Suppressing the Black Vote

On Saturday, the NY times ran this piece about the importance of black turnout for Democratic hopes of victory next week. The report included this quote:

"This notion that elections are stolen and that elections are rigged is so common in the public sphere that we’re having to go out of our way to counter them this year," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist.

so who was the purveyor of "this notion?" None other than the Democratic party itself!! Ever since the 2000 election and the Bush v. Gore case, each time the Democrats have lost an election, there have been charges that the GOP stolen the election and at least some Democrats have gone out of their way to say that the votes of blacks do not count.

The old saw about repeating a lie long enough it becomes the truth is starting to come back to haunt the Democrats.

Let's be honest, voter suppression is a real tactic, but like voter fraud, probably not as widespread as Democrats would have you believe.

The Rev. DeForest B. Soaries, who is black and was appointed by President George W. Bush as the first chairman of the United States Election Assistance Commission, an agency meant to help carry out the Help America Vote Act, said Democrats overestimated the problem of voter suppression in much the same way Republicans overestimated the problem of voter fraud.

Any attempts at voter suppression should be met with swift and harsh punishment, but the Democratic focus on the matter is interesting.

Whenever these stories appear, it sets the stage for the blame game should the Democrats fail to capture one or both chambers of Congress and especially the House. But here is my thought.

In 2002, approximately 75 million Americans voted, much less than the 122 million that voted in 2004. This year, I expect that some 80 million people might vote or thereabouts. But here is the thing, the GOP voter turnout machine is already in high gear, making sure people know to go vote and making sure they know who the GOP candidates are. My household is a split household (my wife is a Democrat--who will vote for Bob Ehrlich for Governor--don't know yet about Michael Steele) and even in Maryland, with a 2 to 1 Democratic registration advantage, my wife has received not one call reminding her to go vote. I on the other hand have received three calls in the past week and I expect to get at least two to four more in the next 8 days, including one in which I will be offered a ride to the polls if I need one.

If the Democrats want to win elections, spend the time getting the voters to the polls, not wringing your hands over the past. Deploying lawyers and poll watchers may avoid egregious acts of suppression, but if you don't counter suppression tactics with mobilization, the Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves.