When Poor People Vote, Democrats Win

“Filmmaker” James O’Keefe, the guy who ambushed ACORN, has been asked why he went after the community organizing group.

He told the New York Times:

James O'Keefe, one of the two filmmakers, said he went after ACORN because it registers minorities likely to vote against Republicans.

Karl Rove must be so proud.

Here’s the entire O’Keefe quote from the Washington Post:

O'Keefe described himself as a progressive radical, not a conservative, he said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives that turn out poor African Americans and Latinos against Republicans.

A “progressive radical, not a conservative”? Really? Umm, bullshit. In college he was the editor of Rutgers University’s conservative magazine and went after Planned Parenthood with the same “gotcha” tactics. Sorry, MSM: the guy is a Republican Party activist, not a “journalist.” He's certainly not a “progressive radical.” It would be nice if someone in our glorious media were to notice who and what O’Keefe is, instead of disguise his coup as some sort of journalistic endeavor.

But hey, who’s into labels, anyway?

Meanwhile, as the MSM covers this story they might want to remember the many cases of Republican voter registration criminality. From the memory hole:

SACRAMENTO — Dozens of newly minted Republican voters say they were duped into joining the party by a GOP contractor with a trail of fraud complaints stretching across the country.

Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed.

"I am not a Republican," insisted Karen Ashcraft, 47, a pet-clinic manager and former Democrat from Ventura who said she was duped by a signature gatherer into joining the GOP. "I certainly . . . won't sign anything in front of a grocery store ever again."

Yes, that would be the handiwork of Republican Marc Jacoby, who ultimately pled guilty to voter registration fraud. He got probation.

Closer to home we had Nathan Sproul’s Liberty Consultants, kicked out of Wal-Mart parking lots in Middle Tennessee:

Sproul’s Tempe, Ariz.-based Sproul & Associates was paid about $7.9 million by the RNC for consulting and voter registration drives in the 2004 election cycle, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Former Sproul canvassers came forward in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Oregon to say they were told to register only Republicans and to walk away from people who said they intended to vote for Democrat John Kerry. Some said completed Democratic registration forms were thrown out or ripped up.

That didn’t stop the McCain-Palin camp from hiring them in 2008:

That Sproul would come under the employment umbrella of the McCain campaign -- the Republican National Committee has also separately paid Lincoln Strategy at least $37,000 for voter registration efforts this cycle -- is not terribly surprising. Sproul, who has donated nearly $30,000 to McCain's campaign, has been in the good graces of GOP officials for the past decade despite charges of ethical and potentially legal wrongdoing.

But let’s talk about ACORN some more!

Then we have this fraudulent exercise from 2002:

When voting began Nov. 5, McGee's plan worked like a charm. For two crucial hours, an Idaho telecommunications firm tied up Democratic and union phone lines, bringing their get-out-the-vote plans to a halt. The effort helped John E. Sununu (R) win his Senate seat by 51 to 47 percent, a 19,151-vote margin.

The Republican operatives behind that scam were convicted.

These are actual cases of fraud and voter suppression. Real laws were broken. And yet, Lincoln Strategy Group continues to operate while ACORN’s isolated misdeeds have been non-stop news fodder for days. Remind me, who rules their world?

We know why ACORN was taken down: O'Keefe bluntly admitted what liberals have been alleging for years. When poor people vote, Democrats win. And lord knows, we can't have that.

(h/t Attaturk).

I'm Sure The TNGOP Would Agree

The Republican National Committee has decided it wants to be the pro-slavery party:

On May 21, 2009, the RNC tweeted an out of context quote from Barack Obama regarding a flaw in the constitution. The "fundamental flaw" Barack Obama was referring to was slavery.

Remind me, to which party did Abraham Lincoln belong?

Absolutely hilarious.

UPDATE:

Et tu Boehner?

Name-Calling

This is so stupid, I almost feel sorry for them:

A member of the Republican National Committee told me Tuesday that when the RNC meets in an extraordinary special session next week, it will approve a resolution rebranding Democrats as the “Democrat Socialist Party.”

HA HA HA HA HA. Yes, that’s me, laughing at you. The party of no ideas has disintegrated into name-calling children throwing playground taunts. Note it’s “Democrat” not “Democratic,” to be extra insulting.

Wow, you sure showed us! That’ll teach us to win elections!

It just boggles the mind that a bunch of grown men and women who are supposedly Very Serious and who are tasked with doing the people’s business would spend time their time crafting a resolution like this and then actually voting on it.

Michael Steele Pink Slip Watch, Week 2

Uh-oh. This can’t be good news:

Steele May Face No Confidence Vote

Republican insiders tell Political Wire that a no confidence vote on RNC Chairman Michael Steele is likely to be called after the NY-20 special election on March 31 -- regardless of whether Republicans win the seat or not.

Katon Dawson, who came in second in the January RNC vote, is said to be quietly organizing a vote and is getting the support of several state party chairmen who want to dump Steele.

Tick tock.

(h/t, Kleinheider.)

Dump Michael Steele Watch, Day 1 Update

Politico’s Roger Simon reports:

Which is why one top GOP strategist was recently quoted as saying of Steele, “If his implosion continues, RNC members are likely to call a special session to dump him for an effective chairman.”

Why, what’s this? The Hill reports, "RNC member calls on Steele to quit”:

Michael Steele should resign as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, according to a committee member from North Carolina.

In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina's national committeewoman, said Steele is "eroding confidence" in the GOP and that members of his transition team should encourage him to step aside. Fisher added Steele's personal e-mail address to the e-mail.

"I don't want to hear anymore [sic] language trying to be cool about the bling in the stimulus package or appealing to D.L. Hughley and blacks in a way that isn't going to win us any votes and makes us frankly appear to many blacks as quite foolish," Fisher wrote.

So who is Dr. Ada Stele? Talking Points Memo has the goods. Some interesting background info there.

Did I say Steele would last until June? Let's say May 1. Republicans in disarray!!!!

Dump Michael Steele Watch, Day 1

Republican “insiders” are concerned:

A number of Republican politicos around Washington, many of whom supported Steele's bid to become party chairman, are worried that key jobs at the RNC are unfilled and the party's mission is unfocused, while Steele makes appearance after appearance on television, with sometimes controversial results. The result, they say, is a party that is losing its already scant momentum at a critical time.

[....]

"I think it's been a disaster of a first month," says one Republican who has served on Capitol Hill and the RNC. "He needs to disappear for 60 days, go and staff the building, put his personal energy into making sure he has the people he wants, and go from there.  That's what people are hoping he will do."

"It's not good," says another GOP politico.  "People feel that it's been very erratic at a time when we really need some sort of stabilizing force."

Read the comments on that link, they are illuminating.

Michael Steele: Looks Great, Less Filling

Nashville’s own Carol Swain, Vanderbilt political science and law professor and recent appointee to a six-year term on the National Council on the Humanities, just met new RNC Chair Michael Steele in Washington.

Dr. Swain, who is African American, has made a scholarly specialty out of race relations, immigration and diversity issues. A self-described political independent, she’s staunchly pro-life and has attacked Planned Parenthood in editorials. She is also against affirmative action, and her views toward immigrants are harsh, to say the least.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see her gushing about her Steele-y encounter on a local news group:

"I'm sooooo excited about Michael's election. In fact, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work helping him diversify the Republican Party.

"Clearly, the Republican leadership has sent a strong message of inclusiveness to racial and ethnic minorities. Alas, much of the mainstream media have not given this historic event the coverage it deserves. If Michael is successful, it could prove to be a New Deal for all Americans. Perhaps, we will finally have real choice, fresh vision, and new direction for this country.”

Whoa there, Dr. Swain! It’s not like he’s president or anything! The only new direction he can offer is for the Republican Party, and I've got my doubts.

One doesn’t have to be too cynical to point out the obvious here. Steele was picked because the Republican Party wanted to put a good face on the party, the right sort of face, if you know what I mean, just as Sarah Palin was picked because the McCain campaign wanted a woman. And it will surely backfire if the Republicans can’t find the right message to back up the messenger.

Unfortunately for the GOP, the party is trying to convince everyone that “Barack The Magic Negro” is not a racist song and “The Star Spanglish Banner” is not anti-Hispanic. So, you know, good luck with that.

As for that “strong message of inclusiveness,” I’m a little suspicious of a guy who first came to our attention calling for the whaaaambulance over a bogus Oreo cookie throwing incident.

The selection of Steele highlights a more profound problem for the Republican Party. They seem to think Obama won the election because he’s black, not because people were sick and tired of eight years of Bush policies. Sorry guys, but Obama won in spite of race, not because of it.

Wrote Thomas Schaller over at Salon:

Charles Kessler, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and editor of the Claremont Review of Books, told me by phone from California that some conservatives had lost touch with core principles because of a mistaken belief that they've already won the battle for the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens.

"Both the party and the conservative movement have bought into the notion that this is a center-right country, that the majority of the country is already conservative, that we don't have to persuade them to be conservative because they already are," said Kessler. "That may have been true when Reagan was president, but it's not a permanent truth and it doesn't seem true to me now. I don't think Bush or the party tried to really persuade people toward conservatism."

So when Marsha Blackburn writes an op-ed for the local fishwrap repeating the same tired line that tax cuts and only tax cuts will stimulate the economy, I have to think this is a party completely out of ideas. We had eight years of tax cuts and that sure didn’t do jack shit for the country, did it? All of the deficit spending she and the rest of her ilk bemoan was stuff she voted for: the Yellow Elephant Brigade’s wars.

You know, if we hadn’t squandered a few trillion in Iraq we might have some money to spend on things like highway bridges and levees and healthcare here at home.

Michael Steele’s latest is to tell Wolf Blitzer, "Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job." Really? The government is the largest employer in this country, which you’d think someone who has actually been in government would know. I guess that statement was just made for a bumper sticker, like so much else that one hears from Republicans these days.

Americans went to the polls in November and screamed loud and clear that they wanted to do things differently for a while. And all the Republican Party heard was “hey, let’s give the keys to a black guy.”

Typical.

Sorry Dr. Swain, but I wouldn’t be waxing enthusiastic over Michael Steele. The Republican Party needs to change more than its skin color.