I don’t mean to act like a conspiracy theorist, but doesn’t the discussion about election day worry anyone else? I’m seriously worried that Bush intends to use the threat of terrrorism to postpone the elections, and deeply subvert the process if he thinks he’s a little too far behind in the polls when Election Day rolls around.
And while, yes, an act of terrorism might put a chill on things too, I think that unless someone has devised a way to destroy every election polling place in every state (or even, say, a third of the polling places… there’s simply too many even then), the effect will still be less destructive that pushing the date back so that the incumbent has time to use a publicity stunt to his advatange.
It truly is an interesting time in our history when one has to sit back and wonder who is a worse threat to democracy: Al Qaeda, or the Bush Administration?
A few additional thoughts: It’s important to note that postponing an election would be an unprecedented move in the US, something that has never been done before. As fellow blogger Betsy Divine points out:
During the War of 1812, the British Army burned Washington and sacked the White House. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln campaigned for re-election and won. We managed to re-elect Franklin D Roosevelt during World War II. No Federal elections have been delayed by any previous war.
So is it not odd that now, in age where we fight “wars” without any formal declaration, the current administration believes we can be scared away with the spooky spectre of terrorism? In the past this nation had to deal with World War II blackouts, rationing, shooting wars on our own soil (the Civil War), and the omnipresent “Duck and Cover” of the cold war. And yet, the democratic process continued to work. In Israel and other countries, elections are held even with daily suicide bombings. As recently as this year, Spain’s elections carried on despite Al Qaeda’s terrorism.
No, the possibility of election postponement isn’t being done for safety reasons. Bush wants to rig the elections again, and if he has to deny people the right to vote, then this is a convenient way to try and do it.