June 15, 2009

Why Steal the Election?

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Here’s a quick question I haven’t really seen anyone address regarding the Iranian election.  Assuming that the conventional wisdom is correct and it was stolen, why did they do it?  If Ahmadinejad stole it on his own, that’s easily explainable as a pure coup/power play.  But if the clerical regime went along — which seems likely — what was it they were afraid of?  Mousavi was hardly the first reformist to run for president, after all, and he wouldn’t have been the first to win.  What, precisely, was the threat that Mousavi presented to them?

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That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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