I know, I know.

I’m one of those Republicans who’s been castigating Democrats for the past eight years for frivolously trying to devalue our democratic process and the integrity of our elections by spuriously, speciously undermining confidence in our electoral process.  Their constant, fraudulent complaining after the 2000 election spawned a cottage industry in conspiracy theories (which left fertile ground for an even more fertile, and damaging conspiracy-mongering after 9/11), combined with the endless drumbeat of voter registration and voter fraud cases involving Democrats, have left a lot of Americans worried about the integrity and validity of our elections, rightly or wrongly.

Here in Minnesota, we’ve always been proud of running clean elections.  Like most responsible conservatives, I’ve done my best to try to uphold that impression (even as liberals spent years and millions trying to undercut former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer through callow rumormongering during the ’04 and ’06 races).  Watching the chicanery that’s hobbled the reputation of elections in so many other states (including neighboring Wisconsin), it’s been easy to feel thankful that we live here.

And so as the re-canvass of the US Senate election between Coleman and Franken (and Dean Barkley) proceeds toward the statutory recount, the imperative to maintain confidence in our system (even though it is currently run by doctrinaire DFL activist Mark Ritchie and his cohorts) is a strong one.

And yet, it’s hard not to wonder how stupid they think we are.