[eDebate] F911 and the election

[Jennifer Kenney]

However influential this movie is, the election's far from over.  I know
this, because neither of the conventions have happened yet (always a
sure sign).
In the meantime, just in case you weren't having trouble sleeping at
night, there's this:
http://nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/26/election2004/21_17_566_25_04.prt
Voting official seeks process for canceling Election Day over terrorism
By: ERICA WERNER - Associated Press 

WASHINGTON -- The government needs to establish guidelines for canceling
or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again,
says the chairman of a new federal voting commission.
Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head
of the voting panel. 
Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission last
year by President Bush. Soaries said he wrote to National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in
April to raise the concerns.
"I am still awaiting their response," he said. "Thus far we have not
begun any meaningful discussion." Spokesmen for Rice and Ridge did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York City
-- and he said officials there had no rules to follow in making the
decision to cancel the election and hold it later.
Events in Spain, where a terrorist attack shortly before the March
election possibly influenced its outcome, show the need for a process to
deal with terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2 presidential
election in America, he said.
"Look at the possibilities. If the federal government were to cancel an
election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political
implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an election
it has political implications," said Soaries, a Republican and former
secretary of state of New Jersey.
"Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what are
the constitutional implications?" he said. "I think we have to err on
the side of transparency to protect the voting rights of the country."
Soaries said his bipartisan, four-member commission might make a
recommendation to Congress about setting up guidelies.
"I'm hopeful that there are some proposals already being floated. If
there are, we're not aware of them. If there are not, we will probably
try to put one on the table," he said.
Soaries also said he's met with a former New York state elections
director to discuss how officials there handled the Sept. 11 attacks
from the perspective of election administration. He said the commission
is getting information from New York documenting the process used there.
"The states control elections, but on the national scale where every
state has its own election laws and its own election chief, who's in
charge?" he said.
Soaries also said he wants to know what federal officials are doing to
increase security on Election Day. He said security officials must take
care not to allow heightened security measures to intimidate minority
voters, but that local and state election officials he's talked to have
not been told what measures to expect.
"There's got to be communication," he said, "between law enforcement and
election officials in preparation for November."


Jennifer Baril Kenney
jenniebee at verizon.net 
bariljm at vcu.edu
http://blogs.confusticate.com/jenniebee/ 
 
"True beauty results from that repose which the mind feels when the eye,
the intellect, and the affections, are satisfied from the absence of any
want" - Owen Jones, The Grammar of Ornament

>-----Original Message-----
>From: edebate-admin at ndtceda.com [mailto:edebate-admin at ndtceda.com] On
Behalf Of Nate
>Dunn
>Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 9:47 AM
>To: edebate at ndtceda.com
>Subject: [eDebate] F911 and the election
>
>Hi folks,
>
>I actually havent read most of the other posts about F 9/11. So I won't
be
>offended if people don't read this one. I just wanted to comment on my
>experience. Since F 9/11 isn't showing in Winston-Salem, NC I had to
drive
>all the way to Greensboro to see it. The only problem is that I got
lost on
>the way and long story short It took me two hours to get there. But
even
>after driving two hours just to see a movie (by myself) I had one of
the
>most memorable movie going experiences EVER.
>
>First off it was 4:00 in the afternoon, on a Thursday, and the place
was
>packed. There was a line stretching around the corner of the theater
just to
>get in. There was also a tension in the air that you rarely see at a
movie
>theater. People usually are laughing and joking around or hitting each
other
>with light sabers or dressed up as hobbits while waiting in line like
this
>to see a movie.
>
>During the movie you could hear hundreds of people laugh in unison one
>moment and then the next minute you heard everyone sniffling and
crying. The
>ability of F9/11 to evoke emotion was incredible. When I walked out of
the
>movie theater I looked aorund at my fellow moviegoers and they all
looked
>somewhat upset and also somewhat mobilized. But everyone started
talking to
>one another almost instantly. Complete strangers came up to me asking
me
>what I thought. As I walked out of the theater another army of
moviegoers
>had lined up to take our place.
>
>It has been said that the movie probably wont have an effect on the
>election. After seeing it, and noticing the droves of people who are
also
>seeing it, and realizing that all accross the country people are
waiting in
>line to see it, I can only believe that this movie will definately hurt
Bush
>in November.
>
>The movie makes Bush look like an absolute clown. Pretty convincingly I
>might add. To some people nothing will sway the way that they are going
to
>vote in November but i can't see how someone who is on the fence could
see
>this movie and then turn around and vote for Bush. So the movie will
have an
>effect on swing voters.
>
>It will also mobilize Kerry supporters to be even more anti-bush than
>before. This means more people register to vote. This means more people
take
>a friend by the arm and say "Are you serious? Let me tell you something
>about GWB" This means that GWB becomes very uncool in pop culture.
>
>This movie is a phenomenon. Go see it. If you hate Michael Moore and
you
>don't want to support him then sneak into the movie.
>
>BTW I got lost on the way home too, so I spend nearly 4 hours driving
to see
>this movie but when I got home I didn't even think about all that
wasted
>petrol that we will have to drill in Alaska to recover, I just called
as
>many friends as I could to tell them to go see the movie.
>
>Nate Dunn
>
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