The First Small NH Berg

to vote in the primary - it takes place by written ballot just after midnight - went for Wes Clark. I would like to see Clark get enough momentum (that Joe-mentum thing of Lieberman's left me a bit cold) to stay in the race past NH, his first showing.

But I'd also like to see Dean come in ahead of the pack. What he got cracked for last week was spun out of control, especially if you look at amateur video taken during the so-called "I have a scream" speech where it's obvious that Dean is reacting to a boisterous crowd. Editing by "professional" news services, however, cropped all of that out so we just heard Dean sounding a bit wild.

We in Vermont are at least discussing allowing NO electronic balloting in November. In the past, all of it has been done by the so-called Australian (paper) ballot and frankly, that's how I would like it to continue. The electronic voting thing was pushed through by Bush and, considering how the 2000 election was handled, smacks of another attempt to control results considering Diebold's behavior (no paper trail while the head of Diebold is an active campaigner on Mr. Bush's behalf).

Does that mean I think real corruption is taking place? I'm honestly not sure. But with something as important as an election, I don't want room for doubt. It's that simple.