#VoiceYourVote: Biggest Threat to Obama Isn’t Romney, It’s Stay-at-Home Black Voters

Voter apathy is not the sole province of black voters, but its effects are far more damaging. A 2009 Pew Survey showed that black turnout in 2004 was 60% and rose to 65% in 2008, just one-percentage point behind the 66% of whites that turned out to vote that year. Think about that. The very first time a Black candidate was a nominee from one of the two-major political parties, more than one-third of eligible Black voters still stayed home.Read the rest here.

Literacy Tests? REALLY Gov. McDonnell?

Gov. Bob ' The Civil War wasn't really about slavery' McDonnell, is up to his same bag of tricks.

From the Washington Post:

McDonnell in hot water over nonviolent felons' rights
By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 11, 2010

RICHMOND -- For the second time in a week, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has angered black leaders and civil rights groups, this time when they learned of his plans to add another step for nonviolent felons to have their voting rights restored.

McDonnell (R) will require the offenders to submit an essay outlining their contributions to society since their release, turning a nearly automatic process into a subjective one that some say may prevent poor, less-educated or minority residents from being allowed to vote.

"It's another roadblock," Sen. Yvonne B. Miller (D-Norfolk), a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said when she was told of the change.

Miller has repeatedly introduced unsuccessful bills to allow nonviolent offenders to have their rights restored automatically. "This is designed to suppress the rights of poor people," she said.

You understand that? You've paid your' debt to society', and on top of an application process, he wanted ex-felons to SUBMIT AN ESSAY. Just exactly WHO would be reading those essays? WHO was going to determine what WAS and WAS NOT an acceptable essay?

This is nothing more than an attempt to reinstate LITERACY TESTS.

Let me say it again, quoting Dennis Green:

THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE.

Plain and simple.

He thought that he could just roll on in and reinstate LITERACY TESTS, and folks would be hunky dory about it.

They really don't think Black folk can read. Or that we can comprehend what he is attempting to do.

This story came out on Sunday, by Monday night, he was backtracking, saying that this was just in the ' draft' stages, except for the not-so-small FACT, that WaPo and the Rachel Maddow show, produced LETTERS TO EX-FELONS telling them to send in their ESSAYS.

Then, once it was clear that his ass was busted on that, then Tuesday or Wednesday, he was blaming some low-level staffer.

You're not slick Governor. Folks can see you up close and personal.

This is about VOTER SUPPRESSION, plain and simple. That voting rights aren't restored automatically is a form of voter suppression.

Virginia turned BLUE in 2008, and these lowlife mofos are determined to 'correct' that in 2012.

He is EVERY BIT the right-wing nutcase that Town and other JJP posters warned us he would be. He hasn't disappointed one bit, cause nobody here was fooled by his extremism.

Rachel Maddow did 2 pieces this week on McDonnell and his backtracking on this issue.

This is from Tuesday's Show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is from Wednesday's Show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Getting Out the Vote and the Myth of the Stupid Voter

An important, highly intelligent and well-argued blog post at Open Left discusses the myth of "stupid voters" and the weaknesses of the Democratic Party in getting out the vote in elections. This is highly recommended reading. I would love to hear a response from an official Democratic Party official on it.

Key points made in the article:

Year in and year out, voter-discouragement is an important part of the ongoing Republican campaign.

The Democratic Party seems to fall asleep between elections, and it has been historically very poor at the kind of message development and dissemination done by think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, the Cato Foundation, the Heritage Foundation

Democratic voter-registration and get-out-the-vote efforts have been spotty at best, and it’s notable that the individuals and groups doing the best job of this (ACORN recently and Jesse Jackson a couple of decades ago) have been very little appreciated by the ruling group in the party.

Key quote:

The Democratic Party is a business like any other, and just as newspapers get their money from advertisers, and not from readers, the Democratic Party gets its money from donors rather than from voters. Bringing new voters from the lower orders into the party would almost certainly require policy proposals which would negatively impact the big-money people, and even if the Democratic Party started winning elections that way, the boodle coming in would be reduced, and boodle is what pays the mercenary pros at the party headquarters.

In large part this explains the constant refrain from the Democratic leadership: we’d like to do the right thing, but political realities make it impossible. The truth is that the Democratic leaders are very happy with the political realities and don’t want to change them. If it were "politically possible" to pass single-payer, for example, the Democratic Party would lose incredible amounts of money from key donors in the medical biz. Single-payer might make the voters ecstatically happy, but these happy voters are not at all likely to replace the money the party lost.

Some food for thought the next time you hear someone invoke the theme of "we agree with what you say in principle but what you want is politically impossible."

Obama and the Gender Gap

This map illustrates the gender gap in the 2008 Presidential Election. The darker the blue the larger the advantage for Obama among female voters.

Analysis
In just two states, Nebraska and Arkansas, did Obama receive fewer votes from women than men. In Arizona and Utah, Obama received the same number of votes from women and men.

The gender gap, or the pro-Democratic nature of female voters, is so common that textbooks regular include a discussion of it in chapters on voting and political participation.



The real question is, why?
Women perceive the Democratic Party to be more concerned with domestic issues that regularly affect their lives (i.e. education and health care). This is contrasted with a Republican Party that cares more about inanities such as zero-based budgeting that just don't resonate with Joanne Six-Pack (Ha! that was an awful line - I promise not to use it again).

And, here's another reason. The truth of the matter is that a clear majority of women are pro-choice. As long as the GOP is a bunch of men telling women what to do with their bodies, the GOP will be on the wrong side of this gender gap.

Should You Vote?

Economists, those rational devils, are fond of saying it is perfectly rational not to vote. Why do they say this? They'll claim that your vote really is not decisive, that are too much costs in the way of time incurred actually voting or figuring out which candidate/party to support. Plus, they'll say the marginal utility received in one candidate winning over the other is so small, that it doesn't really matter who wins. (You get the feeling economists need to get out of their office more?)

What economists can't adequately measure are two things. First, a sense of civic duty/obligation that most voters have. Second, they cannot measure the intrinsic value in participating in these annual (or biannual or quadrennial) exercises in the public good. True, your individual vote isn't likely to determine a election, but in the aggregate, if millions of us take that attitude (and unfortunately millions do), it can affect outcomes, and therefore policies, and therefore whether or not we go to war and a hundred other outcomes.

Go vote.

Republicans Attempting to Foreclose On The Right To Vote In Michigan

Talk about a double whammy. Voters in Michigan who have already gone through the difficulty of losing their homes, may now face the threat of losing their right to vote. This has to do with an effort by Republicans in Michigan to take advantage of the high numbers of foreclosures in the State. In order to register and vote, residents must have a permanent address. However, those who have lost their homes are obviously temporarily displaced. The Republicans are preparing lists of foreclosed homes.... in an effort to challenge voters on election day. They may also attempt to send mailings to these homes, knowing that the mailings will be sent back w/ "return to sender".... this could also be a pretext to disqualify voters. It should be no surprise that many of the targeted voters will be African Americans - standard M.O. for Republican strategists who use voter suppression to give Republican candidates an advantage.

However, there is no law requiring anyone to be a homeowner in order to vote. Many of these voters may not remember to re-register (with all the hectic and tragic events in their lives)....and Republicans may attempt to make it difficult for these voters to do so, even if they try. If these voters are temporarily living with family or friends, then that should suffice. But this is why we need national standards on voting... that would put an end to this kind of trickery. The current system of 50 separate and unequal voting systems is inadequate and leaves open too many opportunities for voter suppression, intimidation, caging, destroying ballots, disqualifying legitimate registrations and other trickery.

Democrats have had to file a lawsuit to stop Republican dirty tricks in Michigan.

Hear/Watch report from Democracy Now

Amy Goodman also talks with Professor Andrew Hacker about voter Suppression nationwide.

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A Few Previous Posts On This Topic

Watch an Excellent Video On Caging

McCain Camp Sends Out Bogus Ballot Applications

Rikyrah Posts About Voter Suppression

Are Americans Too Ignorant, Uninformed and Ideological?

Are Americans too ignorant, uninformed and ideological (xenophobic) to vote for their own best interests? I believe they are.... at least this seems to be the case for a slight majority of the American electorate.

Better funding for education and voter awareness programs could help, but this might take decades to show the kinds of results necessary to have a well informed electorate. And even with better education & awareness, there are other problems that seem to prevent Americans from "getting it right".

Video Bonus:




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Related Link

Young Americans Unable to Locate Iraq on a Map

Registering the Unregistered...But, Will They Vote?

This article details the success thousands of hard working volunteers are having in registering the unregistered. I recently across data suggesting that in 2004 only 70% of eligible blacks in Florida were registered and only 65% of eligible blacks in Ohio were registered.

HT: Scofield

Analysis
Registering those voters and getting large numbers of those voters to the polls will have obvious consequences, especially in states were outcomes in a host of races will be decided by just several thousand votes. Skeptics will say that increasing turnout will simply be a wash. Registering more Democratic voters will simply cancel out the higher number of registered Republicans.

Not so fast, my friend. Because many more of these previously unregistered belong to demographic groups (i.e. the young, the black, the beautiful) that currently trend Democratic, this has the potential to be decisive.

Obama Launches Vote For Change, A Massive 50-State Registration Drive

This informative post is by Jack Turner of Jack and Jill Politics. One of the main purposes of blogging is to try and share as much information as possible to as broad an audience as possible.


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Hey fam, sorry for such a late post. I've been traveling and am in San Fran for the weekend. If you want to meetup, I'm holding "office hours" Sunday afternoon in The Mission. Details here. Would be nice to put a face to some of your names.

Now, on to business.

I am relieved to begin the shift from primary to general election mode. With the Wrath Of The Math having been determined by voters in March and accepted by the media this week, with Rasmussen concluding there's no point (or money) in polling Clinton vs. Obama, with Hillary somehow one-upping her race-baiting beyond even my wildest dreams, let's move on.

One of the things I've appreciated most about Obama is his first-hand experience with and respect for grassroots organizing. I've been a part of it firsthand in VA, TX and PA, and this weekend, his campaign takes it up another notch with an unprecedented, massive, 50-state voter registration drive: Vote For Change

For those who didn't know, Obama ran ProjectVote in Illinois many years ago. Check this video for some background.




Here's the campaign's description of Vote For Change

On May 10th, Barack Obama is launching Vote for Change, an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. More than 100 events will be held across the country that day. Obama volunteers will register new voters as the start of a six-month voter registration drive.

We can change Washington if more Americans get involved, get registered and show up to vote on November 4th. If millions of new voters get involved, a powerful message will be sent to the special interests that dominate the old politics. This is an important time to find more people in your community to register to vote. To attend a May 10th Vote for Change launch event in your area, click on your state above.

Recent voter registration drives have registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 new Democrats in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers just scratch the surface of what's possible.

If you're a Democrat living abroad, you're included too!

Obama will run circles around John McCain. He's putting his effort where his mouth is and has already proven an ability to engage new people in the political process. What's starting tomorrow has the potential to be huge. Wherever you are, consider being a part of it.

There are millions of us who want more from our government and our politicians and more from ourselves. Help take that step and get involved. At a minimum, you'll meet some neighbors. That's how some revolutions got started. :)

Head to the Vote For Change site, and see what's up in your area tomorrow and beyond.


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This is the time to get active, folks.

Some people continue to be snide about Obama's 'Community Organizer' roots. But, others, like Marc Ambinder, seem to get the depth of what Obama is aiming to do:

Pay To Attention To Obama's Voter Registration Drive
08 May 2008 04:32 pm


The Obama campaign calls its "Vote for Change" voter registration drive a mere voter registration drive. Nothing to see here, folks, except for ordinary people helping ordinary people gain the franchise.

But it's more than that. The Vote For Change program will lay the foundation for Obama's general election get-out-the-vote efforts. Obama aides won't say much more, but I gather that the campaign is constructing an incredibly elaborate online interface to allow its more than a million donors and volunteers to directly persuade their neighbors through a variety of media. Names gathered from the voter registration effort will be merged with names gathered through Obama's primary efforts and the names off of the Democratic Party's integrated voter file as well as lists purchased from outside vendors.

On election day, Obama might have more than a million individuals volunteering on his behalf. That should scare the beejeesus out of the McCain campaign and the RNC.

YES.WE.CAN.