DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK

This is an undoctored photo of a Republican governor who has been valiantly trying to prevent eligible Democratic voters from casting a ballot in the next election.

Recently I made an offer to a relative of mine who is a physician and a Republican: "I'll pay you $1,000 for every ineligible voter who showed up at the polls under a registered voter's identify and voted in 2008 (nationally) and you pay me $10,000 for every number less than 10 nationally, with a $100,000 cap. If the kind of voter fraud exists which the voter ID laws were allegedly designed to prevent, that should be easy money for you. Burden of proof is on you to provide the names, States, and local precincts where they voted. Offer expires in 24 hours. I'm not even limiting the offer to [your home state]- you get the whole country to choose from."

Twenty-four hours went by without a reply other than "I'll discuss it with my Governor," referring to one of the more controversial Republican governors who has been active in attempting to suppress legitimate voters (his recent attempt to purge "ineligible" voters in his state was opposed in a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice when it was revealed that thousands of those to be purged were legally eligible to vote).

Democrats have missed the boat on this issue, and by issue, I mean a massive, coordinated, deliberate attempt to discourage and prevent eligible voters from casting ballots-- the voters targeted being those who statistically are likely to vote for a Democrat. If nationally prominent figures- politicians, celebrities, business leaders- would put out a national bet, but add a few zeros, say $10,000 for every vote cast greater than the number 10 with the voter ID law proponents paying $10 million for every vote less than 10, with a $100 million cap, this whole controversy would be over in a minute. Since they were the ones who got state legislatures they controlled to pass the ID laws to solve this "problem," the Republicans would have the burden of proof on providing the names of the ineligible voters who actually voted in person at the polls in 2008 under a registered voter's name, which is the only kind of identify fraud that the laws are purported to prevent.