Dems say the president may have missed Florida's filing deadline ..

[Nambe]

St. Petersburg Times

The latest effort to disqualify Ralph Nader as a presidential candidate in Florida has led to renewed scrutiny of papers filed by other candidates - including President Bush.

State law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the governor to certify a list of presidential electors for each party's candidates.

But Sept. 1 was also the day President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were being nominated at their party' convention in New York. Consequently, some of their paperwork did not arrive at state elections headquarters until Sept. 2, a day after Gov. Jeb Bush certified the candidates for president. ..

But Julia Aires, a Green Party activist from Sarasota who has watched Democrats and others battle to keep Nader's name off the ballot, said a minor party probably could not have gotten away with the same thing. ..


Find out who owns the media in your region.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. HAHAHA...this is great! n/t

MKJ

[billybob537]

2. Ah Florida the home of

Election fraud.

[norml]

3. Well that's it then,Bush is off the ballot in Florida.

And no backing down,and being generous this time.

[Cyrano]

4. Jeb is still the governor and the Bush's do whatever they want to do.

The rules don't apply to them, only to peasants, Democrats and other lowly beings.

[Fridays Child]

5. Rule of Law! Rule of Law!

Remember when that meme was raised to the level of a fetish by the Republicans?

[Cyrano]

7. They believe in the rule of law. As long as they get to define it.

[bluestateguy]

6. Gee I wonder what the outcome of this will be

Florida Governor: Republican, little brother of White House occupant.
Florida legislature: Republican.
Florida SecState; Republican, appointed by the Governor.
Florida Attorney General: Republican.

Yep, I'm real optimistic here.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. You mean bush will NOT be on teh ballot

SNIKER, yuo truly trust Jeb don't you?

:-)

[PartyPooper]

9. Katherine Harris can't save Junior's ass this time!

:bounce:

[Demi_Babe]

11. Had Kerry made this mistake

OMG...the media would be all over it and you can bet your ass Carl Rove would be.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Send it to the Supreme Court

... uh, wait ...

[Jackpine Radical]

16. Actually, that would be a great idea--make the SC rule on this.

Of course they'd rule in Shrub's favor, but it would make it that much harder for them to do any post-electoral crap like last time. Wouldn't stop them, but would make it awful messy for them to have to make a series of decisions, one after the other, to enthrone Shrubler.

[ochazuke]

12. Bush will be on the ballot in Florida

I mean, come on.

In Alabama, the same thing (I think) happened, but the Democrats agreed to "play nice" and re-write the rules to accomodate the fascit party.

Any chance that would have happened if the parties were reversed?

It reminds me of the Jews who walked into the gas chambers saying "maybe it really is for delousing".

[qazplm]

14. call be a traitor

but i dont wanna win that way, not the way they do, by disenfranchising voters because of a one day late procedural mistake.

sorry, i'd rather win the right way.

[LisaL]

17. I understand it, but the law is the law.

Kick Bush off the ballot in Florida-LOL.
:bounce:

[lazarus]

22. to hell with that

"the right way?" Let's just win.

They're the ones that wanted to push their convention as close to their beloved 9/11 as possible. This same issue came up in California, and the Dems here are laying down, too.

Remember all the fine print they kept bringing up in 2000? But we're going to be magnanimous about it again?

This pisses me off.

[Guaranteed]

39. Uhhh...our country will be destroyed if Bush wins.

I think we can go ahead and follow the LAW in order to make sure that happens.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

40. They "won" 2000 by disenfranchising voters for "procedural mistakes".

They "won" 2000 by disenfranchising voters for "procedural mistakes". Those voters were not equipped to handle big brother telling them they could not vote because their names were on some buggy list.

On the other hand, the Republican National Committee has no shortage of lawyers. They have no shortage of Republican governors in Florida. They have no shortage of Presidential brothers in Florida. They have the memory of an elephant about how important Florida was to the last election.

No excuses this time. Nope, nada, zilch, zip.

They had their chance to play nice many times before. What are they gonna plead this time? Incompetence?

[gulliver]

56. The law defines the right way.

If Bush is allowed to skirt the law and then wins. He has won the "wrong way."

[punpirate]

13. Well, lessee, the next obvious question is...

... did Jebbie certify his brother's electors on September 1, anyway, without the filing papers? The article doesn't answer that. It only says that the Democrats aren't going to challenge it.

Since when is a filing deadline a "technicality?" I can guarantee that if anyone in Florida ambles in the day after the election wanting to vote, they're going to be shown the door.

The Repugs wanted their convention around the time of the anniversary of 9/11 and in New York. No price paid.

In 2000, they were begging the Supreme Court to bend the equal protection law to favor them. That wasn't enough. Now, they want protection through unequal treatment. :mad:

[WI_DEM]

15. Bush will be on ballot--thanks to Gov. Jeb and the GOP Sec of State

Nice thought though.

[sonicx]

18. rules are rules!

why have rules if they're not followed? ;)

[demoman123]

50. No they aren't.

Rules are orders backed up by threats. They do not apply to the people in power.

[BillZBubb]

19. If the laws were not followed to the letter...

the Democrats MUST challenge this in the courts. We are in a life/death struggle with these fascists. Show some spine!

[proud patriot]

20. Rules are rules after all

We know how much respect republicans have for rules
though and they are of course immune to most laws
and rules now under our current climate .

I'll hope that the rules will be applied in this
case .

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. These are the same people who during the recount

would not allow West Palm Beach even 5 more minutes to finish.

The law is the law we were told and there was nothing they could do about it. Too bad, tough luck.

Well, I say the same standard should be used here. Bu$h didn't make the deadline, too bad.

[oldtime dfl_er]

23. I'd love to see Nader sue!!!

or at least the Green Party...

[LisaL]

31. Why not?

Why don't Greens sue?

[barb162]

24. quick, call Katherine Harris

she'll straighten it out!

[laylah]

25. "To keep an incumbent president off the ballot in a swing state

the size of Florida because of a technicality, I just don't think would be right," Maddox said.

"To keep a WH squatter off of the ballot in a swing state that orchestrated the 2000 election coup, would be the right thing to do," Laylah said.

Jenn

[halley]

26. I can't believe this isn't being challenged

I wrote the Fla Democratic party about this. As far as I am concerned they stole the vote of everyone in Florida. Why should
they get a pass on anything?

[halley]

27. I can't believe this isn't being challenged

I wrote the Fla Democratic party about this. As far as I am concerned they stole the vote of everyone in Florida. Why should
they get a pass on anything?

[lovuian]

28. Why did Bush wait so long to file

He should be off the Ballot and let Nader Sue Bush for discrimination

It all points to Nader being a Republican in Independant Sheeps clothing

[cprise]

29. And Democrats won't make an issue of it

[shane7726]

30. Wait a minute!

I am all for demanding that the election law be followed. However...

What about when Robert Torricelli withdrew from his run for the US Senate in New Jersey? He withdrew AFTER the primary and only 35 days away from the election. New Jersey law specifically states that a candidate can only be replaced NO LESS THAN 51 days prior to the election.

What if we had followed the law to the letter during that campaign. Frank Lautenberg would not be sitting in the Senate right now

[laylah]

32. So Shane...

how did you feel about"following the letter to the law" in the Florida 2000 election coup?

And, OH, btw, welcome :toast: May your brief visit teach you something.

Jenn

[shane7726]

34. My point was this.

We, in the interest of not allowing the Repugs to just walk into a Senate seat from a Democratic state, said that there were more important issues than "the letter of the law"

Won't we be a bit hypocritical to state that we MUST follow the letter of the law on this issue?

[bagnana]

41. no.

go away.

[shane7726]

43. Thanks for the intelligent addition (eom)

[fearnobush]

33. Rules are rules. In a pre 2000 stolen election era, I would defend

the chimp to be on the ballot then, but today, after they stole 50,000 black voters rights and totally whored 911 at their hate fest last week. THEY DESERVE TO BE OFF THE BALLOT IN ACCORDANCE TO FLORIDA LAW. LET THEM BURN IN HELL.

[goodboy]

35. They're not going to pursue this I'm sure...eom

[krkaufman]

36. Does anyone recall..??

Does anyone recall that the core opinion in the Supreme Court's 'Gore v Bush' ruling was NOT that the votes shouldn't be counted... but that they couldn't be recounted in time to meet the deadline set by the State of Florida for final certification?

So that deadline was strict, when it aided Bush, but the filing deadline is loose, again to aid Bush.

Ah, the hypocrisy.

[Meateater]

37. That is great

[Xenus Sister]

38. Democrats are too polite

Sometimes it sucks being the good guys.

Kick the bastard off the ballot and we won't have to worry about them stealing the damn thing!

[Scootman78]

48. Better to be polite than to turn into them

It does suck that we have to be the good guys, but I'd rather be polite than a Republican. That's one of our differences, we're not as evil as them.

And I know that if we were 'less polite' it wouldn't mean we were evil (we would actually be truthful). Try telling that to the Conservative spin machine though.

Geeze, now I'm bummed thinking about things Kerry could've said or should've said.

[sofa king]

42. Shoot, the Florida legislators will just appoint their own electors.

Just as they threatened to do in 2000. Then there won't be any need for an election at all.

[TroglodyteScholar]

44. Guys, we need to find a way to make a BIG STINK over this...

The rules apply to EVERYBODY

[iamjoy]

45. Another Reason It Doesn't Matter

I mean, I agree, we could make a big issue & keep Bush off the ballot for not meeting the filing deadline. Not only would it be legal, it would be fair and for those who believe in karma....

But the Dems would get all kind of bad publicity and then the Dubya supporters would just put Bush on as a "Write In." Normally write in candidates are more like jokes, but when the press keeps talking about the issue and the Republicans get all the free air time to discuss it, they can tell people to write in Bush's name. And for the Republicans who don't watch news or read papers...the Republicans would have poll watchers in EVERY precinct telling people about the write in option.

[EX-CONservative]

55. Write-Ins

The deadline for filing as a write-in candidate in Florida is the same as regular candidates.

If W. were kicked off the ballot, any write-in votes for him would officially count as an undervote.

[expatriot]

46. this pisses me off so much...

Rove KNEW when the filing deadlines were...

NINE FRICKING STATES (not including Florida) had to make exception for the GOP's unusually late Convention.... mind you they did not change the law, but rather just made a one time exception.

AND THE DEMOCRATS PLAYED NICE.... not making an issue of it.

I don't know what I am going to do after Nov. 3rd. I am a Democrat true and through but are we just suppose to take this fricking 'taking it like a bitch' spineless crap?

[Brucey]

47. They can do anything they want. Florida doesn't matter anyway.

There is no chance in hell that Kerry could win Florida. Jeb, the 2008 candidate, will make sure that FL's electoral votes go to his Big Brother (and, sadly, our Big Brother). You and I know that Jeb has it rigged. No matter how the voters vote, FL will go to the monster psychopath.

[Scootman78]

49. How Florida could (maybe doubtful though) be won

Kerry needs to come down to Florida and point out how much of a scam Bush's precious 'FEMA' is. Trust me, for every one Floridian who has benefited from FEMA, there are two or three who have horror stories about it.

Fema has already announced to counties that they will take up to 3 months or more to pick up all the yard trash from Hurricane Charley and Frances. How fast you get service all depends on where you live (obviously, rural areas get the shaft). FEMA has told the counties that they will do this for a very very low price (maybe even nothing), which the counties all love.

Because of it being free, the counties are telling the private trash companies not to pick up the yard trash themselves. Yes it would be a higher price sure, but it would only take 2-3 weeks for the companies to pick up the trash rather than FEMA.

FEMA also brags that it doesn't discriminate people based on their income. They'll help you out no matter how much money you make.

If somebody who makes $100,000 a year can't pick up their own yard trash and then uses FEMA, that means there is probably one less person that makes $10,000 a year getting any help at all.

What a scam. Especially since W and Jeb have been pocketing FEMAs wallets with all this money from Congress. John Kerry should jump on this, but I know he won't. Nobody will, its just the way the system works.

[KC21304]

51. But they could not keep the clerks office open

to accept ballot totals because of some election rule, right ?

Rules are rules. I remember Katherine de Ville telling us that. :puke:

[leesa]

52. It won't matter. Republicans are a Crime Family. They are above the law.

[HopeIsNowHere]

53. Should Dems pursue this and lock the repubs out of Florida?

Just think of the positive press we would get and the warm feelings it would bring us. Hello?

[TankLV]

54. We all knew this at the time the conventions were announced.

We know this was a "problem".

And does anyone really expect a different outcome than allowing ANOTHER exception for a repuke only?

It was a craven decision to exploit NYC and 911 by the repukes in the first place.

The Democrats, being the nice wimps they always are, will acquiesce again.

Nothing to see here.

Move along now.

"Get over it."

Where have we heard that before?