Today,
Vote By Mail America presented the first ever PILLAR of AMERICA Award to the Honorable John Lewis.
We came to Washington, DC to honor a great American for his incredible contribution to ALL AMERICANS in the area of voting rights. We are also here because what John Lewis and
many others (some who are still with us and more who are no longer with us)
accomplished is under an attack of the most sinister and cynical kind. There are
dark forces (think tanks, elected officials and even a political party) right
here in Washington who are engaged in an ugly and Un-American enterprise to disenfranchise
millions of us of our fundamental right to vote.
John Lewis accepting the PILLAR of AMERICA Award from Brent Scott of Vote By Mail America
When Vote By Mail America conceived
the PILLAR of AMERICA Award it was with some trepidation. After all, who are
we? We are not icons of the voting rights generation. None among our small
ranks are noted or famed individuals. And as our organization was founded just five
years ago we are not widely known in the voting rights community.
Hilary O. Sheltonof the NAACP honoring John Lewis at the PILLAR of AMERICA Award ceremony.
We're average citizens. Ordinary
Americans who experienced some problems with polling place voting (ex: sites
opening too late and closing too early, long lines, traveling on election day, polling
sites being frequently relocated) and wanted to do something for other
Americans who experienced similar problems. Our primary intention was to educate
the public of a safe alternative to polling place voting - you can vote by mail and here's how.
Point your mouse, click on the Vote By Mail America map and obtain detailed information on how to
vote by mail in your state. That was the most of what we were about. No, we are not iconsof the voting rights
generation like our honoree. And although we had some trepidation about creating the award, we were never in doubt as to who deserved it.
Nicole Austin-Hillery of the Brennan Center, honoring John Lewis
When we contacted known voting
rights organizations and leaders for this award ceremony, the number one response
we received was, who are you? I
imagine that when they started out, several decades ago now, the establishment said
of SNCCand Freedom Riders, who are you? I imagine they said of and
to John Lewis, who are you? But to this nation's
great credit, certainly begrudgingly, they did listen. While it took many years to come about, the doors of participatory democracy that
John Lewis wouldn't stop pushing on were opened for all.
of the Advancement Project (center) Brent Scott of VBMA.
I grew up seeing the images of the
marches, the sit ins, the boycotts, the dogs, the beatings, the water cannons
and worse, the inhumanity that
John Lewis and others were treated to. Those images make me at once
ashamed and proud. I grew up hearing the speeches of John Lewis, Martin King
and so many BRAVE others who wouldn’t just go away. They dared and they achieved. Today, we are not going to stand still, sit by and
allow dark forces, dark money, cynical politicians and their operatives to stomp
all over the voting rights achievements of a great movement that was fueled by
a generation of dedicated people such as John Lewis.
The Honorable John Robert Lewis, Accepting the PILLAR of AMERICA Award presented byVote By Mail America
We say to
the dark forces trying to undo, to take us back, to disenfranchise
Americans of their hard won right to vote, "We're not going to let that happen." You
see, it was worse for John Lewis. He faced contempt and scorn by a corrupt
power structure and when he wouldn't just go away, he faced beatings, vicious dogs, water cannons and arrest and imprisonment.
But he didn't cower. And we're not going to cower either. Not on this.
Not on our rights. Not on the American triumph that was the voting rights
movement. In the face of this new and ugly campaign to cheat, deny and steal
the right to vote of Americans, we will if we have to walk in the footsteps of and
stand on the shoulders of John Robert
Lewis, a PILLAR of AMERICA.
The First Annual Vote By Mail America PILLAR of AMERICA Award will be presented to the Honorable John Lewis for his courageousness, commitment and dedication to Voting Rights for All Americans.
Date: Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 Time: 12-2pm Place: House Cannon Building, Room 122 in Washington, DC
Vote By Mail America will also honor a television host and the program's staff for excellent coverage of voting rights issues in 2012 and, we will present the first ever "Shout Out" award to an individual for making an extraordinary contribution to voter education.
A
few weeks ago in this column
I suggested that “Democratsshould lay the groundwork now for convincing moderate Republicans to
reject conservative Republican candidates” in 2014. Apparently, when
Brent Scott speaks, Karl Rove listens. Specifically,
I was drawing on findings by the author Thomas Frank in his best seller,
“What’s the Matter with Kansas?” In Chapter 5: “Con Men v. Mod Squads” Frank showed how Kansas’ ultra conservative
and moderate Republicans battled each other throughout the late 1980s, 90s and
2000s, resulting in congressional and gubernatorial victories for Democrats. Now,
GOP strategist Karl Rove (aka Bush’s Brain, aka Turd Blossom) has announced the
formation of “The
Conservative Victory Project” to support what Roverefers
to as more electable (read moderate) Senate candidates. The Rove initiative was the first shot in the now off and running GOP Civil
War.
Last Word on NBCNews.com - The GOP Civil War
Within hours of launching the Conservative Victory
Project the ultra conservative Tea Party faction of the Republican Party began
a counter, rage against the machine, offensive. Rep.
Steve King (R-Iowa) declared that Rove was
out to get conservatives like himself and asked his supporters to pony up and
help stop them. King, a Tea Party crowd favorite, is considering a run for
senate in 2014 to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin. To Rove
and his moneyed backers, King represents just the kind of far right candidate
(ala Todd Akin in MO) who sank GOP chances of winning the senate last year. However,
it must be pointing out that Rove and his American Crossroads and Crossroads
GPS PACs backed losing GOP House and Senate candidates in OH, WI, FL, MT, ID,
VA, NM and ND in 2012. According to OpenSecrets.org,
“American Crossroads spent money
for or against 20 federal candidates in 14 races, while Crossroads GPS focused
on 27 in 24 contests.” It is estimated that in total American Crossroads
and GPS spent in excess of $200 million dollars on losing GOP House and Senate
candidates and presidential candidate Willard Romney in 2012. With a record as
dismal as that it comes as no great surprise that ultra conservative Republican
Tea Party types are flat out rejecting Rove as the GOP’s savant and savior.
In two presidential elections now (2008 and 2012) Americans have firmly
rejected Republican stalwart positions on everything from reproductive rights to
marriage equality and their failed economic approach of help the rich through
generous tax policy so that their breadcrumbs can fall down on the rest of us.
The Rove initiative amounts to little more than a wardrobe change. Republicans
seem unwilling to learn that it is their ideas, no matter how nicely they try
to dress them up, that Americans have found abhorrent. Putting a new suit on that
corpse wont revive it. The GOP
civil war presents liberals and the Democratic Party with an opportunity to
advance progressive ideas on everything from economic policy to environmental protection to
voting rights. Though the old adage might advise “when your opponent is in
process of committing suicide, don’t interrupt him” consider this, suicide
attempts often fail. Since the devolution of Newt Gingrinch in 1994 and his
brinksmanship brand of politics, the GOP has rendered the U.S. government incapable
of carrying out its basic constitutional duties and brought our economy to the edge
of collapse. Without getting directly involved in Republican internal scuffles,
Democrats need not sit it out entirely. Through a sustained (post and pre
election) outreach and media campaign Democrats need to promote a progressive brand
of policies and positions clearly and unflinchingly. They should do it now
while the field is theirs and opposition is otherwise distracted. As important
as President Obama’s election and reelection was, two presidential victories
does not a trend make. A new era of progressivism is at hand but it has to be
nurtured. Carpe Diem.
RIG, FIX, JIGGER
Update: Following a backlash of public
outrage and media criticism, the Republican Party is backing away from their Grand Old Scheme
to RFJ (rig/fix/jigger) the Electoral College just in time for the 2016
presidential election. The plan was to change the rules in states that have
been trending for the Democratic candidate in presidential elections (MI, WI,
FL, OH, PA and VA) so that even if the Republican presidential candidate were to lose the
popular vote statewide he/she could still be awarded a majority of state’s
Electoral College delegates. The scheme could be accomplished at the state
level because in each of the above states Republicans currently hold the
governor’s office and a majority in the state legislature. While Republicans
in WI, FL, MI, OH and VA have back away from the scheme, hyper partisan GOPs in the Keystone
State are forging ahead with the plan. Stay tuned.
By Brent Scott Executive Director of Vote By Mail America
Years ago I worked for a State Senator in Louisiana. In that
year the newspaper, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, characterized a bill that
was introduced in the legislature as “a snake.” Specifically, the paper opined
that there was a “snake to kill” in the legislature. While I do not recall the
particulars of the legislation or what it sought to achieve, I do know that
referring to a bill as a “snake” is a to none to subtle way of deriding it. Enter
the second decade of the twenty-first century and there is a snake to kill that
is currently making its way through not one but several state legislatures. The
bill or bills that I am discussing refers to a Republican Party scheme
to fix American presidential
elections. I call it, Gerrymandering the Presidency.
Having largely failed in their scornful 2011-2012 attempts to
steal the presidential election by way of vote suppression, the Grand Old Party
is back with a new trick. This time, well ahead of the 2016 presidential
election, the GOP is making a concerted effort to change how Electoral College
delegates are awarded in presidential contest. Lest we forget, Americans do not
directly elect the President of the United States. The President is officially
chosen by the Electoral College. In most states Electoral College delegates are
awarded based on the statewide vote totals that each candidate for President
receives. Under the GOP’s new scheme to steal the presidency however, Electoral
College delegates would be awarded based not on statewide vote totals but on the
percentage of votes that a candidate receives in each of the state’s
congressional districts. Would this littleadjusting
of the rules really alter the election results? Yes! If the proposed adjustment
in how Electoral College delegates are allotted were in effect for the 2012
election, President Obama, while he won five million more votes than Willard
Romney nationwide, would have lost in the Electoral College 280-258.
Congressional districts are typically gerrymandered for partisan
advantage. Abolishment of the Electoral College and allowing
Americans to elected the president directly is long overdue. But, deliberately devising
a scheme of awarding Electoral College delegates based on gerrymandered congressional
districts is a horse of different color. In states where Republicans control
both the office of Governor and hold a majority in the legislature (OH, PA, WI,
MI, FL) but where President Obama handily defeated Willard Romney, the plan is
afoot to pull a switcheroo. The Grand Old Party has contrived a Grand Old
Scheme to gerrymander the Presidency. As with vote suppression tactics, the
Republican Party is openly declaring, “We can’t win. Let’s change the rules so that
we can win.” Employment of such maniacal and desperate devices backfired in the
lead up to the 2012 election. The GOP’s Grand Old Scheme is a snake. Republicans
are foolish, at best, to assume that the coalition of voting rights
organizations, organized labor, Democrats and others who successfully drove
back voter ID have retired in self satisfaction.
When
the House of Representatives voted last week to avert the much ballyhooed
“fiscal cliff,” by raising federal income taxes on individuals and couples
earning more than $400.000 and $450.000 respectively, something amazing
happened. GOP Speaker John Boehner abandoned a tenet of the GOP gospel known as
the Hastert rule aka majority of the majority aka super minority rule. As was
previously explained in this column “the Hastert rule is
about the empowering of a Super Minority in the House of Representatives.” Basically,
it works like this, in order for any legislation to proceed to a vote of the
full congress, that legislation must first have the support of at least half of
the GOP congressional caucus. Half of the GOP’s congressional caucus is equal
to about a third of congress IE a minority. The Hastert Super Minority rule is not an
official regulation that one will find in the Robert’s Rules of Order nor any
other guidebook on parliamentary procedure. It is a radical construct that was made
up out of whole cloth by hyper partisan Denny Hastert, for a political party,
the GOP, whose members are at once out of step with public opinion on a vast
array of issues and who appear diametrically opposed to American principles of
fairness. As a majority of the GOP caucus
opposed the fiscal cliff deal Speaker Boehner had to eat a rather large
helping of Humble Pie in order to do the right thing. Boehner brought the measure
to the floor and had to rely on the votes of Democrats to pass the legislation that averted a national and perhaps global
financial crisis.
PA GOP Sen. Pat Toomey supports a government shutdown
Fiscal Cliff Redux and Dereliction
of Duty Immediately following the passage of the “fiscal cliff” tax deal
in congress CBS News
ran the following headline: Fiscal cliff"
averted: Time for the "mini-cliffs.” The news item outlined three upcoming
potential areas for gridlock including the debt ceiling debate coming in late February-early March,
Sequestration, an automatic form of drastic spending cutbacks coming in March
and lastly: Another government shutdown could be on the horizon at the end of
March. Americans got a glimpse of how these battles would be fought, at
least on the Republican side, when Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) went on MSNBC and
said “We Republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary partial
government shutdown...” What Sen. Toomey’s statement reflects is the sustained
GOP belief in brinkmanship politics by way of dereliction of duty. Unwilling or
unable to negotiate reasoned settlements on important issues of federal policy
Republicans in congress have been operating on an “I won’t work” approach to
governance. Such an approach has already caused harm to and could completely wreck the US
economy.
“Con Men vs. Mod Squads”
Congressional
Republicans have been aided in their obstruction by gerrymandered districts on
steroids. In such districts, drawn by the majority party in state legislatures
to insure a definite partisan outcome, too many members of congress are insulated from
broad public opinion and therefore see no need to compromise. Nate Silver of
the New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight.com
estimates that there are only 35 competitive districts in the entire U.S. To
combat partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts
some reformers are pushing for independent redistricting panels. However, there
are other ways that could in fact hasten independent redistricting in the
future and even neutralize partisan gerrymandering right now. More on that in
moment.
Democrats were caught flatfooted in the 2010 the midterm
elections. Coming on the heels of two years of Democratic control of the House and the
Senate and White House, Democrats lacked a
cohesive message going into the midterm elections, lost control of the national
debate and ultimately lost the House of Representatives to the GOP. As the 2014
midterm elections are on the horizon, Democrats would do well to begin strategizing on
how to win a majority in the 35 competitive districts identified by Nate
Silver. Fairly drawn districts should be a priority for both Democrats and
moderate Republicans. Moderate Republicans across America should be seeking
ways to save their party from political extremists that many believe will lead
the party to extinction. One way forward can be found in Tom Franks’ book,
“What’s the Matter with Kansas.” In Chapter 5: “Con Men v. Mod Squads” Frank discusses how
conservatives and moderate Republicans in Kansas waged war against each other
(throughout the 1980s, 90s and 2000s) resulting in congressional and gubernatorial
victories for Democrats. Franks: “In 1998 a Democrat was elected to Congress by
Republican-dominated Johnson County, and in 2002 a Democrat (Kathleen Sebelius)
was elected Governor. These were due to rejection of "Con" candidates
by "Mod" Republican voters.”Democrats should lay the groundwork
now for convincing moderate Republicans to reject conservative Republican
candidates on several basis including conservative opposition to reproductive
rights, their inability to govern and their preplanned dereliction of duty as
exemplified in Pennsylvania’s Republican Senator, Pat Toomey. For their part
moderate Republicans should take concerted steps to win back their party from
the dereliction of duty conservatives. Moderate Republicans can achieve this in
two ways, 1. by challenging conservatives instead of cow towing to them and 2.
by not endorsing conservatives if they prevail in the GOP primary.
To achieve the broader goal of creating fair districts both Democrats and moderate Republicans should join together to fight to redraw districts either in their state legislature and/or by way of ballot measures that would both create an independent redistricting panel and mandate immediate redistricting instead of waiting for the new census in 2021. Brent Scott/Executive Director of Vote by Mail America
We
have all heard the expression, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.”Last week I discussed the unofficial yet
strictly adhered to “Super
Minority” rule in the House of Representatives, euphemistically called “majority
of the majority.” Denny Hastert (R-IL), the former Republican Speaker of the
House, unilaterally decided in 2004 that no legislation would go forward (in
the House of Representatives) unless a majority of his GOP House caucus
supported it. Hastert dubbed it the “majority
of the majority” rule. The mainstream media instantly gave credibility to
this inherently undemocratic directive by repeating the term -absent any
context of its true meaning. However, Hastert’s rule is not about a majority, it is about the empowering of a Super Minority in the House of Representatives. In
real numbers, half of the GOP’s House caucus, both then and now, is equal to only
about one third of the chamber’s 435 members. Hastert’s Super Minority edict
represents the most one sided, Machiavellian
rule ever imposed inthe People’sHouse. Due in no
small part to amalleable Washington press corps,
Americans may not fully appreciate just how antithetical Hastert’s "Super
Minority" decree is to our principles of democracy and how it has stymied
progress in congress
to this day.
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic
Leader, discusses "discharge petition" to evade GOP's Super Minority
rule.
Vote by Mail America contacted House Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi’s office and several individual members of Congress to ascertain
if, when in the majority, Democrats used or planned to use Hastert’s rule. Unfortunately, we were
unable to get a definite response. We also conducted an internet search to
discover if House Democrats employed the rule. Our search did not find any
reports of Democrats availing themselves of the Super Minority rule when they controlled the House.
Republicans and Democrats should take to the floor of
the House to denounce governance by Super Minority. As importantly, rather than
continually committing facile journalism that lends credence to an oblique and euphemistic
term, the media, particularly the Washington press corps, should relentlessly expose
the concept of “majority of the majority” for what in practice it really is, an
abhorrent assault on representative government.
For
the past two years I have noted in this column that “not all Republicans are on
board with vote suppression.” In 2010 GOP candidates won gubernatorial contests
from Florida to Wisconsin and won majorities in many state legislatures from
Ohio to Maine. In 2011, taking their cues from conservative think tanks such as
the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), these new Republican
governors and GOP state legislators set about erecting barriers to voting not
seen in this country since the days of segregation. While voter ID laws served
as the device of the choice, other despotic tactics included shortening the
days and hours for early voting and, reducing the number of days for voting by
mail. Many of the voter ID laws were struck down by state and federal courts as
“unconstitutional.” But the other tactics, particularly reducing the number of
days and hours for early voting day, caused embarrassingly long lines in the
states of Florida and Ohio.
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist denounces GOP vote suppression.
The Rachel Maddow Show/Youtube
Now,
less than a month after being trounced in the presidential election, manifestly
partisan Republicans are formulating new machinations to deny Americans of their
right to vote. Enter Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, that proud marionette of conservative think
tanks. In May of 2011 Walker signed a voter
ID bill into law. Less than a year later Dane
County Judge David Flanagan blocked enforcement of the law. In his opinion
Judge Flanagan noted “The law disenfranchises voters, sometimes in absurd ways,
and targets a problem that is only
slightly more real than fairies and unicorns.”Walker appealed and the law was rejected
completely as unconstitutional by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard
Niess. Not satisfied with two judicial rejections, Gov. Walker has set his mind
to do away with Wisconsin’s more than three decades old system of same day
voter registration. With same day voter registration citizens are allowed to
vote when they register on election day. News flash to Gov.
Walker, when Republicans in the Maine state legislature abolished same day
voter registration the voters repealed the law via a citizens’ initiative . On
Nov. 6, voters in Maine went a step further, throwing out the Republican
majorities in the state’s House and Senate.
In the aftermath of President Obama’s and the Democrats’
trouncing of the GOP many Republican strategists heaped condemnation upon voter
ID laws and other vote suppressive schemes. Unfortunately, too many Republicans
still have a predilection for vote suppression. Rather than compete in the
market of ideas and win the votes of the many, these GOPs would prefer to limit
voter participation by way of unscrupulous election mechanics and outright chicanery.
Our present 50 state model of making and changing election law at will and for
partisan advantage delegitimizes the democratic process of elections and breeds
contempt. It is time for a major overhauling of our election system. President Obama
alluded to such in his victory speech on Nov. 6.America should have one unbiased and
nonpartisan standard for registering, voting and counting votes.We are one country, we deserve one fair and
unimpeachable process for this essential ”election” component of democracy.
Election Reform
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is urging her GOP colleagues to revive
the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC). In a letter to Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-TN and House Speaker John Boehner, R-OH, Boxer
wrote, "I
believe the dysfunction we witnessed may have been reduced had this Commission
been fully staffed and operational,… I hope that you will take immediate action
to make these recommendations so that we can get the Election Assistance
Commission working again, and let the American people know that the government
is protecting their fundamental right to vote.” The
EAC has been in operative for a nearly a year because GOP leaders have declined
to name their nominees for seats on the commission.
What
the above demonstrates is the incredible self inflicted paralysis of the
Republican Party. Unable and/or unwilling to accept that they do not control
all levers of government, Republicans have adopted an approach to governing that
is at once “do nothing” and/or “blow up the building” if they cannot get their
way on every issue. This GOP unilateral line of thinking and acting began
during the Clinton presidency when in 1994 Republicans won majorities in the House
and Senate. Frustrated Republicans in congress expressed outrage that President
Clinton, the leader of the Executive Branch, dared to exercise his
constitutional authority and veto legislation that he did not agree with. Led by
Bob Dole in the Senate and Newt Gingrinch in House, Republicans ushered in an
era of routine brinksmanship beginning
with the shutdown of the government in 1995-’96. In successive congresses
Republican lawmakers, weather in the majority or the minority, have tended to
act as though they control everything, all the time. And, if they cannot have
it their way then either nothing gets done and/or they threaten to blow up the
building. We saw this in practice in 2010 regarding the once routing “debt
ceiling” debate and we are seeing it being played out now regarding the looming “fiscal
cliff.” Republicans in congress
are also refusing to name their own members to a bipartisan commissions such as the Election
Assistance Commission. Worse, we see this our
way or no way mentality in the US Senate where GOP lawmakers have blown up
the process by requiring a super majority via filibuster in order to get
anything passed and, the empowering of a super
minority in the House of Representatives.
The Super Minority
In
2004 then House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-IL) unilaterally “enunciated a policy
in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them…”
What does this means in practical terms? A political party must hold a minimum
of 218 of the 435 seats in order to control the House. Under Hastert’s decree,
no legislation can go forth unless a majority of the GOP caucus supports it. This
means that in 2013, when the GOP will hold 233
seats, 117 Republicans (a super minority) must agree
on any legislation in order for the other 318 members of the body to be allowed
vote on it. If this strikes the reader as ridicules and undemocratic, that’s because it is.
For
their part, Democrats in Congress seem not to have noticed this completely
radical shift among their Republican counterparts. Democrats have responded to
GOP obstruction and routine brinkmanship with meek cries about not conforming according
to process and even meeker condemnation. News flash to Democrats on Capitol
Hill, it is not enough to simply whine about GOP obstruction. Real action must
be taken. Reforming the filibuster in the senate, where Democrats have a
majority, is a good start. But, what Democrats haven’t done is engage the
Republicans in the arena public discourse. Democrats have not, as Newt
Gingrinch did in the 1980s and 1990s -
before he emerged as a GOP leader- taken
their case to the American people directly through C-Span and other available outlets. The battle must
be fought not just at election time but all the time.
Skin in the Game
The
Republic Party of the 1970s and 80s is gone. It has been replaced by a radical
element ever strident in their belief that no matter the outcome of an
election, theirs is the only way to go. The time is now for Democrats and
others to reject this corrupt ideology by employing constructive yet definite strategies
(before, during and after an election) for moving forward with the business of
the nation. In Congressional elections the GOP has banishedmoderates such as Sen. Richard Lugar of IN (defeated
in the 2012 GOP primary). At the state level Republicans are intent on
disenfranchising tens of millions of Americans of their fundamental right to
vote. Democrats and others, to quote President Obama, “Must put some skin in
the game.” It is not hyperbole to assert that the heart of American Democracy is at
stake. When maniacalpartisans of
Scott Walker’s ilk brazenly attempt to rig the election process it is time to
remind everyone of the words of the late Republican Senator Barry Goldwater, “Extremism in the defense of
liberty is no vice! Moderation in the
pursuit of justice is no virtue!”President Obama, Democrats in Congress and
fair minded Americans everywhere must take concrete steps now to safeguard our democracy
and that which facilitates democracy, the right to vote.
Brent
Scott is Executive Director of Vote by Mail America
