presumably the same kind of government that vets the list of acceptable candidates in the first place. surely nobody sensible is trying to claim that these were free and fair elections or that Ahmadinejad has genuine democratic legitimacy - the important question is whether or not he has the support of 65% of the Iranian population (per the election results and that opinion poll), or more like 35% (per the Moussavi campaign), or some amount less than the reported election results but still about half (IMO a reasonable position based on the available evidence).
This is the important thing because it determines how one might behave to him - if the Moussavi campaign is right then Ahmadinejad is an embattled minority figure ripe for toppling and a more active policy of involvement from the US would surely make sense. But in fact, we don't know. As I say, it reminds me a hell of a lot of the Chavez recall referendum, where there was all sorts of evidence of tampering and fraud, but where nevertheless it turned out to be the case that HC did in fact have mass support. best dd -----Original Message----- From: "Doug Henwood" [[email protected]] What other government in the world projects final results from partial tallies as if it were a TV network? Doug_______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
