2008

Paul Krugman wonders, given that the last three elections were essentially stolen, what makes us think the Republicans won't steal the next? He thinks they will.

I'm not so sure. A fourth dubious election would likely put the Republican party in such a shadowy light that investigations -and most likely indictments- would be inevitable. It's difficult for me to imagine high-level Republican strategists endorsing something like that. Rather, it's much easier for me to expect them to throw the next Presidential election (maybe even using that as an excuse to campaign harder for Congressional seats).

On the other hand, recent news is showing us that the Republican party isn't so simple. In fact, results from the last nation-wide election suggest that Republican Party Central might not have had complete control over their minions, and that those minions got their own squirrely ideas into their heads, each one of them trying to be The Hero of 2004, by cheating and conspiring to send Democratic votes to Republican candidates.

Actually, either of these scenarios could work in their favor, if they play their cards right. In the first scenario, Republicans could dismiss such charges as "conspiracy theory," and the media would lap it up like pigs at a trough. And the second scenario would just allow them to dismiss all the charges as "isolated incidents" (sound familiar? it should).

As far as the Republican Party goes, whatever your suspicions are, they're probably well-founded.