I thought you would enjoy that title. I want my friends to be happy.
But I'm not kidding. The Republicans are fried, and they know it. You can tell just by looking at them.
Do you recall the eerie confidence the neocons displayed before the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections? The polls showed America was turning against them, and yet they were creepily serene.
Look at them now, and you will see none of that confidence. The Republicans are clearly changing their underwear on an hourly basis these days.
This suggests the neocon nightmare might truly be over.
More concretely, I believe the Republican machine is shattered at the state level--and that's probably where the vote-rigging occurs.
I would think most of the chicanery by which Republicans bugger their way into power occurs at the state level, by state operatives. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.
As we all know, the sordid Republican bag of tricks includes gerrymandering, purging voter roles, intimidating voters, challenging voters (an old Klan trick), defrauding and conning prospective Democratic voters, denying sufficient voting machines to Democratic precincts...
...and, of course, the voting machines that turn up the Republican candidate's name no matter what button is pushed.
Most if not all of these activities occur mostly at the state level, wouldn't you think? If elections were rigged by pushing a button at the White House, we'd still have a Republican Congress.
But Republicans lost out BIGTIME at the state level in the 2006 elections. The Democratic advantage over Republicans in state legislatures went from 15 seats (3,650 versus 3,635) to 662 seats (3,985 versus 3,323), with gains in every region." Democrats control both chambers in 24 states, compared with 14 for Republicans. They also gained six governorships, giving them a majority of 28.
David Sirota writes, "The West is now dominated by Democratic governors. And in many places, state Republican parties are decimated. In Montana, for example, the state's largest newspaper has declared the GOP is "reeling" and in need of a "repair job"....Similarly, in Colorado, Wadhams - the self-trumpeted political guru - is actually conceding that there's probably no chance for him to actually succeed in the 2008 legislative elections."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/rocky-mountain-right-re...In short, the humiliation of the Republicans in 2006 changed everything. The Federal government might look only modestly different. But the revulsion against all things Republican hit them hard at the state level.
I know these guys are diligent and resourceful cheaters, and I'm sure they'll continue to do all they can to make sure the voters don't get what they want in 2008. And they still have the media in their pocket, which is a mighty powerful club.
But I'm truly hopeful that the Republican cheating machine got shattered at the state level. They don't have anywhere near as many partisan secretaries of state and crooked precincts. Voting-rights activists all over the country have done much to stem the tide of Republican-friendly voting machines. They can't use the power of state governments to throw another one. That's the theory.
Hence the cheery title. I think their machine is broken—and if they can't cheat, they can't win. They know this. You can see it in their little piggy faces. Have a nice day.