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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInstead of throwing women under the bus, in a misguided attempt to appeal to anti-abortion people,
Last edited Fri Apr 21, 2017, 04:57 PM - Edit history (2)
and black and brown people under the bus, in a misguided attempt to appeal to racist whites, why isn't the Democratic party concentrating on overcoming the vote suppression that IN AND OF ITSELF was enough to flip the election to Trump?
Why aren't we having continuous voter registration drives and making plans for how we're going to get everyone to the polls? Why aren't we working to help EVERYONE get the Voter ID's that they need? (While we continue to fight against such laws.) Why aren't we fighting state laws that prevent convicted felons (a crime with a sentence of more than 1 year) from ever voting in their lifetimes? Why aren't we trying to figure out how to inoculate our core constituencies from the onslaught of fake news?
We don't need to expand our base to racists and sexists. We just need to get higher percentages of our core supporters back on the registration lists and voting.
We don't have a lot of time. We need to be on this NOW.
https://thinkprogress.org/2016-a-case-study-in-voter-suppression-258b5f90ddcd
All three elected staunchly conservative governors during President Obamas terms. All three implemented voting restrictions that affect millions of people. President Obama won all three states in 2008, and won all but North Carolina in 2012, while Hillary Clinton lost all three of those states this year.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890
The data is processed through a system called the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which is being promoted by a powerful Republican operative, and its lists of potential duplicate voters are kept confidential. But Rolling Stone obtained a portion of the list and the names of 1 million targeted voters. According to our analysis, the Crosscheck list disproportionately threatens solid Democratic constituencies: young, black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters with some of the biggest possible purges underway in Ohio and North Carolina, two crucial swing states with tight Senate races.
https://www.thenation.com/article/voter-suppression-is-a-much-bigger-problem-than-voter-fraud/
That is the problem we should be focusing on. Take Wisconsin, for example, where Preibus warned of voting irregularities in Milwaukee last night. Wisconsin didnt present a single case of voter impersonation in court to justify its voter-ID law. Yet 300,000 registered voters, according to a federal court, lack strict forms of photo ID and could be disenfranchised by the law. It is absolutely clear that Act 23 will prevent more legitimate votes from being cast than fraudulent votes, wrote Judge Lynn Adelman. Another federal judge in Wisconsin, James Peterson, wrote, A preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement, which undermine rather than enhance confidence in elections.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/4/2/1648016/-Wake-up-Democrats-and-pay-attention-to-voter-suppression-and-felony-disenfranchisement
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)mcar
(42,372 posts)Vote Democratic. Stop voter suppression.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... well, they'd never say those exact words (of course) but that's the gist of their philosophy in practice. Personally, I think it's a damn foolish approach... very naive and unsophisticated. (It's very Sarandonesque.)
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)Susan Sarandon.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)These people who worship Sarandon are cult-like in their fervor and very difficult to be reasonable with. We must fight them and resist them.
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)to be trusted and must be fought...this unity tour is a very bad idea. Perez needs to end it.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)There cannot be any "unity" while catering to the "Sarandon-types" who (literally) want to destroy the Democratic party. I question his judgement. Even if he was simply being optimistic, it's clear to see that his optimism was a mistake. Time to go back to the drawing board.
Like the old song says... accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with Mr. In-Between. If Perez were to do just ONE of those things, he'd be better off and making more progress than he is today.
greatauntoftriplets
(175,749 posts)We had to destroy the village to save it.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)JHan
(10,173 posts)SunSeeker
(51,662 posts)ananda
(28,874 posts)Good question!
BainsBane
(53,056 posts)increase the white male Democratic electorate to nullify the influence of women and people of color in the party.
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)BainsBane
(53,056 posts)Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)BainsBane
(53,056 posts)It's a race to the bottom.
Demsrule86
(68,643 posts)comradebillyboy
(10,174 posts)ProfessorPlum
(11,272 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)When you sleep with dogs you get fleas.
Hekate
(90,774 posts)Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)Maybe they can find some other reason to vote for pro choice Democrats, but if not let them go. I worry more about appealing to younger voters, who though they are with us on reproductive freedom, still tend not to identify with the Democratic Party and think it is cool to flirt with Libertarians instead. Or who write off the political system as not worth participating in. That demographic is growing.
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)are torn between Libertarians and Bernie -- who couldn't be farther away on the spectrum, other than agreeing about pot.
They want government that helps them but don't give a rats ass about government helping anyone else. Thus they want free college and their loans forgiven but aren't all that keen on things like helping inner city schools for example.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... because it's completely true.
JHan
(10,173 posts)I used to be libertarian leaning so I am familiar with the type, most of the young libertarians I know are exasperating privileged dudebros. I got out of the trap in the nick of time.
Libertarians sell the fallacy that Democrats and Republicans are the same. That's their selling point to distinguish themselves from both parties. It's a lie.
Libertarians are Republicans without the Jesus juice which is why I get antsy when we make arguments for them that equate democrats with republicans.
I laid it out recently in a thread: We believe social institutions are key in solving problems. Thus education, affordable healthcare, social safety net, good schools and environmental protections are concerns for democrats. We believe Government can do good, we believe the system can produce good outcomes. And we take responsibility for those outcomes. Libertarians/Republicans are the anarcho-capitalist enablers who typically believe that the market will solve everything while taxes and regulations are seen as intrusions. Any benefits observed in society is attributed to the market or "the Invisible Hand". Anything that cannot be solved by the market, should not be interfered with by Government and must remain a problem until the market fixes it. They do not believe it is morally right for the state to interject itself in affairs for the sake of service to citizens. What this means is that Libertarians opt out of taking responsibility for outcomes whether those outcomes are increasing unemployment, environmental devastation, illiteracy, poverty/destitution/economic displacement.
I think the best thing is for people like us who are passionate about politics to spread that passion and our belief that the system can do good. Libertarians and republicans have poured billions into demonizing government, with great success. The effect has been less engagement in politics by the electorate and high levels of civic disengagement and ignorance - people not understanding how a bill is passed, what the different branches of government do, the limits of presidential power thus unable to detect when a president overreaches by executive fiat, FEC Laws and truly understanding how to change campaign finance laws as they currently stand, how to connect to activist groups in your community or make a difference locally. Literacy rates don't help either.
We're also in an information war where moneyed interests like the Mercers, the Kochs, are happy to weaponize AI and inflict harm through emotional exploitation - that is using people's cognitive errors against themselves. The Tea Party movement against "socialized medicine" was a good example of this, funding anti-climate, or climate "skeptic" think tanks and linking those views to "liberty" or "freedom from government" is another sleight of hand they've employed to devastating effect.
We have to create better memes, not employ rhetorical blunders that spite our efforts and keep our eyes on the prize. We're gonna have to fight like we've never fought before because this RW regressive shit is now global.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)lulzbertarianism can be seductive at first, until you really think about it.. or someone slaps some sense into you lol.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)pnwmom
(108,990 posts)JHan
(10,173 posts)seen this myself.
So it is starting there - young liberals need to speak out and engage them. I do my bit .
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)-- that they have swapped in pot for the "Jesus juice." Other than that, they're just a variation of Republicans.
bekkilyn
(454 posts)Libertarianism is great for 20 year olds (particularly the more privileged) because chances are they aren't going to get sick much and need health care, and are often still depending on their parents for a lot of stuff, so they don't need to depend so much on the rest of society for their basic needs when they find themselves in need of help.
But once you are more on your own and find out you can't do everything by yourself, Libertarianism is pretty awful.
A big problem is that some of those people never actually grow up because they've been lucky to never have anything bad happen to them, or they find some way to use Libertarianism to take advantage of others for their own gain, like the Randian GOP reps do.
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)compared to 2012. I think it was around 150 million registered voters in 2012 and that increased to around 200 million in 2016.
However, while the number who voted overall increased a small amount, the percentage of registered voters who actually voted plunged. In 2012 and prior, it was generally around 80% of registered voters that actually voted. In 2016, it was a shade under 70%.
So, while we definitely need to make sure that registered voters aren't wrongly purged, but we also need to make sure that people that are registered get out to vote.
I think it's also no coincidence that Democratic fortunes nationwide have tanked since ACORN has been defunded - they would have helped with both GOTV and making sure people are registered and/or not purged wrongly.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)I am not convinced they are the key to winning. But their organizing principles were different than most groups. I volunteered with them a bit before they were defunded. In my city, they worked in the most segregated and poor communities. Their organizers were there year-round and would bring issues in the community to the attention of elected officials. When elections came around, the communities were more trusting and more likely to turnout to vote. This, in turn, made politicians more receptive to their interests.
It seemed like a good system. Someone should call George Soros and get some money to do it again
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)Being registered to vote isn't enough; you have to have the ID. So while we had many new registrations, we also lost many voters with older registrations..
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... like voter-ID laws and (of course) gerrymandering.
oldcynic
(385 posts)Let's take lessons from them.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)Where y'all at? The GOTV will begin in earnest in September, fueled by a TON of interest from first time activist, but I have already done a few events this month and have more on the books.
We have multiple court cases wending their way through the appeals process that directly challenge voter suppression laws. That's why Gorsuch is such a complete disaster. Who knows what happens when they hit the Supreme Court. But we can't pin hopes on voter suppression going away as a result of the SC.
We are getting our asses whooped by the GOP. Hard, long and painfully. We are, in fact, losing the voter suppression battle. I hope the infusion of interest that Trump's election brings is enough, that it is not too late. But I have no way to know. People seemed excited after Obama won too, and then they poofed in the mid-terms.
Sorry to be depressing, but I do not believe that good GOTV will be enough to win these battles. No excuse not to do it, but I would not count on it as a magic bullet or an excuse to avoid building political coalitions.
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)We can't make the Supreme Court overturn these laws, but we can help people get their ID's, get registered, and get to the polls.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)In some states, ID is not required for absentee ballots. This is infuriating because absentee is the most prone to fraud, but because Republican voters often use this method, the GOP tries to avoid limitations. But that said, it means that we can use it too. It's easier to get an absentee ballot than a picture ID.
In states where they require ID for all voters, there has to be a free option, otherwise it is considered a poll tax. Many states then understaff DMVs and they are usually in places that are hard to get to if you don't have a car. Because WHY would you go to DMV if you don't have a car?
One of the problems is that the laws are always in flux. One court overturns, then on appeal, the next court upholds and then it gets appealed again. Texas just got overturned this week. It is hard to have a game plan since we never know what the law is going to be from week to week.
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)This is where some of our volunteer efforts should be going, I think -- in helping people get whatever ID's they need.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)Particularly when the rules are changing. They know it too.
In my state, NC, the moronic ex-governor's campaign randomly challenged a bunch of legit voters without researching first too. In fair turnabout, a voting rights group is now threatening to file criminal charges against the campaign for the false accusations. It is so ugly! They are bullies. I hope they take them to court, make others think twice before pulling that kind of stunt.
But yeah, it is basically a bar fight here in NC. And I will die before I will stop fighting them. I'm not the only one.
For anyone who wants to help but live in a safe state, NC NAACP spearheads much of the legal fight in my state. Donate here: https://naacpnc.nationbuilder.com/donate_now
Democracy NC fights the good fight. They are the ones holding NC GOP accountable for the false accusations. Give them some love here: http://nc-democracy.org/give/
2018 will be the year we re-elect out state representatives. Anyone in an adjoining states should come help with GOTV. If we beat them in 2018 and we can hold until 2020, Dems control the redistricting or GOP is forced to turn it over to a non-partisan group (my preference).
Wisconsin is also in the vanguard of battling gerrymandering and voter ID in the courts. Not sure what their state organizations are, but certainly they can use support too. Texas is fighting voter ID. Here are the rest: https://ballotpedia.org/Voter_identification_laws_by_state
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)TygrBright
(20,763 posts)mopinko
(70,197 posts)this is something that bugs me no end. we should really be investigating why people who think they are registered voters show up to vote, but get a placebo instead of a ballot.
do we ever follow up on that? not that i know of.
any voter who had their vote taken away should be assured that we think their votes count, and should be counted. regardless of the impact on that particular race.
we should do more to investigate shady results, too.
and everything else that you said.
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)mopinko
(70,197 posts)they register you for the next election. but i can see how it would deter someone from bothering next time, and have a ripple effect on others who feel like we dont really count the votes anyway.
i just feel like those ballots offer a lot of evidence of what is wrong w the process. who is being bumped and why. and how.
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)for registrations. But those who aren't registered don't have their ballots counted.
What Illinois does is a good idea -- make sure they're registered for next time.
JustAnotherGen
(31,869 posts)A slow loud clap!
Rec!
LisaM
(27,827 posts)Not just here, but by the media, the DNC, and the voters. Other than process, how do you explain the fact that people are holding office that don't share the views and values of most Americans?
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)Squinch
(50,993 posts)Yes yes yes yes yes yes!
BumRushDaShow
(129,376 posts)And because of this targeted voter disenfranchisement, folks eventually just "give up" and the GOP solidifies their power at the state level which allows them to control the redistricting for the federal level.
You see that reflected in a number of states like here in PA where gerrymandering and voter roll purges and Democrats running away from Obama in 2010, allowed the GOP to take over the entire State Assembly (gaining the PA State House in 2010). And with their also taking the governorship, ended up having them with the full power to decide the congressional districts. PA is a state that had (and still has) almost 1,000,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, yet the Congressional delegation is currently 13 GOP members & 5 Democratic members. It really should be closer to 7 Democratic and 6 Republican based on registration.
This kind of crap should not be happening but it is (PA-7) -
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,376 posts)and you said it well!
trc
(823 posts)There are those who believe that the dems failed to reach the middle America white male and there for we have to fix...something.
There is strong evidence that this election was in fact stolen through foreign and domestic collusion. There is research that now shows a strong racist/misogynist component to the orange one's base in the repug party. The repugs have gerrymandered districts and whole states to dilute the power of black and brown voters insuring rethug control of state governments. There is strong evidence that many of us were duped by fake news propagated by Russian bots in order to stop Hillary from winning (remember, Putin hates Hillary) and those who believed all the endlessly repeated email bullshit helped give him what he wanted. The real culprit here are those who had an agenda, that they believed to be the best bar none and as a result did not do due diligence on all "media" reports about Hillary. We claim the rethugs can't think their way out of a paper bag, but lets face it, there are some dems who have the same issue. Hillary won more votes than any white male in history, lost this election in three states by about 77,000 votes and somehow this means she failed miserably and we need to tear our party apart and reconfigure it to...what? Lets fix gerrymandering, lets fix voter suppression issues, lets destroy Interstate Crosscheck and we will win again. Until then support your local dems, really support those who have a chance to flip a district in a red state and lets work to make this country work for all of us.
Jolly Sapper
(19 posts)Dems across the nation at all levels also lost their races. Could be a huge voter suppression issue or it could give some weight to the idea that the Democratic Party is no longer viewed as party worth voting for.
delisen
(6,044 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)Bleacher Creature
(11,257 posts)pnwmom
(108,990 posts)Vogon_Glory
(9,127 posts)Democratic activists and candidates should tie the anti-abortion movement to attacks on the Affordable Care Act. Despite anti-abortion propaganda, the anti-abortion movement's favorite politicians are against both.
LexVegas
(6,091 posts)athena
(4,187 posts)what makes such people think that pro-choice women and minorities who have been thrown under the bus will still vote Democratic. And I can't imagine why an anti-choice or racist person would vote Democratic when they can vote Republican. It's not like the Republican party is pro-choice and pro-minority.
Throwing women and minorities under the bus is motivated by one thing, and one thing only: bigotry. There is no other logic to it.
Cha
(297,532 posts)All three elected staunchly conservative governors during President Obamas terms. All three implemented voting restrictions that affect millions of people. President Obama won all three states in 2008, and won all but North Carolina in 2012, while Hillary Clinton lost all three of those states this year.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890
The repub govs in all the states were busy wiping out Voting Rights.. Especially Wisconsin and Florida.
Thank you, pnwmom.. For shining a Light on it!
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)loveandlight
(207 posts)IronLionZion
(45,514 posts)Voter Suppression goes much deeper. It's in the laws of many states and the other party has noticed considerable benefits from stopping our party from voting.
Here are some of the things our party is addressing. Tom Perez considers this a main issue that DNC leadership is fighting in the courts.
https://www.democrats.org/issues/voting-rights
Registering voters is great. The Republican spin machine has been out there claiming that people registered in two states is proof of voter fraud. We know those are different things but average conservatives think that is enough evidence to support voter suppression tactics like purging voter rolls of anyone who looks like a convicted criminal or anyone with similar (black or brown) names.
If they could think of a way to stop educated white single women from voting they would do it immediately. I'm sure many of them want to repeal the 15th and 19th amendments to the constitution as "job killing regulations".
dlk
(11,575 posts)Until there is sweeping reform, voter suppression exists. Why not direct Democratic resources toward assisting needy voters with purchasing the required ID, if that's what it takes?
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)If people need ID's, then we should be making sure they can get them, even if we have to donate money to help.
lark
(23,147 posts)We WON, but once again the election was stolen by the oligarchs, only this time it was in cooperation and collusion with Russia, so it was an illegal and treasonous act. Changing our message is not what we need to do. Dems will never win by being Repug lite.
Paladin
(28,271 posts)Walk away from our core Democratic principles, in a vain effort to attract some of trump's white racist base? To hell with that.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)Right on.
On the bright side. there is a new movement of activism in this country right now. It took the disaster of the Trump election to wake a lot of people up.
niyad
(113,527 posts)mikehiggins
(5,614 posts)These are the kinds of programs the DSC should be implementing now.
Attacking gerrymandering is vital but attacking the voter suppression threat is, or should be, our main concern. It doesn't matter how progressive or unified this Party is if our voters are systematically kept from voting AS HAPPENED IN 2016.
niyad
(113,527 posts)rights, MY body, MY autonomy, can be sacrificed in order to appeal to some cretin. I don't care which party that person belongs to. and the justifications and rationalizations coming out of the mouths of supposed liberals, progressives, what-have-you, are beyond disgusting.
Jopin Klobe
(779 posts)... because the people who "pay their bills" don't want them to ...
MadDAsHell
(2,067 posts)to worry about something silly like registering voters.
We can get 1000 people to show up and set fires at Berkeley over a speaker, but we can't get people to show their asses up at the ballot box.
Until this mentality ends, we will always lose.
lexington filly
(239 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Assuming all this caging and exclusion and BS ID laws are affecting the ability of people to vote, AND once you've been allowed to vote (given the anonymity of the ballot once created, hence there's no way to 'discard' improper votes after the fact) ... where is the outcry from the people who went to their polling place on Election Day, prepared to vote, believing they had the legal right to do so ... who were then turned away?
Why haven't these people RALLIED, and ORGANIZED, and made some attempt to get RECOGNIZED ... for having their franchise taken away?
If it affected so many ... where the hell ARE these people?
And why don't they DO SOMETHING?
I'm here to tell ya, if *I* had been turned away despite feeling *I* had a legal right to vote, I'd be raising holy hell.
I've seen very very little from anyone who was personally affected by these GOP shenanigans that we all believe was so incredibly impactful and profound ... of course I don't trust the MSM to report any of this shit, but where are all the stories on DU of people being turned away at the polls? Where are they on Kos? HuffPo? RawStory? MediaMatters?
Friggin' Anywhere?
The people that run the elections cannot just discount your vote after they let you do it, so these people's votes could not have been thrown out 'after the fact' and 'without their knowledge' ... unless they were all just allowed to vote provisionally, and decided that 'that was enough for them' even though those votes are basically never counted.
And if THAT were the case, given we're talking <80K votes in MI, PA, and WI that swung the election, why hasn't OUR SIDE raised holy hell over validating and counting all Provisional Ballots in at least these 3 states? If the BS the GOP pulled was as profound as people make it out to be, couldn't there be +80K net 'valid' Hillary ballots in the entirely of the 3 states that are in question?
Anyways ... where are the affected people?
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)Those who don't have driver's licenses and who would have to make the biggest effort to get one -- or to fight for their rights.
But on election day I heard many stories of people being turned away from polling places, especially in North Carolina.