Althouse: "Are the Democrats trying to steal Pennsylvania?"

November 6, 2012

"Are the Democrats trying to steal Pennsylvania?"

Power Line is asking... and we all should be monitoring.

71 comments:

Matt Sablan said...: I don't understand why they'd do this. They don't need to cheat in PA. It would be like cheating in New York or California, or for Republicans to cheat in Texas.; 11/6/12, 11:00 AM
cubanbob said...: Why cheat in Philly? To offset R votes in the PA sticks.; 11/6/12, 11:02 AM
Once written, twice... said...: You are embarrassing yourself Ann. But I enjoy seeing you in full hackery mode.; 11/6/12, 11:02 AM
TWM said...: Of course they are. That's the silliest question ever asked here or probably anywhere.

And yes, cheating there - where it's easy - helps them in other parts of the state.; 11/6/12, 11:04 AM
MikeR said...: Good point, Jay. Who but a hack would be concerned when dozens of GOP polls observers are forced out of a dozen polling places, and a judge has to give an order to get them back in, and who knows what will happen in the meantime?

I should remember, though, that voter fraud has been scientifically proven to be a nonexistent problem. So there must be some other explanation for this.; 11/6/12, 11:05 AM
Edward Reiss said...: Jay Retread,

"You are embarrassing yourself Ann. But I enjoy seeing you in full hackery mode."

Are you saying that republican poll watchers were NOT cast out? Or do you believe they were and you think that is OK? If the latter, do you have an explanation as to why that would be OK?; 11/6/12, 11:05 AM
clint said...: If they need to cheat in PA... then cheating in PA won't be nearly enough to save Obama.

But, yes, of course some Democrats are trying to cheat in PA. (No doubt there are Republicans trying to cheat somewhere, too.); 11/6/12, 11:06 AM
Writ Small said...: Where are the UN Monitors when you need them?; 11/6/12, 11:06 AM
LoafingOaf said...: Why is she embarrassing herself, Jay? If court-appointed Republican poll watchers were improperly kicked out, you don't think that's a scandal?; 11/6/12, 11:08 AM
campy said...: Must... resist... smugness...; 11/6/12, 11:08 AM
rehajm said...: ...and nobody had an iPhone?; 11/6/12, 11:08 AM
Matt Sablan said...: I want to know who kicked out the poll workers, who told them to do it, and where that order came from. Some local politician's head needs to roll for subverting our election process.; 11/6/12, 11:10 AM
wyo sis said...: Scientifically proven = whatever I say it means; 11/6/12, 11:11 AM
Anonymous said...: It would be a scandal if it were true. Don't you think Democrats would know what a scandal it would be?

Bogus.; 11/6/12, 11:11 AM
Wince said...: Maybe. But beware the head fake.; 11/6/12, 11:12 AM
TWM said...: "It would be a scandal if it were true. Don't you think Democrats would know what a scandal it would be?"

Sure they do. A scandal is anything that a conservative does and nothing a liberal does. Just ask Ted Kennedy.; 11/6/12, 11:13 AM
Marshall Rose said...: Article says this is routine. Mainly a scuffle between seat filler poll watchers, and appointed poll watchers.

Apparently happens every election, scandolous behavior to be sure, but a true scandal. Hardly.; 11/6/12, 11:14 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Voting is so corrupt in Philly they are digging up the bodies of dead republicans in the cemeteries there and replacing them with dead democrats; 11/6/12, 11:14 AM
campy said...: Don't you think Democrats would know what a scandal it would be?

Riiiight. Why, the unbiased media would crucify them.

[/eyerolling]; 11/6/12, 11:14 AM
JMS said...: The picture of the polling place says 1000 words.

http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Politics/pollingsite_philly.jpg; 11/6/12, 11:15 AM
Saint Croix said...: I can see a handful of people getting kicked out, for whatever reason.

But 75?

That is a coordinated attempt to violate the democratic process in Pennsylvania.

Chicago assholes are so blatant.; 11/6/12, 11:15 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Inga: Scandals don't matter if they don't get reported.; 11/6/12, 11:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Inga, Benghazi and Fast and Furious as well as a variety of Obama crony redistribution schemes all should be scandals. However, the press refuses to report them. The press will report that some Republicans asked for ID, not anything Democrats do.; 11/6/12, 11:15 AM
Marshall Rose said...: "It happens all the time," Voigt said. He said court-appointed Republican officials typically show up on Election Day and end up squaring off against stand-in officials at the polling sites filling in the open seats.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/06/judge-issuing-order-to-reinstate-booted-philadelphia-election-officials/; 11/6/12, 11:17 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Oh. How comforting; the subversion of our democratic process is routine. How drole.; 11/6/12, 11:18 AM
test said...: This would be more believable if there were a link at Powerline.; 11/6/12, 11:22 AM
Martin L. Shoemaker said...: Trying? Hell, no, they've already succeeded.; 11/6/12, 11:23 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I don't understand why the Republicans don't tell them to go pound sand,
and go inside anyway.

WTF. What a bunch of wimps. Don't allow yourself to be kicked out or at least go down fighting. The Dems have the Black Panther vigilantes....get some of our own and kick ass. Stop playing by our nicey nice rules and play by theirs. Punch back twice as hard.

Let the games begin!; 11/6/12, 11:28 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Saint Croix said...

Chicago assholes are so blatant.

Philly Democrats have forgotten more things about voter fraud than Chicago Democrats ever imagined.; 11/6/12, 11:29 AM
Anonymous said...: They have to do something to counterbalance western Pennsylvania. If the coal country bitter clingers voted Democrat in the past (a working class tendency), I can't imagine they will now considering how much of Obama's snark and insult over the past four years has been aimed directly at people like them, their beliefs, and way of life. Add that to the heavily Catholic suburbs who may just happen to be insulted by Obama's war on the Catholic church and the Sandra Fluckification of the Democrats, Pennsylvania may be ripe for a Romney landslide.; 11/6/12, 11:29 AM
chuck said...: Fraud in the cities is a given, it was also so when the big city machines were Republican rather than Democrat. It seems inherent to the city environment, like organized crime. The best we can hope for is to keep it to a minimum. Which is hard to do with the Democrats acting like the Mafia on a mission from God.; 11/6/12, 11:30 AM
clint said...: marshall2twr said...

Article says this is routine. Mainly a scuffle between seat filler poll watchers, and appointed poll watchers.

Apparently happens every election, scandolous behavior to be sure, but a true scandal. Hardly.

11/6/12 11:14 AM

Can you explain why you think the fact that this happens every four years makes it better? I'd have thought that makes it worse.

Bonus question: Can you define "seat filler poll watcher" for us?; 11/6/12, 11:30 AM
traditionalguy said...: Who runs Pennsylvania? Does the Philadelphia metropolitan area out vote the rest of the State?

We will see whether the 100% of registered voters show up in Phillie again.; 11/6/12, 11:32 AM
John said...: It is what they do... always have... always will.; 11/6/12, 11:33 AM
Bryan C said...: I'm with DBQ. These GOP observers have a vitally important job to do. Unless someone's holding a gun there's no reason to leave. Have a seat and start streaming video of the local thugs making mean faces.; 11/6/12, 11:39 AM
LoafingOaf said...: "This would be more believable if there were a link at Powerline."

You can't find the stories on it yourself? Just go to Drudge and you'll find links.; 11/6/12, 11:39 AM
Unknown said...: OK, let's monitor PA while completely ignoring how GOP governors are stacking the deck in OH and FL. And I'm sure you don't see that at all. Honestly Ann, this political season has brought out the unbelievably blind political hack in you.; 11/6/12, 11:41 AM
Rusty said...: Inga said...
It would be a scandal if it were true. Don't you think Democrats would know what a scandal it would be?

Not when you guys are committing the scandal.; 11/6/12, 11:42 AM
Bryan C said...: "Fraud in the cities is a given, it was also so when the big city machines were Republican rather than Democrat."

True. But at least the Republicans of that era didn't pretend they were doing the voters a big favor by defrauding them.; 11/6/12, 11:42 AM
Rusty said...: Ronald Ward said...
OK, let's monitor PA while completely ignoring how GOP governors are stacking the deck in OH and FL. And I'm sure you don't see that at all. Honestly Ann, this political season has brought out the unbelievably blind political hack in you.

Get proof and I'll be the first one to say they should be arrested.; 11/6/12, 11:43 AM
Rusty said...: Ignorance is Bliss said...
Saint Croix said...

Chicago assholes are so blatant.

Philly Democrats have forgotten more things about voter fraud than Chicago Democrats ever imagined.

Not so fast my friend.; 11/6/12, 11:44 AM
Chef Mojo said...: So, Inga, let me get this straight. You're saying a judge didn't hand down a court order to reinstate court appointed Republican poll workers?

Because that could be the only way this is bogus, you simpleton.; 11/6/12, 11:46 AM
Marshall Rose said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/6/12, 11:50 AM
MayBee said...: Nobody cheats at elections, and nobody ever would.

That's why it is obvious the only reason you'd want voter ID is racism.; 11/6/12, 11:51 AM
Marshall Rose said...: Clint,

Don't read more into my comments than is there please.

I see this as a 'routine' schenanegan that is done every election as opposed to something new and unprecedented. As a result (as evinced by the rapid court order) the Republicans in that area already know how to combat this, and probably already had their motions drafted and ready to file. I'd wager the lawyers were already at the courthouse and just needed the phone calls, and specific precinct numbers to file.

Sure, it is despicable, but by no means out of the ordinary, and frankly is to be expected (why anyone is surprised by this I don't know).

As to seat filler definition, I would imagine it is used to describe people who fill poll watcher spots that the other party doesn't bother to fill themselves. I.E. 6 poll watcher spots, but no Reps volunteer, so the Dems get to fill all the seats. The conflict happens when the Reps actually show up.; 11/6/12, 11:53 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Article says this is routine. Mainly a scuffle between seat filler poll watchers, and appointed poll watchers.

Apparently happens every election, scandolous behavior to be sure, but a true scandal. Hardly.

Here is how I understand it. Republicans have traditionally had little presence in this part of Philadelphia. So, they often haven't sent poll watchers in the past. The Democratic election head there then appoints one of his cronies to sit in the Republican's seat. And, this presumably allows for a lot of hanky panky, limited only by the number of registered voters in the precinct (which is where all those fake registrations that Dem organizations have supplied come in).

This year, a lot of Republicans apparently showed up to fill the Republican election watcher slot. This was not appreciated by the local Dem organization that is used to filling those slots, and so balked by ejecting the designated Republican poll watchers.

A couple things of note here. First, a lot of those on the left claim that the real issue is disenfranchisement (i.e. undervoting), and not voter fraud (i.e. overvoting). This is just more evidence that voter fraud is probably rampant and traditionally unpoliced in at least the heavily Dem areas of Philadelphia.

Secondly, on a good note, the fact that the Republicans are sending election judges and poll watchers to these precincts is likely indicia that they are much better organized this year, and the fact that they were able to get injunctions and the like evidence that they were prepared for this, with attorneys standing by ready to go into court. And, I think that means that there is likely going to be less fraudulent voting by the Dem machine in Philadelphia than usual.; 11/6/12, 12:03 PM
Dark Eden said...: "It would be a scandal if it were true. Don't you think Democrats would know what a scandal it would be?

Bogus."

Surreal. If this is true, I would have to accept its a scandal, and I don't want it to be one, so it must not be true. Conclusively proven! I feel like I'm in a twilight zone episode.; 11/6/12, 12:04 PM
Marshall Rose said...: Annecdotally, there were two poll watchers at my location this morning. I didn't ask for their affiliation so I do not know who they represented.

I've never before seen poll watchers of any affiliation at my precinct.; 11/6/12, 12:12 PM
Paul said...: "I feel like I'm in a twilight zone episode.'

It is the wishful thinking-fantasy reality mindset that dominates the juvenile "thinking" of the liberal mind.

It is indeed a Twilight Zone.; 11/6/12, 12:13 PM
Matt Sablan said...: Weird. In VA, the poll watchers had little lanyards identifying their party affiliation.; 11/6/12, 12:13 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Flipping things around a bit - there was a comment that the number of Republican poll watchers being denied access was historically high, even for that portion of Philadelphia. This may be evidence that the Dems planned this in advance, as the Reps seemingly did their response.

We shall see as it unfolds. My hope is that this is fully investigated after the elections (good luck there), and the Dem politicians who participated in the illegal campaign tactics rolled in order to get at those who presumably organized the apparent concerted acts.; 11/6/12, 12:24 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Philadelphia doesn't appear to be unique here. For example, Election Judge Wears Obama Cap While Checking in Voters in Obama’s Chicago Ward and Intimidation in Detroit: Report of GOP vote observer chased by man claiming to have gun, Obama supporter punches woman in face.; 11/6/12, 12:27 PM
Paul said...: Trying to steal the election?

Hell, four years ago they did the same thing, so why does this shock anyone.

THEY WILL STOP AN NOTHING. Use Black Panther 'brownshirts', ignore voting rules, and who knows what those 'electronic' voting machines really tally.

Progressives feel they are right so just how they win does not matter. To them the ends do justify the means (as the history of Pol Pot, Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc.. can all attest.); 11/6/12, 12:28 PM
Known Unknown said...: Pennsylvania is pretty big. I have no idea where the Democrats intend to keep it.; 11/6/12, 12:49 PM
Chip S. said...: See? It's like garage has been saying all along. There is no evidence of vote fraud.

If you can simply prevent Republicans from voting, there's no need for fraud.; 11/6/12, 1:14 PM
bbkingfish said...: Jay Retread said...

"You are embarrassing yourself Ann. But I enjoy seeing you in full hackery mode."

Amen. What a tool.; 11/6/12, 1:14 PM
Chip S. said...: I never knew that ¡No pasarán! referred to "poll watching".; 11/6/12, 1:18 PM
sakredkow said...: and we all should be monitoring.

Okay, I'll take the first watch. You guys chill or get some beauty sleep.; 11/6/12, 1:21 PM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/6/12, 1:23 PM
dreams said...: The Dems in Pennsylvania are well known for their ability to pull out a victory for their candidates, I guess we're finding out why they've managed to do it all these years.; 11/6/12, 1:32 PM
edutcher said...: To ask the question is to answer it.

The other answer is simply that the 'burbs - Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, and Bucks Counties, as well as some well-to-do areas in the Great Northeast and southwestern areas of Philadelphia County (Overbrook, Bala, etc.) are going to go for the Romster.

That will tip the state R; 11/6/12, 1:32 PM
Methadras said...: Inga said...

It would be a scandal if it were true. Don't you think Democrats would know what a scandal it would be?

Bogus.

I wonder why a judge had to intervene to get those GOP poll workers back into the polls? Oh, it must not be real in Inga alternate realityville. It's party time, chump.; 11/6/12, 1:44 PM
Chip S. said...: Gotta love that ingalogic.

Bless her heart.; 11/6/12, 1:50 PM
Seeing Red said...: 4 years ago the tried? Didn't some Phili precincts come in at 100 to 105% for Gore in 2000?; 11/6/12, 2:28 PM
Seeing Red said...: Rendell wouldn't have done a damn thing, but since the new governor is republican, maybe he'll push this. We can only hope.; 11/6/12, 2:31 PM
Unknown said...: The real attempt at "stealing" Pennsylvania is by the GOP with their voter ID law and the disregarding of court orders to allow people to vote as before. If Penn. is stolen, it will be the GOP that has engineered the theft.

Brendan; 11/6/12, 3:31 PM
jr565 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/6/12, 3:54 PM
Paolo said...: Brendan (11/6/12 3:31 PM)
perhaps you don't realize it, or more probably you don't want to.
Ok, I'll try to explain: your voting system is a risible joke, a scandal - in central Africa they are more reliable than you.

Stop being silly, stop defending the indefensible, Santissimo cielo!

Paolo, Italia; 11/6/12, 4:03 PM
jr565 said...: This is beyond funny.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/11/06/foreign_election_officials_amazed_by_trust_based_us_voting_system

Basically, the UN is sending in people to make sure our elections are legit. That's funny enough right there. But they are amazed that we are, in most cases, NOT requiring ID's to vote. Apparently, they are cognizant of the ability of people to cheat at elections when they don't have ID's or don't require ID's. who'd have thunk it?

There are also already instances of people going to polling booths and being told that they already voted. In other words, someone used their ID and cast a vote. So how do the people at the polling place tell which person is casting the legitimate vote, and which person is committing a fraud?

If there were just some kind of identification that existed, and it showed the persons face!; 11/6/12, 4:14 PM
hombre said...: Democrats will cheat because they always cheat. Nevertheless:

If people of faith vote biblical values, Romney wins.

If people of faith don't vote biblical values, Obama wins; 11/6/12, 5:26 PM
Technician 101 said...: Now, even high school graduates are seeing the advantages of taking a two year technical course instead of spending time and money towards a four year degree.HVAC Training in Pennsylvania; 11/11/12, 12:03 AM