Why John Kerry's low-key strategy makes sense

Why John Kerry's low-key stragey makes sense -
or, how John Kerry will President in 2005

December 14, 2004

I'm not one of those primarily interested in "reform" of the electoral system, although that would be nice.

I'm interested in seeing John Kerry become President.

And I think he will.

Now my radical friends from the days of the Vietnam antiwar movement would probably ridicule my interest in electoral politics, and with some justification. This election provides good evidence for their disrespect.

My reason for wanting to see Kerry become president is simple: it's the will of the people. He was elected on November 2nd, and the election was stolen from him.

The alternative to this is dark, nearly unthinkable: a future of sham elections with the hopes of working people and progressives raised to fever pitch again and again ... only to be disappointed on election day.

Tyranny - imposed by a series of covert operations the specifics of which the mainstream media are avoiding like the plague.

If you want to read chapter and verse on how dirty the Ohio election really was, take a look at the overwhelming evidence presented in the filing to the Ohio Supreme Court on December 13th, 2004, by attorneys Arnebeck, Fitrakis, and Truitt. It's proof, and it's powerful proof, that Kerry won the election.

Petition:
http://www.digitalimageination.com/MossvBush1.pdf
and here: http://joeorgren.com/MossvBush1.pdf

Injunction:
http://www.digitalimageination.com/MossvBush2.pdf
and here http://joeorgren.com/MossvBush2.pdf

Astonishing to read all the evidence professionally collected in one place, four dozen pages of outrage
after outrage.

But this is a very valuable document - it succinctly brings together all the big guns, Mitofsky, Freeman,
and the folks on the ground.

And the numbers are mind-blowing.

Guess what? Kerry won.

Six ways to sundown. And if you don't believe it, look at the probability that Kerry's uncorrected exit
poll swung 3.4% late on election day.

A more sensible bet would by paying for your next outing to a seafood restaurant with that pearl you
find in the oyster stew.

The injunction document isn't as substantial factually but also makes its case with power.

This is a hell of a group of attorneys! Hats off, counselors - and thank you for defending American democracy.

So why Kerry's apparent passivity? What could explain Kerry's reticence even to acknowledge the Ohio recount?

Well, if you think about it, it just makes sense.

Kerry has no upside in going "public" - then the right wing media attacks him like a pack of wild jackals, and he becomes the issue, the target, suffering abuse and humiliation no matter how just his cause.

The clever strategist will understand that the point must be to win, not to grandstand.

Sometimes you have to be stealthy, even somewhat devious, to win.

Much better to take your opponent unaware. That's actually a very clever strategy that's worked in the Kerry/Bush instance: Bush has been cruising along since election day without giving this thing one bit of thought.

Stay sleeping, Georgie boy.

Because some awfully big shoes are dangling as we speak, and are about to drop.

Biggest is the Arnebeck filing, by far. If the court agrees to hear the case, then Arnebeck (a Kerry friend for 20+ years someone wrote) gets the all-important legal tool needed to blow this whole thing sky-high.

He gets discovery.

And with discovery there's no hiding anything. All cards have to be on the table. That's actually the purpose of the legal exercise - to discover what evidence your opponent might be sitting on that could help your case.

Kerry's war chest comes into play - hiring sophisticated forensic and computer experts to make the case legally.

Kerry's attorneys are also asking for hand counting of 92,000 'no-vote' ballots.

There are further ramifications to the court case as well: Arnebeck has already requested a restraining order against the current Ohio Electors, and that would only be the start.

I cannot source this comment - it was made privately - but it comes from someone directly involved with the Ohio efforts. Word is Kerry, Edwards, and the DNC are all following events in Ohio "carefully."

Implication is: they're waiting for the right moment to strike.

Ah. So that means - maybe they do care, but are being quiet about it. The more I thought about that, the smarter that approach seemed ...

Then there's the recount itself: if serious inconsistencies surface in the "randomly selected" (and that's the next issue Kerry's lawyers should go after with hobnail boots) 3% of the vote by hand-count, then the hand count has to be extended to cover ALL votes in the area.

That's where the rubber hits the road in recount efforts - going over everything with a fine toothed comb and finding where all those lost votes might have gone. I think we'll see the Republicans scampering for the underbrush on this one.

Finally there's what I would call the "Revolutionary Situation."

If the recount - with the correction of obvious statistical deformities in the system, which have probability numbers attached to them - shows that Kerry won Ohio, then he is President of the United States.

Or should be.

On a mechanical level, this probably would mean a challenge to the seating of the Electors in January 2005, which throw both houses into separate, private conference.

If the legislature comes back and denies Kerry the presidency, then we're at the Revolutionary Situation.

I think the right wingers will hesitate before executing what will in essence be a coup d'etat, a seizure of power. But they did get away with it before.

That means the final and most important part of Kerry's low-key strategy is us - getting us in the streets, which Al Gore prevented Jesse Jackson from doing in Florida in 2000. This time Mr. Jackson and a lot of other people may not be so polite about a stolen election.

I demonstrated over the weekend - here in L.A. with a truly grass-roots band of activists who picketed and banged drums and entered into conversation with drivers stopped at the light, right in front of the CBS studios at Sunset and Gower. I'd say about half the people who drove by gave us a honk, a wave, a thumbs-up or a positive gesture of some kind. Most were highly enthusiastic.

My impression: despite media silence and "lockdown" there are a lot of people out there who feel strongly that the election was rotten, and stolen. We just need to create a movement that gives their dissatisfaction a place to go.

Tens of thousands, why not millions on the street. That's what will make John Kerry president.That's the radical approach in action - go to the streets and don't stop. Bring the government to a halt if you have to.

The Revolutionary Situation.

You think the Ukraine election would have been toppled without street demonstrations?

This could all be closer than we think. My L.A. experience made me think there are millions out there who are angry about the election results, and don't believe them.

Meanwhile we must HAMMER the media every day demanding that they take notice of events in Ohio. That will make the movement-building a lot easier.

Headlines reading "Ohio Supreme Court agrees to hear Recount Case" would also take things to another level entirely. And I'd just as soon have the Republicans taken by surprise with that one - hand them their entrails on a plate before they realize what's happened to them. At that point the element of surprise could be decisive.

But as always, the grassroots movement out on the streets is what will finally bring about real, substantial change. We need to build that movement now and support the efforts of Ohioans in the recount, in their court battles, and most importantly in their street demonstrations, with demonstrations of our own all over the country to secure the just result of the 2004 election.

Kerry won. Any other result is unacceptable.

peace

Your Unreconstructed 60's Radical