2008.10.14: October 14, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Cameroon: Journalism: Speaking Out: Voting: Election2008: The Capital Times: Margaret Krome writes: Stopping voter suppression efforts could be key
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2008.10.14: October 14, 2008: Headlines: Figures: COS - Cameroon: Journalism: Speaking Out: Voting: Election2008: The Capital Times: Margaret Krome writes: Stopping voter suppression efforts could be key
Margaret Krome writes: Stopping voter suppression efforts could be key
"Our family watched the vice presidential debate with friends and neighbors. After its conclusion, people criticized both debaters' performances. But one soft-spoken friend said she didn't worry about that debate; the country was supporting Obama. But that didn't mean he would win the election; her biggest concern was about voter suppression efforts. Carol's concerns appear to be vindicated, especially in swing states where Democrats have registered millions of new voters." Journalist Margaret Krome served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon.
Margaret Krome writes: Stopping voter suppression efforts could be key
Margaret Krome: Stopping voter suppression efforts could be key
Margaret Krome — 10/14/2008 10:46 am
For months, grim humor has circulated around what secret weapon Republicans would use in the last month or two of the presidential campaign to scrape out a victory for Sen. John McCain. For a long time betting was on some kind of national security crisis. McCain sells himself as a national security champion, even though Sen. Barack Obama notes that McCain was an early supporter of the Iraq war, which diverted the nation from addressing the real national security issues behind 9/11.
Fortunately, such a crisis has not happened; instead, the nation has been hit by a financial disaster of historic proportions, dampening McCain's message and raising the stakes of the end game.
A second theory pertained to his running mate. Could McCain find a running mate who could out-Obama Obama as a visionary, charismatic speaker, and populist? Enough has probably been said of McCain's choice, Sarah Palin, but it is clear that though she has a personable style of talking and excites right-wing Republicans with her enthusiasm in attacking Obama, her inexperience and unpredictability in interviews have limited her value for McCain's campaign, much less saved it.
Nobody really wondered whether the Republicans would create virulent attack ads. Of course they would; but what form would they take? The infamous mid-July New Yorker cover by Barry Blitt portraying Michelle and Barack Obama as terrorists and revolutionaries got it about right -- that Republicans would aggressively portray Obama as different, dangerous and scary.
When Palin says she advised McCain to "take the gloves off," she appears to have meant remove all inhibitions against character smears and racist innuendo. Black New York Congressman Gregory Meeks challenged Palin's phrase about Obama at a recent Florida rally, "He's not one of us." Meeks correctly accused, "That's racial. That's fear. They know they can't win on the issues, so the last resort they have is race and fear."
One wonders how much of the $76 million remaining in the Republican National Committee's coffers will be used for such attack ads.
But there's another weapon, perhaps the one that will determine our next president. Our family watched the vice presidential debate with friends and neighbors. After its conclusion, people criticized both debaters' performances. But one soft-spoken friend said she didn't worry about that debate; the country was supporting Obama. But that didn't mean he would win the election; her biggest concern was about voter suppression efforts. Carol's concerns appear to be vindicated, especially in swing states where Democrats have registered millions of new voters.
In Philadelphia, students at Drexel University recently found fliers posted around campus anonymously warning that undercover police would be at the polls on Election Day, arresting people for even minor matters like unpaid traffic tickets. In Wisconsin and other states, the Republican attorney general is challenging the legitimacy of thousands of voters, even when addresses don't match simply due to a typo or a middle initial in a name.
In several states, a technique called "caging" entails sending mail to addresses of registered voters. If the mail is returned as undeliverable, the sender uses that fact to challenge the registration as fraudulent because the voter could not be reached at the address.
Growing evidence of flaws in recording votes with electronic voting machines installed since the 2000 election is yet another source of concern about long lines, confusion, and hassles at the poll. "It doesn't take much to discourage people from voting," says Larry Sabato, with the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
In this election voters are preparing to fight for their franchise. Citizen activists are reporting efforts at voter suppression to groups monitoring abuses, state elections boards, state attorney general offices, and the media. Internet groups are offering training to citizens to monitor the vote count. Voters are voting early to reduce lines and pressure on voting day. Volunteers are offering to drive voters to polling places on Election Day, and others are volunteering to monitor polling places to assist people whose registration is challenged.
Is it possible that in this cynical political year, citizens ourselves may become the real secret weapon of this campaign?
Margaret Krome of Madison writes a semimonthly column for The Capital Times.
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Story Source: The Capital Times
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