Karl Rove must be delighted. He envisioned Republican majorities for decades.
The economic recovery has been stalled as Mitch McConnell and friends hoped. Republican controlled states are enacting multiple layers of voter suppression legislation (purges, photo ID, anti-registration efforts, reduced voting hours, confusing last minute rule changes, voter caging, limited resources in Democratic leaning precincts, intimidating poll watchers, etc.). Citizens United unleashed a flood of anonymous money that overwhelmingly helps Republicans. A draconian 18th century GOP platform that only appeals to 30% of the population. I think we know the problem. There are only so many millionaires, luddites, religious zealots, Klansmen and propagandized Fox viewers remaining in America that will vote against their own best interest and that’s not enough votes to elect their deeply flawed candidate.
The Republicans have added a few tricks to their bag since the 2008 drubbing and the solution is obvious. They need to rig the game. Demonize organizations like ACORN, League of Women Voters and Rock The Vote. Reframe the discussion about voting being a “privilege and not a right”. Remind citizens they must have ID to cash a check, buy Sudafed or board a plane. None of those activities are Constitutional rights. The laws that govern the purchase of a handgun in some states don’t require photo ID. Voter ID proponents attempt to redirect the conversation away from the fact that in-person voter fraud is infinitesimally small and virtually non-existent. They attempt to conflate registration fraud with voter fraud. Documented voter fraud has never been prevalent to a degree that would change any election. Slate magazine reported during the George W. Bush administration, "The Department of Justice devoted unprecedented resources to ferreting out polling-place fraud over five years and appears to have found not a single prosecutable case across the country". In a recent court case in Pennsylvania the attorneys for the state stipulated they couldn’t document ANY case of voter fraud, yet they want to spend millions of tax dollars on a photo ID system anyway. A solution looking for a problem. So much for the party of smaller government and reduced spending. In some states a gun permit is valid form of ID and a student ID is not.
The groups most affected by these new voter ID laws are: 1. The poor because the cost of the documentation and travel amounts to a poll tax. 2. Minorities who may not have the required documentation by virtue of not being born in a hospital, etc. 3. Out of state college students and young voters where their photo ID does not have expiration dates or their address may have recently changed. 4. Homeless voters because they have no permanent address 5. Elderly voters that no longer have a valid drivers license or transportation to obtain the new photo ID 6. Military from out of state who don’t have a local driver’s license.
We know the right-wing hysteria over non-existent in person voter fraud is simply misdirection for their voter suppression efforts. Why is no one in the GOP worrying about voter fraud in the absentee ballot? Voter fraud has been a huge problem in Texas and other states in absentee ballots. A real problem that photo ID can’t fix. The answer is simple. A majority of their constituency votes by absentee ballot. Consider for a moment all of the nursing homes and elder care facilities here in Florida. This is just one state. If you have a loved one with diminished mental capacity whose absentee ballot could inadvertently be used to vote against their best interest, please take the time to help them vote for the person or party they intended and make sure it gets into the mailbox. Make every vote count.
The Republican Party has become so extreme they can’t win an election legitimately, so they must rig the game. Our response must be to fight the legislation where possible, register as many new eligible voters as we can find, verify through the local agencies to make sure legitimate voters haven’t been purged and drive as many people to the polls on or before Election Day. GOTV
