Kerry flips one last flop

In an e-mail sent out to supporters* today, Senator John Kerry wrote:

A recent report from Representative Cathy McMorris (R-Washington) reveals very troubling questions that have not yet been answered by Washington election officials. I commend the Republican National Committee for its announcement this week that the RNC will be investing resources and reaching out to non-partisan academics in a long term study of Washington voting irregularities. I am only sorry that we haven't seen the same from Washington Democrats and DNC officials.

Well, no. I'm kidding. He actually said:

A recent report from Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) reveals very troubling questions that have not yet been answered by Ohio election officials. I commend the Democratic National Committee for its announcement this week that the DNC will be investing resources and reaching out to non-partisan academics in a long term study of Ohio voting irregularities. I am only sorry that we haven't seen the same from Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell and GOP officials.

In the e-mail, John Kerry pays lip service to accepting the results of the Ohio vote, but then yammers on and on about "voter irregularities" and "voter intimidation."

Tomorrow, members of Congress will meet to certify the results of the 2004 presidential election. I will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors.

Despite widespread reports of irregularities, questionable practices by some election officials and instances of lawful voters being denied the right to vote, our legal teams on the ground have found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.

But, that does not mean we should abandon our commitment to addressing those problems that happened in Ohio. We must act today to make sure they never happen again.

I urge you to join me in using this occasion to highlight our demand that Congress commit itself this year to reforming the electoral system. A Presidential election is a national federal election but we have different standards in different states for casting and counting votes. We need a national federal standard to solve the problems that occurred in the 2004 election. I will propose legislation to help achieve this.

Florida 2000 was a wake up call. But the Republicans who control Congress ignored it. Will they now ignore what happened in 2004?

Election reform is good, Senator Kerry, but accepting the results in one breath, then raising doubts about the results in the next only makes you sound . . . well, . . . like a flip-flopper.


Update: (Hat tip: Dummocrats.) Apparently some House members actually are challenging the Ohio election results, and are urging the Senate to open discussion of the electoral vote on Thursday.

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* I ended up on John Kerry's e-mail list when I requested tickets to see Dr. Reverend Johnny Edwards Travelin' Miracle Faith Telethon of Love when it came through town.