TOVA WANG Wang is the vice president for research at Common Cause. She said today: “It is unfortunate that some would seek to distract us from the real work that needs to be done to ensure a fair election in which every eligible voter can cast a ballot and all the ballots are counted. While…

ROBERT RICHTER Richter is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and was political director for CBS News from 1965 to 1968. He notes that McCain has repeatedly invoked his record in the Vietnam War during the campaign, but that the effect of bomber pilots like McCain and of the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign has not been sufficiently…

NJOKI NJOROGE NJEHU SOREN AMBROSE Co-coordinator of Africa Jubilee South, based in Nairobi, Kenya, Njehu said today: “Governments are bailing out the banks — profit-making institutions — hundreds of billions were found instantly for them. Meanwhile, the debt crisis has continued to devastate life around the world. The G8 has promised to act but has…

ALEX KEYSSAR Keyssar is the Stirling Professor of History and Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and the author of the book “he Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States. He said today: “Once again we seem to be finding a pattern where allegations of fraud…

The media watch group FAIR has just launched the web page “Smearcasters: How Islamophobes spread fear, bigotry and misinformation.” ISABEL MacDONALD MacDonald is communications director with FAIR. She recently wrote the piece “The Anti-Muslim Smear Machine Strikes Again?” The piece states: “In the midst of remarkably cynical election-time mud-slinging, the ‘Obsession’ campaign is truly in…

THOMAS FERGUSON Available for a limited number of interviews, Ferguson is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is the author of Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems (University of Chicago Press). Ferguson noted that the Financial Times reported in its Thursday…

CONOR KENNY Kenny is the managing editor of the Election Protection Wiki. He said today: “Recent presidential elections were marred by controversies and disputes. Scores of organizations and thousands of individuals have been working to investigate and reform U.S. elections, issuing reports and information on topics such as electronic voting machines, voter suppression campaigns and…

DAVID KOTZ Kotz is professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He said today: “The $700 billion Paulson bailout bill passed Congress, but as its critics warned, it has not stemmed — or even slowed — the financial crisis. It is great for the bankers, but it does nothing to solve the…

The Great Falls Tribune of Montana reports that “the Montana Republican Party … challenged the eligibility of 6,000 registered voters in six counties that historically are Democratic strongholds.” TERESA JAMES James is an attorney for the voting rights organization Project Vote and author of the 2007 report “Caging Democracy: A 50-Year History of Partisan Challenges…

Over 5,000 U.S. physicians have signed an open letter calling on the candidates for president and Congress “to stand up for the health of the American people and implement a nonprofit, single-payer national health insurance system.” Noting that the nation’s private-insurance-based model is failing by denying needed medical care to millions, wasting resources and driving…