"Over the past couple of days we've written numerous times about Jill Stein's recount efforts in WI, MI and PA (see here, here and here).
And while it's clear that Stein intends to move forward with recounts in all three states (she's now up to $6.1mm in donations), what is unclear, and quite perplexing, is exactly why she's pursuing these recounts in the first place. Here are the potential justifications from Stein's perspective, as we see them:- Personal self-interest? - Obviously, No. With less than 1% of the vote in WI, MI and PA, Stein obviously has no shot of winning any of the states in question.
- Hopes of recount tipping states to Hillary? - No. Multiple experts and even Hillary campaign insiders have admitted that overturning election results with a margin of victory of several 1,000 votes is extremely unlikely. To win, Hillary would have to flip WI, MI and PA even though she trails by ~20k, ~12k and ~70k votes in each of those states, respectively...not going to happen.
- Exposing voting machine hacking? - No. Even the Obama administration has confirmed the the election was "free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective" and that votes "accurately reflect the will of the American people." By failing to present even a shred of evidence of vote tampering in her WI recount petition, instead choosing to focus on wild conspiracy theories, Stein effectively also admits that there was no "hacking" of voting machines.
- Fundraising scam to get millions in donations from disaffected Hillary voters? - Maybe. As of right now, Stein has raised ~$6mm of the $7mm she says she needs to fund recount efforts. Assuming Stein goes through with recounts in all three states and her cost estimates are reasonably accurate then she won't really have that much money left over to be added to the general Green Party coffers.
So, with no practical reason for forcing recounts, what exactly is Jill Stein up to?...
Read on!
Read on!
No comments:
Post a Comment