Are they just parroting Democrat’s complaints over the last two elections to confuse the issue of election fraud by election officials with that of voter fraud, supposedly perpetrated by voters? Of course they are. But there is a much more significant reason behind this tactic.
Republicans are hoping to dampen turnout, purge voter rolls, block access to a sufficient number of voting machines in Democratic districts, and are generally working hard to muck up the works of the election. They are hoping that if they lose, these tactics will ensure that they lose by a slim margin.
This is where ACORN comes in. Fox News and the McCain campaign are setting the stage to preemptively delegitimize an Obama presidency. They can read an electoral map, and they see states they had counted on slipping from grasp. They are desperate, hence the talk of terrorists and the constant din of “voter fraud”, before the election even happens.
WIEHL: “It is a big story now, and it'll be a bigger story two weeks from now if it is a tight election. If we're talking about, you know, the difference between 200,000 registered voters.”
O'REILLY: “Why is it a big story? Why is it a big story?”
WIEHL: “Because if these -- if ACORN and these other groups have actually registered people that either A, don't exist, or re-register and then have them come in, voting 17 or 20 or 78 times, that if in a close election, that is the election, Bill.”
Apparently, the Republicans want you to believe that individual Democrats can register to vote 78 times in a single election. The Republicans don’t believe any such thing is actually possible, they just want their base supporters to believe it. Don’t take my word for it, just try registering to vote 78 times in your district and see what happens.
As you may recall, the Republicans tried, and to some extent succeeded, in derailing any plans Bill Clinton had for Health Care reform, or just about anything else during his presidency by their relentless and mostly unjustified attacks on him (Whitewater, FBI-gate, File-Gate, Travel-Gate, etc., etc.).
I can guarantee you that they are gearing up for a repeat performance. They will do anything they can think of to smear Obama, and delegitimize his presidency before it even starts.
The time between the election and inauguration will be a non-stop attempt to undermine an Obama administration, starting with charges of voter fraud, and the stealing of the 2008 election. If Obama wins the popular vote by less than the number of voters registered by ACORN (1.3 million by one count), the Republicans will cry foul, and won’t let up.
There is one way to help stop this despicable, anti-Democratic tactic in its tracks. Don’t boycott the upcoming vote no matter how much you don’t trust Obama to be a true progressive. Give him the benefit of the doubt for now, otherwise you are just aiding the Republicans in their underhanded deeds. If Obama wins in a hands-down landslide, the accusations of voter fraud will fall flat. They will sound like what they are, sour grapes.
I understand progressive’s concerns about Obama after his switch on FISA, but that was a tactical move to try and stop the constant criticism of him being the most liberal Senator in Congress. You can’t get elected in the general election if the Republicans successfully brand you as a hard-core liberal (i.e., “a socialist” in McPalin speak).
I am urging everyone, even those of you who say they are going to boycott the election, to set aside your anger and frustration, and vote this election. Not voting will not be registered as a protest, since most people don’t vote. You will just blend into that background of the unconcerned, non-voters.
An Obama landslide will be the clearest message you could possibly send to the Republicans, who are doing everything they can to suppress voter turnout.
Once the Republicans are out of power, we can all start working on getting more progressive candidates into office in 2010. If McCain wins, and Congress remains split, we can’t do anything.
