I have been a registered Republican for twenty years and voted for McCain in the primary; however, I could not, in good conscience, bring myself to vote for Ms. Palin in the general election. If she were the best person we could proffer for the ticket, we deserved to lose.

As a party, we have gone from presenting one of the most qualified men to ever sit in the White House with George H. W. Bush, to his nearly incompetent son, to a woman who has no business at all in national politics.

We need to wake up before 2012 and rescue our party from extremists!

Dear Matt,

I don't "think" I'm an American, I "know" I'm an American. I can't say the same for Barach Hussein Obama. In fact, I don't think Obama is American at all.

By virtue of the fact that he has employed a battalion of attorneys to petition the courts to rescind any order requiring him to produce a valid VAULT copy of his birth certificate proving he is a "natural born citizen thus, according to our Constitution, legally eligible to assume the presidency, by virtue of the fact that he clearly favors a Marxist/Socialist form or government which is the antithesis of our American beliefs (rugged individuality, INDIVIDUAL freedoms, capitalist economy)—remember, Socialism is Communism lite, by virtue of the fact that he supported and campaigned for Kenyan radical Islamic butcher, Odinga under the slogan "agent of change," Obama is NOT as good an American as I am. And until he proves to the American people and obeys the requirements (law) set forth by our Founding Fathers in the Constitution, that he is a natural born citizen of the United States of America, he will be nothing but a liar, a usurper, a fraud and an enemy of MY country.

There are no facts to support any fraud. This article is just plain poor journalism. The original unofficial vote totals are phoned in only 45 minutes after the tally. The local officials are tired and mistakes happen. Statewide the unofficial tally is often off by thousands of votes. To take statistics from one backwater district in northern Minnesota as evidence is just plain laughable. You slam Mark Ritchie for being endorsed by ACORN? This is McCarthyism. Shame on you.

The article's premise on "final intent" is just plain wrong. The "intent" on the first official count is determined by machine. Only during a recount are the ballots reviewed by human eyes for intent. Disputed ballots from the recount are set aside for the canvassing board. Since the machines are very reliable and the paper ballots are easy to understand less than 1 in a thousand ballots is ever disputable. Local officials do not have a say in disputed ballots. The statewide canvassing board has final say on any disputed ballots. This 5 member board is made up of Ritchie and 4 well respected judges; including 2 MN State Supreme court justices appointed by our Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty.

We've been through many recounts in Minnesota before. Minnesotans know their votes are counted fairly. In fact Minnesotans turn out in record numbers for every election. This is hardly the behavior of an electorate that feels cheated.

Pay attention to the Minnesota process and learn. We do it right. But please excuse us for some of the idiots we elect.