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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLooks to me like the GOP get to keep blocking voters for 2014
Last edited Mon Nov 4, 2013, 10:51 AM - Edit history (1)
In places like Texas and North Carolina their draconian voter ID laws (with a big assist from the SCOTUS) look like they are doing what they are intended for. Keeping millions of eligible voters from voting.
The Democrats have such a big hurdle to leap now, between gerrymandered districts and the blatant voter obstruction that I fear retaking the House, even with a majority wanting a Dem House, is highly improbable.
They have cheated their way into having the upper hand in most of the races.
Yes, we must try our best, but we must acknowledge that they have been allowed to stack the deck.
The unfairness of the next election is glaringly obvious, well to everyone but the MSM and elected Democratic politicians, who remain silent about it all.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)That is going to be a big deal for 2014 and 2016.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)VA, ME and FLA. But if the GOP was not allowed to employ their fascistic tactics, we would reclaim the House. It's Third World "democracy" in may of those states. The Dems need 52% to 55% in many races to have a chance of winning.
It's like the Senate where 60% is now a simple majority. The GOP minority can win any vote with less than 50%.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Texas and North Caroline are not the United States -- they're Texas and North Carolina. Yes, there will be an uphill battle but not every state has decided to go back to Jim Crow.
The gerrymandering can be laid on the lap of the Democratic Party who couldn't find a place for Dean and his 50-state strategy and, instead, went back to the 6-state strategy. Too often Republicans run unopposed and that is from the municipal level on up. Why? Because the geniuses at the top of the Democratic Party allocate funds and resources to only a few races leaving the other 99% of the races in the country without any support whatsoever from the Party. The Republicans don't do that. How often does a Democrat run unopposed? Virtually never. Even if the Republican doesn't have a chance in hell of winning they at least put someone up. Not so the Democrats.
In the meantime, California has at least two Congressional seats in play next year and maybe more after the shutdown. There are others.
So, could you not ring the death knell quite yet and allow us to actually work and campaign and vote?
Thank you,
LTH
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)I hate when people give up before something has even started. Sheesh...
edhopper
(33,205 posts)should we blindly just ignore a major obstacle?
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)stating they have already won (and, by implication, we have already lost) a year before the election.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)to reflect what I was saying. I did not mean they will win in 2014, I mean they have won the battle over voting for 2014. And my fear is they will block enough voters to steal more elections.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)it tells us what we need to do...GOTV!
edhopper
(33,205 posts)it just pisses me off that we need well over 50% to win, to make up for the Dem voters who will be prevented from voting.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)nt
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Coyotl
(15,262 posts)Plus, your hyperbole is obvious, with "highly probable" and "most of the races." Plus, filing federal lawsuits and stopping these new laws isn't remaining silent.
You are pedaling falsehood.
wiggs
(7,788 posts)civil liberties groups, and by DOJ.
However, if I were a potential complainant, I might think it's better to wait a bit before bringing down a legal hammer. First, a bunch of people might be concerned enough to register, get IDs, get pissed off, or get active the more it seems new voter laws are a threat. Second, the closer we are to an election, the more likely a decision would take timing and election proximity into account. Perhaps.
But...I bet and I hope that lots of folks and groups are lining up strategies to stop an outrageously obvious effort to suppress the vote.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)the voter ID laws are in many States: Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Alabama all have ID laws, many very strict.
And I think I am particularly pessimistic today, the unfairness of it all is just getting to me.
I agree with Star Member Le Taz Hot that the democrats complacency has been a contributing factor.
But I want to remind people how much the redistricting advantage in States like Texas lead to the 1994 take over of Congress. (hint: a lot more than the Contract with America did)
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)edhopper
(33,205 posts)Or my whining about it?
We also might have to content with an unlimited money supply it the SCOTUS ends campaign contribution limits (which Scalia, Roberts, etc want to do)
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)edhopper
(33,205 posts)it's just I get crap on this board for being negative at times, but sometimes it's warranted.
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)the latest was for an anti Christmas thread