Santorum Campaign Robocall Urges Michigan Democrats to Vote for Him

Boy, Frothy's starting to look smug! Image from source.

You could say that Rick (don't Google me) Santorum's campaign isn't actually playing dirty, since Michigan has an open primary. Democrats are permitted to vote. But how sneaky is it to imply that Santorum's views on auto bailouts are somehow different from Mitt Romney's?

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Santorum Robocall Asks Michigan Dems To Vote For Him 

Rick Santorum’s campaign is locked in a tight battle with Mitt Romney ahead of Tuesday’s Michigan primary. On Monday his camp started openly courting a demographic that’s not often reached out to in GOP primaries: Democrats. . .

Read more at: TPM Muckraker

Pennsylvania GOP's Plan to Shut Out Obama in 2012

Image from Mother Jones

Here's an ethical question for you. Suppose you're running for office (of anything, really, student council, HOA president, whatever). And suppose that before you even run, you find a sneaky way to assure your win--or at least weight it heavily to your side--no matter how the people vote. It's perfectly legal, but would put a win in your column by thwarting the will of the voters. How would that sit with you?

Well, that is what the Pennsylvania GOP seems to be doing. By changing the rules of how their electoral votes are apportioned (after having gerrymandered new districts), they could effect the way the vote goes down, regardless of the actual voting totals for the state. As Rachel Maddow said in Wednesday's episode of her show, the GOP is putting their thumb on the scale.
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The GOP's Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012

Republican state legislators in Pennsylvania are pushing a scheme that, if GOPers in other states follow their lead, could cause President Barack Obama to lose the 2012 election—not because of the vote count, but because of new rules. That's not all: There's no legal way for Democrats to stop them. . .

Read more at: Mother Jones

Thanks to Phyllis for the link.

The Republican War on Voting

Image from source, Rolling Stone

I've said before in this space that Republicans are excellent at coming up with reasonable sounding reasons for extreme positions. In the case of voting rights, Republican-led states all over the country have introduced legislation to restrict them. The "good reason" they've used is that it prevents "voter fraud," an alleged crime that happens about as often as Dick Cheney's heartbeat. That is to say, it almost doesn't exist. So, what is the real purpose for all of these laws? In almost every case, the tightened restrictions will prevent mostly Democrats from voting. Because statistically, if voters turn out in very large numbers, Democrats tend to win. Cut down on the number of eligible Democrats, and you reduce that chance. It's pure math, it's purely evil, and it's dressed up to look legit by claiming that it reduces "voter fraud." Bullshit. I can't think of much that is more anti-American than trying to prevent eligible people from voting.

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The GOP War on Voting

In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year. . .

. . . "What has happened this year is the most significant setback to voting rights in this country in a century,". . .

Read more at: Rolling Stone