Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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Apparently MSNBC reported this earlier, but now there's a story saying Sen. Barbara Boxer is denying that she has reached a decision on whether to object to the results of the Electoral College.

From the Blue Lemur, a lefty anti-Bush site:

The San Francisco office of Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) denied claims that a final decision had been made on whether she would challenge the electoral college result on the floor of the Senate Thursday. Boxer’s Washington press office has not returned RAW STORY calls for comment over the last several days.

Asked to confirm or deny reports that Sen. Boxer had made a decision to challenge, a spokesman said, “The Senator has made no public statement on that, we are still taking down opinions and I can forward them to the senator.”

A receptionist at Boxer’s Washington office said the senator had “no public statement.”

MSNBC reporter Chip Reid reported Wednesday afternoon that Boxer was likely to challenge, but the network has not posted a story online. Rush Limbaugh also made a similar comment during his radio program Wednesday.

A source on Capitol Hill told RAW STORY that a challenge from Boxer was expected, but would not elaborate.

If Boxer did challenge, it would be the first time a senator has challenged the electoral tally since 1877.

Some suggest that it would be imprudent for Boxer to announce that she was planning a challenge in advance because it would allow others to attack the senator before the actual vote.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, recently announced that on January 6, he and several other members of the House will object to the counting of the Ohio electors.

Protesters convened Monday in the San Francisco office of Sen. Boxer to deliver petitions urging her to challenge Thursday’s congressional ratification of the electoral college tally, based on alleged voting improprieties.

I am also informed by a Republican source that John Kerry has stated he will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio electors.

For Boxer and any other Democrats to go forward with this move would be bad for the country... but great for Republicans.

It would be bad for the country because it would give Fidel Castro, Kim Jong-Il, and every other dictator and foe of democracy a convenient talking point to accuse America's democratic system of being illegitimate. (You do know that Castro’s favorite response when asked why Cuba doesn’t have elections is “you mean like Florida?,” right?) Conspiracy theorists and black-helicopter types would seize the objections as evidence that the election was ‘stolen’, and a bad and false idea would refuse to die.

It will be great for Republicans because I suspect few things can make the Democratic Party seem less relevant or serious to the American people than to charge that Bush’s entire 118,775 vote margin is the result of a vast conspiracy.

UPDATE: Word on the Hill is Boxer is very iffy on this, and the House Dems may not have a Senate counterpart to raise an objection.

UPDATE: In the Corner Kathryn has been talking to Hillers about this over the last day (about 24 hours now) — giving Frist a hard time for leaving town, and giving Kerry grief for not being more like...Al Gore. Go over and scroll down if you haven't.

[Posted 01/05 05:37 PM]