OBAMA ON THE OFFENSIVE: Assembles 5,000 Lawyers to Monitor the Election

[Hope And Change]

OBAMA ON THE OFFENSIVE: Assembles 5,000 Lawyers to Monitor the Election

by wonkymuse

Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 01:10:12 AM PDT


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/20/15211/263/580/636064

[slackmaster]

1. Good move!

:kick:

[steve2470]

2. k and r nt

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. I sure hope they're real

Kerry's appeared to have been mostly smoke and mirrors when they were needed in the last election.

[tekisui]

36. Obama wants to win,

in a serious way. He not leaving stones unturned or challenges unmet.

[Imagevision]

4. Only 5,000? Kerry sent 40,000 - like it made a difference...

[RC]

5. It depends more on if they do their jobs or not.

I imagine Obama's crew will do theirs and therefore make a difference.

[Hope And Change]

7. I think this is for Florida only...

In Florida, Democratic lawyer Charles H. Lichtman has assembled almost 5,000 lawyers to monitor precincts, assist voters turned away at the polls and litigate any disputes that can't be resolved out of court.

"On Election Day, I will be managing the largest law firm in the country, albeit for one day," said Lichtman, 53, a Fort Lauderdale corporate lawyer and veteran of the five-week recount after the 2000 election when Florida eventually delivered the presidency to George W. Bush...

[berni_mccoy]

14. Do you realize how unbelievable that sounds. 40,000 lawyers? Were they working pro-bono?

Because if they weren't, that would cost more money than Obama has raised.

[lizzieforkerry]

19. The ones I know are doing it for free.

Lawyers tend to do political stuff for free to help their party. Lawyers take a lot of crap but the vast majority of them are very decent people.

[berni_mccoy]

27. It looks like 5000 is JUST for Florida... Obama must being thinking MORE than 40,000

If he does the same to all the battleground states.

Kerry had 1000 in FL in 2004.

[Gothmog]

33. It is pro bono

I was one of the 3,000 lawyers in Florida in 2004

[KittyWampus]

38. thanks for voluneering Gothmog!

[blm]

23. Those were Dem election lawyers who were unknowingly undermined in their election day duties

by the 4 yr party stewardship of Terry McAuliffe who had no interest in securing the election process before the election day, making it impossible to secure legal evidence of tampering that could presented into court.

[ailsagirl]

37. I think there was some funny business going on there...

Maybe Kerry had a reason for "folding"-- and I can think of one. But I don't wish to continue, as I will be accused of wearing a tin hat...

[Borgnine]

6. The cynical side of me is supressing any excitement over this.

Remember Kerry's team of lawyers? Well, a lot of good that did us even when it was clear what was happening in Ohio before the polls closed. Granted, the Obama campaign has been aggressive in all the areas past campaigns have lacked, but I'm not sure if this will amount to anything.

[terrya]

8. This is one time when I'm glad there are so many lawyers in this country.

This is good offense.

[jumptheshadow]

9. Send 3,000 of them to Ohio and Florida (nt)

[Coexist]

10. at a meeting with staffers they said, "Obama has the largest voter protection team in history"

it makes me glad.

[abbyg8r]

11. I am one of them.

I attended a three hour training in Orange County, Florida yesterday. The campaign assembled approximately 200 lawyers to monitor the polls in Orange and Osceola counties. An additional 70 lawyers attended the training in Seminole county.

The I-4 corridor polls will be monitored very closely.

[Arkham House]

20. Thank you--

--bless you for your service to our democracy...and I'm just sorry it's necessary...

[Sebass1271]

25. thank you for your work

and for believing in Democracy. I truly appreciate what you are doing.

[riqster]

29. Thank you nt

[rvablue]

40. Thank you for your service! n/t

[janet118]

12. Lawyers, schmoyers

The important thing is not how large any legal team is, but that its members are schooled in election law and will take action immediately. Before any ballot is approved, all local Democratic committees should have access to information on how and why they should object to its layout. Copies of every ballot should be available to the legal team. A hotline number must be distributed to all Obama poll watchers, sign holders, and local headquarters, so that if there is a problem, they can take action right away. Attorneys should be stationed regionally so they can be on site quickly. Everyone at the polls for the Obama team should be equipped with video equipment and the instructions to document any attempts at voter interference or vote changing. Forensics will be too late. It has to be in real time.

There has been a call for lawyers to help out with the election in NH. I'm not sure if or when they will be activated. However, when I was canvassing there last weekend, we ran into a legal problem. We called 2 of the Obama offices to find out what to do. One didn't answer and the other didn't know. This cannot happen on election day.

Note: I remember that Kerry's brother Cam was in charge of the huge legal team in Ohio. In 2005, he was considering a run for Mass. Secretary of State. When he listed his work in Ohio as a credential for the office, he lost my vote and many others.

[LiberalEsto]

13. Montgomery County. Maryland, has 25 lawyers

But we're so Democratic that I think we could get by with 5. I wish the other 20 were assigned to Virginia or West Virginia, where they're really needed.

[bdamomma]

15. a crime is being committed now with people not being

able to vote, and machines switching votes. Those repubs/neocons are getting ready to switch the election again, all the more reason why we all have to get out there and vote. These are criminals we are dealing with. :grr:

[berni_mccoy]

16. 5000 is JUST For Florida. Wonky has updated his diary.

[Marrah_G]

17. Maybe this time the massive team of lawyers will actually do something

Yeah- I am still jaded from 2004.

I'm not celebrating until McLame concedes the race.

[Stinky The Clown]

18. Is it two thousand four -our -our -our -our -our ............ ?

Action talks, bullshit walks.

We'll see.

[tomp]

21. not impressed.

the democratic party should have been on this for the last eight years. much of the vote tampering has already occurred in registration purges. kerry's lawyers did nothing.

what might impress me would be a public statement that he will not concede until he is satisfied that the vote is legal, and then actually follow through on it.

[demokatgurrl]

22. I'm one of the 5,000 right here!

I did the same thing in the Kerry campaign. And we had some issues too....

[Sebass1271]

26. question. Why did kerry give up and didn't

fight? Knowingly there were HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PROBLEMS IN OHIO?

[blm]

32. Ohio recount WAS triggered - unfortunately by Ohio rules developed by Ohio GOP because the

Dem party had collapsed its infrastructure in that state by 1997, leaving that state completely to the whim of the RNC. When it came time to crafting the rules the state of Ohio would use for its recounts, there was no Dem influence on the decision and no Dem muscle to even put up a fight.

2000, 2002 and 2004 were all stolen. DNC chairs from 1997thru2004 oversaw the collapse of the party infrastructure in that state, assuring that there would be no access to legal evidence that could be presented in court as RNC and GOP officials there controlled every level of the process where the votes are allowed, cast and counted.

Putting it all on Kerry when he was the one who was sabotaged along with Ohio Dem voters is a convemient distraction that benefits those who oversaw the collapse of party infrastructure nationally in the years before election day.

[backscatter712]

34. The good news is that the Dems in Ohio have rebounded a lot since then.

The Rethugs are seeing a lot more pushback now than they were four years ago when they start their theft tactics.

Ken Blackwell is gone, and Jennifer Brunner is Ohio SOS now, and she's fighting to make sure all our votes count.

[blm]

43. EXACTLY - and it takes FOUR YEARS to win an election these days when they are so easily stolen

through institutional and quasi-legal measures, let alone outright machine-rigging and vote stealing.

Past DNC's let the elections get stolen out from under the hardworking candidates and earnest Dem voters. Not in 2006 and not in 2008.

[Jersey Devil]

24. Count me in - They are sending me to PA on election day

Have briefcase, will travel

[KittyWampus]

39. have you received any training or will you? Just curious. Lawyers specialize in different areas

right?

So you'd need to know what to look for and how to document/remedy the situation.

[FlaDem83]

28. I am one of them too - will be working in Manatee County on Election day.

[stuntcat]

30. nice

for real I hope. They've been talking about this all morning on the news, they're about to get EVERYONE into it.

[genna]

31. For those of you denigrating lawyers watching polls, what would you suggest that is better?

The level of cynicism is unreal.

In a democracy, lawyers are the ones who fight the paper battles especially when the fight for power is on this magnitude. We just had a 7 day news cycle about the poverty group ACORN.

Who, if not lawyers, will step up to the polls, gather the evidence and witnesses, assemble a legal strategy and pull together MONEY and political will to press the case forward?

I recognize it is easier to despair than to believe something can change and be different, but the way I see is we are moving toward a more perfect union because the actual process is opening up to scrutiny.

My example. Before this, how many average Americans even understood they could vote in primaries and had some idea that super delegates were running the show? I voted in the primary for 2000 and 2004, but didn't really know anything about it in 1992. Now...How many people will think they have to get stuck with whomever the big wigs of the party have settled for in the primary?

I would argue less people will settle for the elder wisdom, the more informed the electorate becomes about the process. Think about it. 200 years ago, United States citizen had even less choice about their leaders than we do now. This union is becoming more perfect.

[intheflow]

35. genna,

Many, many DUers worked their asses off in 2000 and again in 2004 only to see their hard work fall to naught when the Democratic party rolled belly-up after the last two rigged elections. And look where all that hard work has gotten us? 8 years of increasingly fascist rule.

We have found a healthy dose of cynicism to be one of the few coping mechanisms that have worked for us as we've been ridiculed, taunted, and demeaned by the press, Democratic leadership, family and friends. Meanwhile we've been rightly warning the country about everything from the Patriot Act to the Iraq invasion to the banking collapse to the need to strengthen New Orleans' levies. All along the way the Democratic party has told us to trust them, they've got it covered--or worse, they've called us paranoid nutcases or not addressed our issues at all. ("Impeachment is off the table.") And all along the way we've been screwed even as time unfolds to prove us right again and again. Our cynicism is justified and natural.

It's true, many more people seem to be awake this time around, and the Obama/Biden ticket is MUCH stronger than our last two elections (ferchrstssake, Lieberman was on the 2000 ticket!), but as our infamous "leader" has said, "Fool me twice... you can't get fooled again!"

[janet118]

45. A little Warren Zevon . . .

to play at the polls:

I'm voting in Ohio
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan

[VoodooGuru]

47. Major props for that one!

[Sorceress]

41. To the attorneys who are volunteering their time to ensure democracy prevails...

THANK YOU!!! :applause: :applause: :applause:

[backscatter712]

42. Something to remember: Obama IS a civil rights lawyer!

Someone pointed this out in Daily Kos, in their story about Obama's mobilization of his army of attorneys: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/20/15211/263/580/636064

He literally worked as a civil-rights lawyer for a living for several years before he got into elected office and while he was in the Illinois Senate.

His work was in Chicago, representing community organizers, victims of discrimination and black voters trying to get ward boundaries redrawn.

In other words, Obama knows what he's doing in a way that hardly any other Presidential candidate we've fielded does in this matter. He knows all the dirty tricks. He knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of discrimination, and he knows the law inside and out.

[OldBlueDem]

44. Lawyers

I am another of those lawyers. I live in Omaha but am going to training in Des Moines. On Election Day I may be in Iowa or I may be in Omaha (Nebraska splits its electoral votes among Congressional Districts and the 2nd District (Omaha and surroundings) is actually in play).

[boppers]

48. Welcome to DU...

..and THANK YOU.

[Laelth]

46. Better than nothing, but this won't fix tabulators and central computers that steal votes. n/t

-Laelth

[chookie]

49. Make SURE you are registered ahead of time, not just on Election Dad

Please, every one who is a new voter, or has changed their address, or who registered at an informal registration, or are minorities that are targeted, to check NOW that they are on the rolls. ASAP. If they are not, they must go to an official office of registration and start a paper trail.

Today.

If not, they must rectify this, because if they wait till Election Day, their vote is down the toilet, stolen, and it will be virtually impossible to rectify.

Sometimes the happy smiling faces at informal voter registration tables are frauds, who just throw away the Dem applications. Also suspect are any registration, change of address, etc, done on the internet.

I got burned this way in FL 2000. Watch out. We have to win this one.

Please pass this around. This is an important protection of our votes this time around.

[AZBlue]

50. Lawyers & law students:

Voter Protection Program: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/vpcvol2

Thanks to Nonie3234 for posting this on Kos!