There is a story breaking here in Wisconsin this afternoon. The Kerry campaign is scheduled to have a rally at the capitol square in Madison tomorrow, featuring a concert by the Foo Fighters and an appearance by Bruce Springsteen. The Kerry campaign also contacted the city clerk's office, requesting that they stay open late tomorrow so a march can be led from the rally to the office so Kerry supporters may vote absentee. The request was approved by the Democratic mayor of Madison. This raises two problems. A definite preference is being shown by the local government to Kerry supporters. The office will have late hours no other day besides tomorrow. This action is being carried out specifically for the Kerry campaign. The second problem is that this may consititute gifting in excess of $1 in exchange for votes. The concert by the Foo Fighter's could be conservatively estimated as having a value of $25. If the march was not being held to the polling place immediately after the rally, this would not be a problem, but given that the Kerry campaign is using this as a vote rally, the dynamics have changed. More coming.
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