wouldn't have been worth risking...As it stands now, they'll all get off free, run away to South America or wherever, too much chaos right now to get energy behind prosecuting them all. To dig through all the levels of corruption...it'll seriously take 20 years to get those boys into court and, at least, half of them will be dead by then. If we aren't all sprouting gills in 20 years, the remaining loyalists will be back at the table, just when things are starting to go well, ready to rip it all to bits again...

[TheBaldyMan]

30. they did try - they have suppressed voter registration before the election

check out http://www.gregpalast.com/how-they-stole-the-mid-term-election

this article detail how republicans denied 4.5 million the right to vote at all. No surprises that most of the purged electorate were from traditionally democratic groups.

[mhatrw]

31. Because we need a bone? Because the margin was too great?

Because they never really "stole" it other than by attrition in many small local cheats in 2000, 2002 and 2004?

What does it really matter? It doesn't excuse unauditable voting machines. Or does it somehow in your brain?

[Tatiana]

33. Oh, they tried.

But as Greg Palast (I believe) pointed out, the only sure way to defeat vote-stealing is to have overwhelming turnout. We certainly had phenomenal turnout by our side considering the fact that this was a mid-term election and the weather in many places was not pleasant. Over 2.5 MILLION votes were cast in the VA senatorial election. That's simply PHENOMENAL turnout.

I actually suspect our margins of victory are much higher than reported in states like Virginia, Ohio, and Missouri.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

34. Project X

It worked!

[readmoreoften]

35. I've thought about this same thing. I think that it's more complicated to rig so many races.

Also, the consolation prize is that a D win gives the appearance that voter fraud doesn't really exist, which puts us at a disadvantage during the 2008 presidential elections, when they can easily rig the Diebold on one race again.

I agree I won't jump for joy until Eliot Spitzer is elected pres in 2012. :)

[Skittles]

37. harder to do in a landslide and with so much sheer outrage out there

YES

[melody]

38. Too many voters

The tidal wave was a big one.

I also think they had to be sneakier this time. They realize we're onto them. If they had been "found out" fixing votes (which they still may), it would have brought it all down on them.

That may be why they floated that ludicrous Chavez-vote-fixing story the other day.

[windbreeze]

39. I hate to be a wet blanket.....

but...us taking it all this year...gives them two years to figure out how to blame everything they've done over the last 6 years on US, the Dem party...and just in time for 2008...Look, I am thrilled...I figured if we didn't take control back now, our goose was cooked...and I wasn't sure it was going to happen, I knew we were pissed, but were others??....I gotta say, I also don't trust this bunch any further than I can throw a one of them...the people elected tonight, do not officially take office until when????January?? that is two months...anything can happen in two months..we can't let down our guard at all...(I also find all the 51-49...50-50 races..strange as hell...I don't think I recall so many races at these numbers, so they may still be attempting to steal some of them, or trying to force them into numbers that require recounts)
windbreeze

[roseBudd]

40. Ballot rotation makes it too hard when there are lots of races and...

margins like Harris, Blackwell and Dewine would be too obvious.
Plus the optiscans were a paper trail that got counted by precinct at the polling location level. They couldn't precinct swap because of the bar codes.