This is somewhat of a response to some of the comments in a diary currently on the recommended list as well as a number of other comments/diaries I have seen today and recently. And it is also a commentary on what we must avoid, especially here in the reality based community.
I’ve written dozens of diaries on election integrity, the Voting Rights Section, Diebold problems in Georgia, the FEC and the general topic. And as I said recently, if you are going to assert that one campaign (currently Clinton) is engaging in fraud, dirty tricks, suppression or anything in any way nefarious, you better have fucking proof that is solid. Otherwise, just shut the fuck up.
I voted for Obama today. He was probably my 4th or 5th choice at the beginning of the primaries. I will vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination, even though she was my last choice in candidates on the Democratic side. And all that being said, there is one thing that has been a constant from 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Many of the voting machines, INCLUDING THE ONES USED IN MY HOME STATE OF NEW JERSEY, are "high risk" machines, according to Common Cause.. I’ll say it in a much simpler manner - many machines flat out suck and are unreliable – even without considering the possibility of hacking.
For those of you who are quick to make accusations of OMG!!! CLINTON VOTE SUPPRESSION AND CHEATINGZ!!, please read this excellent post by eRiposte (who also happened to have an incredibly comprehensive compilation of voting issues in 2004). Also, understand that if there is a smear, a push poll or something else that goes against Obama and is not directly related to the Clinton campaign, then it may very well NOT have come from the Clinton campaign.
Have we all forgotten how republican dirty tricks have been rampant for decades – even if they have to be used against Democrats? What about the "Vote for Kerry" robocalls that annoyed the crap out of people in 2004? Those were by (in many instances), republican groups. So, don’t be so quick on the accusation trigger finger.
Clinton may very well be the Democratic nominee. And while that would be a disappointment to many people, she is by no means on par with McCain or Romney or Paul or Huckabee.
Election fraud is something that is directly tracked back to republicans, the republican party, the RNC and other operatives on an almost exclusive basis since 2000. It comes from within (as the phone jamming, caging by the RNC, illegal redistricting, voter ID laws and other actions taken by US Attorneys and the Justice Department have proven) and it can possibly come from without – whether it is Blackwell’s shenanigans on voting machines or more votes for Bush than actual voters in the district or precinct.
We do not need accusations of Clinton vote rigging in the general election tainting the GOTV efforts, or setting a "both sides cheat" narrative. If there is definitive proof of something, then that is something. If there is anecdotal evidence, then that is another – not as good as solid proof, but still worth looking into (as in Nevada, not in New Hampshire). If there is nothing but an incident from an already acknowledged shitty voting machine or something that has no way to be pinned on Clinton, then do us all a favor and keep the accusations to yourself.
Back in 2000, Bush, Rove and others accused McCain of being mentally unstable. While that was dirty, there is no reason why we can’t say that his own party questioned his mental capacity.
We don’t need our own words used against us.
Especially when it is based on nothing more than passion and conjecture.
Update [2008-2-5 15:38:53 by clammyc]: Of course, this in no way is an endorsement of the status quo with voting machines. I have railed against that enough times. This is about making the leap from "the system sucks and needs to be changed" to "dirty tricks or HRC is behind it".