Notice Anything Strange?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Elections, Partisan HacksThis is a sample “Democratic” ballot passed out by homeless people shipped in from Philadelphia to work for the Republican campaigns in Maryland of Michael Steele and Robert Erlich.
And the Repubs aren’t even trying to disown it!
The glossy fliers bore photos of black Democratic leaders on the front. Under the headline “Democratic Sample Ballot” were boxes checked in red for Ehrlich and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele, who were not identified as Republicans. Their names were followed by a long list of local Democratic candidates.Nearly a week later, a fuller picture has emerged about how the plan to capture blacks’ votes unfolded — details that suggest the fliers, and the people paid to distribute them, were not part of a hurry-up effort but a calculated strategy.
Republican leaders have defended the Election Day episode as an accepted element of bare-knuckle politics. But for many voters, it shattered in one day the nice-guy images Ehrlich and Steele had cultivated for years.
I’m thinking more and more that we should pass a law in this country that if your campaigns are caught knowingly supporting such subversive tactics that you can never run for elected office every again. Enough of this crap. Done and done.
And by the way Republicans…you’re really having a hard time understanding why you don’t get the black vote in this country? Please…
This entry was posted on Monday, November 13th, 2006 and is filed under Elections, Partisan Hacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 13th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Yes, the black man needs protection from the those tricky Repubs. God I’m glad I’m not black, because if I were, my lilly-white liberal protectors would drive me to the brink of insanity.
November 14th, 2006 at 8:47 am
Here we go again with a gross glossing over and oversimplification of the question at heart…
November 14th, 2006 at 9:21 am
I would argue that this tactic is deceptive to not only blacks but all voters. DosPeros, your comment is condescending.
November 14th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Not as condescending as the paternalism displayed in the post, gal.
November 14th, 2006 at 10:29 am
I disagree, DosPeros. I live in MD and found it very interesting how much campaign literature filled my mailbox — mainly from Republicans who were very, very careful to never identify themselves as Republicans. Shady, perhaps, but not overtly deceptive. However, I think the “sample ballots” were a step over the line, no matter who they targeted.
November 14th, 2006 at 11:22 am
It is an integrity issue, not a race issue. I would whole-heartedly agree that it is shady (although I think it is protected by the 1st amendment). The last paragraph of the post, though, is just goofy.
November 14th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
It’s both an integrity and a race issue.
And yes, Republicans needn’t wonder why they don’t get the black vote when literature like this was being handed out in poor black neighborhoods. They think they can pull one over on under-educated black voters, but ultimately it’s a bad move because whatever votes they may get as a result of fraud, they’ll lose a 1,000-fold due to this information becoming public.
And by the way, how is paternalistic to call Republican operatives out for being so short-sighted? My point is that they need to appeal to the hopes and dreams in a certain voting block, not what they percieve to be their weaknesses.
November 14th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
Shorter DosPeros – yes, Republicans do have a hard time understanding why they don’t get the black vote.
November 14th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Nice. Yeah, you’re right…no paternalism there.
Look, JG, maybe P-Diddy will call you over to read the ballot for him, but he isn’t going to let you sit in the hot-tube with the hoochies and drink his Old-E.