You know what would be nice? If the local media folks (again, slobbering like hungry dogs for any kind of dispute so we could be on the teevee like them Florida folks) would at least acknowledge something about our silly gubernator controversy here in Alabama.

On election night, each party has folks at each precinct across the state who get the unofficial vote totals (which are sent to the county probate judge for final official tabulation) and call them in to their campaign headquarters. The folks on the phone take all these and add them up, so they have a pretty good idea what the final tally is going to be.

Tuesday night, same thing, and when the disputed vote total in the race was given to the media, the Riley camp knew something was wrong, based upon their running unofficial tally. Siegelman's folks HAD to know it, too. They were keeping track, just like the Perublicans. And they had to have known, based upon the numbers called in by their own folks that Siegleman had lost. It would just be nice to have that in the paper or on TV somewhere.

The closest thing I can find is a story in The Birmingham News that notes about 45,000 ballots were cast in the disputed land of Baldwin County, and that original (incorrect) tally showing Siegelman as the winner added up to around 50,000.

[...] [Joe Espy, chief counsel for Siegelman's campaign] said he is still questioning an unofficial and early vote report from Baldwin County that showed Siegelman with 19,070 votes. Subsequent tallies showed him with a little more than 12,000.

Election officials dismissed the initial report, saying it was impossible because it showed a total of 45,000 ballots cast, but 50,000 votes cast in the gubernatorial race.

Espy didn't disagree with those numbers but did question whether Siegelman's actual number was as low as 12,000, pointing to his strong showing in Baldwin in 1998. [...]

I'm sure he does question it. That's what he gets paid for. But he can add. And he can sit there in all of his lawyerly weaselosity and state that the number might not be as low as 12,000, because the actual total so far is 12, 736. It's kinda like not knowing what the definition of "is" is. But he knows that's still just about right. and he still knows that after any recount, it's still going to be about that. And it doesn't matter how well Siegelman did in Baldwin County in 1998--the alternative then was Fob James, who defied scientists and evolutionists by showing that he was no more developed than a planarian. Fob James was so bad that the only alternative was Don Siegelman.

Which means that, shock of shocks, this whole mess might not be just about making sure The People of Alabama™ have their votes counted. It might just be about politics, believe it or not. (Yeah, I know--it just seems so far-fetched) They know they actually have lost, but there is the possibility of creating enough judicial mischief to change things. Not likely, but possible. Far more likely is a more simple scorched earth policy. They know they will not prevail if the law is followed, so the next best thing is to deny Riley any sort of power through constant talking-up of his "illegitimacy." (It worked so well for the Democrats nationally, you know) It was a close race, and if enough people can be convinced, it makes governing that much harder. Riley will have an extreme disadvantage in any event, simply because the Senate and House are both firmly controlled by Democrats, and the new Lieutenant Governor is a Democrat. Again, you don't have to be Hawking to do the math. And even if he doesn't get to sit in the big squishy chair on Goat Hill, Don will still try hard to wield power from behind the scenes.

Absolutely nothing of substance will be accomplished in the next Legislative session--there will be no reform of taxation, no constitutional convention, nothing will be done to insure that schools and colleges receive consistent funding, every Cletus who has a buddy in the State House will still get to line up at the public trough, although the pickings may be slim, as they will have to wait in line behind our elected burglars. Democrats will continually whine and point to Riley's inability to get anything done as proof of their superiority. They will sow the fields with salt, burn the bridges, poison the wells, then they will place a loving arm around The People™ and tenderly mewl into their ears their concern for them and The Children™, distracting them long enough to rifle throught their purses and billfolds for spare change.

Then again, maybe I'm just being optimistic.
posted by Terry at 10:53:00 AM