Regarding Ohio’s Provisional Ballots-
The only report I have seen on those ballots is a CNN story that 50,000 had been counted with the vote breaking 2-1 in favor of Bush. If this is true, it is probably what sealed Kerry’s decision to concede.
Regarding Ohio’s Provisional Ballots, Redux-
The conventional wisdom is that the provisional ballots are rife with fraud. I don’t buy that. While it is clear that Democratic Party operatives wanted to turn the provisional ballot into a phantom voter vehicle, it is also clear that Kenneth Blackwell was all over that from the beginning.
I cannot emphasize to all of you to what extent Blackwell went to to ensure there would be no statewide systematic fraud. He took on the Ohio Republican Party, the Ohio Democratic Party, and a couple of Federal judges and won. I’ve followed this guy since he started in Cincinnati 25 years ago, and can only say he is an extremely talented and energetic man. With any luck he will be our next governor and our first African-American senator.
Utah-
I don’t follow The Corner. On good days it sucks and on bad ones it sucks out loud.
At the risk of honking my own horn, I have found that I am really good at calling national elections. I’ve been doing so since 1972 and have been wrong once (1992 I called Bush over Clinton). So I do my thing, come to my conclusion and then make sure I constantly remind myself to trust my own judgement. Part of the trusting part is to ensure that I give absolutely no credence t the MSM at any time.
What you saw yesterday was the MSM bleat finally getting to The Corner, Rush and Hannity. I don’t find the MSM as interesting in and of itself, so I think I am less tempted to waver based on their bullshit. If you focus on what the candidate’s campaigns are doing, rather than on spin, you will be able to figure out what is really going on. The MSM plays to spin, campaign managers play to win.
Terrye-
I didn’t turn the TV on until 2:30 AM (I was monitoring Ohio’s voting at the Sec. of State’s site from 9PM until 2:30AM, running spreadsheets of county by county projections over the same time period, and posting here at this site. I watched Fox from 2:30 and 3:00. It was very clear to me that Brit Hume was ready and wanted to call the election for Bush at that time. It was also very clear that his producers where refusing to allow him to do so. I don’t think it was failure of nerve on Brit’s part, but failure of nerve on the part of Rupert Murdoch.
I did catch Tom Brokaw trying to get Rudy G. to back off his assertion that Kerry should have conceeded last night. Poor little Tom, bleating “But it is only one more day!” What a schmuck.
I also caught Juan Williams. My God, how that guy got a job as a ‘journalist’ is simply beyond me. He is dumber than a box of dead crabs and a schmuck. He’d do better if he was driving a garbage truck.
Susan Estrich was once famously described as ” that left-leaning tower of pissantry”. It is a good description. However, she sounds like Carol Channing. Carol Channing with a really bad case of P.M.S..
Now if you will excuse me, I want to go to Joseph Mailander’s, Steve Smith’s and Swopa’s sites. Not to rub it in, but just to laugh to myself.
