The New Democrat Strategy: Win Secretary of State Elections First

 

Democrats know their appeal sucks to average American voters now (IMHO). But what should they do?  Here are my thoughts.

Who was the unsung hero in Florida in 2000? Does the name “Katherine Harris” ring a bell?  It should.  She was the SecState in Florida who stopped the endless recounts, and her actions were ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.

Anyone remember Ken Blackwell? He was the Ohio Secretary of State who got dragged into court for issuing provisional ballots in the 2004 election to voters who could not confirm their eligibility to vote. He was sued by the Democrats, but it didn’t matter in the long run. In the appeal court’s ruling, they mostly upheld his position. Bush won.

Now, look at this:

Deidre DeJear is Iowa’s newest political star — even if she hasn’t yet won an election.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is considering a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, recently made his inaugural trip to Iowa by headlining a fundraiser for DeJear. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is considering a second White House run, will stump with DeJear on Sunday. And Sen. Kamala Harris of California, another White House prospect, will make her Iowa debut Monday alongside DeJear.

Prospective presidential candidates often curry favor with local politicians in the state that holds the nation’s first caucus. But even by Iowa standards, this is a lot of high-wattage attention being paid to a 32-year-old who has not won her campaign for secretary of state, typically a low-profile position focused on overseeing elections.

I believe this is the Dem’s new strategy. Secretaries of State are usually in charge of elections. Control the Secretary of State positions in enough states, and they can control the outcome of elections by allowing or disallowing recounts—or outright fraud.

Comments?

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  1. Hank Rhody, Red Hunter Contributor
    Hank Rhody, Red Hunter
    @HankRhody

    It sounds so much more legal than their usual way of controlling election outcomes.

    • #1
  2. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Hank Rhody, Red Hunter (View Comment):

    It sounds so much more legal than their usual way of controlling election outcomes.

    I believe this is where they are going.  As long as lots of states have Republican SecStates and ID laws, the Democrats are toast unless they can reverse the trend.  They may not be able to change the state laws via the state legislatures, but one person can affect the way voting and recount laws are applied, especially during a crucial election.

    This is admittingly a long-term strategy, but the left admires the ChiComs for such a philosophy.

    • #2
  3. C. U. Douglas Coolidge
    C. U. Douglas
    @CUDouglas

    Well, for the decades I lived in Oregon, that was their strategy. For a couple of decades the Democrats owned the Sec State’s office. From there they found they could word ballot measures just right so voting “yes” meant “no and vice versa, for example. They’d also pull a few dirty tricks to keep ballot measures from even getting on the ballot at all — usually disqualifying signatures.

    It’s also generally a path to the Governorship, evidenced by present Gov. Brown who was at one time called the most partisan Secretary of State in all the US. So, yes, they want those offices.

    • #3
  4. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    Wasn’t it Stalin that said something about ‘it’s who counts the votes that matters’ or something like that?

    • #4
  5. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Sounds like the sort of thing they woudl do.

    • #5
  6. DonG Coolidge
    DonG
    @DonG

    This is a Soros trick.  Sec. of State and Atty General are important for controlling elections and using the law as a weapon.  

    • #6
  7. Gumby Mark Coolidge
    Gumby Mark
    @GumbyMark

    DonG (View Comment):

    This is a Soros trick. Sec. of State and Atty General are important for controlling elections and using the law as a weapon.

    Right.  Soros started funding Sec of State campaigns during the Bush Administration with this specific purpose in mind.  Open ballot boxes to go with open borders!

    • #7
  8. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    WI Con (View Comment):

    Wasn’t it Stalin that said something about ‘it’s who counts the votes that matters’ or something like that?

    It was Johnny Rocco:

    • #8
  9. dnewlander Inactive
    dnewlander
    @dnewlander

    Hank Rhody, Red Hunter (View Comment):

    It sounds so much more legal than their usual way of controlling election outcomes.

    Sounds being the operative term here.

    • #9
  10. EB Thatcher
    EB
    @EB

    Ben Fortson was the Georgia Secretary of State for 33 years (1947 to 1980), dying in office.  He was fondly remembered for the “three governor controversy of 1947” when Eugene Talmadge died before taking the oath and two men, including his son, Herman, claimed to be governor. But no man could be proclaimed governor without the Great Seal of Georgia. Fortson had been paralyzed by an auto accident in 1928 at the age of 24.  To keep the seal safe while the mess was figured out, he tucked it under the cushion of his wheelchair and hid it there.  “Sitting on it like a setting of duck eggs,” he later told journalist Celestine Sibley.

    • #10
  11. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Stad: Comments?

    On the county level, it’s the county clerk. In the county I grew up in, the county clerk had been in for many years and her father before that. Together they had been in office for over forty years. Every election day, the vote counting computer would break down, and when it came back up, the trends would reverse. Somebody in the opposition party noticed this. The next election, they had one of their few elected officials, the county treasurer, monitoring the election with a computer programmer along.

    Now, the treasurer was an elderly gentleman. He drank some coffee, and got deathly ill. Because all the county clerk’s people were involved in the election, the opposition party’s computer programmer had to take the treasurer to the hospital. As soon as they left, the vote-counting computer broke down, and when it came back up, the trends again reversed.

    In the election after I had moved away out of state, the election was federally supervised. The computer did not break down, and the opposition party won much more. It took a lot to get things cleaned up there, although I doubt they stayed clean. It was Illinois, after all.

    So, yes, those who control the elections, if they are dishonest, can change the outcome.

    • #11
  12. Simon Templar Member
    Simon Templar
    @

    By any means except via fair & honest elections.

    • #12
  13. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Fraud is their main weapon.  Republicans had better start developing a way to investigate and prevent it.  

    Of course the first order of business is voter I.D. and the voter I.D we need is a cedula, a citizenship, legal immigrant card that is difficult to fabricate and easy to investigate when false.  Once we have that then investigating and preventing fraud is much easier.  As it is now urban political machines, primarily minority machines, (it used to be unions)mine votes by registering everyone, especially people who can’t or wont vote then voting for them.  It’s almost impossible to detect and is the reason Democrats cry racism when we ask that voters show I.D.’s  

    The rest of the world can’t believe we don’t require I.D. but then the rest of the world must be smarter than our urban minorities who aren’t smart enough to get an I.D.  Can anyone imagine a more racist notion?  

    • #13
  14. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    I Walton (View Comment):
    The rest of the world can’t believe we don’t require I.D. but then the rest of the world must be smarter than our urban minorities who aren’t smart enough to get an I.D. Can anyone imagine a more racist notion?

    Indeed, it is racist.

    • #14
  15. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Here’s the candidate statement from the Republican running for Secretary of State in California. His opponent is the incumbent (D). Emphases in original.

    Mark P. Meuser | REPUBLICAN

    Elections Matter. Recently, the Election Integrity Project of California filed a lawsuit where they alleged that California has more registered voters than eligible voters, 101% to be precise. Los Angeles County alone has 144% voter registration. Bloated voter rolls cost the taxpayers money to send unnecessary balloting materials. They also increase the opportunity for fraud. We need to remove from the rolls, those who have died, have moved, non-citizens, duplicate and fictitious registrations. Elections are critical to enable Californians to inform our government how we desire to be governed. Fair elections begin with accurate voter rolls, where only those who are eligible to vote are registered. The Secretary of State is responsible for maintaining the voter rolls. If the rolls remain bloated, special interests are able to use money and influence to elect bought and paid for politicians. Every day, I hear first-hand accounts of Californians who have watched as a non-citizen voted or learned that a dead relative voted. I am a native Californian who practices Constitutional and Election law. When I see an injustice, I stand up and help those in need. I have fought for the rights of the disabled and the free speech rights of college students, and I have won. Now I ask you to vote for me to clean up California’s bloated voter rolls. I will to use technology and databases to clean up our voter rolls so that unauthorized votes do not dilute our voice. Elections Matter.

    • #15
  16. Blue State Blues Member
    Blue State Blues
    @BlueStateBlues

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Stad: Comments?

    On the county level, it’s the county clerk. In the county I grew up in, the county clerk had been in for many years and her father before that. Together they had been in office for over forty years. Every election day, the vote counting computer would break down, and when it came back up, the trends would reverse. Somebody in the opposition party noticed this. The next election, they had one of their few elected officials, the county treasurer, monitoring the election with a computer programmer along.

    Now, the treasurer was an elderly gentleman. He drank some coffee, and got deathly ill. Because all the county clerk’s people were involved in the election, the opposition party’s computer programmer had to take the treasurer to the hospital. As soon as they left, the vote-counting computer broke down, and when it came back up, the trends again reversed.

    In the election after I had moved away out of state, the election was federally supervised. The computer did not break down, and the opposition party won much more. It took a lot to get things cleaned up there, although I doubt they stayed clean. It was Illinois, after all.

    So, yes, those who control the elections, if they are dishonest, can change the outcome.

    Sounds like Cook County, specifically Chicago.

    • #16
  17. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Blue State Blues (View Comment):
    Sounds like Cook County, specifically Chicago.

    One county south, and Cook County has never had federally-supervised elections. That’s how bad it was.

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Blue State Blues (View Comment):
    Sounds like Cook County, specifically Chicago.

    One county south, and Cook County has never had federally-supervised elections. That’s how bad it was.

    Too bad.  Slavery was ended over 150 years ago, yet most of us “down heyah” still have our elections under some kind of Federal scrutiny.

    And the only people killing blacks here are [extreme language deleted prior to COC beatdown]  jerks like Dylann Roof, and 99.999999 percent of our population would volunteer to press the plunger on the needle to get rid of the guy . . .

    • #18
  19. Jeff Hawkins Inactive
    Jeff Hawkins
    @JeffHawkins

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_Project

    • #19
  20. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Jeff Hawkins (View Comment):

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_Project

    The last line of the article:

    “After 2010, the Project had disappeared.”

    My comment?  Don’t bet on it.  I’ll wager it merely went undercover . . .

    • #20
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