VOTE EARLY. VOTE OFTEN. AND SUE!
by David Sisler
By now you’ve seen the page from the Democratic National Committee election manual – the one that gives specific instructions to party members to stir up trouble as voters prepare to approach the polls.
Republicans are automatically suspected of intimidating voters, and the manual says, “If no signs of intimidation techniques have emerged yet, launch a ‘pre-emptive strike.’ Issue a press release ... quoting party/minority/civil rights leadership as denouncing tactics that discourage people from voting.”
Please note: the manual clearly states that it does not matter if any such tactic has been actually been used, just get your people in front of the willing cameras and denounce your opponents.
Back to the document: “prime minority leadership to discuss the issue in the media; provide talking points.”
I’m sure the writers of the DNC manual would not agree with my interpretation, but that quote sounds as though they have decided that minority leaders are not intelligent enough to come up with “talking points” on their own. So they must be trained, like circus animals. But if I am right, this pandering and patronizing should be recognized as one of the most offensive voter approaches ever devised.
One top DNC official said, “We all know the Republicans are going to try to steal the election by scaring people and confusing people.”
Well, they are certainly taking no chances. The mantra of John Kerry and the DNC in these closing days of the election is “Do not repeat Al Gore’s mistakes.”
To that end, according to Michael Whouley, a Kerry confidant, the Kerry campaign has, “10,000 lawyers out in the battleground states ... and that number is growing by the day.”
And friendly, liberal-leaning judges are being courted for future filings.
The purpose of this horde of attorneys is to prepare – and pre-file – voting challenges. AP political writer Ron Fournier says, “Democrats are already laying the public relations groundwork by pointing to every possible voting irregularity before the Nov. 2 election and accusing Republicans of wrongdoing.”
The goal of this legal attack is to convince voters that the Republicans are trying to steal the presidency – a phony charge recycled from 2000.
In a legitimate pre-election move, early voting is underway in 30 states and more than 1.3 million people have voted in eight of the so-called swing states, states where all indications are that voters are equally split between President Bush and John Kerry.
With only seven days remaining until election day, consider the following totals from Florida (as reported by the Washington Post):
“A sampling of eight counties showed a consistent pattern of Democrats turning out to cast early ballots in greater proportion than their share of registered voters, while Republicans were going to the early voting sites at or below what their registration percentages would suggest.
“In Seminole County, for example, Democrats make up 31.7 percent of the registered voters but 40 percent of the early voters. The same was true in Republican-leaning Brevard County, where many more Democrats are casting ballots than Republicans.
“In Osceola County, a Democratic bastion, Democrats are turning out for early voting in higher percentages than their share of registered voters, while Republicans are below their registration levels. The same was true in Hillsborough, the highly populated county where Tampa is located.”
Combine this legal, legitimate move with the scare-tactics, lies, and pre-emptive strikes, and it is easy to see that the Democrats are committed to winning this election – by any means. At the same, the poor showing by Florida Republicans causes me to wonder if the Grand Old Party has forgotten the 527 votes by which George W. Bush won Florida, and ultimately, the Presidency in 2000.
Mindy Tucker Fletcher, a spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party, was quoted as not being worried: “They [the Democrats] are doing well in their areas of the state, and we’re doing well in ours.”
Ms. Tucker Fletcher has obviously been ignoring the same data which you have just read.
The stakes in the 2004 Presidential Election could not be higher: four more years of the decisive leadership of George W. Bush, or four years of an administration headed by a liberal senator with a proven record of being an absentee leader, who voted (when he bothered to show up) to raises taxes at every opportunity, denigrated, besmirched and defamed American troops, and continues to imitate a chameleon, changing his spots at the drop of a flip-flop.
The 2000 campaign should have erased forever the excuse of non-voters that, “My vote doesn’t matter.” As an American, voting is your privilege. As a Christian, voting is your responsibility.
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Copyright 2004 by David Sisler. All Rights Reserved.
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