Dan Frisa
Thursday, Nov. 9, 2000

If there was ever any doubt about a left-wing conspiracy in the mainstream media, election night convincingly proved it’s for real.

When the television networks, both broadcast and cable, projected Junior Gore the winner in Florida beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, they did so even before all of the Florida polls had closed! (The panhandle in the state’s northwest corner, a Republican stronghold, is located in the Central time zone where the polls are open until 8 p.m. Eastern.)

By so doing, the broadcasters demonstrated their willingness to do anything to manipulate the election results in favor of Gore, which then impacted voting behavior throughout the country where ballots were still being cast.

For example, in California – as well as other Pacific time zone states – it was only 4:30 in the afternoon when Florida was placed in the Gore column. Polls were open for another three and a half hours, which is the time of the day when most people cast their votes. The same was true in the Central and Mountain time zones.

But wasn't it V.N.S., the Voter News Service, that was responsible for projecting winners based on exit polling they conducted throughout the day in key election precincts?

Nope. That’s what the media wants us to think.

Guess who created and funds V.N.S.?

The television networks, that’s who!

V.N.S is a consortium that the broadcasters and the Associated Press fund so they can make projections on election night. It is literally a creature of the mainstream media.

So here we have a situation, yet again, where the mainstream media – the gatekeepers through whose filters ‘the news’ must pass – pays for another form of polling and then reports those results, with feigned objectivity, as actual news.

Too many people still innocently rely on the networks as their major source for news each day and are, therefore, captive and susceptible to the spin placed on the stories they view on television. In short, they can’t help but believe what they see and then be accordingly influenced in the formation of their opinions and in the resultant actions they take.

What’s even worse, not only does the media use such ‘news’ to affect votes on Election Day, but it also uses polling – which they also pay for – to influence voter opinion, by presenting their own manufactured-news throughout the whole campaign!

These media polls are convenient tools to help shape public perceptions of the candidates, and it's no secret which ones are invariably favored: the Democrats! We've all too often seen these pollsters tailor their numbers to please their left-wing media cash cows.

So they get us coming and going.

When you think about it, it’s a miracle, given this stacked deck, that George W. Bush did as well as he did. Talk about swimming against the tide!

But the media committed other travesties on election night.

Their bogus call of Florida for Gore doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the breadth of voter fraud broadcast on Tuesday.

Just as critical, why did it take hours to report the Bush-won states? No calls were made for Bush in New Hampshire, Ohio, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee – among others – until voting had ceased for most of the country. What was the reason for that?

The answer is clear: to ‘hold back’ reporting Bush electoral strength in order to demoralize his supporters who had yet to vote. And there is nothing to prove otherwise.

This represents a sick and sorry state of affairs for America, and is a reflection of just how bad things have actually gotten.

By thwarting free and fair elections at all costs, the television media – not to absolve their friends who publish in ink – have sunk to the lowest of lows. Their behavior is even worse than the garden-variety election fraud practiced by Tammany Hall and Chicago’s Daly machine, by stuffing ballot boxes and voting dead people.

No, this is far more sinister and corrupt because it involves using the public airwaves for blatant, partisan political gain by underhandedly influencing public opinion in violation of the trust of the very public whose airwaves they use to generate profits for themselves.

What’s the solution?

Simple.

We must have a law prohibiting any individual, entity or organization from projecting or reporting election results for a federal office before a state’s election authority has done so after all votes have been tallied. Period.

And there is no First Amendment argument here to be made.

The conduct of free and fair elections is so essential to the framework underpinning our entire system under the Constitution that ensuring they remain untainted is a consideration far superior to any possible free speech claims by the press.

This is precisely why some speech, such as electioneering, is prohibited in, and in close proximity to, our polling places – which ultimately makes so much sense and which is why it has never been questioned.

Just as the sanctity of the physical location where votes are cast must be preserved, so too should the entire process throughout the day be similarly protected.

This logically must also include a prohibition on any discussion or dissemination of any information about those votes until they have all been tallied and officially reported by the state.

Much like the prohibition in our courts of any discussion of a pending case with a juror, or reporting on any aspects of the jury’s deliberations while in progress, our elections should also be so protected. The same restrictions are in place with regard to the proceedings of grand juries, for the same reasons.

Thus, such a "Free and Fair Elections Act" should be introduced and passed by the Congress, and signed into law by the president, as one of the first legislative actions taken in January after our newly elected leaders take office.

Let’s get the ball rolling now, by taking the lead and working to make this happen.

We can join together and see that such a bill is introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and have it filed and ready for action in the 107th Congress.

Let’s give it a try and see if we can’t do something that could very well represent a giant step toward preserving the integrity of our republic. Because, after all, if our elections are tainted by the left-wing media, everything that flows from a government so questionably established is worth nothing.

If you’d like to assist in this effort, e-mail an indication of your support. Be sure to include your state and the name of your congressman.

Maybe – just maybe – we can actually do something positive and concrete to protect the will of the people, before the next election.

Only your help can make it happen. Are you up to the task? If so, e-mail your support for the "Free and Fair Elections Act" right now. You’ll be glad you did.

E-mail Dan: danfrisa@newsmax.com.

On the Air: Dan Frisa will appear on WOND radio in Atlantic City, N.J. at 9 a.m., KFAR radio in Fairbanks, Alaska at 2 p.m., Talk USA radio in Jordan, Utah at 6 p.m., WIBC in Indianapolis, Ind., at 10:30 p.m., and Talk Radio Network in Medford, Oregon at 11 p.m. on Nov. 9, on WOND radio in Atlantic City, N.J. at 9 a.m.,KKAL radio in San Luis Obispo, Calif., at 11:40 a.m., WSMN radio in Nashua, N.H. at 2 p.m. and KIQN radio in Salt Lake City, Utah at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 10, and KSLR radio in San Antonio, Texas at 8 a.m. on Nov. 13. All times Eastern. Listen while visiting NewsMax.com!

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.

See more columns by Dan Frisa.