Decius wrote:
] When terror attacks occur a great deal of time
] passes when emotions are extremely high and there is
] widespread confusion.
]...
] No more then a certain amount of delay should
] be allowed, and only under certain circumstances.

[ How long is appropriate? 2 weeks? A month? Is a month enough time to calm people down? No matter how long it is, the candidates will have an absolute field day, pointing fingers and screaming at the top of their lungs, which will only keep the matter present in people's minds. It took months following 9/11 to reach a point where *anyone* was speaking rationally about it and being heard by the public.
I think that any attack will inevitably influence the election in a very signifigant way, even if it's delayed a month or more, so it seems pointless to bother with the delay. I could be in favor of per-district delays possibly, in areas where we have intelligence regarding a specific threat to public safety. Of course this leads to all kinds of problems with knowing the outcome of other states, etc... which is a problem i already have. I think exit polls should disappear, and no one should expect to know a fucking thing until at least 24 hours later, but that's probably unlikely to happen.
It's a difficult problem, certainly, but i really don't know that delaying will end up being a better solution to the electoral issues (though, again, i accept the notion that public safety needs to be considered).
What i'd like to hear the pres say is :
"Personal politics aside, the electoral process is one of the key foundations of our system of government. On election day, Americans should show the world that we will not be cowed into submission, but will exercise our freedom to choose the leadership of our nation. Each person, of their own free will, casting their vote for the candidate who will best represent them. The US government will do what it takes to ensure that the requirements of public safety are addressed while having a minimal impact on the electoral process."
It should be a matter of patriotism to vote your mind, but all too often these last 4 years it's been insinuated or outright stated that patriotism involves supporting Bush and the current administration. I have little faith that that's going to change over the next few months, but i'd sure like it if it did. -k]

RE: Officials discuss how to delay Election Day