How Republicans win elections

Republicans win elections by disenfranchising voters likely to vote Democratic. That's how they won in 2000, and that's how they won in 2004 and that's how they plan to win in 2008.

Now they may be nasty, but Republicans are not stupid (sometimes), so they don't simply erase people's names from the voter rolls (except in Florida)! They establish a "legitimate," if unethical method of achieving the same goal.

One of the big "threats" perceived by many people today is the threat of illegal immigrants taking over the world, or at least the US of A. Both Republican and Democratic politicos have pandered to this threat, and have promised to do something about it. The trouble is, nobody is sure just what to do. The illegals provide a tremendous number of services in this country, and send much of the money they earn here to help their families back home.

Well, the Repugnicans have come up with a plan that is being implemented in several forms in a number of the states. Again, they are never so crass as to say that they want to disenfranchise people who might vote Democratic. Instead they talk about the huge problem of fraudulent voters; people who are able to vote only because the method of determining qualified voters is unable to identify persons who are legally eligible to vote.

They're going to be able to pull this off for a couple of reasons: One is that the state legislatures consist of people who want to keep their jobs and thus will vote for anything that will convince their constituents they are doing something about "those damn immigrants." The second is that the US Supremes, consisting of a bunch of Bush appointees and thus "neocon-driven" instead of Constitution-driven, recently upheld a law which forced voters to prove their identity with a government-issued ID.

In the "show me" state of Missouri, legislators are expected to approve a proposed constitutional amendment which would allow election officials to demand proof of citizenship of anyone wanting to register to vote.

And yes, these legislators say the problem is "those damn illegals," and this'll stop 'em in their tracks! They don't want "illegal immigrants ... affecting the political process."

But...it so happens that this measure would probably, no doubt, certainly, disenfranchise many thousands of people who are perfectly legal but can't immediately put their hands on proof of citizenship.

In some 19 state houses, similar bills are been discussed and are strongly supported in Florida (naturally!), Kansas, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.


Much of the above was taken from The New York Times article, "Voter ID Battle Shifts to Proof of Citizenship," by Ian Urbina, has an excellent overview of this battle to keep illegals (read Democrats) from voting.

He refers to a Missouri Republican representative who complained that current voter ID requirements were simply inadequate. Utility bills prove nothing, he said. That's why proof of citizenship is so crucial.

But...Ian Urbina notes that "From October 2002 to September 2005, the Justice Department indicted 40 voters for registration fraud or illegal voting, 21 of whom were noncitizens, according to department records."

Wow, what a horrible problem: 40 people in three years, half of which were not citizens! No wonder the Republican legislators in all these states are scurrying about to toughen up voter ID laws!

We know that the Republican Party was responsible for massive voter fraud in 2000 and in 2004. Why didn't the Justice Department do something about that?