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October 20, 2008

OBAMA ON THE OFFENSIVE: Assembles Thousands of Lawyers to Monitor the Election

Obama assembles the largest "law firm" in the country:

In Florida, Democratic lawyer Charles H. Lichtman has assembled almost 5,000 lawyers to monitor precincts, assist voters turned away at the polls and litigate any disputes that can't be resolved out of court.

"On Election Day, I will be managing the largest law firm in the country, albeit for one day," said Lichtman, 53, a Fort Lauderdale corporate lawyer and veteran of the five-week recount after the 2000 election when Florida eventually delivered the presidency to George W. Bush...

We all know that as the desperate GOP contends with the very real possibility of losing this election and losing it big, the dirtier and sleazier they will play.

They will commit voter fraud. They will disenfranchise voters. They will create a bogeyman to incite anger in their wingnut lynch mob.

Which is why in addition to playing defense, Obama is playing offense:

With the election just over two weeks away, Bob Bauer, Obama's chief lawyer, said in a conference call with reporters this afternoon that he is asking U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to hand over to special prosecutor Nora Dannehy any probe into what Bauer called "bogus claims of vote fraud" that mirror concerns raised by Republicans two years ago.

According to a recent Justice Department report, those issues played a role in the controversy over the forced resignations of nine former federal prosecutors.

That report - performed by the inspector general overseeing the Justice Department and others - found that David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney in New Mexico, "was removed because of complaints to the Department of Justice and the White House Ö about Iglesias' handling of voter fraud" cases. He had been pushed to bring a case against ACORN - the Association of Community Activists for Reform Now, the group at the center of the current controversy.

"Are we seeing a repeat now?" said Bauer. "It would seem that we are."

His team and the DNC have also filed a lawsuit in Michigan against a particularly repugnant form of caging which is due to be heard by a judge later today.

The intent here is clear: Obama is warning the GOP, we know what you're up to and you're not getting away with it.

The best way to foil the GOP is for us to vote in such massive numbers all across the country, resulting in an overwhelming sweep for Obama that renders their dirty tactics obsolete.

For the meantime, the GOP will continue their unprecedented efforts to steal this election. Obama knows this and he's ready for it:

In a conference call with reporters, Bauer vowed to mount "ferocious response" to any effort to purge voter rolls...

posted at 2:15 AM by Wonky Muse

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