Will the GOP try to steal 2016 like they did 2000?

[KCDem]

Certainly within the realm of possibility if the election comes down to a couple of close states. By preventing a full recount of Gore-won Florida and having GWB illegitimately elected by the activist SC, the GOP was able to steal the election and usher in 8 years of misery. Will they be able to do the same in 2016? Discuss.

Also, Republicans please don't pretend you didn't steal 2000. No one buys your excuses anymore. Just go with the premise and comment on 2016.

[MurrayBannerman]

You seem very likable.

[Skill and Chance]

No, steal is too strong.  But let me introduce the 2016 nightmare civic breakdown scenario, in which Democrats would be (probably wrongly) accused of stealing the election:

Morning after Election day 2016:

Walker/Toomey 49.5% 269 EV- to clearly win in Republican congress
Clinton/Kaine 49.0% 269 EV

Colorado: Walker 48.8%/Clinton 48.0%, 250K VBM ballots uncounted, mainly in Denver/Boulder

2 Weeks after Election Day 2016:

Clinton/Kaine 49.0% 278 EV
Walker/Toomey 49.5% 260 EV

Colorado: Clinton 48.9%/Walker 48.3%, Denver has now finished counting.  Automatic recount range is 0.5%.

"HICKENLOOPER STOLE THE ELECTIONS FOR HILLARY!!!!!"

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

People who believe 2000 (and 1960 for that matter) were stolen are almost as stupid, and even more annoying, than 911 truthers.

[KCDem]

People who believe 2000 (and 1960 for that matter) were stolen are almost as stupid, and even more annoying, than 911 truthers.

When you provide convincing evidence to the contrary, I'll back off

[Ljube]

Well, back in 2000 I was young and stupid and supported Gore.
However, I didn't think the election was stolen.

Still, let's consider a possible repeat of 2000, because of 2 terms of Dem President and voter fatigue.

In that case, Florida will most likely be the tipping point state in a close election. Colorado, although probably will be close, is not likely to be the tipping point state, because it is not easy to make Colorado an essential part of the Electoral College calculus.

Another close state could be Wisconsin. Walker promoting himself to presidency - that would be rich.

[Skill and Chance]

Well, back in 2000 I was young and stupid and supported Gore.
However, I didn't think the election was stolen.

Still, let's consider a possible repeat of 2000, because of 2 terms of Dem President and voter fatigue.

In that case, Florida will most likely be the tipping point state in a close election. Colorado, although probably will be close, is not likely to be the tipping point state, because it is not easy to make Colorado an essential part of the Electoral College calculus.

Another close state could be Wisconsin. Walker promoting himself to presidency - that would be rich.

My sense is that the minimum Dem win map has shifted to this:

With an outside chance of it being this:

[Ljube]

This is the minimum Dem win, not your maps:

[NewYorkExpress]

Unless one of the the GOP Governors is the nominee AND their state is a tossup (Which really only applies to Kasich and Walker) this shouldn't even discussed.

Democrats seem to keep picking Senators as a running mate (and Hillary is basically the presumptive nominee already), so there seem to be anyone in position to steal an election on their side, even if they wanted to.

[DrScholl]

2000 was a once in a lifetime opportunity to commit a fraud. Unless once state led by a relative of the Republican nominee is the deciding state, then there won't be any fraud.

[Rockefeller GOP]

People who believe 2000 (and 1960 for that matter) were stolen are almost as stupid, and even more annoying, than 911 truthers.

When you provide convincing evidence to the contrary, I'll back off

You're the one making the claim.

[Stockdale for Veep]

I still don't understand why there was not a full recount? It was just a perfect storm of stupidity.

[Knives]

2000 while the Republicans may not have tried to steal the election, it definitely turned out that way.

[Mister Mets]

If it's a close election that comes down to one state, you can bet both parties will fight agressively.

Incidentally, Democrats tend to win very close elections. Florida in 2000 was an anomaly.

http://thefederalist.com/2014/10/22/do-democrats-always-win-close-statewide-elections/

[Mr. Smith]

@Mets: 1876 and 1888 disagree with that.

And more honestly, recent mid-terms sans 2006, the presidential elections of 1868, 1880, 1896, 1968, 2004...they also disagree with that.

So perhaps it is the GOP that wins all the close ones, NOT the Democrats.

[Skill and Chance]

@Mets: 1876 and 1888 disagree with that.

And more honestly, recent mid-terms sans 2006, the presidential elections of 1868, 1880, 1896, 1968, 2004...they also disagree with that.

So perhaps it is the GOP that wins all the close ones, NOT the Democrats.

Shouldn't any narrow Democratic win between 1890 and 1960 be considered stolen due to Southern voting laws contrary to the express text of the 15th Amendment?  I'm looking at you, 1916.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

People who believe 2000 (and 1960 for that matter) were stolen are almost as stupid, and even more annoying, than 911 truthers.

I've always thought the election should have gone to the House. (Where Bush would have won.) Florida's votes were clearly in dispute, and thanks to its... less than stellar electoral system, that dispute wasn't going to get cleanly resolved.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The Republican in AZ-02 just tried to stop the counting of votes. I think that answers your question.

[Free Bird]

No, steal is too strong.  But let me introduce the 2016 nightmare civic breakdown scenario, in which Democrats would be (probably wrongly) accused of stealing the election:

Morning after Election day 2016:

Walker/Toomey 49.5% 269 EV- to clearly win in Republican congress
Clinton/Kaine 49.0% 269 EV

Colorado: Walker 48.8%/Clinton 48.0%, 250K VBM ballots uncounted, mainly in Denver/Boulder

2 Weeks after Election Day 2016:

Clinton/Kaine 49.0% 278 EV
Walker/Toomey 49.5% 260 EV

Colorado: Clinton 48.9%/Walker 48.3%, Denver has now finished counting.  Automatic recount range is 0.5%.

"HICKENLOOPER STOLE THE ELECTIONS FOR HILLARY!!!!!"

No way in hell that GOP wins Pennsylvania but not Virginia. Why is everyone acting like it is so long gone?

[pbrower2a]

People who believe 2000 (and 1960 for that matter) were stolen are almost as stupid, and even more annoying, than 911 truthers.

There was enough screwy stuff going on in 2000 that nobody can know. But we can't undo the disaster that was Dubya, can we?

[Potus]

Gore didn't want a full recount, he wanted a recount of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade. Leads tend to grow in a recount. Had the whole state been recounted, Bush likely would have won. Then the legal slog of challenging ballots came.

This is an extremely faulty premise. Bush won.

[muon2]

Gore didn't want a full recount, he wanted a recount of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade. Leads tend to grow in a recount. Had the whole state been recounted, Bush likely would have won. Then the legal slog of challenging ballots came.

This is an extremely faulty premise. Bush won.

Gore asked for Volusia and Broward as well, but that doesn't change the reality that Gore initially only asked for a partial recount, and it was only much later (Dec 8 ) that the statewide recount was initiated by the FL SC.

[Wisconsin+17]

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And perhaps some of the erstwhile Atlasians can demonstrate exactly why he chose those two counties.

[7,052,770]

People who believe 2000 (and 1960 for that matter) were stolen are almost as stupid, and even more annoying, than 911 truthers.

It is nearly indisputable that neither Katherine Harris nor the U.S. Supreme Court had any interest in counting all the votes, instead just wanting to ensure that Bush won. Whether that counts as "stealing" is debatable, since it's not indisputable that Gore would have won had the recounts completed, but no one can deny that Gore would have won Florida handily had tens of thousands of blacks not been "mistakenly" stricken from the rolls OR had Palm Beach County not used a confusing ballot.

Even if you disagree with the above statements, you still must realize that nearly all Democrats agree with them. Comparing that to 9/11 trutherism, a fringe theory that virtually no one believes, is over the top.

[Bull Moose Base]

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And perhaps some of the erstwhile Atlasians can demonstrate exactly why he chose those two counties.

Yes, Gore chose the counties where he thought his votes were undercounted but consistently maintained a statewide recount was completely acceptable to him. A subsequent study showed that even a comprehensive statewide recount would likely have changed the result and made Gore president. That's besides the effect of the confusing butterfly ballot that also blocked Gore from winning Florida.

But regardless of what the result would have been, the reason Supreme Court stopped the recount was the exact same reason Katherine Harris certified the vote count when she did, Bush's cousin started the chain reaction of networks calling Florida for Bush, and Republican operatives attempted to intimidate election workers from completing their recount: in order to get Bush elected.

And of course, the Republican Party has been working the past couple years to prevent minorities from voting.

Whatever disagreements, it's deeply delusional to equate 9/11 conspiracy theories with the idea that more Floridians voted for Gore than for Bush or that the election was stolen.

EDIT: Excuse the overlap. Missed Harry's post while I was writing. He put it better than I did.