Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Democrats are accusing the GOP of trying to suppress minority voters:
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine is expected to lay out in a speech Wednesday the party’s latest plan to energize its base and appeal to such distinct groups as African-Americans, Latinos and younger voters, among others.
The WSJ report is based on the prepared remarks of a speech DNC head Tim Kaine was to give that read:
Of course, when it came time to give the speech, Kaine apparently did not read that line. If Kaine made the choice not to sanction this kind of ugly race-baiting, good for him. But the fact that this remark was even considered at all suggests that this ugly accusation is part of a concerted strategy to smear Republicans. The DNC declined to comment on the remark, when Politico’s Ben Smith asked about it. Smith did, however, get an earful from RNC spokesman Doug Heye:
And considering that the President recently made an explicitly racial appeal for votes, it’s hard not to see Kaine’s telling omission as part of larger strategy.
This is also not the first time Democrats have tipped their hand to engaging in this kind of shameless race-baiting, as a matter of electoral strategy. In 2004, the DNC produced an election day manual for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. I’ve included the document below, but see the text on page three:
Issue a press release
i. Reviewing Republican tactic used in the past in your area or state ii. Quoting party/minority/civil rights leadership as denouncing tactics that discourage people from voting
–Prime minority leadership to discuss the issue in the media; provide talking points –Place stories in which minority leadership expresses concern about the threat of intimidation tactics –Warn local newspapers not to accept advertising that is not properly disclaimed or that contains false warnings about voting requirements and/or about what will happen at the polls
Perhaps the Democrats should try giving voters a reason to vote for them, rather than transparently trying to scare up votes.
