If you read the latest polls you’d think that Mitt Romney had a lot more to be concerned about than Barack Obama; yet after the polling failures in Wisconsin last June apparently President Obama isn’t buying it and the July employment report can’t give the president much confidence either.
This week the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) took a step that shows their deep concern that recent polls say little about the likely outcome of the fall election and it’s not going down well with some military groups in the vital state of Ohio.
Obama’s campaign and the DNC filed a lawsuit last month to block a new Ohio law that allows men and women in the military to vote up until the Monday before an election; the final day for early voting for the public remains three days earlier.
Remember, this is the same administration that has attacked Florida for its attempt to purge their voter rolls of people who are not legal voters under the auspices that the state’s voter purge is just a GOP an attempt to prevent persons from legally voting. This is the same administration that has fought to prevent states from requiring photo IDs at the polls because, again, they claimed it was a Republican plan to prevent folks from exercising their right to vote.
Who could be more deserving of the right to vote than those voters in Ohio that are protecting that very right? While the Obama Administration would like to benefit from the votes of illegal aliens, dead folks and foreign nationals on visas, does the Obama Administration really want to do anything to restrict the voting of our military men and woman? The short answer is yes.
While top Obama campaign officials have said the lawsuit in no way tries to restrict the voting rights of military members, what it does is even the playing field for all voters in Ohio by allowing early voting up until Monday for everyone, including members of the military, because they believe a two-tiered, early-voting process is unfair.
“Along with the DNC and Ohio Democratic Party, this campaign filed a lawsuit to reinstate equal, early-voting rights for all Ohioans — rights the Republican-controlled legislature arbitrarily stripped away this past year,” Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, told supporters in an email.
Really? The entire purpose of the Ohio law was to give a few extra days to those serving in the military to get their ballots in because of the unique circumstances posed by their service. Of course the Obama Administration doesn’t want to limit the voting rights of the military; they just want to extend special voting privileges to everyone, as long as they’re likely to vote for the president.
The National Guard Association and other military groups have responded saying it is “offensive” for Democrats to suggest in the lawsuit it’s arbitrary for Ohio service members to get special consideration.
It’s customary for those serving in the military to get more time or other voting assistance not extended to other absentee or early voters since they are often serving in an overseas or domestic location that is not close to their home polling station; any comparison is nonsensical.
Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio responded to the lawsuit by saying, “I’m just outraged by this. I can’t believe the Obama campaign and the state Democratic Party are actually saying there’s no rational basis for a distinction between someone who is in the military voting and someone who is not in the military.”
It’s all about Ohio and has nothing to do with the Obama Administration’s claims of voter fairness. Mr. Obama knows he has to win Ohio and you can expect they’ll take any action they can to hang on to the state’s 18 electoral votes.
The president has already visited Ohio nine times this year and by November he’ll probably qualify as a resident.
No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio, so the poor folks of the Buckeye State will be the happiest folks in the nation to see this election over. Romney and Obama will spend more time in Ohio than any other state this election.
Obama Action Will Have Consequences Far Beyond Ohio
The Obama campaign’s lawsuit against a group more known for their sacrifices than privileges will not go down well with many, including some in the Democratic Party and Mitt Romney smells blood.
“President Obama’s lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state’s early voting period is an outrage,” Romney said Saturday. “I stand with the 15 military groups that are defending the rights of military voters, and if I’m entrusted to be the commander-in-chief, I’ll work to protect the voting rights of our military, not undermine them.”
The Obama campaign responded to Romney by saying, “Mitt Romney and his campaign have completely fabricated a claim that the Obama campaign is trying to restrict military voting in Ohio. In fact, the opposite is true. The Obama campaign filed a lawsuit to make sure every Ohioan, including military members and their families, has early voting rights over the last weekend prior to the election.”
The quote by the president’s fellow Chicagoan, Al Capone, “vote early and vote often,” comes to mind.
This isn’t a first shot by Democrats at military voting rights. In 2000 Democrats tried to block some military ballots in Florida and the backlash was rapid and harsh, until VP nominee Joe Lieberman put a stop to the Democrats actions.
“Vice President Gore and I would never authorize and (would) not tolerate a strategy that was aimed at disqualifying military ballots,” he said shortly before Al Gore conceded the election to George W. Bush.
Democrats have a very short memory. Attacking a respected constituency in Ohio will likely only serve to sway votes, especially of those serving and veterans, towards Mr. Romney.
The Obama campaign knows they’re not likely to win a majority of military votes so the risk is minor compared to the benefit gained by securing a few extra days to push Ohio Democrats to fill out their absentee ballot in the waning days of the election.
Which is more distasteful, the willingness of this president to get votes at any cost or the sheer desperation these moves reveal?
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