Roberts and the Activist Solicitor General
Roberts and the Activist Solicitor General
The Bush administration has been reluctant to release John Roberts’ work from his time as deputy solicitor general. John Roberts’ role in redefining the position of the solicitor general — which actually dates back to his work in the Reagan administration — may be why.
Since 1870, when Congress passed legislation officially creating the solicitor general’s position, it has been widely accepted that the solicitor general has but one client: the U.S. government. Historically, the office has always been respected for its nonpartisanship: “For example, no modern presidents were more partisan — or more politically opposite — than Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Yet former Harvard Law School Dean Erwin Griswold served as solicitor general for both these presidents.”
“It was not until the Reagan presidency that the office was first truly politicized.” Under President Reagan, solicitor general Charles Fried “sought to advance conservative political efforts by urging the Supreme Court to outlaw affirmative action and overturn Roe v. Wade.” In his “most memorable case” — Bob Jones University v. United States — Fried “argued that schools that discriminate against blacks should still be accorded tax breaks.” This position has been described as “a case that most all his predecessors (at least since the Civil War) and successors would have resigned before presenting to the court.” A former Supreme Court justice has described Fried’s work as “hardly the mark of a reasoned approach to the law. It’s ideology, pure and simple. It’s an assault on settled practices.”
But Fried was far from the mastermind behind these efforts. The person responsible for breaking decades of precedent to use the solicitor general’s office to promote conservative causes was then-Attorney General Edwin Meese.
And who served as assistant attorney general in the first administration to politicize the office of the solicitor general? John Roberts Jr.
Is this the reason why the Bush administration wants to keep Roberts’ own work as solicitor general under wraps?
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Mipe – if this is the best you got, I would say Roberts gets confirmed – splitting your party, but setting the senate up for a more conservative appointment come fall.
Janice Rogers Brown or someone in her mold will be tapped to take the Chief’s slot. What will you people do when Darth Bader steps down? lol!!!
July 26th, 2005 at 5:02 pmNo, the real reason is that Karl Rove has discovered a new, unlimited source of renewable energy: scandal power. As long as Rove keeps manipulating the toady news media and the Keystone Democrats to reveal drips and drops of juicy scandal fodder, the Bush administration can secretly harness the combined scandal power of lefty nitwits like Mipe. This means, by the way, that there really is no energy crisis, and that all the money from increased gas prices goes directly into George Bush’s secret Swiss bank account. Heh-heh-heh….
July 26th, 2005 at 5:07 pmWell really, given the fact that the trolls here, like you annd VRWC, are scraping the bottom of the GOP barrel, like the old men and kids pressed into service to defend Berlin in the final days when Hitler hid out in the bunker, we are going slow and easy on you so you don’t get “Left Behind”.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:13 pm#3 – shut up. What do you know about fighting a war? Shouldn’t you be complaining that Germany never invaded us? Don’t invoke WWII when you’ve done nothing, but trash the current war effort.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:16 pmYou’re missing the point. The more you dither, the stronger we get. Keep up the good work!
July 26th, 2005 at 5:17 pmTrolls apparently can’t read. Or they refuse to do so. We see that in almost every post. Poor reasoning, undefined logic. A talking point (taken from someplace else) does not an argument make.
If there is nothing to hide, show us the work he did. What is so difficult about that? Since his judicial writings are few, we want to see his other professional work. If you disagree, please make a concise and well laid out argument to that effect.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:24 pmKindness – it’s unprecedented and you know it!! GOD, you people are such scum. Is there any low you won’t stoop to win (oh- I mean in your case, LOSE) poltically?
Please stop it with this nonsense. YOU LOST THE ELECTION and will lose more if you slime this process. Unprecedented requests for docs you have no right to is wrong.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:27 pmSince there is nothing to hide, why waste valuable time on meaningless documents? Doesn’t the Senate have more important things to do, like renewing the Patriot Act and passing the ANWR legislation?
July 26th, 2005 at 5:29 pmwhat proof do you have besides your hate filled rant that it is unprecedented NeD?
July 26th, 2005 at 5:32 pmI see the trolls like to be the first to post under a new thread. It’s a little game they play. I’m unsure, though, if they are trying to merely insult us or if they ACTUALLY think that their talking points will somehow, as they seem to work so effortlessly for the sheeple, affect our views; sink in, as it were. Like Bushie likes to say, “sometimes you have to say things over and over before people get it.”
They are either just plain mean or just plain dumb. Either way, plain.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:33 pmDid the GOP go on a witch hunt after Breyer and Ginsburg? NO. Kranzy – please accept that you lost. You’re pathetic, at BEST.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:33 pmTreason at the Top: Can America Handle the Truth?
These last 5 years I have struggled to define -both for myself and in my ability to relate it to others- the many ways in which we are at a crossroads. This struggle has often been painful as my perspective
July 26th, 2005 at 5:34 pmyou didn’t answer the question NeD please just provide a link that it is unprecedented.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:35 pmP & P – I just like to taunt liberals. You have nothing, yet think you have everything.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:37 pmDear POTP: Spare us your wussy leftwing introspection. We don’t care!
July 26th, 2005 at 5:40 pmNeD, can you possibly post anything at all without the word LOSE, LOSER or LOST in it? Is that all you can possibly say? I just can’t believe someone would come here to an intelligent, thinking crowd and say the same thing ad nauseam and not be embarrassed after reading his/her posts.
Really, though, look back and read over what you post, it is really very juvenile and is not making your case (whatever that may be). You are starting to seem a skosh demented.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:40 pm#14 – the burden of proof is on YOU! You want the docs, not me. No nominee has ever had to turn over the SG’s docs. FACT. If you’re so sure I’m wrong, look it up and prove me wrong. I don’t have to – I beleive that, I want Roberts confirmed and I will probably get what I want.
Even if I did prove you wrong, you’d never admit. Case in point, your pathetic Supreme Court talking point over who appointed the liberal judges.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:40 pmDilEnema,
Unprecedented or not, the people of America deserve to know what his record is.
Don’t tell me Repubs wouldn’t do it, judging by the way you cry about Judge Ruthie.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:41 pmNeD likes to taunt people – typical repub behavior.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:42 pm#19 – I’ll clue you in. He’s probably a hard right conservative. So what?
July 26th, 2005 at 5:43 pmP & P – you seem to play along every time.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:43 pm#23 – that landing was after 8 years of Democrats in the WH. That President was too busy get bjs and playing wag the dog with Sadam to take terrorism seriously. Suck on that one, loser@!
July 26th, 2005 at 5:46 pmNeed more than that.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:47 pmHell, most job interviews want more than that, Dil.
Pretty important job he’s got there ahead of him, right?
ned go away. You and your ilk were exactly the idiot fringe that it does no good to try to talk to because you don’t or won’t answer simple discussions but instead try to browbeat others.
Dumbya might have won in 04 but you’re a loser from any point in time. Your mother is not proud of you. I’ll bet your a Mets fan, not a Yankee’s fan.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:48 pmNo, not every time. I, myself am not taunted. I think the fact that there are a couple you your types here just proves our point to each other and, probably, many that are here just to “look around” and might not really hold such a firm stance as we do.
I enjoy your being here so when those “on the fencers” take a gander at what they could signing up for, we progressives start to appear much more appealing and accepting. I invite you and appreciate you.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:48 pmSkid – I would say give you all the info you want, but the SG’s office is off limits. Just ask any living SG, Dem or GOP and they all agree.
What don’t you have that the docs will give you?
July 26th, 2005 at 5:50 pmTell you what. You start talking to us & we’ll talk back. You keep it up, and we are going to flood the website managers mailbox with so many requests asking to rid us of trolls like you, that you will be gone. It’s your choice.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:51 pmKindness – I don’t like baseball.
AND get off my mom – I just got off your’s!
July 26th, 2005 at 5:51 pmGee, a liberal who wants to stifle dissent. Not surprising.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:52 pmKranzy – I am waiting. The burden of proof is on you.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:52 pmWhat’s off-limits, Dil? Undercover CIA? Lying to grand jury? Chose one, exclude the other. Funny.
The documents and what they contain, of course.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:53 pmBush is a lame duck. He should be jumpin through hoops providing docs.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:57 pmWow. That “mom” joke is soo old.
July 26th, 2005 at 5:58 pmHow old?
As old as the skidmarks in the underwear that I will place on DilEnema’s head because it is not torture.
Can president pardon themeselves?
July 26th, 2005 at 5:58 pmBrian – lol. Any President who has 55 senators at a time when the Supreme Court is a geriatric ward is NOT a lame duck.
Skid – you can throw feces on me too. But, someone in here better go crying to the MSM and sympathize with the enemy in my NAME!
July 26th, 2005 at 6:00 pmYou might want to correct your post (or just remove it and do everyone a favor): Roberts never held the job of assistant attorney general in the Reagan Administration, or in any other administration for that matter.
July 26th, 2005 at 6:00 pmCall the ACLU is all I can tell you.
July 26th, 2005 at 6:02 pmHe has 55 only when it comes to SC. If you don’t believe he’s lame duck you are worse off than you think.
July 26th, 2005 at 6:07 pmHe has the collective support of the GOP. But they shake in their shoe with the idea that there could potentially be a gov’t crisis.
You better hope, NED, that Fitz aims low with the indictments out of respect for the image of the USA. (What’s left of it).
July 26th, 2005 at 6:09 pm#3 – shut up. What do you know about fighting a war? Shouldn’t you be complaining that Germany never invaded us? Don’t invoke WWII when you’ve done nothing, but trash the current war effort.
At least I don’t sit on my ass hunting and pecking on the keyboard to joust with words. I use a joystick and play my nintendo! I’ve killed 200,000 plus jihadis! All headshots!
July 26th, 2005 at 6:36 pmDid the GOP go on a witch hunt after Breyer and Ginsburg? NO. Kranzy – please accept that you lost. You’re pathetic, at BEST.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma  July 26, 2005 @ 5:33 pm
Ya snooze ya lose.
July 26th, 2005 at 6:39 pmHey NeD,
You are the biggest LOSER in history, mate. Oh, boo-hoo, Democrats seeking papers is an unprecedented act, papers that will show Roberts’ true colors because he’s seeking a lifetime appointment that will have consequences for this nation far longer than any president’s term. What a flaming hypocrite you are. How many precedents has the Bush administration set? A preemptive war based on false documents? How about using the Supreme Court to determine the outcome of an election, this before every single vote in Florida was recounted? How about Bush flying to D.C. to legislate in the case of a SINGLE person, the brain-dead Terry Schiavo? How about Dick Cheney telling Leahy to go f**k himself on the Senate floor? How about Karl Rove undermining our national security in a time of war to smear a whistleblower?
What a piece of nothing you are. God, it astounds me that you have enough brain power to breathe and type at the same time.
In the scheme of things, LOSER, the precedents set by your neocon pals, including impeaching a president for an extramarital affair, are fathoms higher in consequence than Democrats demanding to know the full truth about a Supreme Court nominee. And again, I would ask, what the hell are you always so afraid of the world finding out? Maybe it’s that you and your greedy, treasonous ilk have been ripping off the taxpayer and undermining our security far more than even we imagine.
Man, if the GOP is paying you to spew this tripe they’re getting a raw deal. You suck at it. Oh, I’m still waiting to see your enlistment papers for Iraq, chickenhawk. Squawk.
July 26th, 2005 at 6:55 pmShouldn’t you be complaining that Germany never invaded us?
Iraq did not attack us. Germany declared war on us. When we entered WWII, we intervened in an ongoing genocide. Saddam’s genocide petered out when Reagan left office.
that landing was after 8 years of Democrats in the WH. That President was too busy get bjs and playing wag the dog with Sadam to take terrorism seriously.
I suggest you read your history. Reagan armed al Qaeda. Clinton fought them. Clinton put boots on the ground in Afghanistan, before 9/11. Reagan distributed Stinger missiles and ATGMs to our enemies, and said they were the moral equivalent of our founding fathers. Anyone who opposed arming al Qaeda were just commie symp liberals. And Bush simply ignored them, because he defined himself as being against everything Clinton was doing, and that included fighting terrorism.
You need more practice taunting. You’re not very good at it.
Saying “We won you lost” doesn’t really work, because you’re just reminding us that we are in no way responsible for the horrible mess you got us all in.
July 26th, 2005 at 7:03 pm“that landing was after 8 years of Democrats in the WH. That President was too busy get bjs and playing wag the dog with Sadam to take terrorism seriously. Suck on that one, loser@!”
Wow, NED, you’re clinically insane.
You complain about a democratic president that brought about the second largest economic expansion in history, and defend the republican president who presided over the second largest depression in history.
You complain about a democratic president who’s team caught the millenium bomber before he could strike – yet you defend the republican president who was so stupid in concentrating on the ‘drug war’, that he ignored memos titled ‘Al Queda plans to hijack planes and run them into buildings’ allowing 9/11 to happen.
You complain about Clinton doing nothing against saddam – yet the REPUBLICAN weapons inspectors admitted on record that the actions of Clinton to ‘contain’ Saddam had in fact worked, while Bush has successfully INCREASED TERRORISM BY 3X in 2004 over 2003 because of Iraq.
You complain about Clinton not doing anything about Saddam, while it was Cheney and Rumsfeld who sold saddam the WMDs under Reagan!
You’re a schizophrenic lunatic!
July 26th, 2005 at 7:04 pmCynical Ex-Hippie,
Great retort. Don’t forget that Reagan and BushI TRAINED AND FUNDED ALQUEDA to fight Russia. Frankly the reason we’re in this mess is because idiots like NED keep voting for these incompetent Republican morons who keep making things worse internationally every time they get into office.
Ford (Cheney) sold Plutonium Nuclear Reactors to Iran.
Reagan (Cheney/Rumsfeld) sold WMDs to Iraq.
Reagan/BushI sold stinger missles and trained AlQueda.
The Republican war machine has done so many acts of treason against the security of american that they don’t deserve to exist as a political party!
July 26th, 2005 at 7:08 pmRepublicans reward treason within their own ranks, and punish patriotism among their opponents. That much is clear.
July 26th, 2005 at 7:11 pmcynical ex-hippie,
How true. That’s why Colin Powell rose in the ranks. His role in covering up the Mai Lai massacre in Vietname is why he was ‘trusted’ to be part of this traiterous cabal… Truth is the enemy of the CONservative, because only through lies can they manipulate people into acting against their own self interests…
July 26th, 2005 at 7:17 pmBush increased the national debt by $2 trillion since he took office. 59 million people voted for him in 2004. That comes out to $33,000 each that these guys owe the country, plus interest.
July 26th, 2005 at 7:19 pmIn addition to what you smart people have been saying to enlighten NeD, a hopeless endeavor since he’s obviously an unthinking automaton, does anyone recall the formidable obstacles Republicans threw at Clinto whenever he tried to use the military? The neocons were outraged when Clinton sent Wesley Clark to deal with Bosnia in a venture that produced not a single American death and actually started the process of healing in that region.
“Incompetents” is too soft an adjective for Bush and his cronies. We need a new word.
I suggest “Nincompetents.”
July 26th, 2005 at 7:19 pmBoy, I could use the $33,000 right now… let’s sue the basterds, that’s the language they $peak!
July 26th, 2005 at 7:34 pmLooks as though NeD has successfully highjacked most of today’s thoughtful discussion — not just this post but others on TP as well. He’s got the rightwing schtick down. Create lots of distraction to keep the discussion off the issues.
July 26th, 2005 at 7:39 pmNeD hasn’t succeeded in anything beyond proving that he’s incapable of cogent thought, discourse and intellectual reflection. As a result of his trolling, a lot of smart posts with useful links have appeared. Anyway, not a single Democrat, liberal or progressive chatting here is even remotely affected or influenced by NeD’s devolved invectives. All they do is serve to confirm the civil maturity of our ideas over the juvenile bullying of neocons and their snotty, pestilent, arrogant, self-serving and greedy minions.
NeD gives a great example of how fascist regimes can prosper by appealing to hate-filled idiots who never think for themselves.
July 26th, 2005 at 8:27 pmI agree with Clandy. It is very useful to stay on message and keep the finger firnly pointed at the mendacity of this neo-fascist cabal.
For grins though, I would like us to have a collection for a ‘join-up’ bonus for Ned so that when this chickenhawk gets off the fence and joins up, we can help him on his way.
July 26th, 2005 at 8:50 pmSince I send out many press releases I look at many newspapers across the country. I found an article in a very small town paper about the lies of Bush. I was so proud to read an article from a rural area that condemns the administration. See people, real Americans have woken up!
votetoimpeach.org
July 26th, 2005 at 9:19 pmThey will all be in prison in five years. All of them. They aren’t as good as I was.
July 26th, 2005 at 10:04 pmBarry,
Then re-post information relative to the thread. Don’t just complain about what’s going wrong by adding to the same distractive discourse – discuss the original posting and bring it back on thread.
The fact is that the Solicitor’s General has become the progandists general – and NED is just one of the foot soldiers fighting the good ‘corrupt’ fight out of stupid blind duty. He can’t help being programmed into an idiot apparatus – it’s his lot in life. It’s clear he has neither the will nor the intellect to break his programming…
July 26th, 2005 at 10:34 pmI agree that NeD doesn’t have the skill set to have a conversation that goes beyond the first level. Clearly, most right wingers generally don’t. That’s why having a discussion with NeD (them) is pointless because you go around in circles. My point, though, is to disregard NeD. Otherwise, he just drags moderates and liberals into name calling, too. Save your arguments for the occasional conservative who knows how to debate.
July 26th, 2005 at 10:54 pmLet me help:
July 26th, 2005 at 10:58 pmBarry Bonds*
Sammy Sosa*
Mark McGuire*
LBJ*
John Roberts*
Here, I’ll test you.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:09 pmLOL You libs are just angry .I see the pure anger in everything you say as you are all traitors to America. You just can’t get over 2000 and 2004 . We are in power and we are here to stay . Liberalism is an illness and it is dying.Keep going after Karl Rove it is useless and laughable, LOL , next week it will be someone else.Pipe dreams.LOL
And how about Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton,Hilary,Whitewater,bj’s, Pres. Johnson,John Kennedy,Germany,Japan ,WW11,2001,2004,Gore, that yeller Dean,Hilary,Clinton,Bill,bj,s,Ted,Jack,John,Bill,, bj,Rather,Gore Bj’s…so anything we do is OK.LOL
There is a whole class of people who are happy with whomever becomes president. The rationale being “I make enough money that I can handle a Democrat, because I’m socially liberal. Likewise, I wouldn’t mind a fiscal conservative because I won’t turn down the extra money”
Now while I don’t agree with the math on these sentiments I do know that many of my friends as well as myself used to think this way. It’s the “half full” voter.
We’re not this way anymore. And it does not have a damn thing to do with being a liberal. I supported the war 100%. And even if people still support the war in some existential, abstract patriotic way, there is no denying that most people now feel this war was bogus. And the folks who run the Bush Gov’t are not here to stay.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:47 pmSorry NeD had to go live my life. Anyway the burden of proof is not on me. you are the one saying the it is unprecedented to ask for the documents, not I. That places the burden of proof on you.
think that was in debate 101.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:52 pm“Save your arguments for the occasional conservative who knows how to debate.”
That’s an oxymoron. CONservatives don’t ‘debate’ they ‘bait’ like Fake did. They can’t focus on facts and failures because their party always pops up.
Look at this particular thread. Republicans claimed that they were coming to power based on ‘values’ and leadership, yet they have been the most secretive and lying administration in history. Folks like ‘fake’ talk about mental illness because they recognize that their party and its leadership is crazy – yet instead of accepting this reality they must project it on others to save any shred of the faux reality they live in.
I mean look at the treason and ineptitude this administration has done in the last 5 years.
1) They ignored the 9/11 warnings and allow the attacks to hit us from their ineptitude.
2) They get hit by AlQueda, who was trained by their own leadership to fight Russia under BushI
3) They fail to finish the job in Afghanistan
4) They omit the fact that THEY (CONservatives) supplied the WMDs to Iraq under Reagan.
5) They omit the fact that they illegally began bombing Iraq before Congressional approval.
6) They lie about the reasons and evidence for war in Iraq.
7) They smear a covert CIA agent because their lies were exposed.
8) ….
Unfortunately I’ll be here all night if I list ALL of the acts of barbarism, lies, deceipt, treachery and treason this administration has committed against the american people. Fake is the same sleaze that supported Fascist realms during the 1930s when they were committing crimes against humanity. I’m always disturbed at how insane CONservatives consistently are…
July 27th, 2005 at 12:15 amYou have to understand that name calling is what they do. Look what they did to Kerry in 2004 and one of their own, McCain in 2000. It’s a game to them. You call them what they are, scumbags, because they are scumbags, and the accuse you of ad hominem attacks. You would be as delusional as they are if you called them gentlemen, or even fellow Americans. They are neither. They are trash.
July 27th, 2005 at 12:38 amThanks, Ryan, thats good stuff. Can i call you one of our best Troll Killers? It gets boring after awhile, but there IS a morbid fascination with watching greasy trolls like NeD wallow around in incoherency. It DOES help define the persona of the Freeper for all to see, doesn’t it? Could it be one of those paid by the RNC, perhaps?
July 27th, 2005 at 8:25 amBasic question about the original post: Who’s being quoted?
July 27th, 2005 at 8:29 amWhen Neddy calls us losers, we should just remind him that the Republicans only “won” ‘04 through crooked voting machines and many, many other forms of cheating.
July 27th, 2005 at 9:23 amGreat story at the WaPo:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/26/AR2005072602070.html
Documents Show Roberts Influence In Reagan Era
By R. Jeffrey Smith, Jo Becker and Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Page A01
Roberts is a real S.O.B.
July 27th, 2005 at 9:31 amI wouldn’t want this blog to turn into a redstate.org type place where alternative thought gets you booted. But I do wish they would sweep out the trolls.
July 27th, 2005 at 10:16 amI do not agree that the WH should withhold Roberts’ tax forms. There, I went moonbat for a second.
I would argue that his taxes better be crystal clean if he wants a seat on that Court. Of course, we all know how I feel about the other phony doc debate.
July 27th, 2005 at 10:43 am2) They get hit by AlQueda, who was trained by their own leadership to fight Russia under BushI
I think that actually began under Reagan, after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. It did continue under Bush I, but you are still correct.
July 27th, 2005 at 12:26 pmGary,
Thanks for pointing that out. When the same techniques were used to evaluate Ohio that proved Ukraine was a ’stolen’ election – guess what, it said Ohio was stolen!
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/121604Z.shtml
It’s interesting how these techniques are ‘trusted’ enough to form a diplomatic effort to overturn another election republicans disagree with – but when it’s their own who’s crooked, they choose to ignore and deceive the world. Hypocrisy thy name is CONservatism.
July 27th, 2005 at 12:38 pmAn exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks who the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks who the voter actually voted for. Pollsters – usually private companies working for newspapers or broadcasters – conduct exit polls to gain an early indication as to how an election has turned out, as the actual result may take hours to count (as in UK General Elections).
Exit polls have historically and throughout the world been used as “parallel vote tabulation”, as a check against and rough indicator of the degree of fraud in an election. Some examples of this include the Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004, the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004, and the 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy.
The word “indication” is key as, like all opinion polls, exit polls do by nature include a margin of error. A famous example of exit poll error occurred in the 1992 UK General Election, when two exit polls predicted a hung Parliament. In the event, the Conservative Party Government under John Major held their position with a reduced majority.
In contrast, very few people in Britain could not have predicted Tony Blair’s Labour victory in 1997; in that event only the scale of the victory remained unpredictable.
Widespread criticism of exit polling has occurred in cases, especially in the United States of America, where exit-poll results have appeared and/or have provided a basis for projecting winners before all real polls have closed, thereby possibly influencing election results. Leaks of exit poll figures for the 2004 presidential election, mainly via the Internet, appeared to indicate a victory for John Kerry. The discrepancies between the exit poll data and the vote count that where outside of the margin of error, coupled with irregularities in the election which seem to explain the discrepancies and what many perceive as evasive tactics by the polling companies, have shed doubt on the legitimacy of that election among political activists and government officials. (See 2004_U.S._presidential_election_controversy, exit polls for more detail.)
Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, punish the publication of exit poll figures before the polling stations have closed as a criminal offence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_polling
July 28th, 2005 at 11:19 am