Obama Calls Out the GOP for Voter Suppression

Good morning, family. Yesterday, President Obama spoke at the National Action Network National Convention. The President called a spade a spade. He called the Republicans out for suppressing the black vote. The Grio reports that:

In an unsparing critique of Republicans, President Barack Obama on Friday said the GOP is threatening voting rights in America more than at any point since the passage of the historic 1965 law expanding rights at the ballot box to millions of black Americans.

“The stark simple truth is this: The right to vote is threatened today,” Obama said in a fiery speech at civil rights activist and television talk host Al Sharpton’s National Action Network conference.

The election-year warning comes as Obama seeks to mobilize Democratic voters to fight back against state voting requirements and early balloting restrictions that many in his party fear will curb turnout in November. The president vowed that he would not let the attacks on voting rights go unchallenged, but offered no new announcements of specific actions his administration planned to take.

The president pinned efforts to curb access to the ballot box directly on the GOP, declaring that the effort “has not been led by both parties. It’s been led by the Republican Party.”

The President spoke the truth. Republicans supported striking down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act ("VRA"). As Think Progress reports, "the Republican attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court arguing that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional." In Shelby County v. Holder, it was Republican appointed Supreme Court Justices who decided to strike down Section 4 of the VRA. Moreover, all around the country, the GOP is deliberately attempting to suppress black voters and other voters who tend to vote for Democrats.

The New York Times reports that:

Republicans in Ohio and Wisconsin this winter pushed through measures limiting the time polls are open, in particular cutting into weekend voting favored by low-income voters and blacks, who sometimes caravan from churches to polls on the Sunday before election.

Democrats in North Carolina are scrambling to fight back against the nation’s most restrictive voting laws, passed by Republicans there last year. The measures, taken together, sharply reduce the number of early voting days and establish rules that make it more difficult for people to register to vote, cast provisional ballots or, in a few cases, vote absentee.

In all, nine states have passed measures making it harder to vote since the beginning of 2013. Most have to do with voter ID laws. Other states are considering mandating proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or a passport, after a federal court judge recently upheld such laws passed in Arizona and Kansas. Because many poor people do not have either and because documents can take time and money to obtain, Democrats say the ruling makes it far more difficult for people to register.

In sum, the President's assessment of the GOP is accurate.

The question is what are we prepared to do combat the GOP's voter suppression efforts. In addition to gathering evidence and filing lawsuits, we must combat voter suppression through intensive voter information and registration campaigns. We must ensure that all African American voters are aware of all new voter laws in their state. We must register record numbers of African American voters and inspire them to actually vote. While we inform the public and register new voters, we must continue to boldly define and vigorously push a black agenda. We must support or oppose politicians based solely on their demonstrated commitment to our agenda.  We cannot afford to vote for candidates based solely based on party affiliation. Our agenda must be primary, first and foremost.

Mitt Romney's Token Negroes Address the RNC

As reported in the Root,

That rainbow coalition of onstage GOP stars is scheduled to include in part: Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state whose boss, George W. Bush, is conspicuously absent from the proceedings; Mia Love, an African-American Mormon from Utah who is running for a U.S. congressional seat; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a purported finalist to join Romney on the ticket before Ryan was named to the second spot; a gubernatorial trio of Nevada's Brian Sandoval, New Mexico's Susana Martinez and South Carolina's Nikki Haley; and Artur Davis -- an African-American former Alabama officeholder, Democrat and Obama supporter -- who is a chief talking point for Republicans challenged on their diversity bona fides. (Missing is a favored son businessman Herman Cain, who rose high before flaming out during primary season.)

But it's doubtful that the multiethnic tableau will be duplicated in the sea of delegates shouting "USA, USA." That's been the case for years at conservative gatherings where -- despite featuring the song stylings of a Chaka Khan (at the 2000 convention) or the occasional gospel choir -- minorities, particularly African Americans, are also greatly in the minority.

In the Washington Post, African American Republican Raynard Jackson writes:

This is the fourth Republican convention that I have attended, and it is by far the least diverse. I now know what America would look like if all
(Mark Wilson - Getty Images) blacks and other people of color mysteriously disappeared. Reporters have been calling me, practically begging me to find them some blacks to interview for their various media outlets. Is this really the 21st century? I have not been showered with this much attention since I was a little baby!

But even more alarming than the lack of blacks as convention attendees, delegates or Mitt Romney staff members is the lack of blacks in the pipeline to be future party operatives.

Since there are so few African Americans at the Republican National Convention, people have started counting how many black people are attending. On Twitter, people are using the hash tag #negrospotting to describe that phenomena.

The GOP is largely a white, male, Southern political party that is openly hostile to the interests of African Americans, Latinos, women, the elderly, the middle class, the workers and the poor. No flowery speeches from Mitt Romney's token Negroes will change that ugly reality.

Judge Allows GOP to Suppress Minority and Elderly Voters in Pennsylvania

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As reported in the Washington Post,

A Pennsylvania judge Wednesday allowed a Republican-backed law requiring voters to show IDs to go into effect starting this Election Day, a setback for Democrats and civil rights groups who contend that such laws could deny many Americans the right to vote.

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said those challenging the law had failed to prove that it violates the state constitution by denying voters’ rights. He also disputed the challengers’ predictions of the number of voters at stake and said there is still time for those without proper ID to acquire it...

Supporters of recent laws passed by several Republican legislatures requiring voters to show IDs say the measures protect the integrity of the electoral process by making sure only qualified voters cast ballots.

Democrats and minority groups counter that the restrictions are likely to disenfranchise voters — often minorities, the poor and elderly, those who live in urban areas and others who may not have the type of photo ID required....

Cases of voter impersonation fraud — the kind that would be stopped by photo ID laws — are exceedingly rare. Pennsylvania acknowledged that such fraud had not occurred in the commonwealth, nor was it likely to occur in the coming election, even without the law.

The bottom line is simple. The Republicans realize that they probably will not win the Presidential Election on the merits.  So what do they do?  They do everything in their power to suppress voters who tend to vote Democratic.

Their primary targets are African Americans, Latinos, the poor and the elderly.  A disproportionately high percentage of African Americans do not have the required government issued photo IDs.  Many elderly African Americans born were in rural areas during the Jim Crow time period and do not have birth certificates. Consequently, it is difficult if not impossible for them to get government photo IDs.  For those who are poor or on a fixed income, paying for a government photo ID or a birth certificate is basically a poll tax.  No one should be forced to choose between eating and voting.

Instead of just complaining about the problem, progressives must step up their efforts to ensure that all citizens have the necessary photo IDs and documentation.  We must intensify our voter registration, mobilization and education efforts.  If we don't, over 700,000 people in Pennsylvania alone may be disenfranchised. 

Romney Gets Booed at the NAACP National Convention

I just finished listening to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney address the NAACP National Convention. As I predicted, he talked about high unemployment in the black community and "school choice".

For him, free enterprise is the answer to all of America's problems. By free enterprise, he means de-regulation and low taxes for the rich corporations and people. He means trickle down economics. Those policies are not the solution. They are the problem. Those failed policies gave us the mortgage foreclosure crisis and soaring unemployment. Those policies gave us the recession.

During his speech, Romney condemned teacher unions and advocated for more charter schools. Schools in the inner cities are poorly funded and low performing. That is a problem that must be addressed. Although some charter schools may help some students, charter schools are not the solution to education disparities. In fact, charter schools and vouchers take away resources from our public schools. Instead of creating more charter schools, we need to ensure that all schools have equal funding and resources. Speaking of education, I wish I could have asked Romney about his views on affirmative action and the Fisher v. the University of Texas case.

Before this predominately African American, pro-Obama crowd, Romney again called for the repeal of Obamacare. Mitt Romney has not presented a viable plan to insure the uninsured. He has not presented a valid alternative to reduce medical insurance premiums. So yeah, I'm glad that the crowd booed him when he said that nonsense.

As if that wasn't enough, Romney had the audacity to declare say, "If you want a President who will make things better in the African American community, you are looking at him." Then, he proceeded to lecture us about family values. Unbelievable! Why do politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, constantly lecture black people about family values? They do not talk to any other group of people that way.

Mitt Romney ended his speech by mentioning scripture and the equality of all people. At that moment, I wish could have asked him about Mormonism. I would have asked him about Mormonism's racist beliefs.  According to Mormon scripture, black people are cursed and inferior. I would have demanded to know if he supports those views. I would have asked him how does his religion impact his policy decisions.

Frankly, I wonder why Romney even came to the NAACP National Convention. He certainly did not come to the Convention to win over black voters. For the most part, that is a mission impossible.