Vice President Joe Biden has said, "This is not your grandfather's Republican party." He has not (yet) added, "and this will not be an election you learned in elementary school was the underpinning of democracy."
As the new right-wing voter suppression laws now stand, 3-5 million people will be denied the right to vote on Nov. 6, 2012.
That will include millions who have voted in elections for many years.
The very existence of those laws, plus dirty tricks like Governor Scott Walker's (R-WI) decision to close down government facilities "to save money" in areas where Democrats who do not currently have IDs would be likely to go to get them, is suppressing the vote every day including now.
Florida Republicans passed a law requiring registration forms be turned in within 48 hours, or the organization registering voters could be fined $50/form. As a result, groups such as the League of Women Voters that Republicans consider radicals have stopped registering new voters. Cute, huh?
Right-wing voter intimidation activities will escalate even beyond their usual levels. As in the past calls will be made to likely Democratic voters warning them that they may be arrested if they come to the polls and they are behind on their utility bills or rent, and/or they are told election day is really another day (a suggestion of man-of-god Mike Huckabee, as well) and/or they will be given the wrong polling place information and/or they will be told they may be subjected to violence.
Consider the additional opportunities for intimidation this time -- "if you arrive at the polling station without proper ID, you may be arrested for voter fraud that carries penalties of fines and up to 15 years in jail." The calls will be untraceable, and so no one will be held accountable.
When the dust settles, with so many millions disenfranchised, and with House, Senate and the presidential race skewed by these tactics, what will Nov. 7th be like?
Please reflect, and go to the comments section with your analysis. While you are at it, comment on what election day itself will be like -- millions of people going to the polls, standing on lines, and being denied their right to vote, tweeting like the Iranian opposition?
Will the Supreme Court again decide the outcome of the election, not just the presidential election, but for control of the House and Senate as well? If they had already invalidated, by a 5-4 decision, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will they have an ounce of credibility left to do that? The same Court that decided the 2000 election in an opinion so embarrassing to them that it was unsigned and declared not to be used as precedent?
In answer to a lady's question, "What have you given us?" Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, "a republic, madam, if you can keep it."
Can we?
Will November 7, 2012 be business-as-usual? Share your thoughts in the comments section.