Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Florida GOPer Admits to Voter Suppression


Florida GOPer Admits to Voter Suppression
From the Palm Beach Post:



Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law


Former GOP chair, governor - both on outs with party - say voter fraud wasn’t a concern, but reducing Democratic votes was.

By Dara Kam, John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

A new Florida law that contributed to long voter lines and caused some to abandon voting altogether was intentionally designed by Florida GOP staff and consultants to inhibit Democratic voters, former GOP officials and current GOP consultants have told The Palm Beach Post.

Republican leaders said in proposing the law that it was meant to save money and fight voter fraud. But a former GOP chairman and former Gov. Charlie Crist, both of whom have been ousted from the party, now say that fraud concerns were advanced only as subterfuge for the law’s main purpose: GOP victory.

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer says he attended various meetings, beginning in 2009, at which party staffers and consultants pushed for reductions in early voting days and hours.

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told The Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only. … ‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us,’ ” Greer said he was told by those staffers and consultants.

“They never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue,” Greer said. “It’s all a marketing ploy.”


***********************


For days after the election, I read on several rightwing blogs how the only way that President Obama could have won was through voter fraud.  This type of thinking, of course, disabuses the thinkers of the idea that perhaps women, young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans all voted for President Obama because he more fully represented their values and hopes than did Mitt Romney, who overwhelmingly appealed to older, whiter, male American voters.
Instead, these rightwingers continue to delude themselves with the idea that only people who wanted "free stuff" voted for Mr. Obama, and that even then, there was rampant and widespread voting fraud, and that was the explanation for Mr. Obama's victory over the GOP candidate, a victory that gave Mr. Obama over 64 million popular votes to Mr. Romney's 60 million.


That sort of thinking is what caused their confusion and disbelief on election night, when President Obama walked away with another victory under his belt--only the fourth president, since FDR, to win a majority of  the popular vote, the others:  Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.


But back to the cries of voter fraud as the only explanation for Mr. Obama's win.  I haven't seen any blog posts on what the former Florida GOP chair and governor has attested to:  that Florida GOPers deliberately and with malice designed laws to slow down and discourage voting by certain segments of the voting public--segments that traditionally vote Democratic.


***************


[cont.]

"Greer is now under indictment, accused of stealing $200,000 from the party through a phony campaign fundraising operation. He, in turn, has sued the party, saying GOP leaders knew what he was doing and voiced no objection.

“Jim Greer has been accused of criminal acts against this organization and anything he says has to be considered in that light,” says Brian Burgess, Florida GOP spokesman since September.
But Greer’s statements about the motivations for the party’s legislative efforts, implemented by a GOP-majority House and Senate in Tallahassee in 2011, are backed by Crist — also now on the outs with the party — and two veteran GOP campaign consultants.

Wayne Bertsch, who handles local and legislative races for Republicans, said he knew targeting Democrats was the goal.

'In the races I was involved in in 2008, when we started seeing the increase of turnout and the turnout operations that the Democrats were doing in early voting, it certainly sent a chill down our spines. And in 2008, it didn’t have the impact that we were afraid of. It got close, but it wasn’t the impact that they had this election cycle,' Bertsch said, referring to the fact that Democrats picked up seven legislative seats in Florida in 2012 despite the early voting limitations.
Another GOP consultant, who did not want to be named, also confirmed that influential consultants to the Republican Party of Florida were intent on beating back Democratic turnout in early voting after 2008."


But, say the rightwingers, Mr. Obama won because FRAUD!


Crist said he was asked to curb early voting

"Crist said party leaders approached him during his 2007-2011 gubernatorial term about changing early voting, in an effort to suppress Democrat turnout. Crist is now at odds with the GOP, since abandoning the party to run for U.S. Senate as an independent in 2010. He is rumored to be planning another run for governor, as a Democrat.

Crist said in a telephone interview this month that he did not recall conversations about early voting specifically targeting black voters 'but it looked to me like that was what was being suggested. And I didn’t want them to go there at all.'

About inhibiting minority voters, Greer said:

'The sad thing about that is yes, there is prejudice and racism in the party but the real prevailing thought is that they don’t think minorities will ever vote Republican,' he said. 'It’s not really a broad-based racist issue. It’s simply that the Republican Party gave up a long time ago ever believing that anything they did would get minorities to vote for them.'

But a GOP consultant who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution said black voters were a concern.

'I know that the cutting out of the Sunday before Election Day was one of their targets only because that’s a big day when the black churches organize themselves,' he said."


**************


When a Democrat wins an election, the GOPers scream FRAUD! while they manipulate and scheme to make voting for Democratic candidates more and more difficult for minorities.  This is never seen as a fraudulent way of winning elections, since most of the GOP pols who engage in this criminal activity believe only the Republican Party has the right to govern this country.  Any other party--see Democratic--they see as interlopers who win only through millions and millions of people cheating at the polls.


However, we actually know where the real fraud is occuring and which party schemes to subvert democracy and suppress the vote.


More here:

Oops!  Republicans Arrested for Voter Fraud!

Breaking: GOP Caught Red Handed, Election Fraud in Indiana

31 comments:

Jerry Critter said...

"When a Democrat wins an election, the GOPers scream FRAUD"...and when a republican wins, they cry MANDATE!

Unknown said...

A group of Florida Court Reporters told me about this. I can't believe this argument is still going with the elections finally over. It is unbelievable how far people take politics.

Shaw Kenawe said...

More GOP claims of a stolen election. This time from the attorney general of Virginia:

"Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) told a radio host he completely agreed with her assertion that investigations are needed to determine why President Obama lost “every one” of the states with photo identification requirements for voting, yet won re-election. Cuccinelli, who has lost most of the major legal cases he has brought since taking office in 2010, told the host she was “preaching to the choir.”

Again, when the Democrats win elections, it's because of election fraud, according to the radicals in the GOP.

Anonymous said...

your goper friends are noticeably quiet on this report, shaw...lol

Les Carpenter said...

Neither party can be trusted, it is politics, right?

I wonder sometimes at this point in America if it is possible even to expect ethical behavior when the system has become so corrupt.

Grasping at straws, keeping the faithful lathered up, diversion, it's what political parties in America thrive on. Sadly. It is becoming more evident all the time that the rEpublican party is setting the new gold standard. Reality is what it is.

Lets try and fix the country. We have our President and our elected representatives. Time to stop the games and solve issues.

Jerry Critter said...

RN,
If what you say is true, it would appear that the only solution is a new system. What are you proposing?

Anonymous said...

RN, you are part of the problem.

Jerry Critter said...

RN is not part of the problem and he raises some very valid points. How can we function as a country without trust and ethical behavior from our government?

Anonymous said...

It's not ethical to pronounce murder and cover up accusations in Benghazi (as RN and other readers of this blog have done) before the facts are even in. That dishonest approach only adds to the venomous mix, and shows a lack of seriousness on his/their part.

Jerry Critter said...

"It's not ethical to pronounce murder and cover up accusations in Benghazi..."

I don't recall RN making any such pronouncements here. In fact I don't recall anyone making any pronouncements about murder.

Anonymous said...

This is not RN's blog. Read his.
Then you have missed the comments on this issue by KP and SF on this blog. See archives.

Jerry Critter said...

My comments are concerned with RN's comments here, not his blog. While I believe KP and SF have made comments about a coverup ( not a big deal in my opinion), I don't recall them accusing the administration of murder.

S.W. Anderson said...

A Florida Republican official admitting to voter suppression is a lot like Charles Manson admitting to behavior problems. True, but the admission doesn't do justice to the magnitude and severity of what was done.

S.W. Anderson said...

"Neither party can be trusted, it is politics, right?"

That's an unhelpful mix of cynicism and claiming equivalence without offering a shred of evidence of equivalence.

skudrunner said...

SW

"claiming equivalence without offering a shred of evidence of equivalence."

"but the admission doesn't do justice to the magnitude and severity of what was done."

You seem to be conflicted on your two positions. On one side you expect evidence and on the other accusations are enough.

The only way we can get honesty from politicians is to demand it, and that just isn't happening.

As to stolen elections and voter fraud. There was voter fraud on both sides so they equal out. The handlers in the GOP can't accept the fact that Romney lost to the most ineffective president in generations so they are trying to point blame. It will blow over without anything happening.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"...the GOP can't accept the fact that Romney lost to the most ineffective president in generations so they are trying to point blame. It will blow over without anything happening."

That statement is another symptom of GOP disconnect with reality. So long as you and others believe in that, the GOP will never, as SWA wrote, be able to win elections without manipulating voter registration and voting methods.

You and others in the GOP call Mr. Obama "ineffective," or "amateur," or "incompetent." Yet the man you try to stick those labels on has cleaned the GOP's clock not once, but twice. And he's up there along with FDR, Eisenhower, and Reagan as only the 4th president in the past century to win with over 50% popular vote TWICE.

When Reagan won the popular vote twice, I'm betting you and other GOPers believed with all your hearts that it was because of the intelligence of the voting public, but now that Mr. Obama has duplicated that sort of win in a much more divided country, you cannot bring yourself to give him credit for it.

That's because you apparently are so blinded by your partisanship that you can't see what's in front of your nose. A great big fat majority of conservatives in this country, afterall, got their predictions for this past elections miserably wrong because they believed in their own propaganda. And apparently so did you.

Mr. Obama may be other things in your crotchety mind, but he is NOT incompetent. He and his team proved that conclusively on November 6.

skudrunner said...

"he is NOT incompetent. He and his team proved that conclusively on November 6."

As a campaigner I totally agree that the democrats and Obama have it all over the GOP. I just hope he quits campaigning and starts governing. When GWB proposed entitlement reform and immigration reform, Obama was against both of them. Now he panders with immigration reform, smart move, but he is still against entitlement reform. I will say that Obama is consistent with his determination to redistribute the wealth. Most economist have stated that taxing the rich is not the entire answer unless you listen to Obama.

Reagan won because he was a great speaker and was running against Carter.

Regardless of how I feel about Obama, it is in the countries and my best interest for him to do a good job for all. Time will tell if he is up to the task.

Dave Miller said...

Skud, do you think the GOP agrees with your statement that "it is in the countries and my best interest for him to do a good job for all.?"

Or will you take the path that says the only way he can do a god job for all is to implement the Republican way?

How should a Dem or a lib respond when the GOP said their Number 1 priority was to make Obama a one term president?

What would have to happen for a party to make that dream a reality?

I guess Dems should not get upset about the constant carping about Obama being incompetent or amateur, given that we were very harsh on Bush.

What's god for the goose, is good for the gander.

However we are still seeing lawsuits brought by people on the GOP side that are not targeted at Obama's policies, rather at his person, his Americanism, and his right to hold the office to which he has been duly elected, twice.

When can we expect that type of behavior to stop? Ever?

We have seen over the last few years that when the GOP won big, as they did in 2010, it was a mandate. We were told that the country had spoken and that as good Americans, we needed to follow the will of the people that was expressed in the GOP landslide.

In 2010, 91,000,000 votes were cast.

In 2008, 131,000,000 votes were cast and the Dems won everything in what was called a wave election. However, no one in the GOP saw that as a mandate and none were saying that the country had spoken and that as good Americans, we needed to follow the will of the people that was expressed in the Dem landslide.

Instead, they decided to fight against the will of the people at every step.

Then in 2012 when Obama won again, the Dems picked up Senate seats and garnered more votes than the GOP in the House races, again, there is no mandate for Obama. One of the reasons being that his majority was only of those who voted, not the totality of Americans.

Riddle me this Batman... why is a mid term election where 91,000,000 people vote and elect Republicans considered a mandate of the American people, but a presidential election where more than 118,000,000 vote and elect Democrats not a mandate?

I wish a few of you guys would just own up to moving the goal posts, changing interpretations and say no matter what, the GOP will never accept President Obama as a legitimate president, worthy of respect.

Why will the GOP not do that? Why does the blogging community not do that?

You guys are charlatans, that's why.

How else to explain the above? How else to explain a party that three weeks ago was totally against dealing with immigration reform and now is hellbent on getting it done?

What happened that made people like Sean Hannity evolve? Were you guys wrong before? Or are you just changing your minds for political reasons?

As Z asks on her blog regarding libs, please help me understand this GOP/Conservative mindset.

I guarantee you'll get better treatment here than I ever got there.

Anonymous said...

So since RN might not have made those accusations here, he doesn't believe in, or promote those beliefs? I never said he said it here. I said he believes and promotes that crap, but you keep defending him.

Les Carpenter said...

What I promote is clear. Liberty for all. Freedom of speech for all. Respect for the individual, all. Tolerance for all religious beliefs that are non violent. Responsible limited government and fiscal responsibility. You can extrapolate from there.

Anon, if it pleases you continue on, with my blessing.
Jerry, thanks for your words.

Jerry Critter said...

RN,
We clearly have had our differences on policy which is fine, and I believe that we have generally treated each other fairly. Too bad not everyone can do that.

Anonymous said...

What you wrote clearly accused a cover up, in fact you compared it to Watergate.
That's what we need a bunch of chicken little's crying BS

Anonymous said...

Don't say I'm not treating him fairly, that's BS

Les Carpenter said...

We have Jerry, as you say mutual respect for honest differences. Some handle it fine, others not so much I guess.

Republican Racism said...

As we have had to put up with RN's condecending attitude and denials (lies) of what HE has written.

Les Carpenter said...

Thank you for that fine and constructive pile of horsesh*t RR. My most sincere appreciation for your superior effort at diversion and confrontation.

Republican Racism said...

RN's words:

Benghazi is Watergate
Obama financial policies are the same as Hitlers economic policies.
Jews went willingly to the gas chambers.


Talk about horseshit

Talk about denying and lying

But go ahead JC defend this ..........................

Les Carpenter said...

Bullshit delusional interpretation from a real racist asshole. Grow up dude.

Republican Racism said...

Your words from your bigoted blog
Anyone can read them, and your scum has already been discussed. and you have been found to be a liar.
Move on liar

Jerry Critter said...

RR,
MY interaction with RN has been cordial. We often disagree on policy but keep our disagreement on the topic and not on each other. If you want to call the defending him, then so be it.

Republican Racism said...

Not sure how to separate the statement from the person who says the Jews went willingly to the gas chambers.
A statement like that not only points to the Historical error of what happened, but one of the sickest anti-Semitic slurs to come out of WW II.
That's more than a policy disagreement. it is personal, and sick.
Enjoy