Republicans Target Dem Supporters

Talking Points Memo ran a story on Friday about how the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under Bush has only filed three cases of voting rights violations against black voters. It filed the first ever voting rights case on behalf of a white voter.

This quote is from the story: Consider some numbers. The single case filed on behalf of African American voters in the first five years of the Bush administration was actually a case that had been initiated during the Clinton administration; the complaint was finally filed in 2001. The section did not file its second complaint on behalf of African American voters until July, 2006. And that only happened after The Washington Post went front page earlier that year with the turmoil in the voting section. By comparison, the voting section filed eight cases alleging discrimination against African American voters in the last six years of the Clinton administration. The voting section has filed ten total cases so far during the Bush administration; seven were on behalf of Hispanics.

This is part of a trend of attacking Democratic organizations that Republicans have been using for over 30 years. They have gone after unions, trial lawyers, and Afro-Americans because these groups help Democrats. They push charter schools because charter schools decrease the power of teacher unions. They attack trial lawyers because trial lawyers predominantly give money to Democrats. They make baseless accusations of voter fraud to justify restrictive voting requirements. They don't care if Afro-Americans are deprived of the right to vote because they predominantly vote Democratic.

Conservatives are very determined to win and hold political power. The only way to beat them is to be equally determined to win and hold political power.