Florida Republican Chair Admits to Voter Suppression

From Huffington Post:

Jim Greer, the former head of the Florida Republican Party, recently claimed that a law shortening the early voting period in the state was deliberately designed to suppress voting among groups that tend to support Democratic candidates, the Palm Beach Post reports.

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told the Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only...‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us.’"

The HB 1355 law, which was passed by Florida's Republican legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in Nov. 2011, cut the number of early voting days from 14 to eight. It was
publicly sold as an effort to reduce voter fraud and to save money, but Greer says that this was simply a "marketing ploy."

Greer served as Florida's GOP chairman from 2006 until 2010 when he was forced to resign after allegedly stealing money from the party. He was arrested and his case is pending.
Scott's predecessor, Republican-turned-Independent Charlie Crist, resisted efforts from Republicans to shorten the state's early voting period, citing reasons that mesh with Greer's claims.

In an interview with The Huffington Post earlier this month, Crist said the new law is clearly aimed at curbing turnout among Democrats. 

"The only thing that makes any sense as to why this is happening and being done is voter suppression," he said.

Crist added, "People have fought and died for our right to vote, and unfortunately our legislature and this governor have decided they want to make early voting less available to Floridians rather than more available ... It's hard for me as an American to comprehend why you don't make democracy as easy as possible to exercise for the people of our state. It's frankly unconscionable."

Greer also acknowledged that the effort to restrict early voting would directly affect turnout among Florida's African Americans, a demographic that consistently supports Democrats.
“The sad thing about that is yes, there is prejudice and racism in the party but the real prevailing thought is that they don’t think minorities will ever vote Republican,” he told the Post.

Greer went on to suggest that there was "absolutely nothing" state Republicans wouldn't do in following their "absolute obsession with retaining power."

Parts of HB 1355 were overturned by a panel of federal judges in August, partially due to its anticipated impact on minority turnout. The three judge panel ruled that a "dramatic reduction in the form of voting that is disproportionately used by African-Americans would make it materially more difficult for some minority voters to cast a ballot than under the benchmark law.” 

The court's ruling, however, only affected five of Florida's 67 counties -- those covered by the section of the Voting Rights Act cited by the court in its ruling. The vast majority of Florida voters were subject to the shortened voting period.

Despite lines as long as nine hours on Election Day in Florida, Scott said he stands by the new law. "Well I'm very comfortable that the right thing happened," he told WKMG Orlando after the election. He later promised to order a review of electoral issues.

From Politics 365:

In a series of stunning public confirmations regarding the Florida Republican Party, minorities and new voter ID laws, former GOP party Chairman Jim Greer confirmed that party strategists met on voter registration strategies with the intent to suppress Blacks and Latinos from voting in Florida.

The former Florida GOP Chairman said, “There’s no doubt that what the Republican led legislature in Florida and Governor Scott are trying to do is make sure the Republican party has an advantage in this upcoming election by reducing early voting and putting roadblocks up for potential voters, Latinos, African Americans to register and then to exercise their right to vote.  There’s no doubt. I was in the room. It’s part of the strategy.”

Greer made the revealing confirmations last night on live television during an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton on his MSNBC show Politics Nation. His revelations were first revealed in a deposition in late July but yesterday was the first time he spoke on the matter on national television.

“It’s very sad what’s going on in the Republican party.  It’s very sad the Republican Party doesn’t want to win votes by talking about what it stands for.  It wants to ensure that some people can’t get to the polls, can’t register to vote.  Political strategists for the GOP can’t control what voters do in the voting booth but it can certainly try and control them ever getting to the voting booth and that’s what happened in Florida,” said former Republican Party Chair Greer in a stunning and revealing interview regarding Florida’s new voter ID laws.

When Sharpton asked Greer if he was in the room for strategic discussions regarding how Republicans could avoid a repeat of President Obama’s 2008 victory, Greer responded, “Absolutely.”

“In three and a half years as Chairman in Florida, I never had one meeting where voter fraud was discussed as a real issue effecting elections.  Never one time,” Greer told Sharpton.

Election Results 2012

Now that a couple of days have gone by and the exhilaration has partially subsided, and I've had time to pore over the results, here are some of the highlights:

Oh, wait a second.

PRESIDENT OBAMA WON! Whoo-hoo! He got his second term just as predicted, with well over 300 electoral votes!  And once Florida figures out how to count and its 29 electoral votes are added, the President will have a total of 332!  WOW! Another landslide! And that Regressive republican, lying, flip flopping, two faced, duplicitous, self-serving, robotic empty suit lost! WHOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!

Okay, now the exhilaration has subsided. For real. On with the results before another wave washes over me.

But before we get to the results, a word about Florida. Once again, the country shakes its collective head in disbelief at the idiots who run the only state that can't seem to accomplish an election on time like the rest of the country. We're like a third world nation. Soon we'll need UN observers to oversee our elections.

This is nothing more than counting, folks. It's what you learn in first grade. Do we need to bring back that bald geek with the giant bulging eyeballs who stared at the "hanging chads" back in 2000?

Once again, Florida was the state with the longest lines, the most chaos at the voting locations, and the only state that still hasn't figured out how to finish counting them. We need to get rid of the incompetents starting with the Regressive governor, who cut the number of early voting days in half and refused, when asked by the League of Women Voters and other groups, to add an extra day or two before election day.  And we need to rid ourselves of the Regressives in the House and Senate. They're getting paid for a job they can't do. Time for a pink slip.

Gone.

Now the good news: America said goodbye to many of the far rightwing fringe Teabaggers who were voted into power in 2010, like Angry Allen West.

Disgraced Col. Allen West of Florida has lost his congressional seat but is refusing to admit defeat and accept the fact that the voters booted him out. This is the guy who once said most of the Democrats in Congress were Communists. This is the guy who called Debbie Wasserman Schultz "vile". This is the guy whose irresponsible and violent actions in the military caused him to be relieved of his command, charged with three counts of aggravated assault  and fined $5,000. His military career was over, and he was allowed to retire the next year.

Goodbye Todd Akin, who made up the bizarre term, "legitimate rape."  He claimed a woman can't possibly get pregnant from rape because her body will magically "shut the whole thing down."

Goodbye Richard Mourdock, who said, "pregnancy resulting from rape is a gift from god; part of god's will."

Goodbye Deadbeat Dad Joe Walsh, who openly mocked double amputee, American hero and veteran, Tammy Duckworth.

HELLO Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat from Wisconsin, and first openly gay US Senator! She beat far rightwinger Tommy Thompson for a seat in the US Senate.

HELLO Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts!

and WELCOME BACK Alan Grayson, temporarily out of the US House as a Democratic Representative from Florida, replaced for 2 years by a far rightwing Teabagger, who was just voted back in by a 2-1 margin.

And my US Representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is also the Chair of the DNC, beat Karen Harrington (R) -- her perennial challenger who never seems to learn that we don't want her -- by a 2-1 margin.

Bottom line is President Barack Obama won re-election with about 100 more electoral votes than Willard Romney received -- and that number will rise further when Florida's 29 points are added to the score. And the Democrats picked up seats in the House as well as the Senate.

FOUR states voted in favor of marriage equality: Washington state, Maine, Minn, and Maryland.

Americans sent a loud message: We will not accept  the rightwing's race-baiting tactics, the despicable, constant lying, voter suppression and false narratives of a "lack of enthusiasm" on the part of Democrats and Obama supporters.  Make it more difficult and we show up in HUGE numbers.

The Regressive republicans' disaster from this past Tuesday has led to on-air meltdowns and temper tantrums from Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump, The Quitter from Wasilla, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Karl Rove, who, in Right Wing World, is somehow allowed run one of the biggest political PACS while simultaneously acting as a "Fox contributor and analyst", sitting on their set and offering "analysis."

The tape of Karl's shock and disbelief at President Obama's re-election is now legendary, having been played on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and run endlessly on all of msnbc's shows. I myself have gleefully rewound and watched it countless times!

This stems from all of Fox's mouthpieces refusing to accept the results of every political poll for the last couple of months. They live in their own world, separate from reality. All polls have shown that in almost every swing state, President Obama led Willard by several points. The rightwing mouthpieces have spent these last couple of months talking themselves into believing that every poll in the country was wrong and that Willard would not only win, but would win big -- taking almost every swing state by storm.

And then reality came along and hit them in the face like a snowball you didn't see coming.

The clip below shows Karl in denial so classic that it will be shown in psychology classes for decades to come. The rightwing echo chamber has so talked itself into its own set of "facts" that reality just couldn't possibly be true! And thus the meltdown, where Karl insisted that Obama hadn't won.  If we could just wait for more results to come in, why, Willard would be the winner and Karl would be vindicated! He even sent one of their blonde reporters down to the Room of Political Geeks to find out why they had pronounced "the wrong guy" as the winner. She dutifully walks off the set down to the Geek Room and is told that the stats show Obama won. And they say they're "99.95% sure of the results"! Further, most of the votes that had yet to be counted would come from highly Democratic precincts.

 It was hilarious. Watch Rove steadfastly refuse to believe what his own network  -- as well as every other network -- has projected.  And he does it while the Chyron graphic under his fat face exclaims,  "BARACK OBAMA RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT."

Priceless.

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Rove wouldn't accept reality because he spent about $400,000,000 of his rich donors' money and got nothing for it. Billionaire Sheldon Adelson also spent hundreds of millions in the Regressive republicans' primary and then spent more on Willard's campaign and got nothing in return.  Think these nice folks are furious right about now? LOL

This is a good thing. It shows that despite the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling -- allowing unlimited funds to a candidate's political PAC by any unnamed entity, foreign or domestic -- the voters cannot be bought.  And they weren't.

Now, the Regressive republican party has a big problem. Their base -- angry middle aged white men -- is a diminishing demographic.  Unless they reach out to women, gays, blacks and hispanics, they will continue on the road to extinction.  And that doesn't mean trotting out Condoleezza Rice at another convention, as if to say, "See?  We have 'one of them,' too!" It means coming up with legislation that will actually benefit those groups.

The problem is if they reach out to women, gays, blacks and hispanics, they will lose their base of angry old christian white men, because that base just happens to hate all those groups.

And now we Liberals can sit back and watch the Republican Civil War begin.  I can tell you right now, they don't get it. They never will. Their mouthpieces have already spent the last few days screaming about -- and blaming -- Hurricane Sandy, Chris Christie (for complimenting the President's quick, effective response to the hurricane), Candy Crowley, fact checkers, the media, and the polls. But they won't blame themselves, their attitudes, or their regressive legislation.

Alec Baldwin summed it up perfectly with a humorous tweet:  You know your party's in trouble when someone asks, "how'd the rape guy do?" And you answer, "which one?"

UPDATE:

President Obama has won the state of Florida, bringing his Electoral College tally up to 332.  Willard Romney ended up with 206.

President Obama addresses his staff.

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Last Day for Early Voting in Florida