http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/5/15161/35910/60/469812

UPDATED: Defense Contractor Seeks to Buy Diebold - McCain's top political advisor is their lobbyist!
by Sick Of It
Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 12:21:53 PM PDT

Update: Lobbyist for United Technologies works for John McCain - see below

Yahoo isn't the only target of an unwelcome takeover. Diebold Inc., maker of automated teller machines, security systems and voting machines, was the recent target of an unsolicited $2.63 billion takeover offer from United Technologies Corporation, a leading aerospace defense contractor, whose divisions also include Otis elevators.

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The offer, which Diebold disclosed this weekend, amounted to $40 per Diebold share at a time when Diebold stock was trading at around $24 a share -- or at least it was before news of the takeover was made public. The price has since risen to about $37 a share.

Diebold rejected the offer, but this doesn't mean the deal won't eventually go through, judging by the chairman of the board's statement that UTC was offering too little.

"The board strongly believes that UTC's proposal significantly undervalues the company and fails to reflect Diebold's strengths and significant upside potential," said John N. Lauer in a Diebold press release about the offer.

http://blog.wired.com/...

McCain would be viewed by defense contractors as being better for business than a Democratic candidate who says we're going to pull out of Iraq. It's also a handy way for Bush and his handlers to keep control over the outcome of the elections.

Why would a defense contractor want to aquire Diebold at such a premium if they didn't want to skew the election? Especially since Republicans currently look like they haven't got a chance in heck of winning. They offer $40 a share, vs. the $24 that Diebold was currently trading at. I haven't seen many aquisitions that offer such a high premium. And in the current economic downturn?

Something about this smells fishy to me.

Update:

For years, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has railed against lobbyists and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists for the special interests they have aided."

But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways.

(snip)

Even before McCain finished his news conference, uber-lobbyist Black made the rounds of television networks to defend McCain against charges that he has been tainted by his relationship with a lobbyist. Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies, JPMorgan and AT&T.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Holy crap, a lobbyist working on John McCain's Presidential campaign is lobbying for the company who is trying to buy the company counting the votes!!!

Except for one small fact that the President and other top officials must place all controlable / convertable assets that they own into a blind trust account until after the term of office expires. So making a move now on a stock / company and then having no way to capitolize on it, in my mind would make very little to no sense.

I don't understand what's wrong with paper ballots. The whole idea of electronic voting seems like a step in the wrong direction to me.