Congress, Right the Vote
While we were all gabbing about Obama and Wright, just the other day, unsurprisingly but in an uncharacteristic hurry, the Supremes resoundingly sided with the Republican campaign to suppress the vote in the Indiana case. Today, Adam Cohen of the NYT editorial board rightly notes that the Constitution, Article I, Section 4, grants Congress the right to set baseline election standards. (To wit: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of Chusing Senators.")
Congress, where are you? This means you, Speaker Pelosi, and you, Majority Leader Reid. Among others. Where are you?
One suspects Pelosi, Reid, et al have no problem with voter suppression. After all, voters most likely to be suppressed are poor minorities that may be more liberal than the Beltway crowd, and favor more social programs, thus threatening pork barrel spending. Were voter suppression to become an issue, the DINOs could then charge the GOP as being racist, etc, etc. Either way it’s a win win for the DINOs.
Hale the two party systme!
May 2, 2008 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for this good reminder, Todd. It's not inconceivable to think that those state legislatures that are dominated by Republicans will quickly take advantage of the SC decision to enact laws requiring that voters produce IDs, in an attempt to give the Republican candidates an advantage.
I was thinking that some sort of project to assist these voters in obtaining IDs before November would be necessary, but a law correcting the problem would be far preferable. I also hope Pelosi and Reid will address this before November.
May 2, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
With most courts in the Federal system polluted by judges certain to side with power against the individual, only legislation is useful now. And it has to avoid court scrutiny, too.
Thanks for reminding us.
Getting more than tiresome to see 99% of reader posts rehashing the arguments on the primary battle. That horse is way dead.
May 2, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to say this, but when, in this millennium, HAVE the Democrats EVER made a stink about suppression of (mostly) black voters?
In 2000, Jesse Jackson's attempts to energize some sort of demonstrations in the wake of the Florida theft were looked upon as an embarrassment by Al Gore and the national Dems.
Democrats are afraid that suppression of the black vote would be a more a POPULAR than an unpopular issue for the Republicans and they won't go there. Barack Obama has been so bloodied in the past weeks that he won't go there (it was never his style, to be honest) and Hillary is afraid of messing up her good thing.
Democrats as always are too busy playing defense even to the point of pathetically taking small blows in the hope of somehow making it all right when they are finally returned to power.
May 2, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the Congress saw fit to establish more accessibility to the election process for disadvantaged Democrats, why the Independents would scream for the dissolution of restrictive ballot access for third parties and -- there's no telling where this could lead, except to the detriment, as Bushie wrote, of the mainstream Democratic Party.
Why didn't Gore stand up for Florida's African-Americans in 2000, and Kerry for Ohioans in 2004? Why were they silent when the least advantaged of the Dem Party were denied the opportunity to vote?
They were silent then and they'll be silent now. Screw the little guy, who will have no recourse. So much for Todd's "Big Tent."
May 2, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, but it is Speaker HOYER and Majority Leader LIEBERMAN. They are calling the shots on election law, logistics, and technology. It is true that the GOP uses this stuff to suppress voting. But, the cheap-seat, majority-minority Democratic office-squatters, the "targeted-campaign", "swing voter", "segmented-marketing" consultants are fine with it, too.
And, of course, there are a ton of minor Democratic officials on the bottome of the "elections" profession, trades, buraucracies, and so on... They are fine with anything to "Help America Vote", even if it does not work, especially if it does not work, because then they might all lose their Blazing Saddlesl jobs.
May 2, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink