Republican Road to Election Victory

By Dr. Henry Flores, NewsTaco

The Republican Party has found a road to victory throughout the United States and it leaves one wondering if all of these examples are coming from one central location like the Republican National Committee (RNC) or a small group of high level operatives paid by a small group of donors known as the “Billionaires Club.”  Regardless, the tactics range from various ways of manipulating voters to tactics of individual politicians.

Manipulating Voters 

Activities under this category include the creation of various types of Voter ID card programs in states – there are between 27 and 32 of these depending upon how you count them – that appear designed to impact certain groups of voters over others.  The groups impacted by Voter ID programs appear to be women, members of racial minority groups, the young and senior voters.  The most egregious of these laws is in Texas where one needs to have a photo identification card where the name perfectly matches that on the voter registration card or list.  One can either obtain a state-issued photo identification card at any one of the vastly scattered Texas Department of Motor Vehicle offices or use another state approved identification such as a United States Passport, Military identification card, United States Citizenship Certificate, a Texas Driver’s License, a state issued identification card or a concealed gun identification permit.  Recent research has indicated that the Texas law has only affected approximately 300 voters but the real test will be in this General Election where we shall see how many voters have been disenfranchised through this technique.  Even if the number is small I agree with one renowned civil rights attorney who indicated to me that even if one voter has been denied her vote, that is one voter too much.

There also appears to be a 27 state process where the states are sharing voter rolls to purge their respective lists of “ineligible” names.  So far only three states have revealed what they are doing but the list of names being purged appears to be predominantly Latino, African American and Asian.

Politicians’ Tactics

The best tactics I’ve seen beyond the norm -door-to-door greetings, mailers and so forth – have been by Republican candidates refusing to grant any interviews to the media.  This tactic appears to be the result of what happened to Sarah Palin in her ill-fated Vice-Presidential run alongside Senator John McCain.  Ms. Palin’s lack of sophistication came out time and time again until her candidacy became a media joke even being parodied on Saturday Night Live.  Now, rather than having some of their stars subjected to the media in fear of what may come out Republican Party operatives are simply not allowing their candidates to appear before the press.  The best cases in point are in Texas, again.  The candidate running for Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Dan Patrick, who is reputed to be an evangelical radio talk show host from Houston, Texas, has only made a few public appearances under severely controlled conditions and has not given one interview to any reporters or editorial boards.  Why, you ask?  Because Mr. Patrick is considered by some to be, at a minimum and to put it mildly, “a loose cannon” who has accused Latino immigrants of being dirty and carrying diseases.  One lobbyist from the energy sector even confided that the leadership in this area is seriously considering working with Ms. Van De Putte, the Democratic candidate, because they do not trust Mr. Patrick.  The lobbyist indicated that some within the energy sector feel that Mr. Patrick is erratic and unpredictable and not trustworthy.  Ms. Van De Putte, on the other hand, has the reputation of someone who can be worked with and is a person of her word.

Another Republican candidate who is being protected from the media is George P. Bush who is the son of Jeb and the nephew of 41 and 43.  The young Mr. Bush is running for Texas State Land Commissioner, a low-profile elected office and easy to win, as a way of getting his generation’s political careers started.  But, don’t ask him any questions about immigration because he has no answer or at least one he is willing to share.  So, rather than having the media ask young Mr. Bush any serious questions his operatives are limiting his media appearances.

Republican Road to Victory 

The Republican Party’s road to victory, it appears, is an interesting combination of suppressing the votes of those constituencies who will not normally vote for their candidates or platforms and not letting your candidates be exposed for what they are.  I wonder what type of government we would have if you let the people freely choose their leadership instead of having a bunch of behind the scenes operatives and party “hacks” control who votes and for whom the voters will cast their votes?

Henry Flores, PhD, is a Distinguished University Research Professor, Institute of Public Administration and Public Service; Director, Masters in Public Administration (MPA); Professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Mary’s University.

[Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr]

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