BRUCE BARTON

Election ‘04: The Phantom Menace?
 

Ah! You can smell it in the air!  That crisp scent of mud being readied for fall. You can tell it’ll be an early season. The leaves of junk mail are already beginning to change colors and you know that piles of it will carpet the ground in just a few months. It’s been an early season already with candidates dropping to the ground like over-ripe fruit. Yes indeed, election season is coming, time to bundle your family around the television and listen to endless ads, pundits and our favorite -- spin!

Here it is almost March and the nine-candidate field of Democrats has already winnowed down to only two. Just listen to the chorus of media pundits singing anthems to the surging juggernaut of J.F.K. -- John F. Kerry -- the man who would rule Camelot with his French (ketchup) Queen. The man who began his campaign quest not once, but twice so it ignited the imagination of the people.

But there is no joy in Mudville this day, the Mighty Howard has struck out. And where were the crowds welcoming home their vanquished Vermont hero?  As for the Little General, he’s met his Waterloo; while the Great Black Hope of  Feminist Amerika was KO’d in the early rounds.  Meanwhile “Al” The Mouth that Roars remains, but only until his political welfare (matching funds) check can be cashed. It’s true, John “Quixote” Edwards remains, riding his one broken horse about the countryside looking for a primary to win. But for how long?  As for Joe?  We hardly knew you.

Ah, but the balladeers of the media are busy writing the epic of their French Prince of Massachusetts, with tales of heroism alongside pictures of Hanoi Jane. But is this French Prince able to vanquish King George with his minions of corporate knights, each ready to pledge millions of e-dollars to his quest to retain the crown of the land?

To listen to the bards of television and the devoted monks of the print media, the election remains but a formality to the coronation of King John. But is it so?

Let us begin our review with a recent headline from USA Today: “Democrats Energized by Turn-out Showing.” Really?

In Tennessee, a realm where for some odd reason they don’t record registered voters by party, the primary election turnout was a paltry 14 percent. In a state with nearly 3.5 million registered voters, John Kerry “won” the day with a mere 151,393 votes. That many foreign nationals cross our southern border and enter the United States illegally in only two weeks!  Another way to look at this “win” is to say that 86 percent of the state's registered voters didn’t bother to show up, and 96.6% of Tennessee couldn’t care less about John Kerry.

In Arizona, where indeed they do register and record voters by party, the voter turnout managed an anemic 29.92 percent. “Better than expected,” we were told by the Democratic pundits; but energized? With nearly 800,000 registered Democrats in Arizona, only slightly more than 100,000 managed to find the Kerry box on their ballots. Again, that’s as many illegal foreign nationals as cross into Arizona every 10 days! Meanwhile, 96 percent of Arizona’s registered voters weren’t interested in John Kerry or the primary election.

But in Virginia, home of the Beltway and the minions of the federal government, Mr. Kerry seems to have done better. Here he picked up an impressive 204,129 votes -- a whopping 5.17% of the state's registered voters! As for the other 94.8 percent of Virginia’s electorate, they seemed to have something more important to do that day.

In the Palmetto State of South Carolina, voter registration by party isn’t practiced. But we do know that just over 96 percent of that state’s 2.2 million voters found other activities on primary election day. In fact, just under 83,570 folks managed to punch the hanging chad for John Kerry -- about as many as illegally, but successfully, crossed the Mexican/Arizona border last month.

The Sooner State of Oklahoma seems to have been later this election with a measly voter turnout of 29.6 percent, with 92 percent of the state’s registered Democrats either not showing up or unable to find the Kerry box on their ballots. Again, the Skull & Bones senator from Massachusetts scored an impressive 4.2 percent of the state’s registered voters. Meanwhile in the 10 days prior to the Oklahoma election, the 81,073 local residents who did vote for Kerry were replaced by a like number of illegal foreign nationals -- reserves for the 2008 election.

Then there’s the grand belle of the primary season, New Hampshire, a state in which you can walk into the polls unregistered, register, vote, then un-register before you leave! On election day ‘04, some 95,000 residents did just that.  And again John Kerry “won” with his magic figure of 84,377. New Hampshire does register by party, there are 713,579 registered Democrats in the state and again, 88 percent found something else to do besides vote for John Kerry.

In Delaware, Sen. Kerry won with a whopping 50.4 percent of the 15 percent voter turnout while energizing only about 3.35 percent of the actual state voters. More illegal foreign nationals enter the U.S. under the nose of Homeland Security in 48 hours than managed to vote for John Kerry in this state.

The Show Me state really showed its support for Kerry, with slightly more than 3.6 million voters, Missouri managed to yield almost 212,000 votes for the man who would be president.

And that brings us to Wisconsin, a state in which voter registration records are shrouded in mists of mystery. Here’s what the Wisconsin State Elections Board had to say when I asked how they conduct their elections: 

“There were 2,291,335 registered voters as of the November election in 2002. We do not have data updated since then.  However...In Wisconsin, not all municipalities are required to have voter registration.  Municipalities of 5,000 or over must require registration.  Municipalities under 5,000 in population, are not required to have voter registration.  However, these municipalities may pass an ordinance requiring registration.  So the number shown above does not reflect the municipalities whose residence vote, but are not required to register. Voters in Wisconsin do not register by party.”

That’s makes it clear right? But in the Land of Cheese with just under 2.3 million voters, Senator Kerry only managed to match the numbers of what our Border Patrol manages to snag in about 6 months -- 327,672.

It’s the Economy Stupid!

While the Democrats may charge the president with being AWOL, the energized voter base for their anointed candidate appears to be more truly AWOL with only eight months remaining until election day this November. But it still may be a horse race after all. President Bush is holding to his guns on supporting legislation by Arizona Republican representatives Flake and Kolbe’s Amnesty for Illegals Giveaway Sweepstakes coming soon to a Congress far from you. With cheers from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and executive board rooms around the world, the American worker is left holding the banner, “BOHICA”  Those in the military know this term, Bend Over ... Here It Comes Again. 

Remember the slogan, “It’s the Economy Stupid!” Well consider this election season: Our tech sector jobs are being “out-sourced” at the labor auction with $85K jobs bidding at $11K in India. Our manufacturing blue collar jobs are migrating to China and Mexico while our service sector jobs are being filled with “undocumented migrants,” as the administration plans to put them on the open auction block. Yes, it’s true, jobs are being created just as fast as cheap foreign national labor can be procured to fill them.

In November, with support for Kerry questionable (except among the media), and Bush ignoring his conservative base over the issue of illegal immigration, this election may indeed go down as a “tight race” between two political midgets with voter apathy higher than turnout. Will the Republican conservative base abandon George Bush over his spending habits, his amnesty gift to Vicente Fox, and his monolithic Frankenstein creation, the Department of Homeland Security? Will John Kerry find more than 5 percent of the voters willing to check his box on election day? We’ll find out in November.

By the time you read this we’ll be assaulted 24/7 by the media hyperbole over how well Sen. John Kerry is doing on Super Tuesday March 2nd in which eight states will move to nominate the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, with four more on March 9th -- watch out however, the real story just may just slip by -- just like those millions of furtive, silent unknown figures who are crossing your borders right now are slipping by the under the nose of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Bruce Barton's background includes experience in economic development, energy policy, politics and higher education. He previously served as the Business Department chair of the American Samoa Community College in Pago Pago. A resident of Safford, Bruce and his wife Brenda, (a fifth-generation Arizonan) hold a passion for the land and the heritage which is America.  See Bruce's website at: www.azbartons.org. He can be contacted at:  borders-n-immigration@azbartons.org.

Bruce Barton's Archives

An Unanswered Letter from a 'Bush Ape'

Bush to Give Away America's Birthright? What Will be the Unintended Consequences of Immigration?

Reflections on Homeland Security & the Border

Can we Protect Arizona Now? Or is it too late?

A 'European Union' Model for the Americas or a New Homeland Called Aztlan?