Dirty tactics in the presidential race
 

It seems that with each election, the members of political parties are willing to stoop to lower and lower levels to sabotage their opponents. Take a recent incident in Las Vegas, for example:
Or this one, where Sinclair Broadcast Group is trying to use their widespread exposure to push their political views:
Both major parties are guilty of this to one degreee or another. What other such dirty tactics have you read about, by members of either party?

Depends on your definition of "dirty."

The Republican election officials in Florida tried to cut thousands of Demoratic voters from the voting lists because they had been convicted of felonies, but they refused to let the media see the list to make sure it was accurate. Then when they were sued by the media to make the list public, they fought in court to keep the list of purged voters secret. Is that dirty enough for you?

Turns out they lost the suit, the list became public, and the media found that it was full of tons of errors, so it was thrown out. All this took place this past summer.

On the Colorado state level, the sole democratic elected representative from El Paso County, Michael Merrifield, has been the target of one of the most nasty, slanderous, character assasination attacks that I ever have ever seen. The state Republican party has sent out mailings depicting Merrifield as standing behind prison bars when in fact he has never broken any laws or even been charged with any instance of wrong doing - certainly he has never been sentenced to jail. The whole thing is based on the fact that some realtor donated Merrifield the use of a small cottage (about 500sq feet) which is situated on an alley, back from the main street, for use as a neighborhood outreach center for Merrifield's constituents. Merrifield neglected to note this down among his list of official campaign contributers (value roughly a whopping $145.00/mo). This oversight was corrected by Merrifield within a month of his having made the minor book-keeping error. This hasn't stopped the Republican party from sending out the mass mailings depicting Merrifield standing behind prison bars. "We didn't know he would correct the book-keeping error," whined one Republican in the party's main headquarters in Denver. "The mailings had already gone out and you can't stop the US Postal Service."

Yeah, neither rain nor snow nor dark of night will stop the Republican Party from stooping as low as a snake's belly and further disgracing itself in the eyes of the world. :cool:

Max Cleland (D, GA), got compared to Saddam Hussein for not voting for a Homeland Security bill that had a rider that would take away benefits from an insane number of government workers. Also, during the Republican primaries in 2000, Bush people started a calling campaign in South Carolina to remind everyone in South Carolina that John McCain has a black baby. Not that it matters, but the truth is that he adopted a baby from Bangladesh.

They're both absolutely filthy. I really don't see why people let themselves get whipped into a creamy froth over whatever 'big news scandal' is coming out. No one is perfect, no matter what political party colors he's got painted on his face, no matter his public profession of faith, no matter his intentions or his ability to plan and lead. If the DNC and RNC can get PAST that, I think we'd all be better off.

Of course both parties have their dirty tricksters - but this time 'round, the Republicans have been by far the most egregious offenders.

No reasonable person expects perfection in government leaders, in fact one of the contributing virtues to perfection is "not a polititian." But reasonable people DO expect at least an average level of intelligence, morality, honesty, and integrity. What's unfortunate is that have to keep lowering the bar because none of the people running can reach it. The result is a government full of immoral, self-serving bullshit peddlers. And the guys with integrity and honesty don't want to be anywhere near them.

Agreed... the Republicans are being particularly nefarious on this go-around.

The Democratic National Committee plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that alleges that the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" is an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign.

I haven't read up on this too much, but how is this any different than Fahrenheit 9/11?

I think that you have it backwards. The bar isn't getting lowered. There are, somewhere, politicians who aren't willing to sell their soul to achieve their ends, it's just that if you aren't willing to sell your soul you can't get anywhere in politics.

It's not a question of standards as much as a question of what is a successful political animal and what is not.

Ethics and morals vs political and personal agendas.

No successful politician is trustworthy except when you are counting on that person to do what is in their best interests.

True, but reasonable people are all too often in short supply.

"Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid."...like run for public office. :D
-Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean

It's different because Sinclair Broadcast group is forcing all of their affiliates to air "Stolen Honor" a few days before the election, pre-empting all other programming, even in swing states. The affiliates have no choice in the matter. And Sinclair is considering categorizing it as "news," to avoid laws which require them to give balanced treatment to the presidential candidates. Nice, eh?

Fahrenheit 911 may become available on Pay-Per-View before te election, but that's a different thing.

I've said it many times before: Hold your principles tightly, your issues loosely, and your candidates (or party) in contempt.

I suppose the reason I am so enraged over the slanders the Republicans are sending Merrifield's way is because I know him personally, and he's a decent human being who makes every effort to be there for his constituents. When speaking of last's year's Colorado State Legislature session he told me, "The whole exercise made me so sick at heart that I had to go off alone into the mountains for a month to heal my soul." God help us all if that's what serving in one of our governing bodies does to a good man.

a) Viewers pay to see F911, the Swift Boat Ad is being shown on network TV.
b) It is being shown within the restricted ad window - even ads for the F911 DVD no longer feature images of a presidental candidate.

There is an upcoming showing of Stolen Honor in a theater here in the Philadelphia Suburbs (The Baederwood in Jenkintown).

There's no problem there. Make it a double feature with "Going Upriver".

A follow-up to the story on Las Vegas Democratic voter registration forms being tossed...

Jacksonville police fire pepper to disperse protesters

More news along the same lines.

Teachers' T-shirts bring Bush speech ouster

well, i've stayed out of this one so far and don't really want to get in too deep because no one will be able to convince anyone of anything in this debate, but...

i happen to know Nathan Sproul and a little something about the charges about destroying D voter reg's. the first guy who came forward was terminated after repeated warnings for timecard forgery. he had to be physically restrained and removed from the office when he was fired. he might just have a little axe to grind.

the guy in oregon apparently was never on the company payroll.

what is happening right now does fall in line with page 54 of that ridiculous D gameplan to bring attention to vote suppression that has been made public in the last week.

Sproul filed a multi-million libel suit yesterday. he is pretty far to the right for my tastes, but fraud isn't exactly in this guy's bag of tricks. i know firsthand that the organization has been accepting D and independent or any other type of registrations with no malice.

just my $.02.

sometimes, not everything reported in the news is 100% true, even when it appears to be factually accurate.

edit: thought i should add that this is my take on the situation to this point from the info that i have received from those involved with the situation - not from media and blog reports.
nathan sproul is not a saint, and i make no such claim. he is a far right republican with all that that title entails. my knowledge of the man makes me question allegations of intentional attempts at destruction of voter registrations. i do not have video or audio tapes to support just a personal knowledge of the man.

And Hitler was a friend of mine. Lookout123 posts as if he was citing proof. I expect this of slick salesman. Just because I knew Hitler, therefore I know those Gypsys were not killed? Same reasoning that Lookout123 uses in his latest post.

No matter what you may think of the accuser, the news reporters say in no uncertain terms that Democratic voter registration forms WERE destroyed. That is not BS. Lookout123 would have us forget that little fact. But then Lookout123 is a poster boy of right wing extremist propaganda - where supporting facts never need be provided. He still fears to say when we will go after bin Laden. Good extremists simply avoid hard questions. He still cannot cite the one Saddam attack that justified war. He just knows Saddam would have attacked America. So he never answers hard questions.

Tell us Lookou123 that those Democratic ballots were not destroyed. This is not even a hard question. I understand how you fear hard questions. But please feel free to explain why 8 Action News outrightly lied and that you are so much better informed - just because you know Nathan Sproul. You insult everyone here when you don't provide proof - supporting facts. Put up the facts.Now provide those supporting facts. A questions too difficult? Show us how you know so much more than those reporters. Show us that you are not lying. Show us that you do not do as the current president does without remorse. Do what honest people do. Provide facts why you know Nathan Sproul would not do that.

ah, bitter irony.
let's face it tw, you're simply a bitch in a blue dress on your knees for the party line.

edit: in retrospect this would have been better not to post, my apologies for the crassness. i will, however, leave it in recognition of my friendship with Captain Morgan that influenced this post.

Fraud is well within his bag of tricks.

Lookout123 who still cannot answer even a simple question because as a right wing extremist and partner of Nathan Sproul, he must wait for approval from Karl Rove. Or is he Osama bin Laden - who also is a strong supporter of George Jr? After all, they are both from right wing extremist factions and they both make decisions based upon their religion.

tw- i think that after you're unwillingness or inability to post any support for your position in the other thread you may have lost the credibility to demand answers from anyone.

happy monkey - yeah, i saw that story and have read a bit more about it. it looks pretty shady, i'm surprised he was willing to sink that low. i think they should have just come out and stated that they were a republican voter reg program. unfortunately they didn't - that in and of itself isn't proof that there was a plot to destroy D reg's.

if it turns out that there is proof of that, then my opinion of the man will really change. until then, in my mind he will remain what he has been to this point - a good man (if a kool-aid drinker) who is involved in politics. i have yet to see anyone involved with politics who is without fault, so... we'll call this one a developing issue.

They did worse than conceal that they were partisan - they said that they were associated with a particular nonpartisan group - America Votes - which they were not. That's fraud. That fraud doesn't prove this fraud, but your character witness testimony doesn't have much weight compared to his past behavior.

And no, I don't buy that the name is a coincidence.

HM - i wouldn't expect the fact that i know him and generally think well of the man to cause anyone to simply dismiss any idea of wrongdoing. my experiences with him cause me to not believe the charges of D registration destruction until i have seen real proof.

did Sproul and his organization screw up with their name choice and the way they went about doing business? absolutely. without a doubt.

does that necessarily mean they had a malicious plan to destroy voter registration forms that weren't filed as republican? no. if proof comes out that this was done the way that is being characterized in news stories right now, then i will stand right alongside you and condemn him as a dirty jackass.

Thankfully, this one is unlikely to succeed.

Not the presidential race, but:

A sample ballot provided for voter education:

http://www.cegelisforcongress.com/bl...t-smallcut.jpg


What's missing? Hyde's Democratic opposition, Christine Cegelis.

I just heard Jimmy Carter on NPR talking about his debate with Reagan. He brought up right-wing columnist George Will's coaching of Ronald Reagan using stolen notes from Carter's campaign.

This was the first I have ever heard of it.

Problems in Ohio
 

More attempts to suppress turnout:

And Atrios got a message from one candidate in Ohio:

More Ohio
 

A quick rundown of problems in Ohio.

If someone drops by to "pick up" your absentee ballot for you, don't give it to them!

And a corrupt elections registrar in Maine. http://www.cellar.org/images/smilies/frown.gif

I expect what we have here is not some new rash of problems, but increased attention to things that were there all along. Which is a good thing.

This isn't specific on tactics, or specifically about the presidential race, but it's indicative of attitude:

Mostly things that have existed for some time and should have been resolved before the primaries but weren't. That's a bad thing. :(

A possible challenge list in Florida: We'll see if they do use it that way.

As an aside, it looks like the annoying Republican habit of using "Democrat" as an adjective has spread across the pond. :(

At least in Ohio, they're challenging them a week early:

Ah, the Onion. Too often proven prescient.

Anyway, back to Florida.

Quote:

Local 10 has learned that many as many as 58,000 ballots that were supposed to mailed out on Oct. 7 and 8 could be missing.The Broward County Supervisor of Elections office is saying only that the situation is "unusual," and they are looking into it.

If it was deliberate, I hope they give whoever did it 1 year on each count of election fraud and mail fraud, for each of the 58,000 pieces of mail.

A follow-up:

...Does that mean that just under 8780 of those registrations should not remain on the rolls? :confused:

No, it just means that those challenges can't be summarily ruled spurious according to this particular rule. But 8780 challenges will waste far less time than 17780, so we're moving in the right direction.

OK, these are dirty tactics, and they're election-related, but they're not actually dirty tactics to win the election.

$6.3 million will buy a LOT of beer. Those guys know how to party.

Any of you Pennsylvanians in Dunmore or Scranton? Make sure you know where to vote!

This is so over the top as to be suspicious, but no matter which side is doing it, it's certainly dirty politics.

Ok, that's dirtier than a stable muck rake.

Today is the first time that I've seen the Shit Boat Veterans commercials on local television here in Philadelphia. Come on, baby! Flog that dead horse!

I need someone to help me confirm this, but if I heard the news correctly this evening, haven't some people in the Pittsburgh area been telling folks that, in order to prevent long lines, only registered Republicans vote on Nov. 2, and that Democrats should show up to the polls on the 3rd?

Edit: Also, I must assume that the Black Voter's League thing above is Republican BS, because despite the Magical Parade O' Minorites, black folks tend to vote Dem (though apparently Dubya has little problem courting the Mexican-American vote, what with his temporary work visas and such).

Uh, that's a joke email that's been circulating lately. There's also one that says if you support Bush, drive with your headlights on during the day, if you support Kerry drive with your headlights off during the night. (must be more of that Republican BS, huh?)

I think if anyone's so naive as to believe either one of these to be anything other than what they are, a joke, they're too stupid to vote in an election as important as this one.

This American Life on voter suppression. (RealMedia)

I'm taking my son Jeffrey to the polls here in PA tommorrow. Jeffrey first voted in this years Democratic presidential primary. He has made up his own mind who to vote for and which party to register under, and when we went to the county clerks office to register him I was careful to list all of the parties, including none of the above. In theory, as a second-time voter he should have no problems.

Jeffrey is autistic. I'm taking my camera/videocam with me. For the primary this was to proudly record his first vote (my other son went to the polls by himself). For this election I do intend to have a picture of my wife and I and our two sons as they vote in their first presidential election. Unfortunately, I also may need to record any objections that come up. One of Jeffrey's bus drivers is a with the local Republican committee. He saw Jeffrey vote in the primaries. He's a pretty nice guy, but that doesn't mean that there may not be a challenge, even though there is no legal standing for one.

Jeffrey has it listed that he may need assistance. I do not want to be involved in assisting him. By my standards, nobody with any partisan beliefs should be in the booth with him. Unfortunately, in this election finding a non-partisan is tough. I'm going to have to rely on the poll workers to do their duty if necessary. Fortunately, Jeffrey will not let himself be influenced by anyone once he makes up his mind.

Please don't take this the wrong way but how autistic is he?

One of the biggest problems with democracy is the number of people that are unqualified to vote yet do so.

On the other hand, if with a bit of effort he is able to actually make a reasoned decision then I applaud you both because he is taking his responsibility more seriously than most.

On that nice guy note, does anyone actually know the full requisites for voting?

Oh really? I thought it was the number of people that are qualified to vote yet do not. :eyebrow:

I don't understand this, Rich. You mean you listed them for the kid to choose from? :confused:

Nah, there are way WAY more ignorant voters than there are qualified non-voters.

It's getting down to the wire in West Virginia.

And more in Ohio (this is not from the Board of Elections).

The ignorance belong to those who vote for someone based on their party. "Well I have always voted Democrat, so I shall continue to do so." If people would actually pay attention to the issues, instead of making up their mind before they even begin camaigning...we might actually have a working democracy.

BTW...Vote Badnarik!