In the 2004 election, the Bush and Kerry election campaigns and proxy organizations spent millions of dollars and dispatched thousands of surrogates to register new voters. Both succeeded in drawing first time voters to the polls. While the Bush team focused on traditionally Republican suburban and rural un-registered voters, the Kerry camp countered with Democratic leaning minority and urban “citizens”. (Perhaps thousands of Kerry voters were illegal aliens)
The McCain and Obama camps this year will try to replicate previous efforts to expand and turn-out their base. However, in a theme that will probably play out well into election day, Obama’s surrogates are trying an unconventional and potentially dangerous method: registering convicted felons. From a recent Washington Post article:
In Alabama, Al Sharpton’s younger brother, the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, will take his “Prodigal Son” ministry into state prisons with voter-registration cards for the first time. The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed suit there and in Tennessee to make it possible for an even larger class of felons to register. In Ohio, the NAACP will hold a voter-registration day at the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland this month to register “people caught up in the criminal justice system,” a local official said.
There is little doubt who these voters will be pulling the lever for. Just take Cuyahoga County, where the NAACP is registering voters “caught up” in the criminal justice system. In the 2004 election, John Kerry received 67% of the vote in this Cleveland county. The felons that are being registered to vote will most likely overwhelmingly vote for Obama and could decide the election in key swing states such as Michigan, Ohio, and Florida.
Civil rights lawyer Reggie Mitchell, a Democrat and Obama backer who is active in registering felons in Ohio says, “The majority of people to get their rights restored are Democrats, and if we get them registered, [we] might overtake the state,” While the Obama camp will probably try to downplay this effort since this questionable practice might offend voters, it is a clear net positive and will help in November.
The end of that video is the best part. “If everything works out right, I’m gonna go join the military, because I feel bad.” Haha.
The best part of the video is at the end when he says, “If everything ends up all right, I’m gonna go join the military.” Haha. In all seriousness, though, this historical practice of the Dems is starting to become more than just a concern, but could pose a serious influence in swing states this November and future elections.