Special Coverage: Election 2004

Election 2004

AlterNet's coverage of the 2004 election.

The Vote Was Protected in Cleveland

Dan Frosch, AlterNet. November 3, 2004.
Cleveland can thank Election Protection volunteers for the relative calm at its voting precincts.

Answers? Do We Have Answers?

Rory O'Connor, AlterNet. November 3, 2004.
Let the blame game begin.

The Day After

Ian Williams, AlterNet. November 3, 2004.
A one-way ticket to Canada? Seceding from the Bible Belt? The outcome of the 2004 elections contain happier and more likely possibilities for the future.

A Post-Concession Reflection

Robert L. Borosage, TomPaine.com. November 3, 2004.
Bush's victory will produce a second-term president with a mandate for little beyond patriotic and pious posturing.

The Values Ploy

Stephen Pizzo, AlterNet. November 3, 2004.
Should Democrats become values whores?

Election 2004: Short Takes

AlterNet. November 3, 2004.
Some of AlterNet's writers offer quick reports and instant analysis about Election Day 2004.

The Great Divide Continues

David Corn, The Nation. November 3, 2004.
The Red-Blue battle – a war of culture, ideology, politics and psychology – will not end with the final tally in Ohio.

The Tech Tidal Wave Hits Politics

Micah L. Sifry, Personal Democracy Forum. November 3, 2004.
Regardless of who won the election, it can't be denied that technology is energizing participation in electoral politics, and enabling the campaigns that use it.

An Outsider's View

Oscar Gonzalez, AlterNet. November 3, 2004.
An election observer in the U.S. from Mexico sees a terrific democracy – but a terrible electoral system.

Voices from the Ground War

AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
AlterNet editors and contributors post their personal take on voting-day mayhem – or calm.

Too Close To Call

AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
In a painful reminder of the 2000 election, this presidential election has no clear winner yet and the wait is likely to be long. Ohio may very well be the Florida of 2004.

Election Protection Watch

AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
Look here for updates on voter intimidation, turnout, exit polls from these crucial battleground states. REPORTED NOW: Election Protection News in PA, OH, FL

Blocking the Black Vote in Jacksonville

Suzanne Charlé, The Nation. November 2, 2004.
Florida Republicans in Jacksonville have been busy compiling and disseminating lists that many believe will be used to challenge minority voters today.

The Celeb Effort for Southwest Voters

Don Hazen, AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
Sean Penn, Peter Coyote and others hit the pavement in search of the undecided voters — and find some.

Bush Ain't No Republican

Michael Cudahy, AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
As they prepare to cast their vote on Tuesday, traditional Republicans must ask themselves whether this administration is truly the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.

You Can't Stop This Democracy

Laura Flanders, Air America. November 2, 2004.
Will John Ashcroft be able to stop the democracy movement that's stirring with his powers under Help America Act? Not likely.

Supreme Disenfranchisement

Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
Did you know that in Bush v. Gore the Supreme Court wrote: "the individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote" in presidential elections?

Where Have All The Lawyers Gone?

Rose Aguilar, AlterNet. November 2, 2004.
To the swing states, apparently. Yes, 25,000 lawyers have been dispatched to the swing states for election day. And that may not be a bad thing.

Top Ten Ways to Make Sure Your Vote Counts

Mark Ritchie, AlterNet. November 1, 2004.
Every vote matters on Nov. 2. Here are a few tips to ensure that your vote is counted.

How Average Cubans See Our Election

Sarah Stephens, AlterNet. November 1, 2004.
For many of the normal people who live in Cuba, the U.S. election is a referendum on the new financial and travel restrictions imposed by President Bush aimed at breaking Cuba's economy.

Getting Physical

Tom Hayden, AlterNet. November 1, 2004.
On Tuesday, the traditions of civil disobedience and electoral politics may converge.

When Priests Play Politics

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor, AlterNet. November 1, 2004.
The political actions of Protestant black and evangelical pastors and those of Catholic bishops are not the same.

Bullies Ascendent

Nina Burleigh, AlterNet. November 1, 2004.
Four years of George Bush have meant the triumph of the bully – from abusers in Iraq to intimidators at the polls.

Reality Always Wins

Mark Crispin Miller, AlterNet. November 1, 2004.
Bush/Cheney have to lose, as all such crackpot movements must. In fact, it wouldn't be inaccurate to call them losers – as that is clearly how, deep down, they see themselves, for all their would-be macho swagger.

Osama bin Laden as Global Shock Jock

Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com. October 31, 2004.
With TV-perfect timing, Bin Laden has once again managed, like the Wizard of Oz, to magnify himself.

October Surprise: Bush Dodges Major Scandals

David Corn, The Nation. October 31, 2004.
The October surprise surely must be that George W. Bush has dodged at least a dozen scandals that probably would have taken down most other presidents.

Upriver Across America

Matthew Scott Kelemen, AlterNet. October 30, 2004.
In the lead-up to Nov. 2, the lightning-rod film 'Going Upriver' has been screened nearly 1,000 times at college campuses across the nation – opening eyes and changing minds.

A Shadow of His Past

Ruth Conniff, The Progressive. October 30, 2004.
The Nader supporters of 2004 aren't the same bunch who advocated his candidacy in 2000.

Florida Palms, Ungreased

Chris Colin, AlterNet. October 30, 2004.
What's wrong with paying people to vote? I don't know, but don't ask in a battleground state.

The Other Shoe Drops: bin Laden Weighs in

Juan Cole, Informed Comment. October 30, 2004.
In a new video, bin Laden indicts Bush for still hiding the truth from Americans, saying that the reasons for attacking the U.S. are still there. In other words, Bush has not made us safer.

Not All Voters Get a V.I.P Pass

Rashad Robinson, AlterNet. October 29, 2004.
As America seeks to spread its enviable brand of democracy around the world, it would do us well to cut down our velvet ropes here at home.

The Left's Well-Oiled Machine

Harold Meyerson, LA Weekly. October 29, 2004.
The 527s and Democratic Party in Florida have formed to become an effective, fully functioning American left.

All Eyes on New Mexico

Nadra Kareem, Santa Fe Reporter. October 29, 2004.
Lawyers, election protectioneers, media, pols, oh yeah, and voters will all be watching New Mexico on Nov. 2.

Trick or Vote

T. Eve Greenaway, Chinyere Tutashinda, WireTap. October 29, 2004.
By going door-to-door in costume, offering up treats, voting tips and directions to polling places, this year’s trick-or-voters will also be spreading the word: there has never been a better time to make politics fun.

Permanent Evolution

Liz Langley, AlterNet. October 29, 2004.
Florida's electoral landscape is a shape-shifter. Trying to get a bead on it is like being the lead character in 'Memento.' Whatever you knew a minute ago, just forget it. Something else is happening now. And now. And now.

Eminem, Anti-Hero

Davina Baum, AlterNet. October 29, 2004.
With a new video proudly declaring war on Bush, Eminem steps into the political fray, perhaps the least likely – and most effective – generational leader imaginable.

Senate and Sensibility

Amanda Griscom Little, Grist.org. October 28, 2004.
Though all eyes are on the battle for the White House, six Senate races could have powerful impacts on environmental lawmaking in the next Congress.

2000 Still Rings in Florida

Joshuah Bearman, LA Weekly. October 28, 2004.
When Florida played host to the country's first constitutional crisis to leave the country without a president-elect, the fiasco just added a crowning feather in the state's wildly plumed cap. And it may be adding another one soon.

From the Pen to the Voting Booth

Dr. Ernest Drucker, Dr. Ricardo Barreras, AlterNet. October 28, 2004.
Ex-felons' votes could be decisive in another close election this November.

A Country on the Verge of an Electoral Meltdown

Andrew Gumbel, The Independent UK. October 28, 2004.
Voting machines have already begun to break down, accusations of systematic voter suppression and fraud are rampant, and thousands of lawyers have flocked to court to cry foul in half a dozen states.

The Real Slim Shady Stands Up

Sam Graham-Felsen, The Nation. October 28, 2004.
Eminem's 'Mosh' could be one of the most overtly political pop music videos ever produced – and though the album's full release isn't until after the election, the early-release video is sure to get a lot of attention.

The Silver State for Kerry?

Don Hazen, AlterNet. October 27, 2004.
Early voting is underway in Nevada, and Kerry is ahead by 7,000 votes. But there's a lot more at play in the Silver State.

Promises to Keep

William Rivers Pitt, TruthOut.org. October 27, 2004.
After a thousand days of fear, doubt, anger and set-jawed patriotism in the face of everything we as a nation have been forced to deal with, we are down to a single week to decide the new direction of this country.

Gallup's Racially Biased Polls

Ruy Teixeira, The Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation. October 27, 2004.
Public Opinion Watch: Gallup's methods don't weight race very well; tracking polls aren't worth tracking; Kerry has huge leads among new and young voters.

A Few Good Words

Christina Waters, AlterNet. October 27, 2004.
A new book offers a provocative lens through which to reconsider words suffering from deft right wing manipulation.

Bush's War Against the Military

Ian Williams, In These Times. October 27, 2004.
Bush has failed the military on almost every level – marking the difference between being militaristic and pro-military.

Time's Up for Tom DeLay

Evan Derkacz, AlterNet. October 27, 2004.
The ethically challenged Texan House Majority Leader has represented his district of Sugarland for 10 terms. It doesn't look like the people want him back for an 11th.

Talking with Gov. Bill Richardson

Julia Goldberg, Santa Fe Reporter. October 26, 2004.
An interview with the everywhere-at-once governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson.

Authors Descend on Ohio

Joshuah Bearman, LA Weekly. October 26, 2004.
Joshuah Bearman tagged along on author Stephen Elliott's Operation Ohio with some of America's best and most famous writers.

Big (Yes) Men on Campus

Suemedha Sood, WireTap. October 26, 2004.
“People often think ‘Yes, Bush Can’ is a pro-Bush campaign,” says Yes Man Mike Bonanno, “And they’re right. Our goal was to be more pro-Bush than Bush supporters, to make them feel revolted by our openness about Bush's plans and goals.”

Sign up

Newsletter