Alaska GOP candidate wants to stop votes from being counted

[Spindrift]

I don't care for Rand Paul at all, but he is not coming off like a total jerk the way Miller is.

Give him time. Rand won his election so he doesn't have to whine right now.

 

[Beerina]

Spelling counts.

Not according to Alaska voting rules. Intent counts more.

Thank you. More complicated names would, de facto, suffer disproportionately in write-in elections.

Wanting to disregard misspelled names is scurrilous behavior. This is a beautiful example of an issue where people choose sides based on which position helps their side.

 

[Thunder]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101112/ap_on_re_us/us_alaska_senate

like 89% for Murkowski.

boy does the state and national GOP look like dicks.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Wanting to disregard misspelled names is scurrilous behavior. This is a beautiful example of an issue where people choose sides based on which position helps their side.

Nonsense. I would have preferred the Democratic candidate to win (so that's what "side" I would be on), but I have been arguing in Murkowski's favor simply because--barring a huge number of absentee ballots for Miller--she won the election. I'm certainly no fan of Murkowski.

The shenanigans of the radio host (getting 100 or so people with names similar to Murkowski to register as write-in candidates for the sole purpose of interfering with the election process) and Miller's challenging votes that were obviously Murkowski votes won't succeed, and they should be considered "scurrilous behavior".

 

[Thunder]

I am no Republican. I often times hate Republicans and all they stand for.

However, when it comes to respecting the will of the people and counting legitimate votes..with clear intent...I'll support a Republican write-in candidate any day.

The state and national GOP should be ashamed of themselves. Respecting the will of the people during elections is the main thing that seperates us from Iran and North Korea.

 

[Foggy of the Fogbow]

The lawyers have started leaving.

That is perhaps the surest sign that Joe Miller’s chances of becoming the next senator from Alaska are evaporating.

More at the NY Times

Buh bye, Joe.

 

[dudalb]

Yeah, when the lawyers start packing up, the fat lady is almost through with her tuning up..........

 

[MattusMaximus]

Well, it appears that Miller isn't getting the message... (from the NYT article)

... “We need your help in this fight. We’re going up against state bureaucrats, the media and powerful insiders to keep Murkowski entrenched in D.C.,” the letter said. “Click here to donate $100, $75, $50, or $25 today to the Joe Miller for U.S. Senate Recount Fund.”

Sarah Palin, who endorsed Mr. Miller, has donated $5,000 to the fund through her political action committee. (A former aide to Ms. Palin and a former employee of her political action committee, Ivy Frye, has been working as an observer for Mr. Miller during the write-in count.) ...

I find it interesting that Quitter Palin is continuing to support Miller. This is going to end up being a big black eye for her when he eventually loses, and I'm sure the GOP establishment will relish the opportunity to rub this loss in Palin's face.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

I find it interesting that Quitter Palin is continuing to support Miller. This is going to end up being a big black eye for her when he eventually loses, and I'm sure the GOP establishment will relish the opportunity to rub this loss in Palin's face.

This is a bit of a tangent, but your comment reminded me of something that happened years ago. I used to work in a print shop in the days when people would spend money to have resumes typeset and printed on a press. A guy came in with a resume with his "Career Objective" given as "To seek a position in . . . ." I told him, "Congratulations! You've achieved your career objective by being unemployed."

I think Palin wants to run for president much more than she would like to be president.

 

[dudalb]

Well, it appears that Miller isn't getting the message... (from the NYT article)



I find it interesting that Quitter Palin is continuing to support Miller. This is going to end up being a big black eye for her when he eventually loses, and I'm sure the GOP establishment will relish the opportunity to rub this loss in Palin's face.

Five thousand ain't that much;I think Palin is just doing this so she will not be accused of "abandoning" Miller. Privately I think she regrets supporting him.
It will be really bitter for Palin since the feud between her and the Mukowski family goes back to her days as Governor.

 

[dudalb]

This is a bit of a tangent, but your comment reminded me of something that happened years ago. I used to work in a print shop in the days when people would spend money to have resumes typeset and printed on a press. A guy came in with a resume with his "Career Objective" given as "To seek a position in . . . ." I told him, "Congratulations! You've achieved your career objective by being unemployed."

I think Palin wants to run for president much more than she would like to be president.

I think Palin wants to run for president without actually declaring her candidacy. Once she does that, the scrutiny is going to increase. I think she is just out to make as much money as possible while the making is good.
BTW I would love to see the first GOP Debates, though. Romney, Huckabee, and Gringrich are all good debaters,agree or disagree with their politics, and they will rip her to shreds.

 

[MattusMaximus]

I think Palin wants to run for president without actually declaring her candidacy. Once she does that, the scrutiny is going to increase. I think she is just out to make as much money as possible while the making is good.
BTW I would love to see the first GOP Debates, though. Romney, Huckabee, and Gringrich are all good debaters,agree or disagree with their politics, and they will rip her to shreds.

That won't matter. There are too many people in the GOP base who slavishly adore Quitter Palin; reasoning & debate skills will be lost on the Palin fanboys/girls. This is one of the big reasons the Republican establishment is scared to death of Palin running for President - as soon as she throws her hat in the ring, and she will, it will suck all of the oxygen out of the room for more reasonable GOP candidates.

 

[BenBurch]

Thank you. More complicated names would, de facto, suffer disproportionately in write-in elections.

Wanting to disregard misspelled names is scurrilous behavior. This is a beautiful example of an issue where people choose sides based on which position helps their side.

Well said.

 

[Damien Evans]

Hmm, Now if they are trying to interpret Micky Mouse as a variant of Murkowski, we may have problems. I am certain there are at least one or two votes for him (there always is).

I don't get that. Here, where you have to vote, I can see it as some sort of protest, but I don't understand why someone would choose to vote then write in a joke candidate.

 

[hgc]

I don't get that. Here, where you have to vote, I can see it as some sort of protest, but I don't understand why someone would choose to vote then write in a joke candidate.

By writing in a joke candidate, you can register your protest to be counted, whereas a protest non-vote is indistiguishable from any other reason a person doesn't vote.

But on the flip-side, a protest Mickey Mouse vote is indistinguishable from a lunatic seriously voting for Mickey Mouse.

 

[cwalner]

I don't get that. Here, where you have to vote, I can see it as some sort of protest, but I don't understand why someone would choose to vote then write in a joke candidate.

In the US we have a defacto* two party system. Its mostly a protest against that and the quality (or perceived lack thereof) of those two candidates that generate such a vote

There is also the 'there is one in every crowd' phenomenon at play here.

*other parties are allowed, but are rarely if ever strong enough to challenge the dominant two

 

[cwalner]

By writing in a joke candidate, you can register your protest to be counted, whereas a protest non-vote is indistiguishable from any other reason a person doesn't vote.

But on the flip-side, a protest Mickey Mouse vote is indistinguishable from a lunatic seriously voting for Mickey Mouse.

I've done protest non-votes before. It was only in one or two races, so I voted in all of the others, but left the ones blank where my true choice was 'none of the above'

 

[Snide]

Well, that only applies when the spelling mistakes are in the name of a Democratic candidate. If Murkowski were the Republican candidate, Thunder & co. would be sneering: "Can you believe it? Republicans want votes by people too dumb to spell the name of the person they want to elect to count! Yet more proof Republicans are the stupid party!".

I doubt it, but perhaps a few Dems would. Not nearly as many as Republicans who mocked the "people too stupid to figure out which one is Gore" in Dade County in '00, but yeah, a few I'm sure.

 

[BenBurch]

I doubt it, but perhaps a few Dems would. Not nearly as many as Republicans who mocked the "people too stupid to figure out which one is Gore" in Dade County in '00, but yeah, a few I'm sure.

There are jerks in every crowd.

 

[quixotecoyote]

I doubt it, but perhaps a few Dems would. Not nearly as many as Republicans who mocked the "people too stupid to figure out which one is Gore" in Dade County in '00, but yeah, a few I'm sure.

Don't you hate it when imaginary examples of the things one side would say/do runs up against actual examples of things the other side actually did?

There needs to be a named fallacy for saying "oh yeah? Well if the situation was reversed, your side would be even worse!"