Furious Democrats Blast Stein's Recount Effort As Nothing But A "Scam"

by Tyler Durden

Nov 28, 2016 9:50 PM

 

With the passing of each new day, it's growing more and more difficult to find anyone that is actually supportive of Jill Stein's recount efforts (aka fundraising scam).  The Obama administration has already weighed in saying that the election results "accurately reflected the will of the American people" while Clinton's campaign attorney even confirmed they had not "uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology."

Now, even prominent democratic strategists are turning on Stein as Joe Trippi described her efforts as a "waste of time and money." Worse, in an accusation that may have more substantial consequences,  some Democrats have gone so far as to echo Trump’s charge that re-tallying votes from the presidential race is just a “scam” being advanced by Stein, who has raised more than $6 million to fund potential recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, three states critical to the Republican nominee’s win.

“It’s a waste of time and money. It is not going to change anything,” said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, who served as campaign manager for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign.

“I think it probably was the Stein people looking for a way to stay relevant, raise some money and take the stink off of them. Instead of everybody screaming, ‘You made Trump happen,’ she is counting the votes to change that whole narrative.”

Moreover, democrat strategist Robert Shrum confirmed that the "Clinton people would have preferred this not to happen" while adding that there is "no chance" that the recounts will change the election's outcome.

Aides to former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have sought a middle ground on Stein’s push. The remaining Clinton campaign team will “participate” in the effort but is not actively supporting it.

In a Medium post on Saturday, Clinton lawyer Marc Elias wrote, “Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves.”


The Clinton team’s involvement will likely be limited to having lawyers or other experts at recount sites to watch over the proceedings.

“My sense is that the Clinton people would have preferred this not to happen and are going to be involved only in a monitoring capacity,” said Robert Shrum, a Democratic strategist and a veteran of several presidential campaigns, including that of 2004 nominee John Kerry.

Shrum added that he believed “people are way over-excited about the thing.” There is, he added, “no chance” that it will change the election’s outcome.

Meanwhile, the practical and logistical hurdles to success are starting to mount for Stein.  In order to get a state-wide recount in Pennsylvania, Stein needed affidavits from three residents in each of Pennsylvania's 9,000 precincts to be filed by 5pm EST...something she apparently just thought about earlier today.

Moreover, this afternoon the state of Wisconsin released their official "Presidential Election Recount Cost Estimate" which came in at $3.5mm, or a mere 3x more that the $1.1mm that Stein had originally estimated and more than half of the $6.4mm she's raised so far.

So, while you may be "With Her", dear Jill, pretty much no one is with you.  Though we're sure you enjoyed extending your 15 minutes of fame and profiting from your fundraising scam, it's now long past time for you to fade back into irrelevance and exit the national spotlight for good.




Finally, perhaps PJW summarizes the Jill Stein recount farce the best: