Afghan Democracy

In her RNC speech last night (apparently, anyway, since I haven't seen it), Laura Bush boasted of the fact that there are over 10 million registered voters in Afghanistan. The problem? Afghanistan is a nation of only 9.8 million eligible voters. That's not burgeoning democracy; it's voter fraud on a massive scale.

It would also seem that this "10 million registered voters" line is going to become a Republican talking point. Matthew Yglesias notices that Bush himself told Rush Limbaugh the same thing. If Matthew's numbers are correct, then there are precisely 10.35 million registered voters, compared to 9.8 million eligible voters.

If the Republicans want to bandy these figures about, one would think it would be oh so easy for the press to catch them and expose them. What sort of response could they possibly have? But I wouldn't hold my breath, since the lib-ruhl media that are devoted to electing John Kerry definitely can't be depended upon to recognize that 10.35 is a bigger number than 9.8.