2004 Presidential Transition
Electoral-vote.com: "The election may not be quite as finished as most people think. Take a look at this article about recounts and strategy. It may explain why Kerry has been so silent of late--he is letting others do the heavy lifting. If the expected recount of New Hampshire turns up serious problems, especially with voting machines, there will be demands for recounts elsewhere. Even if it doesn't change the result, this exercise could convince people that maybe now it is time to get serious about devising an electoral system in which every eligible voter can vote and every vote counts. We are still very far from that goal and it is a national disgrace."
"In addition to the recount in New Hampshire (which Kerry won), the Libertarian and Green parties intend to file for recounts, starting in Ohio. There are two reasons to ask for recounts. First, the exit polls, which historically have been quite accurate, differ from the tallied results by more than could be expected by chance alone. Second, there are issues about the invalidated, provisional, and absentee ballots. Once the results have been certified, which could be as early as tomorrow in some states, the paper ballots are destroyed and the computer memories are cleared unless a recount has been formally requested..."
"An analysis of the pollsters can now be found on the Compare the pollsters page. Take a look to see who gets an A+ and who gets an F."
"The LA Times has an article comparing the election results to those of previous ones in which an incumbent president ran. By historical standards, this was an incredibly close contest."
Update: Secretary of State, Colin Powell, resigned from the President's cabinet today.
Update: TalkLeft: "Secretary of State Colin Powell has submitted his resignation to President Bush. So have Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Powell is expected to leave when Bush names a successor. He could leave in January. The names under consideration so far: Condi Rice and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth."
Update: TalkLeft is reporting that Condolezza Rice is the President's choice to lead the Department of State.
Update: Taegan Goddard: "President Bush is moving briskly with changes at the White House, 'channeling ever more influence to Vice President Dick Cheney, his closest confidant, and counselor Karl Rove, architect of his November 2 victory. Senior White House officials tell U.S. News that Bush plans to replace at least half his cabinet over the next few months. His aim is to remove officials who have become lightning rods for controversy or who seem to have lost their desire to serve in Washington.'"
Update: Taegan Goddard: "As expected, President Bush will ask the Republican National Committee to make his campaign manager, Ken Mehlman, its next chairman, Reuters reports."
Update: Josh Marshall: "We will continue to cover and discuss the particulars. But the larger point is simple and clear. On every significant point of conflict between the Bush administration and the country's cadre of intelligence professionals, the Bush political appointees turned out to be wrong. Often very wrong, and with disastrous consequences. Sometimes the intel folks were wrong too; but when that was so, the appointees were always more wrong." Ouch.
Update: Taegan Goddard: "In addition (to Colin Powell), the White House will announce later today the resignations of Education Secretary Rod Paige, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman."
Update: Wired: "Since the election, liberal blogs and discussion sites have been raising a ruckus over an analysis of Florida voting results that's been spreading on the internet, which shows President Bush received a much higher number of votes than the number of registered Republicans in many counties. The analysis has led lawyers for the Democratic Party to look into allegations of fraud, and was cited in a letter sent by Democrats in the House of Representatives last week to the Government Accountability Office requesting an election investigation. But academics at several universities, who received a flood of e-mail urging them to look into the matter, say the results are due to high numbers of Democrats in rural areas voting across party lines, and to independent voters who chose Bush in higher proportions to Sen. John Kerry."
6:12:35 AM 
|
