Huckabee Cracks Joke About Vote Suppression During GOP Rally, McAuliffe Upset

While campaigning for Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee jokingly made reference to voter suppression. He told supporters that it's "their job" to keep McDonnell opponents from the polls: "Let the air our of their tires ... keep 'em home. Do the Lord's work."

McDonnell's fans laughed, but Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe isn't amused. He sent a letter to his own supporters highlighting Huckabee's comments. "People died for the right to vote in this country," he writes, "and we have to protect it."

The full letter:

We just found out that while campaigning for Bob McDonnell, Mike Huckabee told a crowd of Republicans that if they know people who aren't going to vote for Bob, it's their job to "Let the air out of their tires" and "keep 'em home." He even called voter suppression "the Lord's work."

This is no joking matter. People died for the right to vote in this country, and we have to protect it.

The General Assembly recently debated election reforms to help prevent voter suppression. But when Republicans on a House of Delegates Subcommittee voted to kill those reforms in a back room, Bob McDonnell sat in silence. Now, when one of his most public supporters is encouraging voter suppression, Bob's sitting in silence again.

It's time for Bob McDonnell to do the right thing for a change. And I need your help to put the pressure on him.

Click Here to Tell Bob McDonnell to Stand up for Voting Rights and Support Reforms to Stop Voter Suppression.

Look, one of the reasons I got involved in politics is that I love getting people engaged in the democratic process. The only way our system works is if we make sure people aren't denied a chance to participate. That's just one of the reasons that in the wake of the problems we saw in Florida during the 2000 election, I founded the Voting Rights Institute when I served as chair of the Democratic Party - so we could take action against intimidation, election errors, and disenfranchisement.

But we need to do more to prevent voter suppression here in Virginia. To get the job done, we're going to need support from people on the other side of the aisle. That's why it's so important that you encourage Bob to get on board with election reform today.

Click Here to Tell Bob McDonnell to Stand up for Voting Rights and Support Reforms to Stop Voter Suppression.

Thanks,

Terry

Comments

[in4success]

01:35 PM on 04/03/2009

"do the right thing?"

this POS never had me fooled for a moment. a son that tortures innocent, defenseless animals for entertainment is all the father's character reference required.

[blueskybigstar]

12:39 PM on 04/03/2009

Experts on Democracy Now say that Obama's mandate was much greater than the votes suggest because of cheating by Republicans which denied Obama another seven million votes.

[newsmctado]

12:51 PM on 04/03/2009

I'm not disagreeing with you, but provide some sources (an article, these "experts", anything)

[in4success]

01:31 PM on 04/03/2009

history and being generally "informed" provide all the evidence you need.

[NJmikeV]

01:37 PM on 04/03/2009

I really like Amy Goodman, but 7 million votes? I'm sure that there was voter suppression,but we would need some evidence,lest we sound like the wingnuts on the right with their wild hyperbole.

[NJmikeV]

11:48 AM on 04/03/2009

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

[independent32955]

11:57 AM on 04/03/2009

amen to that brother.

[Georgia1992]

11:41 AM on 04/03/2009

Huck, you got it twisted. That's the Devil's work you're talking about.

[Apov]

11:32 AM on 04/03/2009

It is the work of the Lord of the Underworld, the Devil's work.

[Phaedrus21]

11:30 AM on 04/03/2009

Imagine what would have happened had Obama said this during the campaign. Fox News would be all over it, accusing him of fomenting civil unrest and voter fraud.

But, if you're a white preacher, it's okay.

[BigAl72]

11:13 AM on 04/03/2009

It will be the Lord's work when he shows Huck the boot in 2012.

[Meah]

12:26 PM on 04/03/2009

Yes, this video can be looped over and over. What a complete hy pocrite!

[jinxed]

02:46 PM on 04/03/2009

typical got to church on Sunday christian ... how did he ever become a minister? mr. huckabee seems to use the pulpit as affectively as rv. jesse jackson except he wants a rainbow with different colors of white.

[theubermensch]

11:05 AM on 04/03/2009

Huckabee really tries to be this likable guy, but it isn't working. I kind of respected him once, but he is a preacher who is partisan and full of it. His FOX News show and appearances show that. I can't believe he would say that, and his "jokes" aren't funny. Let us slowly get rid of these guys. America needs to show its power by voting wisely at the polls.

[jsgaetano]

11:04 AM on 04/03/2009

It's funny, because it's true.

Your average Republican really DOES view vote rigging as doing God's work.

[Retrofuturistic]

12:33 PM on 04/03/2009

Yes, you are absolutely correct. To them, the end justifies the means. And I don't see how that shows any principle at all.

[jhw22]

10:50 AM on 04/03/2009

The Republican'ts didn't think it was the Lord's work when they were deminizing Acorn.

Jennifer

[dax49]

10:40 AM on 04/03/2009

that hick, huckabee has only a passing acquaintance with the Lord or his work

[Raleigh Dave]

09:48 AM on 04/03/2009

The nerve of Bob McConnel to argue with the lords work, don't you all know by now that jesus was a registered republican.

The thing that I don't get, if God doesn't want Democrats to lose, you would think he would be quite capable of giving all Democrats flat tires, how hard of a plague is that considering what he did to Egypt 4000 years ago.

[lunchlady]

09:30 AM on 04/03/2009

Is he really encouraging people to slash tires and otherwise obstruct voting? This man who thinks he is a bastion of Christian morality? I believe the activities he's describing as the Lord's work are against the law, but he apparently thinks that the Ends Justify the Means, which is apparently a conservative refuge for any illegal or immoral activity.
How about a few cross burnings and registration list alterations while you're at it? Or my favorite, sending out notices that the repo man will be checking the cars in the parking areas of the poll sites, which has really happened. Vote suppression is dirty unfair and illegal, Mike, and you calling it the Lord's work further lowers my opinion of you.

Super unimpressed dude.

[zannamar]

07:00 AM on 04/03/2009

It's only the Lord's Work if it's in their favor, if it's in their opponent's favor it's the Devil's.

[1differentdrummer]

06:27 AM on 04/03/2009

And you think we don't have an education problem?