Hillary vows to fight on

(A news headline from the future)

Chappaquiddick, NY – November 5, 2008
Even as the last votes of the 2008 presidential election are being counted, Hillary Clinton has stated defiantly that it is not over yet. “There are hundreds of thousands of Americans – maybe even millions – who have been disenfranchised by the way this was done,” she stated. “I know that when all the votes have been counted, including those who were forcibly prevented from voting for their preferred candidate – and I believe I was that candidate – I will be able to take my rightful place as the next president of the United States.”

Legal challenges have already been filed preventing the certification of official vote counts in Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and Iowa. In addition, claims of widespread election fraud in Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri, California, Minnesota and New Mexico have thrown the status of the apparent winner of those races into question. If the charges are substantiated, new elections may be required to be held in those states, and since the Clinton challenge includes a provision that only new voters registered by ACORN and La Raza may be included in the totals, it is possible that all prior votes may be thrown out.

It may take several months to resolve all the legal issues. In the meantime, it has been suggested that the most recent former president shall resume the office of the presidency for a period of time not to exceed two years, under the provisions of the twentieth amendment. Five justices of the Supreme Court (Kennedy, Souter, Stevens, Breyer and Ginsberg) have already indicated they may be favorably disposed to that solution. Former president Bill Clinton has indicated he would be willing to serve for a limited time and has pledged that he will be even-handed in helping to settle all disputes relating to the selection of his successor.

Although she faces an uphill fight to gain the presidency, if all the court cases and subsequent revotes should be resolved in her favor, the electoral votes from those states added to those she and her running mate, Senator Harry Reid, won as write-in candidates in New York, Nevada and the District of Columbia will be sufficient to make her the first woman president.

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties respectively have issued statements that each feels he is the lawfully elected president.