By Cynthia Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, October 19, 2008
... But it’s quite unlikely that Mickey or Minnie or Goofy will be among the voters lined up on Nov. 4. So McCain’s hysterical outburst over a group of activists —- ACORN, he said, “may be destroying the fabric of democracy” —- needs to be understood for what it is: a distraction ...
Ever since the civil rights movement inspired large numbers of black and brown Americans to exercise their right to vote, Republicans have been engaged in efforts to keep them away from the ballot box. Way back in the 1960s, Arizona Republican William Rehnquist —- then a GOP activist, later the chief justice of the United States —- was accused of intimidating Latinos to try to keep them away from the polls. Many Republicans fought the “motor voter” laws, passed during the ’90s, that allowed state driver’s license bureaus to also register voters. Ease of access encourages less affluent Americans to vote, and Republicans fear that too many Democratic-leaning voters are in that demographic group ...
Georgia Republicans used to champion early voting because it was convenient for well-educated voters, especially in the GOP-leaning suburbs. But this year, black Georgians have accounted for nearly 40 percent of the early votes, a sign of the excitement over Barack Obama’s historic candidacy. Now, <Georgia Republican Eric> Johnson sees early voting as “a 30-day period of time when, if your goal is to undermine democracy, you’ve got 30 days to do it instead of one” ...
Don’t be fooled. Neither McCain nor Johnson is concerned about democracy. They’re worried about Democrats.
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