"One dude's quest to save democracy!" Free for All! is a new documentary about the 2004 Ohio election results, which decided the presidential winner. It covers some familiar ground, but also a lot of details you might have missed. You can see it in theaters on October 8, or view it online right now. Here's Roger Ebert's review.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner on Oct 4, 2008 - 28 comments

"On the weekends, he favors two-hour bicycle rides at a Secret Service training facility outside Washington, where he sometimes asks companions and agents to ride behind him so that he can have the illusion of riding alone." With all the focus on the upcoming election, what of George W. Bush?
posted by djgh on Aug 31, 2008 - 102 comments

Death Grip: How Political Psychology Explains Bush's Ghastly Success. Interesting article on the work of psychologists Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski. [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus on Aug 29, 2007 - 68 comments

The Illustrated Guide to GOP Scandals
posted by trinarian on May 14, 2007 - 44 comments

Network Hosting Attorney Scandal E-Mails Also Hosted Ohio's 2004 Election Results --...more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website -- which gave the world the presidential election results -- was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's firing of eight federal prosecutors. ...
posted by amberglow on Apr 23, 2007 - 66 comments

"Stay the Course," R.I.P. (1885-2006).
posted by homunculus on Oct 29, 2006 - 28 comments

Spin, exposed live and wriggling. In 1995, Brian Springer released an hour-long documentary film comprised of incredibly revealing moments caught from raw satellite feeds. Not only do we get to hear the spin-doctor coaching candidates received during various commercial breaks, there are also some amazing moments such as Larry King suggesting to Clinton that Ted Turner could "serve him," an anchor suggesting to her expert that during the L.A. riots his frank diagnosis of inner-city hope is "too obtuse," and the exclusion and exclusion of Larry Agran from the 1992 Democratic primaries — and, really, there's much more.
posted by WCityMike on Jul 4, 2006 - 23 comments

Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House.
posted by EarBucket on Jun 1, 2006 - 171 comments

Berlusconi going down? another leftist leader elected - another victim of bush policies or of his own hubris? (via war and piece)
posted by specialk420 on Apr 10, 2006 - 62 comments

Whooops! While making a required filing to the state ethics commission, Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell finds Diebold shares in his stock portfolio that he now claims to have bought "accidentally." Yes, that Diebold -- the e-voting company whose chairman promised to "deliver the vote" to George Bush. And yes, that Blackwell, whose state helped deliver the White House to the GOP. Blackwell insists that the humble amount of Diebold stock was in one of those "blind trust" type of arrangements that worked out so rewardingly for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. [newsfilter via RawStory.]
posted by digaman on Apr 4, 2006 - 108 comments

Damning leak for Blair / Bush! A leaked transcript of a senior British government meeting indicates that the Bush administration viewed war with Iraq as "inevitable" as of July 2002, even though the rationale for war was "thin" and that "Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran." It further states that the desire to bring about regime change was "not a legal base for military action", and that the only legitimate reason to declare war was with UNSCOM approval. Most disturbingly, it indicates that there were "strategies for dealing with Libya and Iran. If the political context were right, people would support regime change."
posted by insomnia_lj on May 1, 2005 - 139 comments

Blackout Some sites have gone black today in protest of black box voting and/or four more years of Bush. But, actually, I haven't seen many. Are people tired of fighting or is this just a poorly-organized effort no one knows about?
posted by sparky on Jan 20, 2005 - 64 comments

Nation split on Bush as uniter or divider. And 90% of CNN polls are half-mental. Or something. Via TMW
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Jan 19, 2005 - 42 comments

20 Amazing Facts About Read this and cry. Or move to another country.
posted by Postroad on Dec 31, 2004 - 76 comments

We're so unbelievably sorry, everyone...
Seriously. We're not even kidding.
posted by Parannoyed on Nov 5, 2004 - 84 comments

How Bush Did It "A team of Newsweek reporters unveils the untold fears, secret battles and private emotions behind a historic election." An in-depth series of behind-the-scenes articles. [via Salon 's War Room, which also says Bush's bulge was a bulletproof vest.]
posted by kirkaracha on Nov 4, 2004 - 55 comments

Imminent job openings at CNN... Open the link and right click the picture of Bush and wife, click "Save Picture/Image" and look at the filename! In the words of a certain Denis Leary, "He's an asshole, asshole, asshole-e-o-oe-oh". I suggest someone mirrors this ASAP!
posted by metaxa on Nov 4, 2004 - 14 comments

It's unOFFICIAL! yet again!
Bush wins re-election! And Nader nowhere to shoulder blame.
The consequences.
The deciding demographic? The Evangelical vote. (Interestingly, look how the vote went for Carter, born-again Southern Baptist, in the '76 election.)
So who's to blame? Personally, I point the finger at the PR. Because everyone should damn-well accept the fact that it's not about the issues.
Let the recount and litigation begin!
posted by Mach3avelli on Nov 2, 2004 - 316 comments

Bohemian election. Just a little something to lighten the day. Bound to be a double post but can't find any signs, so apologies in advance if it is. Altogether now, My brother jeb has votes put aside for meeee...
posted by ciderwoman on Nov 2, 2004 - 7 comments

"You're An Asshole." A film strip we can all appreciate in time for tomorrow's big event. Try singing along!
posted by Brilliantcrank on Nov 1, 2004 - 6 comments

And the winner is... Kerry with 77% of the vote!
posted by coyroy on Nov 1, 2004 - 29 comments

Professor Allan Lichtman has predicted the results of the past four elections correctly using a system known as The Thirteen Keys to the Presidency.

The Keys predict election results by assessing the performance and strength of the party holding the White House. The thirteen points take into account all the factors that decide elections from the obvious (how the economy is doing) to the more subtle (whether the party in power has achieved major policy change). If eight or more of the keys favour the candidate of the incumbent party, he wins. Any fewer, he loses.

Eighteen months ago Lichtman forecast that Bush would retain the presidency. But the Republican Party now has seven keys turned against it for 2004, one more than the fatal six negative keys.
posted by tapeguy on Nov 1, 2004 - 31 comments

Going for broke. With four days to go before the election, Bush-Cheney '04 finally pulled the last stop and started sending out anti-Kerry mailings using images of the burning World Trade Center. The ads are paid for and officially endorsed by Bush's campaign.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Oct 29, 2004 - 87 comments

The Rumors On the Internets Are True! "Our goal is to present you with these clips to help you make an informed choice next Tuesday." Your one-stop-shop for documentary clips related to Kerry and Bush, presented by the Internets Vets for Truth.
posted by mathowie on Oct 28, 2004 - 13 comments

Democracy Republican style.
Greg Palast's film will be broadcast by Newsnight on Tuesday, 26 October, 2004 by the BBC. You can also watch the show from the BBC website, either live or on demand for 24 hours after originally broadcast, by clicking on the latest programme button.
posted by DrDoberman on Oct 26, 2004 - 8 comments

Mosh.
posted by dhartung on Oct 26, 2004 - 83 comments

Bush-voters switch to Apple John Kerry
posted by Robot Johnny on Oct 25, 2004 - 26 comments

University Study - Most Bush Voters Are Extremely Stupid [Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format]
posted by Pretty_Generic on Oct 22, 2004 - 57 comments

American teens have spoken, and they want George W. Bush for president. Nearly 1.4 million teens voted in the nation's largest mock election, and the Republican incumbent wound up with 393 electoral votes and 55 percent of the total votes cast.
posted by Mick on Oct 21, 2004 - 49 comments

"They can spin this any way they want, but a win is a win."
Four minutes into the debate, Mr. O'Reilly declares Mr. Bush the winner and abruptly excuses himself, saying, "I've got a few phone calls to make."
posted by quonsar on Oct 21, 2004 - 13 comments

Iranian regime endorses Bush, saying democrats have historically "harmed Iran." Head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Hassan Rowhani, is very close to the hardline leader, Ali Khamanei. But the truth is Republicans have always helped dictators in Iran,. Biggest example: 1953 coup that toppled Mossadeq, the extremely popular elected official prime minister of Iran and brought back the tyrant Shaah.
posted by hoder on Oct 19, 2004 - 20 comments

Sinclair Fires DC Bureau Chief for Speaking out Against Airing "Stolen Honor" (Baltimore Sun link, reg. req)
Sinclair Broadcasting, as has been discussed before, wants to air "Stolen Honor" (quite the appropriate title in regards to Jon Leiberman, the DC bureau chief) during primetime in a bold faced move to sway the election to Bush's favor.
Says Mr. Leiberman, "It's biased political propaganda, with clear intentions to sway this election."
The Washington Post and NY Times (both reg.req.) are also running the story.

First brought to my attention via our own Oliver Willis.
posted by fenriq on Oct 19, 2004 - 26 comments

They misnamed the war on terror [Windows Media]
Meanwhile, Gary Busey interviews the US President [Flash]
posted by Pretty_Generic on Oct 17, 2004 - 19 comments

Simon Robson is an animator, and his friend Barry McNamara has political views. Simon made an animation to broadcast them. What Barry Says [QuickTime, political, via madamjujujive]
posted by Pretty_Generic on Oct 11, 2004 - 5 comments

Bush Junta: A Field Guide to Corruption in Government - A substantial visual document (200 pages of comics from Fantagraphics, fact-checked with an extensive bibliography; the link goes to a number of sample pages) on the Bush Dynasty, from its beginnings benefitting off of Hitler and WW2 (that entire piece, which is printed in english, is posted in its original dutch online here), to the Bush's connection to Reagan's assassination, CIA and Iran-Contra, ending with the unsettling origins and profiles of the current administration. A great election primer, featuring comics and art by Steve Brodner, Ralph Steadman, Spain Rodriguez and many others. (Amazon link provided for a better description)
posted by Peter H on Oct 11, 2004 - 11 comments

The best political photo essay i've ever seen. A cheeky look at Bush's flip flops in the form of a shoe catalogue.
posted by tsarfan on Oct 8, 2004 - 18 comments

More than rhetoric... As the campaign gets more divisive and time grows short incidents of violence are breaking out more and more often. Shots have been fired on more than one occasion, swastikas burned, intimidation and just plain kicking. Hopefully it gets better from here, but somehow I don't think so.
posted by soulhuntre on Oct 7, 2004 - 73 comments

How Bush Did. Later for the polls, pundits, and analysis. The five minute .wmv found here sums up the President's performance. Partisan, sliced, edited, and damned scary funny.
posted by adampsyche on Oct 2, 2004 - 55 comments

The amazing debate spotter text analysis tool is a fun way to look at the words our leaders use. Bush had a lot of obvious ones: hard work, wrong time, wrong place, he forgot poland. Kerry name dropped Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden quite a bit and had the highest kill ratio. Here's Cameron's post about how it came to be and how it works. Politics in the age of the internet are certainly an interesting time.
posted by mathowie on Oct 1, 2004 - 36 comments

The Toronto Star asked its reader to pick the winner in Thursday's debate between George Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry.
posted by johnnydark on Oct 1, 2004 - 62 comments

Al Gore on tomorrow's Bush-Kerry duel: The debate tomorrow should not seek to discover which candidate would be more fun to have a beer with. As Jon Stewart of the "The Daily Show'' nicely put in 2000, "I want my president to be the designated driver.''
posted by CunningLinguist on Sep 29, 2004 - 37 comments

"Liberals want to ban the bible!" Guess I missed that meeting where "liberals" decided on this.
posted by mathowie on Sep 25, 2004 - 123 comments

What if we voted on issues? "They booed the results of their vote. They were upset that they had voted for the 'wrong guy'."
posted by GernBlandston on Sep 23, 2004 - 53 comments

Why You Should Ignore The Gallup Poll This Morning - And Maybe All Of Theirs If you support the Dems, you might want to pass this on!
"This morning we awoke to the startling news that despite a flurry of different polls this week all showing a tied race, the venerable Gallup Poll, as reported widely in the media (USA Today and CNN) today, showed George W. Bush with a huge 55%-42% lead over John Kerry amongst likely voters. The same Gallup Poll showed an 8-point lead for Bush amongst registered voters (52%-44%). Before you get discouraged by these results, you should be more upset that Gallup gets major media outlets to tout these polls and present a false, disappointing account of the actual state of the race. Why?"...
posted by Postroad on Sep 17, 2004 - 58 comments

"It's up to the judge to determine, based on the law, whether Nader should be on the ballot or not" - Jeb Bush. In fact, the court has issued an injunction barring placing Nader on the ballot. But today, Bush's Secretary of State issued an order [pdf] to local elections officials, telling them to ignore the current injunction and place Nader's name on the ballot anyway. [via Kos]
posted by falconred on Sep 13, 2004 - 44 comments

"Any day in which Bush's Nat'l Guard service is the dominant news story is a lost day for the Kerry campaign." As another round of media yadayada (see below) is about to emerge over President Bush's National Guard service or lack thereof, Noam Scheiber explains why this is probably very bad news for ... Kerry. We know who Bush is. The election is about the future, not the past. Scheiber's point may have been made in the MeFi thread referenced above, but I'm afraid I lost consciousness after a screen or so.
posted by mojohand on Sep 8, 2004 - 87 comments

Bush's National Guard File Missing Records Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush (news - web sites)'s Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts. For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills. No such records have been made public...
posted by Postroad on Sep 5, 2004 - 17 comments

Bush and Kerry Hit Road, Trade Blows on Jobs I can only guess that someone at Reuters has a sense of humor.
posted by BlueScreen on Sep 3, 2004 - 21 comments

The full text of George W Bush's acceptance speech. I feel less safe now than I was before, but as of this week it looks like he's going to win.
posted by mathowie on Sep 2, 2004 - 269 comments

The Curious Case of George's Medals. Does this picture contain a medal that GW Bush did not earn? All day at the Democratic Underground they've been congratulation themselves for finding the smoking gun. Is it really that easy? Acutally looking at a picture? Must the president *now* release his records to prove that he wasn't wearing a medal that isn't documented in any of his records?
posted by tsarfan on Aug 23, 2004 - 76 comments