Today, Bud Day, Orson Swindle, and a bunch of other high-profile veterans sent a letter to New York election officials about the problems faced by active duty military in exercising their right to vote in the NY-20 special congressional election that is currently in recount. We have written about this issue before here at Redstate. The letter is pretty hard hitting:

Every effort should be made to ensure that every vote cast by members of the U.S. armed forces serving overseas is counted - in this election and in every election.  But in New York, only minimal steps were taken by state and Federal authorities to get the ballots overseas early enough to have a chance to make it back in time to be counted.  Votes cast by men and women serving in our armed forces overseas may not be counted because of this failure.  That is shameful, and an embarrassment to us as a nation.  We can and must do better.

The complete letter is after the jump.

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It looks like Jim Tedisco may have pulled off the victory in NY-20 after all. And there is good reason to think that the remaining absentee ballots should favor Tedisco. That said, there was a serious problem.

The state Board of Elections seesm to have deliberately disinfranchised military voters. Heritage’s Hans von Spakovsky describes how the Democrats on the Board of Election actually voted to reject a Department of Justice recommendation to send out ballots.

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, which is responsible for enforcing the federal statute that guarantees the right of overseas citizens and military personnel to vote by absentee ballot, contacted the New York State Board of Elections and requested that they issue their ballots sooner for this race. The two Republican members of the board voted to support this request. Yet the two Democratic members of the board, shamefully enough, voted against doing so. Were they trying to disenfranchise military voters?

So the DoJ actually had to file suit against the NY State board of Election. Hans explains why that suit was still inadequate because, ultimately, the Civil Rights Division at DoJ doesn’t take the issue of voting rights seriously for the military.

In the end though, there are about 1,000 military absentee votes outstanding. In spite of Democratic attempts to disenfranchise our soldiers, some of our troops will get to vote. And it looks like we will win the race.

But we need to stop this coniving next time.

Cross-posted from The Next Right.

NY-20: The recount for this race - which is actually at plus 25 right now, not plus 57 - is going to be expensive.  There’s a new pledge drive up to pay for that recount, in the same style as the one that gathered over 120K for Jim Tedisco: I encourage people to help out there, or where they can.  It’s already at 9K (the target number is 40K), which tells you that there are people out there who share your concerns about the potential for abuse of the recount - to say nothing of the absentee ballot count.  We’re in a good place to take a seat away from the Democrats, here; one that progressives are annoyed to have had to fund (military-hating opponents of the death penalty for terrorists are ‘centrist’ to that sort, you see).  Think of it as a civic obligation.

IL-05:  On a more ideological/idealistic level, though, it doesn’t get any better than Rosanna Pulido’s campaign. As the below video shows, she’s fighting in a heavily-Democratic district against a guy with the full support of the state Democratic party apparatus, with no equivalent support from her own party…

…although the corrupt nature of Illinois politics on both sides probably makes that a net gain for her on that last bit anyway. This is a solidly conservative candidate, and she’s not embarrassed about it, either. If that appeals, here’s her donation page.

Remember: the cavalry will not be coming over the hill to save us.  That’s because we are the cavalry - and we are perfectly capable of saving ourselves.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

1. Scott Murphy (D) is ahead by 65 votes.  Nobody’s calling this race just yet.
2. There are somewhere between six and ten thousand absentee ballots that need to be counted.
3. They’re not being counted tonight.  They’re not being counted for another week. (Via AoSHQ)  You see, we do, in fact, actually learn from our mistakes.
4. The deadline for overseas absentee ballots is actually April 13th.
5. All that being said, just because we haven’t lost yet doesn’t mean that we’ve won, either.  Don’t assume that the absentee ballots are going to flip this race dramatically.
6. If you still have nervous energy to work off, Rosanna Pulido (the candidate for IL-05) would love your help.

I believe that covers it. So everybody have a bite to eat, or something.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

610/610: +65 Murphy, and the election will now not be over for another two weeks. The deadline for absentee ballots is April 13th, and if you think that either candidate is not going to insist on every second of that time… HAH!

609/610: 81 vote difference. Heck, this may go to a runoff.

607/610: Murphy takes lead with 200 votes; it’s going to the absentee ballots, folks.

591/610 Tedisco down to 30 votes+; I assume that means recount.

At 505/610, Tedisco is ahead by 1100 votes. As it stands, he will win Saratoga & Delaware Counties, and lose Columbia County. I don’t think Murphy can make up those votes in Columbia.

At 386/610: if this holds up, and the Saratoga results hold up… Tedisco wins.

At 312/610, 51/49 Tedisco/Murphy.
And with Warren County’s results in… not enough there to make it up for Murphy.

Still 52/48 at 168/610.
Saratoga County’s showing a 3K vote lead there with 43% in.

At 90/610 districts: Tedisco/Murphy 52/48

Very minimal this time: I’m still trying to find a results page.

OK, Constant Reader SE-779 come through with some:

The Saratogian.
Times-Union.
Post-Star.

And it will be close. I’m thinking that it’s a squeaker for Tedisco, unless of course this particular ad:

…clarifies matters for NY-20. Also: it’d be nice if Tedisco broke 120K online, huh?

contribute:


Crossposted to Moe Lane.

The New York Post has announced for Tedisco, citing his experience over Scott Murphy, Tedisco’s better ideological fit to this district, Tedisco’s record of fiscal restraint, and - interestingly - Murphy’s refusal to support the death penalty for even 9/11 terrorists. And in other news, the Libertarian candidate has been disqualified for the second election cycle running from being on the ballot. Problems with the signatures, again*.

Homestretch time, folks. As you can see below, Tedisco’s enjoying considerable online grassroot support (he seems set to pass 100K collected online without any trouble), but Jim Geraghty reports that the polls are tight. This isn’t the time to slow down.

Moe Lane

*Yes, the President endorsed Murphy. Imagine my shock. Also imagine my shock that the President has no intention of stumping for a candidate in a race that isn’t self-evidently in the bag for the Democrat already.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

They had a debate last night, where Tedisco hit Murphy over the ’stimulus’ bill that the former opposes and the latter supports. Congressional Democrats are hungry for this race, no matter that Obama/DNC (I repeat myself) don’t want to get involved.

contribute:

We’re making the Democratic Party spend money on a race that their own ideology says that they should be winning handily, and they’re losing it anyway. Now is the time to keep pushing this.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

The Poughkeepsie Journal - which endorsed Obama for President - has endorsed Jim Tedisco for next week’s special election:

The 20th Congressional District seat - which includes much of northern Dutchess County - has been without a representative for about two months now. In many ways, this could not have come at a worse time. With the economy teetering, Congress has been moving at a fever-pitch pace to make critically important and highly expensive decisions that would have far-reaching ramifications.

The district needs someone to jump right in and make a difference, and veteran state lawmaker James Tedisco has those abilities. District voters should give him the opportunity to serve.

Tedisco has considerably more experience than his opponent, Democrat Scott Murphy, who has never sought office before.

There is at least one misstatement in the endorsement, however: Tedisco is against the stimulus. Nonetheless, good news.

contribute:

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Jim Tedisco reminds us that Murphy may have an inclination towards giving bonuses to companies losing money…

…although that may not be an entirely fair comparison. After all, back then Murphy’s bonus scheme didn’t involve your money. I wonder if he’s still for passing that miscalled “stimulus” bill - Tedisco is on the record as opposing it, mind you - and I wonder if Murphy is going to comment on his stance on the AIG payoffs further. Or at all, really.

<a href=”http://www.jimtedisco.com/donate/”>contribute:

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Here’s the screenshot, taken this morning:

As you can clearly see, he’s still asking for campaign contributions for both the primary and general election… even though the primary is over. There are rules about maximum donations, and he’s violating them.

The regulating agency for this one is the FEC, not the NY State Board of Elections: unfortunately, they only take notarized letters (info on how to do that can be found here). So I suggest that you do the following two things. First, click on the link below and contribute:

…second, give the NY Democratic Party a call at 212.725.8825 or 518.463.1663 and ask them whether they’re standing by their candidate’s violation of McCain-Feingold. While you’re at it, you should ask them whether Murphy is still standing by his support of the stimulus (which Tedisco does oppose), now that it means that he’d be signing off on AIG bonuses.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Give as much as you can.

That’s a provocative title, to be sure - but after reading this Weekly Standard article that’s the only conclusion that you can draw. Between lying about his opponent’s stance on the stimulus, lying about how he’s not checked out on the Solomon amendment (in NY-20! That’s like not knowing about the CBC in MD-07, or corrupt machine politics in IL-05), and - coming to the conclusion that being anti-gay is also racist? That one was a little incoherent - we’re seeing quite the flailing.

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“Mr. Steele declined a request for an interview.”

Dan Riehl caught this first, and I concur: there are times when you pick yourself up, walk it off, and get back to work - and Steele’s gotten to that point. Yes, the media doesn’t love the GOP, except as a punching bag. And yes, the media loves to see Red-on-Red fights, the latest of which has spent far too much time occupying people’s brains than it should have for the last two weeks. And yes, there are ongoing philosophical issues between the various factions of the GOP that are causing all sorts of dynamic tension / impending meltdown / what have you.

Meanwhile, there’s a race going on up in NY-20. Is that less important to you than whether Steele’s sufficiently pro-life? If it isn’t, Tedisco can always use the help. There’s also a race going on over in IL-05. Are you looking for a better hill to fight and maybe die on than whether or not Rush is going to doom the GOP? If you are, Pulido wants to hear from you. Virginia and New Jersey are having elections for governor this year. Are you tired of the debate over who should be the next Presidential candidate? Then the NJ GOP and the VA GOP would be happy to redirect your interests to something a bit more topical.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. There is business that must be attended to, and at this point we are merely amusing the Other Side.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

It’s one thing to take a populist line on executive bonuses for failing companies; quite another to take a fake populist line.

Not to belabor the point, but the netroots are eager to put one of their military-hating own into Solomon’s seat; and while the race is still Tedisco’s to win it’s also tightening. So: contribute to Tedisco, and while you’re at it, think about supporting the NRCC, too. They’re in there swinging.

…and it’s a NGO defense-oriented conservative think-tank that’s been calling for the conversion of American transportation to alternative fuels since at least 2003. Its chairman, retired military veteran James Martin, writes:

On behalf of NDCF supporters who proudly represent all branches of the military, it strikes me that Mr. Murphy’s writings at his alma mater, Harvard University, when he was editor of a university magazine, Perspective, do not jibe with the majority views of the people of the 20th Congressional District of New York.

Murphy apparently co-authored an editorial critical of the military and questioned its longstanding traditions and structure. In the same editorial, Murphy railed against having ROTC outposts on college campuses, “Bringing ROTC on campus is not the best way of helping the economically disadvantaged.” (Perspective, Summer 1989).

His attacks on our nation’s military demonstrate just how out-of-touch he is. This is the same District that was once served by the late Republican Congressman, Jerry Solomon.

First off, Jim Tedisco. Republican. Running for the seat. Doesn’t hate the military. Donate here.

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(H/T: Hot Air) That’s a serious question, because he signed his name to an article saying precisely that back in college. The quote goes:

The military not only discriminates on the basis of sexual preference, but on the basis of sex and race. Women are not allowed to serve in combat even if they are physically superior to males who do serve in combat. And, while there are not explicit rules discriminating against minorities, the Congressional Black Caucus has found that “racism has become institutionalized at all levels of the military. Black and other minority service men are victims of discrimination from the time that they enter the services until the time that they are discharged.” Will Harvard choose to ignore this discrimination?

Murphy went on to declare that military values - which he proceeded to get wrong, as only a liberal Democratic Ivy League student can - are directly contradictory to those of Harvard University, or at least the Harvard University of twenty years ago. I would like to say that Harvard’s grown up a little since then, but it’d be a lie. Still, I’d like to know: has Murphy?

Moe Lane

PS: Jazz Shaw has more; so does this site, even if they can’t get the name of the NRCC right. But one of their commenters noted that parts of this district were once Gerald Solomon’s (I think), so that works out. And, of course, see also Erick’s post on the subject.

PPS: Jim Tedisco. Republican. Running for the seat. Doesn’t hate the military. Donate here.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Is Scott Murphy “Mr. Jobs,” or isn’t he? Well he was, then he wasn’t. The website scrubbers apparently don’t want you to know that Scott Murphy considers himself “Mr. Jobs,” probably because all the jobs he created were in India, not New York.

Here is how Scott Murphy, candidate for NY-20, described himself on his website originally:

“Scott Murphy, 38, from Warren County is a wunderkind for creating jobs in upstate New York . . . . Scott’s called ‘Mr. Jobs’ because of his unique experience at helping more than dozen companies in upstate New York.”

Here’s how it reads now:

“Scott Murphy, 39, is literally in the business of creating jobs. Saving and creating jobs, growing small businesses, and finding new ways to tackle old problems - these are the things Scott has done successfully for more than 15 years.”

He’s no wunderkind any more. And he’s no longer “Mr. Jobs.” Why?

Well a wunderkind probably would be smart enough to actually vote regularly before running for office. Scott Murphy didn’t vote for four years from 2000-2004. A wunderkind would also be smart enough to pay his taxes. Scott Murphy has a troubling history of not paying his taxes.

And he’s not “Mr. Jobs” because calling himself that would probably put the spotlight on his job creating ways in India — not New York. Scott Murphy started an company employing Indians and India that now rivals E-Bay. Good for him. Not good for New York.

UPDATED: Ed Morrisey brings us word that Scott Murphy has also accused the United States Military of being a bunch of racists. Writes Ed:

He opined in a Left-leaning campus magazine that the ROTC had no business on college campuses, especially Harvard

Why? Because the military expects people to follow orders and takes advantage of minorities.

So Tom Daschle isn’t going to be Secretary of Health and Human Services for being a tax cheat. And Nancy Killefer removed herself from consideration for the same reason.

Now what about those people who want to be in Congress? Like Al Franken? Or Scott Murphy?

Just sayin …