Re voter suppression, just heard on Ron Kuby's show on Air America registered democrat callers reporting they have received offers for applications for absentee ballots from McCain camp. Offers to be mailed to a P.O. Box in a different city than the registered voter's home. Callers reporting from Florida, Minnesota, & others. Unclear at this time how this will work to suppress vote but is clear there's something fishy going on already.

No shit, I just read that article. There in another journalist, Greg Palast, who has been talking about this over the last year or so. I thin what we need to do is make sure that the Obama campaign and many of his volunteers are aware of who they need to call in regards to these issues. Surely there are civil servants and Democratic lawyers who understand these issues, and as i understand it Obama was formerly the lawyer for ACORN. SO I believe he is aware of these issues. I am concerned and interestes as a fellow Texan about whom we need to talk to about our concerns and what can be done to prepare for November. No matter what this is going to be a hard fought election. And I can tell you if I am like many of the other Independents or Democrats out there I am fired up to take on McCain and Palin. Let's get to work!

Lee Rayburn subbed for Thom Hartmann this morning on Air America, and he talked about how the caging scheme is going on in Wisconsin, too. Someone from Wisconsin posted on DailyKos to tell about it [ http://openthread.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/11/143427/630/852/595112 ].

A snippet from that post describes the situation there:

Many people, all registered democrats here in Southern Wisconsin, have been sent a form in the mail from the John McCain campaign, full of "Country First" slogans. It includes 2 requests for absentee ballots in the envelope. It includes an addressed envelope to send it back to the city clerk.

The problem is, that the address of the city clerk is not in the right voting district.

Rayburn had callers who had received these envelopes, and the return address for some Wisconsin Democrats' "absentee" envelopes was in Florida!

Note that in Wisconsin, at least, all of these mailing are going to registered Democrats and no one else. It's apparently not "illegal," but tell everyone you know—especially if they're planning on voting for McCain—that his campaign is doing this to deprive people of their votes. This is, at the very least, unethical, and it's reasonable to believe that it's being done with McCain's approval.

This caging scheme gets you coming and going, because if you send the absentee to another county or city's clerk within your state, you're increasing the odds that the absentee will be lost in transit to the correct county or city clerk.

The other way it works, however, is if the absentees are NOT returned to the address given in the McCain envelope, this gives the Republicans a reason to take those names and addresses NOT to the registrar of voters and challenge their validity, removing the voter from the rolls before election day or causing a challenge on election day that keeps the victim from voting.

This is a very clever and very ugly practice that the Repubs honed in previous elections.* Warn your friends, but inform conservatives who have consciences. I think this would leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who values the right to vote for all.

*See FOOLED AGAIN! How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They'll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them ) by Mark Crispin Miller and Greg Palast on caging at [ http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/061 ]

And check this out for what they've done in Ohio:

McCain campaign admits mailing 1 Million bad ballot applications to voters in Ohio

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/11/215330/858/425/595547

OK, so the Republicans decided not to regulate mortgage companies, which led to foreclosures...and they're using their failure to their advantage!

What will they think of next...?

(Also posted this in response to another post.) I remember reading in Royko?? . . . T. White?? . . . somewhere that Dems in Chicago expected a lot of trouble with voting machines on the southside during . . . I can't remember if it was about Jack in '60 or Bobby in a primary. Their solution was to train and certify vending machine repairmen as voting machine repairmen. At that time these machines operated on the same principle. Whenever the machines "broke down" they were able to send someone to fix them quickly before voters gave up and left.

So, is there anyway to have non-partisan voter assistance booths near those voting places where voter challenges are likely? I don't know who . . . lawyers? . . . Community organizers? People who can help voters from both parties who are maneuvered out of casting a ballot to get back in there and vote? If this is an anticipated tactic, is there any plan to counter it? Anybody? Anywhere?

I think it was about Bobby, and I think it was in "Boss."