Post-Halloween Horror: The 2014 Election

I voted today, finally, after having been busy the past two weekends. We have early voting here in Nevada, and Ready, Set, Vote! voter guides, and it all works remarkably well. So far, though we have a Republican governor, there has been no attempt to curtail or change this system in the name of "protecting the vote," or "stopping voter fraud." Which is amazing when you think about it.

But not as amazing as the brazenness the GOP displays when cutting early voting, eliminating Sunday voting (known to be a big, post-church, African American voting day), requiring IDs (but only certain IDs), and more. . .with very little reason. Sure, they'll handwave the nonexistent in-person voter fraud "problem," but mostly they just make whatever changes will help them ensure that fewer Democrats vote.

Do you think that sounds radical? The fact that I'm saying it is not. The fact that they're doing it, is. Occasionally, they'll even admit it. Here's Paul Weyrich, a founder of The Heritage Foundation and ALEC, in 1980. Admitting it.



That, coupled with gerrymandering, with a politics-weary electorate, and the typical demographics of midterm voters adds up to: a bad year for Democrats, almost certainly. Maybe not historically bad, but not good. Double-plus ungood? Time will tell.

But it is baffling to me. Though I'm fairly a realist about my fellow Americans and their fickle, skewed, illogical voting patterns, I want more from them. I want them to be better than FOX "News" parroting, paranoid conspiracy theorists. I want them not to reward Republicans, when it is Republicans who have given us the obstruction, the gridlock, the governmental shut down, the lack of a Surgeon General. Many, many of the problems people complain about the state of our union, were either caused by, allowed to happen by, or are a byproduct of the GOP.

I'm with you, Jean-Luc.

And their slate of candidates? It really makes no sense to me that they're even electable, but even if they were not a clown car full of bozos, why reward them for what they themselves help come to pass?

I'm not saying that President Obama has been perfect, far from it. I'm still in his corner, and I'm not ashamed to say it (though many a cowardly Democratic candidate is). I think history will judge him well. But whatever you think of him, how does voting for say, Ted Cruz or Louis Gohmert help anyone? Sadly, for my side, Democrats don't offer a strong, defiant message to root for. To me, they are infinitely preferable, but they seem to not be trying. Why the Dems haven't pumped 90% of their cash into Get Out the Vote, I have no idea. That is all we need, matching the numbers or besting them.

I'm not optimistic. But a bad outcome will likely spur me to blog more. So, there's that.

Reince Priebus: Win 2016 by Rigging the System?

Swing that hammer, Reince!
Image from source, Think Progress

There's a plan afoot in "blue" states headed by Republican governance, to change the way Electoral votes are awarded. The plan would essentially gerrymander each of the targeted states so that a Republican candidate is almost assured to win the state even if the statewide vote totals go to the Democrat. Barring that, it would at least apportion close to half of the electoral votes to the Republican even if he still somehow manages to lose. It's one of those situations where it's legal, but it ain't right. And it's very telling of the Republican philosophy, so on display in the 2012 election: rig the system wherever possible.

Some key Republicans were busted actually admitting that Voter ID laws were more about disenfranchising Democratic voters than it was about "protecting" the vote. And that was just one of the schemes they had going. It dates as far back as 1980, when modern conservative forefather Paul Weyrich said it best:

They don't want everybody to vote. It is fairly well known that if everybody comes out to vote--and is allowed to vote--Democrats tend to win. What kind of party has to scheme and plot to try and squelch the other side's votes? And what kind of party is totally cool with winning at any cost, even if it means cheating?

[Excerpt]

RNC Chair: Rig The Next Presidential Election For Republicans

In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus did not simply endorse this election-rigging scheme, he indicated that it should be targeted towards consistently Democratic states where it is most likely to skew the presidential election to the GOP’s benefit. . .

Read more at: Think Progress