Quote of the Week...

Krugman on his NYTimes blog, discussing the illogical Republican solutions to our current financial situation:

Well, if a party runs on economic nonsense for 25 years, eventually many of its foot soldiers will be people who actually believe the nonsense.

Save Wisconsin's Vote... Investigate the WI GOP

Perhaps you have heard about the absentee ballot applications the WI GOP has sent out to Wisconsin residents.

They have, in may instances, sent a ballot application with an incorrect return address. In one instance, a local Winnebago County Democratic Party member received an absentee ballot form from the WI GOP with a return address to go to the Town of Neenah clerk, when she lives and votes in the Town of Menasha.

I have several instances of this happening.

What are the results of this? Our member, if the application is sent in, may be denied the vote. By applying for voting in the incorrect town, she will not receive a ballot. When the ballot is not received, it will be too late to apply for another one. Her only option would be to vote the day of the election.

Then, this elderly woman would have to potentially stand in line for hours to vote. Her knees are not that good, maybe she would decide not to wait that long.

The other consequence would be for the local clerks to sort out the problem. Something our stretched thin municipal governments can not handle. The hours spent correcting the WI GOP mailing will eat into needed hours to prep for what could be the highest turn-out election in Wisconsin history.

Whether the WI GOP address problem was a mistake or a dirty election tactic, they are setting up the mass disenfranchisement of absentee voters, and a chain reaction that will lead to havoc on Nov 4th.

This issue needs to be investigated now. If the WI GOP cannot prove there was a mistake made, there should be prosecution.

One Wisconsin Now has a petition online about this issue, you can sign it with the links in this message:

Dear Jef, Hundreds of thousands of legal voters are at risk - but utter silence from the McCain campaign. Media are reporting Wisconsinites have received absentee ballot applications from the John McCain for President campaign with incorrect return addresses, which would likely prevent registration and processing from being completed. We need answers about this McCain mailing immediately and we need a full investigation by law enforcement. Sign the petition and demand an investigation today! Visit http://www.SaveWisconsinsVote.org. Not only could this lead to voters failing to receive their absentee ballots, it also could cause chaos on election day as those who did not receive their ballots scramble to cast their vote. The easy solution would seem to be: check the records, inform people who received an incorrect application and make sure no one is disenfranchised. But the McCain campaign refuses to tell us the exact number and won't even be interviewed about the scope of the problem. A top Republican Party of Wisconsin official said "hundreds of thousands" of absentee ballot applications have been mailed by the McCain campaign. Hundreds of thousands of voters at risk. No answers. Draw your own conclusions. Act now and sign the petition demanding an investigation into the faulty McCain absentee ballot applications. We need a formal investigation. Just last week, Attorney General JB Van Hollen and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced a new task force focusing on election issues. While the prudence of having Van Hollen, the McCain campaign state co-chair, is certainly up for question, the task force must investigate this matter and assure the public their right to vote is not being compromised by an intentional disenfranchisement scheme by the McCain campaign. Fair and clean elections are a critical issue for the state of Wisconsin and protecting the right to vote is essential to our Democracy. Act now and sign the petition to the Task Force and the Government Accountability Board below calling for an immediate investigation of the mailing. They must get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. Time is critical, please act today. Scot Ross Executive Director One Wisconsin Now P.S.--Nothing will happen unless you act today. Sign the petition and help preserve Democracy. Visit http://www.SaveWisconsinsVote.org.

Oshkosh Really is the Center of the World...

As I pointed out here...

...and MSNBC confirms today.

Obama leads the money chase in key counties

Scouring the latest campaign finance data for a Palin bounce, other trends

Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Ohio's Ashtabula County. Winnebago County, Wisconsin.

These are the counties where the 2008 presidential election may be decided. They're battleground counties in the battleground states.