No one has ever lost votes by underestimating the paranoia of the American people

There are several layers to the Voter Suppression Movement, but I think Tony Auth does the best job of getting to the heart of the matter.

Both Keith Knight ...

... and Lee Judge ...

 ... question the GOP's priorities, but that doesn't really cut to the heart of the matter. In fact, it kind of ignores the logic behind the move.

The movement to "verify" voters is part of the conservative move to court and enhance the paranoia that lies behind their "silent majority" approach.  That is, of course, fully in line with the "gotta have guns to be safe" mentality.

Auth grabs the bull by the tail and faces the situation: It is basic old-school voter suppression. We've seen it before and now here it is again.

Doonesbury has been going after it all week, playing to the historic parallel with a "Jim Crow" character analyzing the movement as it exists in various states:

But I wonder if factual analysis and intellectual mockery has any potential as a remedy for this power grab?

There's something kind of New Yorkerish about that approach, something that summons up middleclass white suburbanites in suits, sitting around in their sunken livingrooms with glasses of chardonnay in hand, tut-tutting about how reprehensible it all is, when what you really need is to actively piss people off, not appeal to their delicate sensibilities.

I mean, if logic were going to win these fights, President Kerry would be wrapping up his second term, having faced down the Swiftboat Veterans with a calm response to their outrageous, ridiculous lies.

His failure then makes the "Glass of Chardonnay" approach even more pointless now -- the Kerry campaign proved beyond any doubt the ineffectiveness of saying, "Well, actually, in point of fact, if you look into the matter, I believe you'll find ..."

Using facts to appeal to logic? Talk about bringing a pocket knife to a gunfight!

We're dealing with people who are willing to believe that the president was born in Kenya and is a Muslim. And a socialist, though they haven't got the slightest idea what that means, except that it's bad. And who will forward watermelon jokes to each other and call Michelle Obama ugly, but don't have the balls to simply admit that they are racist and that their real problem with Obama is that they don't want a n***** in the White House.

You aren't going to persuade them that there aren't a huge number of illegal aliens tilting the elections, because, to them, anyone who doesn't look like them isn't a real American and shouldn't be allowed to vote.

And, more to the point, they truly believe that, if only real Americans had voted in the last election, we wouldn't have a n***** in the White House.

This latter theory being so congruent with their paranoid world view that, if you cite numbers to show the low incidence of voter fraud, they simply dismiss you as a liar.

It's a difficult matter, too, because there's an issue of crossing certain lines. When Michele Bachmann announces that some mainstream American Muslims are allied with terrorists, you can't face her down with logic because her posse don't do logic. On the other hand, if Hilary Clinton had simply commented that the woman is bat-shit crazy, she'd be condemned for losing her dignity.

In that case, the solution -- such as it is -- seems to be shaming moderate Republicans -- such as they are -- into not simply distancing themselves from her lunatic rants but into actively denouncing them.

And in this case, the solution may be to solidify the obvious and defensible link between the various "voter verification" laws, and the "literacy tests" and poll taxes that once conspired to suppress black votes in the Jim Crow south, thus shaming moderate Republicans into abandoning the screwballs, racists and paranoid powergrabbers.

That link might also bolster turnout for those who wish Obama had done a better job overall, but certainly don't want to have to go back to the lunch counters and fire hoses of a generation ago in order to re-establish a sense of national decency. If they won't come vote in favor of Obama, they still need to come vote in favor of voting rights.

In other words, appeal to their paranoia. If it works for the Republicans, why wouldn't it work for the Democrats?

Or maybe the Monkey Wrench solution is for everyone to show up on election day without ID, insist on signing an affidavit, and thereby force local officials to verify millions of ballots, one at a time.

Well, except that the Supreme Court could, under those circumstances, decide that actually counting the votes wasn't necessary.

We do live in scary times.

  

Comments

[Dave from Phila]

I don't have the yuppy lifetyle that you described, but I must confess I have not yet gotten involved in this year's election because of a sense of hopelessness. If a billionaire can sit down and write a $10 million dollar check to a SuperPac, what chance do I have to make a difference? Your blog is slowly, but surely, guilting me into getting involved.

[ddc]

'the solution -- such as it is -- seems to be shaming moderate Republicans'

I wish I were more confident that moderate Republicans exist. I would be hard pressed to identify any. They all watch Fox.

Also, I don't think they have any shame. Romney is a perfect example -- he may 'be' moderate, but he's not allowed to expresse it if he is. And Romney's sense of shame? yeah, right.

I'd like to see the press develop a sense of shame and ask Romney a follow up, or the same question rephrased when Romney responds with gibberish.

I absolutely agree with the column, however, and sorry for the length of the rant.

[ddc]

Forgot to include an example of a good follow-up: Chris Wallace, of all people, forcing Mitch McConnell to admit that Republicans have no alternative to the ACA.

[Mike Peterson]

Funny to see Chris Wallace and David Frum both turning into the voices of reason. Up to now, I thought they were simply there to be proof that genetics is not an exact science. (You have to have lived within range of Canadian television to appreciate the horror David Frum represented, until the rest of the world became even more outrageously cruel and heartless. Moreso than Wallace, if you knew the parent.)

[phred]

How about the Saul Alinsky approach: laugh at your opponents. If, during the Rush Limbaugh/birth control brouhaha, some prominent woman had said "what an appalling, vulgar, little man he is" ("little" referring to his soul), that might have changed the tone of the debate. Well, probably not, but it would have been fun to watch.

[Sherwood Harrington]

Another 4-bagger, Mike. Don't ever let nobody turn you 'round. (Not that I think that would even be possible.)

[Mary in Ohio]

When I began working at my current part time job in 2005, there was a couple who shopped there regularly, probably in their late 60's. They drove a Hummer, with a vanity plate :(Initials)-1. When the gas crisis hit, they switched to a Hummer Hybrid. Then, 2 or 3 years ago, they went to a Cadillac Escalade. Now their Escalade is sporting an eye-catching red, white and blue bumper sticker: "I'd rather have a Mormon for a president than a moron."

Now, I was no fan of George W. Bush, but even I seriously didn't think he was a moron. (I began teaching when the actual terms had IQ level definitions for the purposes of "special education" for one thing.) So I find it difficult to believe the main criticism of Obama is that he's "a moron." I think they just couldn't find a bumper sticker that said "n****r" on it.

On a related note, this fine elderly couple was in the store this morning buying - wait for it! - WATERMELONS! I bet the fiel' han's was havin a picnic at the Massa's!