Apropos of the 2004 election–

No ‘do-overs’? Well, no, but how about court cases? The Department of Justice?

Just got a somewhat awkwardly timed appeal for money, sent out over the signature of Sen. John Kerry:

“Here’s a lesson seared into all of us: in elections, there are no do-overs.

We only get one shot to keep the Tea Party from taking over the White House.

We only get one shot to send progressive leaders to Washington. We only get one shot to do our job in 2011 so the DSCC can do its job in 2012.

And 2011 will be over in a matter of hours.

The stakes are huge and there’s no room for error or apathy: Ten Senate races are toss-ups. Our majority is a thin four seats. The DSCC is $185,000 short of its year-end goal. And this could be your last chance to do something about it.

Any dollar we don’t raise in 2011 is a dollar we can’t use in 2012. So please click here to contribute $5, $10 or more today!“

As said, the timing is somewhat off. Even aside from its being a plea for money–shortly after news reports on the wide and widening income gap between members of Congress and other Americans–this looks pretty limp.

‘No do-overs’ is the last refuge of the scoundrel, in political elections.

Regarding election fraud–including all the stale tactics of vote suppression that keep being used and re-used–the Democrats need to start looking alive. All of the Blue Dogs who went down to defeat in 2010 had either passively or actively opposed any effort to protect the integrity of the vote.

Wiser Dems would introduce legislation to protect the integrity of the vote, they would clarify to the public how they did it, and they would carry the narrative of local opposition into opponents’ districts back home.