A House Of Cards?

So who is telling the truth? Did the Democrats just jump on a low hanging curve ball called misperception to claim the Republicans in Michigan hate people going through foreclosure?

Sent by JB | 6:07 PM | 9-16-2008

Beware of things you _want_ to believe. I am voting for Obama, but I try to be very careful with things like this where my initial reaction is "those evil Republicans"! Like the Sarah Palin books banned list that's making the email rounds - false, yet so tempting for people who dislike her politics to forward without checking. I hope this is NOT true, not because I don't want it to be true, but because it is reprehensible if it is.

Watching and waiting for more facts before condemning...

Sent by Maggie Wolfe Riley | 6:35 PM | 9-16-2008

I wouldn't put it past the Repugnant Party to do this.
They could use foreclosure lists to Identify their 'targets'...
Then Challenge voters based on home address and polling place.

This is a bit more under-handed than the 'Black Box' fiasco in Ohio- where more votes were registered than there were actual numbers of residents....
Or in Florida- where lower income and Minority neighborhoods had inadequate polling places/Long lines- etc.

Sent by Donna | 6:54 PM | 9-16-2008

Without cheating somehow to deny people their right to vote, Republicans can't win this presidential election. If you think all trashy, Springer-esque rhetoric right now is disappointing, just wait until the polls open and people are turned away in droves - then you'll see some REAL drama.

Sent by jonathon | 7:05 PM | 9-16-2008

JB, Michigan is very likely to be a battleground, and this is a tactic that I imagine would help the Republican vote in general. I think with McCain's promised extension of the Bush tax cuts, they'll have no problem getting the rich to vote for them. The remainder - the other 95% of us - are the ones who might have a mortgage. And those who have lost their homes in the recent crunch are very likely to want a change, and maybe even to feel resentful of the Bush administration - natural pick-up votes for Obama.

It would at least be a good statistical gamble - anyone with a foreclosed home is probably more likely to be a Democratic voter than a Republican voter. It's that trademark combination of political canniness and utter sliminess that really gives the tactic that "Republican" feel, though.

Sent by Kasreyn | 7:52 PM | 9-16-2008

People going through foreclosure in my state (Wisconsin) and I would guess most states would have the right to stay in their homes until the confirmation of a sheriff's sale. This gives them the oppurtunity to rescue their homes if possible. The issuance of a foreclosure "notice", which could even precede a suit much less a judgment is no indication that people have changed addresses. Either party, and all decent citizens and human beings, who would share the values of a democratic republic, I would think, would do all they could to prevent people in this regrettable situation from being deprived of the right to vote.

Sent by Mike Fleissner | 8:02 PM | 9-16-2008

"Michigan GOP does plan to send thousands of challengers to polling places on Election Day, but they won't base their challenges on foreclosure lists."

So What WILL they be basing these challenges on?

Sent by Amber | 5:06 AM | 9-17-2008

It's amazing the Republicans can do this and get away with it. What about New Jersey? I read that 300,000 registered voters received letters that stated that they weren't registered! What is going on? Is this Florida all over again?

Sent by Christine Valles | 9:49 AM | 9-17-2008

In response to the above where Palin's book banning was dismissed as "rumor", here are the facts:

Former Wasilla town mayor John Stein says that when Palin was mayor "She asked the library how she could go about banning books" because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them or dealt with controversial topics. "The librarian was aghast." Mary Ellen Baker hasn't said anything that I can find, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

Palin appears to now be saying that a "request to ban a book" and "asking for the process by which a book could be banned" are different. Of course, to me the difference is sort of like asking which matches burn books better - you haven't lit any yet, but just in case you'd like to know.

Sent by Randy | 11:05 AM | 9-17-2008

@Randy - you are correct - and I definitely agree with you, but I dislike forwarding misinformation, even if it's misinformation that would serve to promote my side of an argument (or an election). The email I was referring to is a long list showing actual book titles purportedly banned by Palin, and that was false. I think the truth is enough - we don't need to weaken the truth's power by exaggerating it. It's definitely an indicator of intent to even ask about it - especially three times!

Here's the actual email hoax I was referring to: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/sarahpalin/a/banned_books.htm
(and oh how I wanted to believe that was all true!)

Back on topic, I wonder how this is going to come out, with the foreclosed homes lists used to challenge voters - I assume it's being used as a way to make sure people aren't using defunct addresses to vote illegally, but what about those who were the actual owners of those homes, who had registered at that address? I don't know how you would protect against purported voter fraud without taking away MANY others' right to vote! And, as people have pointed out, the targets would more likely be democrats, so this seems very suspicious. What a double tragedy - losing your home then losing your right to vote!

Sent by Maggie Wolfe Riley | 5:31 PM | 9-19-2008