[BREAK] I believe I need political rehab? I knew I was getting close to political junkie status when I found myself using precious time to read the most trivial things in the Blue State/Red state sphere. Things that have nearly no chance of having any effect on my NYC life - like the disastrous Katherine Harris campaign. I mean, this battle is so forlorn that the Washington Post is being too kind heading a story on it Campaign Gone South - washingtonpost.com Even were this a year where Repugnants were doing well, and Bush wasn't reduced to a message of Bush Says 'America Loses' Under Democrats, adding "President Bush said terrorists will win if Democrats win . . . ", a Kathrine Harris candidacy was bound to have some great stories generated by the controversial candidate . . . especially around Halloween! (couldn't help myself, there!)

Katherine Harris, who is trying to become a U.S. senator, says she is writing a tell-all about the many people who have wronged her. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to: the Republican leaders who didn't want her to run, the press that has covered her troubled campaign, and the many staffers who have quit her employ, whom she accuses of colluding with her opponent. She is vague about what, precisely, makes her a victim, but she says she has it all documented. - - - SNIP Perhaps the worst blow to Harris's campaign has been the stories that have emerged from former staffers. They describe a Jekyll-and-Hyde candidate who can be seductively charming at one moment and pitch a temper tantrum the next, throwing a cellphone at a wall or a sheaf of papers at a campaign manager. Former chief adviser Ed Rollins, who managed Ronald Reagan's reelection to the White House in 1984, said working for Harris was like "being in insanity camp." He likened her staff to dogs that have been kicked. Before he became the first of three campaign managers to quit, Jim Dornan programmed his cellphone to play the theme song from "The Exorcist" when Harris called. - - - End of SNIPPET

The above helps explain how Florida has become the flaming car wreck of America's electoral process . . . you just can't help but stare in morbid amazement, though you know that you're probably viewing the horrendous loss of something/someone much beloved. In 2000, the flaming wreckage was of an important part of America - elections. Florida, and how it handled the counting of a varied, and often complex, mishmash of ballots across the State became more important than the millions of citizens who had voted across the rest of America. And the Governor of Florida, though his choice of Secretary of State, the aforemention loon Katherine Harris, became one of ten king makers in America. (The other 9 wore black robes and lived far from Florida;s beaches, in Washington DC. I guess that explains why, while much of the country watched Oprah pull a bait and switch on her audience, and others were reading how the Bush administration wants sex banned until the participents are over 30 years of age, I found myself watching the debate for the job of Governor of Florida on MSNBC last night. None of the 3 candidates knows enough about the electoral process to even deserve having their name on any ballot. The Democrat, Congressman Jim Davis, had what should have been a slam dunk ANYWHERE, but a real nuclear weapon in his hands, especially in Florida. Election fraud! So, when Chris Matthews asks the Republican, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, why he hasn't supported a paper-trail in Florida's elections, Crist says he fears having bosses, who have paid/forced citizens to vote for a certain candidate, standing outside the polling places looking over the paper receipt in the voter's hand, checking to see that the person voted for the chosen hack. I sit there, waiting or Davis to make a fool out of this ignorant, pandering SOB. Jim Davis had NO ANSWER. Just kept saying "I'm for a paper trail.", every time Mathews asks him to refute the Republicans fears. Mathews hits him with that query 4 TIMES! Each time, the guy proves that, EVEN IN FLORI-DUH, the politicians from both major parties (and the lackluster Reform Party candidate Max Linn) HAVE NEVER EVEN READ THE MANY WELL THOUGHT OUT PROPOSALS FOR PLACING A PAPER TRAIL ON OUR ELECTIONS??? NO VOTER TAKES ANY PAPER OUTSIDE THE POLLS SHOWING HOW THEY VOTED! Many bright folks have weighed in with proposals for verifiable paper trails, and 3 guys who want to be Governor of a large State might be expected to be familiar WITH A FEW! In one of the many WELL THOUGHT OUT methods, the voter hits the choices on the touch screen. When finished, the voter touches the FINISHED button. The vote is recorded by the computer, and a printed "receipt" gets spit out. The voter checks that the "receipt" has the correct candidates checked, to match the selections the voter chose. The voter then places the receipt into a locked box/receptacle, where it stays for a decent enough time for electoral challenges. Should a challenge be deemed meritorious by whatever body the legislature had chosen (courts?), the boxes/receptacles can be opened, and the paper receipts counted by hand. AT NO TIME DOES ANYONE, OTHER THAN THE VOTER, SEE HOW THE VOTER CHOSE!!! If 3 candidates for Governor can't get that, in the state that is now more well known for electoral screw-ups than oranges, we are in deeper trouble than even I thought! No wonder Diebold et. al. can so easily pry our democracy away from us. We have elected the dumbest amongst us to guard the gates! Update: Seems Florida is already experiencing voting problems . . . a week prior to the actual election! [/BREAK]