Dare We Hope For A Clean 2006 Mid-Term Election?

It’s quite possible that with the Republican house of cards collapsing at an alarming rate, the corrupt voting apparatus that turned the House and Senate over to the Republicans in 2002 and underhandedly handed the Presidency to George W. Bush in 2004 will be too afraid to use it in 2006.  

It is still too early to tell, but if the Democrats take over in 2006, it won’t be because the problems plaguing our elections have been corrected, just merely a decision not to exercise the option.  And not because the private corporations who own the vote have an attack of conscience, it will be that a 52% to 48% victory is too hard to pull off when the polls show a 20% spread.  It is also possible that having Democrats in office will better serve their agendas, after all, what could a Congress and Chief Executive, mired in political and criminal scandals actually get accomplished on their behalf.  They will simply go back to the back door looting of our treasury instead of the in-your-face smash and grab heist they have enjoyed for the last five years.  Think of it as a tourniquet above a severed limb, you still might die if you don’t get treatment, but it will take a while longer and you’ll probably slip into a coma first making death a little less traumatic.

We liberals tend to get complacent far too easily.  I remember the frustration I felt as an activist working for a progressive non-profit while Clinton was in office.  Not only was it more difficult to raise money with a Democrat in the White House, but the work we did became far less radical and concessions were made so as not to disrupt party unity.  It was a bunch of crap then and it will be an even bigger pile of crap if we do gain control of Congress in 2006, then breath a sigh of relief before sitting on our assess proclaiming “Mission Accomplished”.

There is much work to be done and liberating the vote from the proprietary hands that now hold it should be our number one priority.  The good news is, this bit of activism can be started at the local level.  If we really want to change things, we start by finding out what kind of voting machines are used at our local precinct or in our counties.  Find out if they have passed certification.  Go to the City Council or County Council Meetings and talk to the members about it.  Go to the election board and start asking questions, even volunteer to work during the next election.  If we all start asking questions, the least we will get is answers.  If the answers are unsatisfactory, think of that as a good thing because most likely it will spur us on to ask more and it just might get us sufficiently pissed off to actually get something done.