Rand Paul Ridiculed After Accusing Dems of 'Stealing' Elections by Persuading People to Vote for The

[babylonsister]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rand-paul-ridiculed-after-accusing-dems-of-stealing-elections-by-persuading-people-to-vote-for-them

Rand Paul Ridiculed After Accusing Dems of ‘Stealing’ Elections by Persuading People to Vote for Them
IT’S NOT FAIR
Jamie Ross
News Correspondent
Updated Dec. 28, 2021 9:52AM ET /
Published Dec. 28, 2021 6:23AM ET
Shawn Thew/Reuters

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has accused Democrats of “stealing” elections by legally persuading people to vote for them—and people have quickly pointed out to him that’s simply how democracy works. Writing on Twitter, the senator quoted an article from the Washington Examiner about how Democrats carried Wisconsin in 2020 after losing it to ex-President Donald Trump in his 2016 victory. Paul’s tweet read: “How to steal an election: ‘Seeding an area heavy with potential Democratic votes with as many absentee ballots as possible, targeting and convincing potential voters to complete them in a legally valid way, and then harvesting and counting the results.’” CNN’s White House correspondent John Harwood then pointed out: “Convincing potential voters to cast legal ballots is how you win elections in a democracy.” Georgia State Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis replied: “This is what we call—wait for it—voting.”

[RKP5637]

1. Rand Paul really is demented. No wonder he had trouble with his next door neighbor. n/t

[lastlib]

41. I'm sure glad they don't let him play with subatomic particles........

Geez, what a maroon, as Bugs Bunny would say.

Few things in this world are worse than malevolent stupidity.

[MiniMe]

2. Is this real?

[Thomas Hurt]

5. sure it is, taking advantage of absentee ballot laws is offensive to the GoP. They lose...

which is also offensive to the GOP. Mostly they didn't think to do it themselves.

[dchill]

27. They DO do it. They just don't think WE should be allowed.

"Legal, valid ballots" are white/Republican. That's what they mean when they say that.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. He's really grasping at straws now

Charles Booker can beat his ass. I hope to hell he does. This little ass wipe has it coming. Booker just needs to stick to the from The Hood to the Holler script. IE - he knows poverty and pain - whereas scumbag is against the people.

[Bayard]

11. Make it so!

I'd work for his campaign. Randy is as much an embarrassment as McConnell.

[calimary]

18. Charles Booker BETTER beat his ass.

He needs to be relieved of duty. And how is that accomplished? Legally? By VOTING!

[JustAnotherGen]

26. Which heaven forbid

Booker convinces people who have been left behind of ALL races - to vote for him.

Heaven forbid Calimary! Rand Paul's argument if he loses is - well - it should be illegal for a Democratic Party member to run so I'm contesting this election.

[DFW]

4. Yes, dagnab it! How DARE Democrats complete ballots in a legally valid way?

I feel ashamed already.

(Okay, maybe not)

[calimary]

20. Maybe it's because he knows his side mainly wins by cheating.

By contrast, WE do it the way it’s supposed to be done. By the rules, legally.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. On top of that, doesn't the voter have to request the absentee ballot?

IOW, you could 'seed' an area with *request forms for absentee ballots*, but not actual absentee ballots.

So, the voter also has an addt'l step of mailing in the request.

Or is WI different from most states in this regard?

[CrispyQ]

9. I believe that's the case in every state.

You have to request a mail-in/absentee ballot. My state has vote-by-mail for every election, but you still have to request a mail-in ballot. A lot of CTs got started & were spread by people who don't understand & didn't bother to research the electoral process.

I had an exchange with a man who claimed that democrats were going from precinct to precinct & voting multiple times. I explained that if you show up to vote at any precinct other than your own, you're not in the poll book. You would then be directed to either go to your own precinct or you would be given a provisional ballot, which would be reconciled, & if you really had voted twice, you would probably be investigated. Turns out, he didn't know what a poll book or a provisional ballot were.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

10. Exactly. And I guarantee you Rand Paul knows that part of the process

So, he's totally just flagrantly lying within the first few friggin words out of his mouth.

These f***ing RePuQ's are utterly shameless, man. It's incredible.

[Wounded Bear]

17. We don't request ballots in WA state...

they are mailed out to all registered voters a coupule of weeks before the election.

And yes, most of the people protesting about the process don't know what they're talking about, or just lying.

[CrispyQ]

22. So there are no voting precincts/polling centers open on election day?

All ballots are mailed in? I would think eventually CO would go that route, too.

[Wounded Bear]

24. Actually, there are some, but almost everything is mail in, yes.

I think there is 4-5 in King County, whereas there are several drop boxes in every city and town AFAAIK. I usually use a drop box, and they have a website where you can track your ballot to when it is opened and counted.

Oregon is pretty similar, I think. I know CO was contemplating it. Don't really know the status of other states.

[CrispyQ]

25. CO here.

We have polling centers for in-person voting. They are open a few weeks before Election Day. We have lots & drop-off boxes for mail-in voters. My county has texting ballot tracking. Very nice feature! Not sure if it's statewide. What's funny is repubs like these features, too.

I wrote to Manchin that it wasn't democratic for it to be easier to vote in CO than it is in WV. Not that he ever saw it or cared if he did.

[wryter2000]

21. Not in CA

In 2020, every voter got an absentee ballot and an envelope that didn't require postage. We're going to be doing that from now on. This is the government you get when you eliminate the Republican party from power. We also have a budget surplus.

[CrispyQ]

23. I've never understood why someone would vote for a candidate who disdains government.

That's like hiring an employee who hates your company. Would anyone do that? No.

We still have polling centers open on Election Day. Not in every precinct like we used to, but you can vote in person if you want.

[ShazzieB]

33. I don't think he has anything against government, per se. Just the democratic kind!

[llashram]

7. what can be expected

he's a RW fascist.

[KS Toronado]

8. Is Rand Paul projecting that he stole his election?

Lots of questions in Kentucky how he and Moscow Mitch won there.

[Bayard]

12. There always is

Since McConnell maintains about a 30% approval rating here.

[paleotn]

30. And that 30% invariably show up at the polls....

Part of the 70% may not like Paul or McConnell specifically, but guns, Jebus and other assorted cultural factors steer them to the reich. Much of the rest of the 70% don't show up at the polls at all. KY ranks among the worst states in voter turnout.

[JohnnyRingo]

13. They really think helping people vote is cheating.

Remember the Souls to The Polls and how they ended that along with interactions with people in line to vote? Or how many states shortened early voting and closed strategic precincts? Must show a govt issued picture ID and vote every year to stay on the books.

They claimed it was all the end fraud.
Soon they'll ban people who car pool.

[ShazzieB]

35. This is the first thing that went through my head when I read the tweet...

[gratuitous]

14. Sen. Paul doesn't see the point of holding elections

Someone (and guess who Sen. Paul thinks is "someone" - uh huh) should just declare the winners of each race, and that person is then installed in office. None of that messy so-called voting and counting of ballots, just a diktat issued at one minute past poll closing time, and our government is deemed installed.

What? Something wrong with that proposal?

[BumRushDaShow]

15. I was hoping this was something from The Onion or Borowitz

but alas...

[Faux pas]

16. He's

such a moran

[greenjar_01]

19. The right wing loves the word "harvesting" -- that's the word they're trained to use

when discussing any kind of absentee or non-on-site ballots: harvesting. For the right wing mind, this word, in the context of votes, is sinister. Of course, it just means following up to make sure people cast their votes, but harvesting, harvesting, harvesting!

[dchill]

28. Democrats are "harvesting" "freedoms."

[LaMouffette]

31. Oddly enough, they use "harvesting" with a negative connotation when describing Dems collecting

absentee ballots.

But they use the word as a pleasant euphemism for "killing" when it comes to deer hunting. They don't kill the deer. They "harvest" it. Interesting how they use the word to degrade and cast suspicion on one action (collecting ballots), then turn around and use it to sanitize and excuse another action (killing deer).

Full disclosure, my husband hunts deer for food and I eat the deer he kills (guess that makes me a scavenger). But we never says he "harvested" the deer. He killed it, and we ate it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

42. They also say "harvesting" to mean

They will talk about "harvesting natural resources" when they mean open pit coal mining destroying the land, clear cutting huge forests, and drilling for oil in marine habitats.

[LaMouffette]

43. Yup. Totally human-centric point of view that sees the earth and everything in it as belonging

to humans to exploit however they like.

[paleotn]

29. Rand (aka tribble head) and his ilk really are that dumb.

[LiberalFighter]

32. We need to steal more elections this way.

[ShazzieB]

34. Want to know something even crazier?

That tweet got a lot of comments setting Paul straight, but those are interspersed with comments from idiots who don't see anything wrong with what he said! :facepalm

Click the "read replies" link at the bottom of the tweet to see what I mean:

Link to tweet

[SleeplessinSoCal]

36. They hate Democracy. It's out in the open and blatant.

It's also why they love Bibi and Puty.

[Hassler]

37. Ayn Paul's neighbor was railroaded.

[SouthernDem4ever]

38. Georgia doesn't give a damn who are how people vote anyway

they will just fix the results now.

[niyad]

39. This was actually The Onion, yes?? PLEEEEASE tell me this was The Onon!

[Lunabell]

40. They don't want us to vote at all.

They only want wealthy land owners to be able to vote.

[Dukkha]

44. That totally reads like an Onion headline

Always lacking in self awareness

[DBoon]

45. Fascists hate free elections

The only elections they like are ones where there is one candidate on the ballot, and where if you abstain you get beaten by goons.