TAMPA – The Republican presidential debate last night in Tampa
is not the only political theater here this week.
A much less edifying political event will be Friday’s dog
and pony show in the Hillsborough County courthouse, put on by the
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights,
and Human Rights. A ton of political mischief can be dealt under
these labels. And mischief is all the hearing, chaired by Illinois
Democrat Dick Durbin, will be.
The ostensible reason for the hearing is to explore
whether new voting laws, adopted by the heavily Republican Florida
Legislature last year, are designed to keep Democratic
constituencies from the polls. Florida Democratic Senator Bill
Nelson has flatly made this charge, and easily enlisted Durbin to
orchestrate the gag. In fact, the purpose of the hearings is to
portray Republicans as rich, white racists and all-around meanies
and cheats who want to keep Democrats, especially minorities, away
from the polls.
In a press release from Nelson, who is running for
re-election this year, we get these febrile charges: “The right to
vote is, and always has been, at the foundation of our democracy.
But this fundamental right is under serious attack right now, in
Florida and more than a dozen other states. Many believe a handful
of super-rich conservative activists are behind an orchestrated
effort to keep millions of seniors, younger voters, and minorities
from casting ballots next year.”
Wow. Pretty overwrought stuff, deserving of elaboration.
But I could get none from the accusers. Neither Nelson nor Durbin
have said how these new laws, and others in other states, operate
to keep minorities, et al. away from the polls. I’ve left five
detailed messages with Nelson’s office asking for clarification and
seeking to learn if Nelson himself believes “a handful of
super-rich conservative activists are behind an orchestrated effort
to keep millions of seniors, younger voters, and minorities from
casting ballots next years.” Sure would like to know the names of
these rich rascals. No call back.
I did manage to reach Max Gleischman, Durbin’s
communications director, and he answered some questions.
Unfortunately, they weren’t the ones I asked. He bobbed and weaved
around the question of what triggered the hearings, what
specifically would make Senator Nelson believe the new laws would
keep minorities and other Democratic constituencies from the polls.
Surely they don’t hold hearings on all new election laws on
speculation that they might keep people from voting.
Asked what about the Florida laws worried Durbin and
Nelson, Gleischman said he would not “get into specifics now,” but
said the subcommittee planned to look into Florida’s law and those
of about 30 states.
“We’re concerned about several laws that changed existing
laws,” Gleischman said. “Some are more restrictive than the
previous laws. Some laws have made it more difficult to register.”
He would not say how Florida’s new laws make registering or voting
difficult, which is manifestly isn’t.
Then followed a charming flute solo on how everyone in
America who is qualified to vote should have that opportunity and
everyone “regardless of…” and so forth (cue the violins). It would
be hard to find anyone, in whatever party, who would argue with
these sentiments. But they have nothing to do with Florida’s new
voter laws.
In order to save some money and to guard against voter
fraud, the Florida Legislature last year reduced the number of
early voting days from 14 to eight but increased evening and
weekend hours. (How did we get things done just a few years ago
when everyone had to vote on Election Day?) The new laws also
reduce the amount of time third party registration outfits have to
turn in paper work on voters.
It’s hard to imagine how any of this keeps minorities or
young people from registering and voting, which are manifestly easy
to do in Florida. Hillsborough County (Tampa), as an example,
allows qualified citizens to register in four supervisor of
elections offices, public libraries, Department of Motor Vehicles
offices, et al. Citizens who can’t make their way to one of these
many venues in the ample time allotted for registering cannot
possibly consider the franchise very important.
Although Nelson’s office remains illusive, I was able to
talk to spokesmen in Florida Governor Rick Scott’s Office, the
Florida Secretary of State’s office (which administers voting in
Florida), and the chief sponsor of the bill in the Florida House.
None had any idea on what, other than electoral politics, Nelson
and Durbin were getting on about.
Lenny Curry of Jacksonville, chairman of the Republican
Party of Florida, said the charges in the hearings are just
“Democrats trying to stir the pot and create resentments because
they have nothing to say on the important issues.” He calls the
whole business “straight politics and nothing else.”
Curry said the issue of voter fraud is an important one
and fraud has taken place in Florida. He said the changes in
Florida’s voting laws don’t stop anyone from voting, or even
inconvenience them.
“No amount of voter fraud is acceptable,” Curry said. “You
have to be able to trust the vote. We’re only getting stuff like
this because hope and change didn’t work out.”
The invite list for the hearing has not been made pubic
yet. But we expect it will be the usual suspects – left ideological
groups and various indignatos eager to make baseless charges the
mainstream media will act as megaphones for. Look also for
well-intentioned but easily excitable groups like The League of
Women Voters. We can hope a majority of Florida voters are smart
enough to see through this, even if the state’s editorial writers
aren’t.
