Maybe. Bush leads by 136,000 votes here in Ohio. We still don't know the actual number of provisional ballots.
Also, I can't seem to find out the number of Absentee ballots, but when I was calling "Strong Kerrys" for Moveon PAC yesterday, many said they voted via absentee because they didn't trust the voting machines. So is there a large Kerry vote in the absentee ballots?
Things I saw and heard yesterday that worry me:
- Ohio law states that a voter need only show ID if they are not able to provide a signature. Yet people kept getting turned away from the polls because their id didn't match their registration.
- A partially disabled lady walked from E 90th to E 55th to vote, and was turned away because she didn't have an ID. She was driven home, but she didn't have a drivers license, and was denied the right to vote. How many times did this happen - contrary to Ohio law?
- Some polling places in college towns were open late into the night because people were still in line.
- The exit polls were SO different from the results, and were significantly more off in places that had no printed verification for recount. I've always been suspicious of the non-verifiable voting machines. Maybe I'm paranoid, but there are too many discrepancies for me to be comfortable. The worst thing is, we'll never know unless someone comes clean.
The upshot?
I'm still hoping for a miracle. I give it a faint glimmer of hope. But I'm preparing myself for 4 more years, at least 2 Supreme Court candidates, massive loss of tolerance and diversity in this country.
Blame? Yeah, I'm in a blaming mood.
- The Democratic party. This was the best organized, most motivated Dem party ever - and the Republicans opened up a can of whup-ass on them. Even if Kerry were to pull it out, The Republicans put Thune, Bunning, Burr, Coburn, DeMint...etc... into the Senate. Bunning is clearly not competent, and I would watch for him to resign in the next couple months, to be replaced by Ky's unpopular governor. Coburn thinks that schools won't allow girls to go to the bathroom together because of "rampant lesbianism" and that OBs that perform abortions should be given the death penalty. And we couldn't beat them???? 11 out of 11 states passed amendments barring gay marriage, including the one in Ohio that is INCREDIBLY vague and was opposed by our Republican Senators. The Dems did better than last time - and the Republicans matched and then beat them.
- Young voters. Yes, more came out than in 2000 - but only in proportion to the main population. Considering the horrible track record for people under 35, there was HUGE room for improvement, and it just didn't happen. They seem to still be as apathetic as ever.
- Voting machines - yes, I believe that we are seeing the results of a massive fraud, and we will never know for sure.
- Media - There were some instances of lefty vote suppression, which I'm exceedingly embarrased about, and I hope they're thrown in jail. But the MASSIVE effort at vote suppression from the right was as glaringly obvious as any - and the Media wouldn't point it out. Right Wing pundits just had to say, as Tucker Carlson did last night, "Even though the media wants Kerry to win...", and they kept running away, trying to be "balanced" but ending up helping the right.
