Schumer on protests

Schumer: Democrats shouldn't protest Bush win. I've said for sometime now that Bush won legitimately and that we should require electronic ballots that leave a paper trail.

Sen. Charles Schumer, fresh in a new leadership role among Democrats, found himself at odds with some of them Thursday, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, over a ceremonial counting of President Bush's re-election victory.

Schumer, D-N.Y., was tapped late last year to head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and began the day touting the DSCC's lack of debt heading into the 2006 elections.[...]

Others in the party believe the objections may anger voters and make Democrats look like sore losers.

"My view is that you don't hold up the election unless there is concrete real evidence of fraud. I haven't seen that," Schumer said Thursday.[...]

After the debate, the Senate voted 74-1 to uphold the election results, with Boxer the lone dissent. The House followed suit, 267-31.

"Chuck certainly thinks that the problems our nation has in voting are worth two hours of the Senate's attention, but he doesn't believe we should stop the certification of the election for that purpose, and every senator except Senator Boxer agreed with him," said Schumer spokesman Stu Loeser.

I most likely would have abstained had I been in the Senate to vote.