CINCINNATI (TDB) -- As the 2004 presidential election came to a close, Republicans launched an effort designed to suppress the black vote in Ohio. It was meant to protect President Bush at the polls. Black voters were overwhelmingly Democratic, and Karl Rove's crew feared a huge turnout could wreck all their plans to keep Bush in office. So the Republicans dreamed up a scheme that was targeted at precincts with heavy populations of black voters in Ohio. Three people running for Cincinnati City Council this year under the GOP banner played significant roles in that voter suppression effort -- Charlie Winburn, Sam Malone and Pat Fischer.
All three names appear in this federal court filing as litigants in support of the Rovian strategy to interfere with Ohio's black voters at the polls.
The Daily Bellwether wrote about the voter suppression effort that targeted black precincts last February when Winburn, Malone and Fischer received GOP endorsements for City Council. Now it is time to revisit the issue with the council campaign in full swing. The three should have to explain: Why did they actively support the Karl Rove strategy of challenging black people who wanted to vote? Why did they jump into bed with a voter-suppression effort that was described as a revival of Jim Crow, an open revival of southern-like discrimination at polling places.
Did they fear and lack trust in black voters? Their role in the 2004 voter-suppression movement should be a major issue in Cincinnati. How did they wind up in Rove's pocket, and why would they go there?
Bill,
ReplyDeleteYour tinfoil's showing.
Hi Joe C. --
ReplyDeleteWrong. The effort was made to suppress the black vote. The Republicans wore the Reynolds Wrap.
Ken Blackwell, a Republican who was secretary of state and chief elections official at the time, recoiled from the poll watcher plan and bailed from the case.
The GOP needed stand-ins and Winburn and Malone signed up. Fischer was a member of the legal team who represented them . . .
Read the pleading in the case.
You need coupons for Reynold's Wrap, Man.
ReplyDeleteA frivolous, politically-motivated lawsuit with the name of a nice old NAACP couple gets laughed out of the 6th Circuit, and a conspiracy theory on a couple of moonbat blogs - mostly planted by you - is the entirety of this "issue."
Blackwell didn't appeal because it was going forward anyway, was bu**sh*t, he had duties as SoS, oh and was running for governor.
Ironically the only real voter fraud in the State (and the country) occurred by Democrats in counties run by Democrats, doing exactly the things the "poll watchers" expected to occur by Democrats, which is why Democrats complained.