Fraud?
I was talking with Jeffrey St. Clair when it became apparent that Hillary Clinton was going to take New Hampshire. My first crack was, “Uh, Oh. The ‘Live Free or Die(bold) State.’ How soon before the stolen election charge is raised?”
After all, New Hampshire is one of the states that came under fire for questionable election results from its array of Diebold election machines back in 2004 — results that failed to match up to pre-election polling. Hmmm? (Say, by the way, what ever happened to the Green Party’s $150,000+ Ohio recount that was supposed to get to the bottom of Diebold, once and for all?) Well, the polls weren’t even closed in the Granite State, when the first “Stolen Election” e-mail arrived in my inbox.
But, as the polls have turned out so monumentally wrong this time, as well; indicating a ten-point swing in one day, one has to ask, “What happened?” At the same time, the actual results for every other candidate on either side were within 1% of the pre-election polling results. OK. Let’s rule out fraud – I do as
1) I cannot believe the Clinton machine, long widely-overrated in the competence department, could pull it off and
2) too many eyes were on it as only one state held elections that day.
Tears and Sexist Stunts? No Way
Mainstream media blowhards are attributing the turnaround to Hillary’s weird, teary-eyed performance a day earlier; claiming it made her “look more human.” (Of course, that she needed to look more human is telling, in the first place. You don’t supposed they focus-group tested the tears, do you?)
Others point to the “Iron My Shirts” stunt by a couple of young radio pranksters. Hillary handled them with what seemed like a prepared script – no so farfetched when you have to consider that it was only a matter of time before some louts pulled off something akin to what Nick Gemelli and sidekick Adolfo “Hugh Jas” Gonzalez Jr. did here.
Sen. Comeback asked that the lights be turned on: the better to see you with, my dolts. She noted, “Oh the remnants of sexism, alive and well tonight,” to much applause. She then brought up the standard glass ceiling laments and, as the nitwits were escorted out, ended with a rousing “If there’s anybody in the audience who wants to learn to iron his own shirt, we can talk about that.” Yukkity, yuk. Human and Humorous.
Could an election really turn ten points on such tomfoolery? Of course, the “Hillary for President” sticker on Gemellli’s briefcase adds to the intrigue.
It Wasn’t the Wars
Neither of those incidents can explain the ten-point swing. It appears that some other dynamic was at work in New Hampshire. Polling indicates that NH women voted for Clinton over Obama on a 47% to 34% ratio. Women in Iowa voted 35% Obama to 30% for Clinton. Iowans said the war(s) and Hillary’s war votes were the number top issue for them.
So does this mean that New Hampshire women are more pro-war, less for peace, than their Iowa sisters? Not really. Next door Vermont’s Legislature has already passed an Impeachment resolution and on Feb.13, 2007, an End the Wars resolution passed the Vermont House and Senate. A similar resolution was introduced and testimony taken in New Hampshire on March 19, 2007. And just three days ago a pro-Impeachment forum was held in Keene, NH. Two women state legislators, Betty Hall and Mary Ellen Martin, have gotten hearings on an Impeachment resolution scheduled before the New Hampshire Legislature in two weeks. New England is clearly opposed to the Imperial wars and their perpetrators.
Could it Be?
So, just what is the difference? Well, in Iowa voting was out in the open with neighbors, way more youth than usual and the whole-world’s-watching media. If one had any misgivings based on race, it would be very hard (for a Democrat anyway) to admit it in such a public venue.
On the other hand, with the privacy curtain of a voting booth providing anonymity, no one would ever have to account for their vote. Both states are overwhelmingly white – 93% in Iowa and 95% in New Hampshire. Its one thing to adopt a race-neutral, progressive facade for pollsters; but when that facade crumbles in the voting booth one has to ask: Are anonymous New Hampshire women less able to give a Black man their vote than their on-public-display Iowa sisters?
MICHAEL DONNELLY sees nothing but Ron Paul lawn signs and Obama bumperstickers around his neighborhood in mostly white (90%) Oregon, which holds its Primary May 5th, long after the Primary races have been decided. He can be reached at pahtoo@aol.com