So
to speak!
THESE
FINAL SEVEN days will literally be a countdown for many of us who would like to
see this election cycle with all its inherent nonsense come to an end.
But
I’m wondering if we’re really going to see a sudden end to the silliness come
Nov. 4. We’ve been hearing the reports of tales of voting machines that somehow
are malfunctioning in ways that turn all ballots cast into votes for Democratic
Party candidates.
There
also have been reports of how Republican operatives and their attorneys already
are preparing for the areas where they suspect there might be grounds for legal
challenges – so they can swoop in first thing Nov. 5 to file lawsuits
challenging the elections results.
Are
we going to get an Illinois encore to the electoral nonsense of the 2000
campaign cycle?
NONE
OF US will ever forget how we didn’t learn until early December that George W.
Bush had managed to hold on to an electoral college lead in Florida that gave
him a presidential victory – even though it was undisputable that a majority of
voters nationwide wanted Al Gore to be president.
It
wouldn’t be exactly the same in Illinois since we pick governors and other
statewide office holders by popular vote. But based on the temperament he has
displayed thus far, I would fully expect Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce
Rauner to be the kind of guy who would refuse to concede no matter what the
facts are.
And
to challenge in court to the bitter end, no matter what the public sentiment
will be.
Now
I’m not claiming Democratic government officials aren’t capable of the same
thing. Let’s note that Gov. Pat Quinn himself in 2010 went out of his way to
declare victory in both the primary and general elections – so as to create the
early impression that he was the winner and that any late-night changes were
some sort of plot to deprive him of office.
BUT
IT’S SOMETHING about the tone with which Rauner used to constantly tell Quinn
face-to-face during debates that he was going to lose. I believe Rauner will
find it beyond belief that someone willing to spend so many millions of his own
money could possibly come in second place on Election Day.
I
couldn’t help but notice the Illinois Republican Party statement issued Monday concerning
problems with absentee ballots cast in Rock Island County.
“The
Illinois GOP will continue to monitor this process to ensure full transparency and
fairness in absentee voting,” said party Chairman Tim Schneider “We remain
deeply concerned by reports of early voting machines calibrated in a way that
switches people’s votes from Republican to Democrat – similar to reports out of
Cook County just last week.”
Already
trying to plant thoughts in our heads that somehow, the election tallies we’ll
learn a week from Tuesday are not to be believed.
ALTHOUGH
I WONDER if part of the motivation is the fact that the Cook County clerk’s
office said Monday that nearly 50,000 people had used early voting centers last
week to cast ballots.
At
that rate, suburban Cook County will far exceed the 83,871 votes cast at early
voting centers in the 2010 general election cycle – the one where suburban Cook
and Chicago proper put together so many votes for Quinn that he beat Republican
challenger (and rural Illinois preference) William Brady.
And
yes, two of the top five early voting centers in terms of the number of ballots
cast (in Orland Park and in Matteson) are likely to produce overwhelming
majorities of votes for Democratic candidates.
That
may well explain why it took Rauner until Monday afternoon before he made his
first south suburban campaign appearance – at the Metra commuter train station
in Flossmoor.
HE
NEEDS TO spend his time building up large vote margins in other parts of
Illinois so he can be close enough that a post-Election Day legal operation
could be enough to put him over the top; if need be.
While
Quinn engages in e-mail binges – such as his Monday message letting us know we
need to be on “the right side of history” when it comes to support for a
minimum-wage increase.
So
that the governor would have such a large voter margin that a lawsuit
challenging election results would be seen as an act of desperation.
And
the rest of us can parachute down from atop that electoral rocket and return
peacefully to our usual routines.
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