The morning after

The morning after a ho hum GOP presidential primary in Virginia. Most areas of the state saw turnout under 5% and some of those cast a blank ballot to protest the fact that neither Gingrich nor Santorum qualified for the ballot. That speaks in part to the Commonwealth's toughest ballot qualification standards in the nation, but more importantly to the lack of a good field operation by either campaign.

So the morning after the boring primary a Republican operative called for the General Assembly to lower the qualification standards for candidates. At the same time, Republicans in the General Assembly are making it harder for citizens to vote. Anybody see the irony, and hypocrisy, in that?

Guess it all fits in well with their battle plan following Citizens United: Fat cat donors bankroll candidates' (pay worker bees to circulate petitions) who will have to collect fewer signatures. Once their candidates are on the ballot, the fat cats and their super pacs bombard the airwaves and tweets with negative ads, character assassination, lies, and innuendo. And to drive the nail deeper in the coffin, they've disenfranchised segments of voter groups who have traditionally voted Democratic. Now that's a strategy to crow about!

Time to start spreading more Coarse Cracked Corn? I will admit the foul nature of politics makes it hard to get my feathers flying again. Some volunteering and other activities leave me feeling better when we turn out the lights each night. But, when the GOP litter starts getting deeper and deeper even an old bird has to crow every now and then. So, we will see how far this goes. Will the lights in the hen house stay on? Or not?

Big Brother Obenshain

Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) has introduced SB137 would give Big Brother an assist while intimidating potential voters - it should be defeated. The bill would permit the State Board of Elections to give (for a "reasonable fee") commissioners of the revenue and treasurers lists of registered voters for use in tax assessment, tax collection, and tax enforcement.

While I'd like to believe Senator Obenshain just wants to ease the burden on the tax collector and to assist with filling the government coffers, the obvious truth is that combining voting and tax collection is a horrible idea. It is hard to see how much benefit this would add to traditional tax enforcement; but it is easy to see this could have a chilling effect on voter registration. Anyone who has tax issues, or who simply hates the taxman, might decide that registration is more of an invasion of privacy than it is worth. Already, some people don't register because they might get called for jury duty.

Senator Mark "Big Brother" Obenshain's bad idea is before the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. Contact them and urge them to vote NO on intimidating voters by intermixing registration and tax collection.

Information is power

Online line information can empower us to take action to better our lives and help us keep up-to-date without driving or spending time going through a phone tree or on hold. Virginia government has two examples of using agency websites to give citizens, the customers, information they need.

The Virginia State Board of Elections has a link that will allow you to check the status of your registration. Simply go to the SBE website and click the big red check mark. Enter your name, birthdate, and locality and your registration status is confirmed. But, there is more than that! Keep clicking and you can find your polling place with directions, which legislative districts you live in, and much more. With over 200,000 newly registered Virginia voters since the first of the year, many may have questions about their registration and other aspect of voting. The SBE website has an abundance of other information about running for office and stats on previous elections. Check it out.

The Virginia Department of Health has a similar abundance of information on food safety, emergency preparedness, tick borne diseases, etc. They recently added a link with information about smoke-free restaurants in each locality. My only gripe - I wish they'd link this right on the main page of VDH rather than bury it under restaurant inspections. Hope they keep it updated as more restaurants go smoke free.

Registering young chickens

The ACLU of Virginia recently sent a letter to a number of local registrars urging them to allow students to register and to vote in their locality. The letter begins:

The ACLU of Virginia has heard troubling reports that general registrars in some localities have been prohibiting or actively discouraging students from registering to vote at the address where they go to school. With only a month left to register for the upcoming elections, I am writing to urge you to allow students to register in the locality that they consider to be their residence, without subjecting them to extra requirements or questioning.

Kent Willis, the ACLU executive director, then continues by explaining the State Board of Elections requirements and relevant case law.

With a number of colleges in the 6th District, this issue directly affects places like Roanoke, Salem, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Lexington, and Rockingham County. All of those registrars were contacted and I can imagine some clucking about the intrusion!

The ACLU also sent press releases to college newspapers.

The registration deadline is October 6. Hopefully registrars will work with students to assure that all can register in the locality where they are actually residing most of the year - in their college community! Typically, those age 18 to 25 are the lowest voter turnout group. With high interest in this national election, 2008 gives a great opportunity to bring younger voters into this rite and responsibility of citizenship. Requiring them to vote by the cumbersome absentee ballot process, when they actually live at college nine months out of the year, seems to be placing an unreasonable obstacle to that participation. 2008 is, more than with any other voter group, about young voters' futures. Lets encourage them to vote rather than place roadblocks.

A fair day

It is county fair season. White eggs, brown eggs; Rhode Island Reds, White Leghorns, and many other breeds of chicken will be on display at fairs all over rural Virginia. Fairs reach back into our agricultural roots, provide rides and amusements to kids, live entertainment, and serve up fresh lemonade, BBQ, and funnel cakes.

Albemarle County fair was last week - weather was good, but organizers were disappointed by turnout. Could it be that the age of the county fair is passing, diminished by suburbia, satellite TV, MySpace, and video gaming? Plus, during a tough economy, the entrance fee, charges for rides, and fairly expensive food makes for a costly family night out.  Augusta's fair is this week and from the program and long list of exhibitors it appears to have grown. Time will tell if attendance will follow. The weather looks cooperative. Many fairgoers think the Rockingham County Fair, next week, is the gold standard of county fairs in Virginia.

Fairs are also political events with local parties setting up booths and candidates working the crowds. I'm not sure how well balloons and bumper stickers competes with chickens, canned veggies, cows, and kiddie rides, but the politicos are working hard. One new aspect of fair politics is the Obama folks looking for new voters to register. You can spot them with an Obama button and a clipboard working the crowds around popular displays and events. With a close race expected in November, newly registered voters (if they vote), could make all the difference. The Obama folks are confident that they will get them to the polls.

Other grist

Rumor is the Obama campaign, which just opened offices in Harrisonburg and Staunton, may open part time offices in Lexington and Bridgewater. They have recruited a big volunteer base. Now, that's grassroots! Pecking for votes all over the 6th district!

Another rumor is the McCain campaign will respond by opening a HQ in Harrisonburg. This should be safe turf for a Republican and even the rumor of this office is an admission of how much trouble McCain and the Republicans are in.

The Gilmore campaign continues wallowing in chicken litter. The other day at an event in Culpepper, only 12 people showed up. A similar thing happened on his recent trip along I-81. Several stops were at businesses where he had a captive audience; those that weren't attracted little attention. Local Democrats are reporting that well-known Republicans are actually coming by and asking for Mark Warner yard signs and bumper stickers. Rumors are flying like feathers that Gilmore's donors are disappearing and his quest for party money will be like scratching for a bug in dry dirt.

Finally, Chris Saxman and Matt Lohr held a press conference in Harrisonburg to talk about ethanol and talk about McCain's energy policy. CCC has discussed ethanol in several earlier posts. Senators Webb and Warner recently asked the EPA to back off the ethanol mandates to ease the pressure on corn as poultry and livestock feed. So, nothing really new from the two McCain surrogates. What interested this bird were the visual images on TV3 and in the DNR - on TV3 the shot was tight and showed Saxman, Lohr, and about three others. The front page pic in the DNR looked like Lohr lost in a cornfield. My guess it they were mostly talking to themselves. Cluck.

Registered chickens

An article in the Washington Post points out one reason Virginia Republicans are increasingly nervous about the November election - since January, over 147,000 people have registered to vote and more than half are under the age of 25. The increase is unprecedented and most observers believe it is the result of enthusiasm for Barack Obama and vigorous grassroots efforts by his campaign and other Democratic groups' to reach out to new and younger voters. That effort can be seen in the Obama campaign opening nearly 30 offices across the state.

The voter registration increases are seen throughout the Shenandoah Valley as well. For example, Augusta County registrations increased from 40,405 in January to 41,329 in July. And that was before the Obama campaign opened offices in Staunton and Harrisonburg.

The Republican reaction is, of course, more fear mongering. The GOP state chair, Jeff Frederick, says it is "coordinated and widespread voter fraud" and talks about corruption, identity theft, and tainted registrations. He offers no substantive proof of such allegations, preferring instead to use one or two isolated examples along with vague suggestions, innuendo, and the language of fear.

Voter registrars and electoral boards across the commonwealth see absolutely no evidence of an increase in fraudulent registrations or other problems Mr. Frederick cites. The Republicans and their lying friends on the wingnut blogs are deep into the politics of desperation.