In Final Days, Dirty Tricks Rear Ugly Head

Efforts To Confuse Or Scare Voters Once Again Appear As Election Day Nears

(AP)  In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks - confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.

The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.

Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.

Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections - one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats. (See the flyer here.)

In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.

"He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter," said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. "He totally, totally scared the heck out of her."

In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4," said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake."

Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities."

The Obama campaign and civil rights advocacy groups have signed up millions of new voters for this presidential race. In Ohio alone, some 600,000 have submitted new voter registration cards.

Across the country, many of these first-time voters are young and strong Obama supporters. Many are also black and Hispanic.

Activist groups say it is this fresh crop of ballot-minded citizens that makes some Republicans very nervous. And they say they expect the dirty tricks to get dirtier in final hours before Tuesday.

"Oh, there's plenty of time for things to get ugly," said Zachary Stalberg, president of The Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based government watchdog group that is nonpartisan.

Other reports of intimidation efforts in the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania include leaflets taped to picnic benches at Drexel University, warning students that police would be at the polls on Tuesday to arrest would-be voters with prior criminal offenses.

In his Jewish neighborhood, Stalberg said, fliers were recently left claiming Obama was more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israel, and showed a photograph of him speaking in Germany.

"It shows up between the screen door and the front door in the middle of the night," Stalberg said. "Why couldn't someone knock on the door and hand that to me in the middle of the day? In a sense, it's very smartly done. The message gets through. It's done carefully enough that people might read it."

Such tactics are common, and are often impossible to trace. Robo-calls, in which automated, bogus phone messages are sent over and over, are very hard to trace to their source, say voting advocates. E-mails fall into the same category.

In Nevada, for example, Latino voters said they had received calls from people describing themselves as Obama volunteers, urging them to cast their ballot over the phone.

The calls were reported to Election Protection, a nonprofit advocacy group that runs a hot line for election troubles. The organization does not know who orchestrated them.

"The Voting Rights Act makes it a crime to misled and intimidate voters," said McDonald. "If you can find out who's doing it, those people should be prosecuted. But sometimes it's just difficult to know who's doing what. Some of it's just anonymous."

Trying to mislead voters is nothing new.

"We see this every year," said Jonah Goldman of the advocacy group Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "It all happens around this time when there's too much other stuff going on in the campaigns, and it doesn't get investigated."

In 2006, automated phone calls in the final days leading to the federal election wrongly warned voters they would not be allowed to vote without a photo ID. In Colorado and Virginia, people reported receiving calls that told them their registrations had expired and they would be arrested if they showed up to vote.

The White House contest of 2004 was marked by similar deceptions. In Milwaukee, fliers went up advising people "if you've already voted in any election this year, you can't vote in the presidential election." In Pennsylvania, a letter bearing what appeared to be the McCandless Township seal falsely proclaimed that in order to cut long voting lines, Republicans would cast ballots on Nov. 2 and Democrats would vote on Nov. 3.

E-mail assaults have become increasingly popular this year, keeping pace with the proliferation of blogging and Obama's massive online campaign efforts, according to voting activists.

"It is newer and more furious than it ever has been before," Goldman said.

And Republicans are not exempt. "Part of it is that election campaigns are more online than ever before," said Goldman. "During the primaries, a lot of Web sites went up that seemed to be for (GOP candidate Rudy) Giuliani, but actually were attack sites."

New York City's former mayor and his high-profile colleagues Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney were also targeted in fake Internet sites that featured "quotes" from the candidates espousing support for extreme positions they never endorsed.

[dburfears]

Republican platform:

If you can''t BUY the election, then STEAL it.

[roadracer9x]

The penalty for election fraud or any of these dirty tricks should be loss of citizenship and expulsion from the country, no matter which side does it. We don''t need these people and they are NOT Americans. If we cannot have fair elections who in the world will ever trust us?

[misha128-2009]

Better questions --

What happens when a campaign and a candidate misinforms their own voters when election day is?

What happens when a candidate either gives away war plans or mistakenly claims we are at war with a nation?

Welcome to Gov Sarah Palin''s Sunday. Today alone she has told voters to vote on Nov 5th (should have been Nov 4th) and that the McCain / Palin administration, if elected, would be addressing wars in Iraq and IRAN in their first 100 days in office.

[formrusmcsgt]

RNC enlists Clinton to attack Obama

NEW YORK (CNN) %u2013 The Republican National Committee is using Hillary Clinton%u2019s past criticism of Barack Obama to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of undecided voters in the final hours of the presidential campaign.

Full script:

%u201CI am calling for John McCain and the RNC. Listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say about John McCain and Barack Obama:

%u2018In the White House there is no time for speeches and on-the-job training. Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign and Senator Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference.%u2019

------

I thought that McCain would pull this out a couple of months ago, but he obviously chose to use it as a last minute shot.

BTW, thanks Hillary.

[dredigga]

I am thankful that this is almost over and Sen. Obama looks to be headed for victory. It saddens me a little that he appears he is going to govern from the center ( though us left-leaning liberals deserve to see him govern our way) and since it is the far-right policies that got us in the position we are in today. Regardless, we should unite behind which ever one wins as we have to unite and get this great country headed back in the right direction.

[cdfoxtrot4]

Seems like all of these dirty tricks are by the Republicans. Do you have to be a total scumbag maggot in order to be a Republican? Do Republicans have ANY sense of shame???

[kazoodan]

So typical of the Republican party.

[todded67]

The dirtiest trick in this election, is the NETWORK NEW being in the tank for Obama and refusing to investigate or cover any of the myriad of questionable judgements by this man. It is an historical point in America where the media creates their own candidate and ensures his victory by deceit.

[doctajim]

Alas, the war against Communism - such an old and worn cry of witch hunts. As early as 1933, Hitler, Goebbels, Hess and the rest of the Nazi ilk had one cry that brought them together - defeat Communism! You talk about history, try Lowen or Zinn and learn some history that wasn''t brought to you by Fox, "Rush", and the facists. This election is the power of truth against the evils of discrimination, abuse of power, lies of government, the hypocrisy of Republicans (from Idaho bathrooms to Wall Street), and real Socialism (brought to us all by GW Bush). I hope the incoming Democratic AG has a focus on the RNC, Bush, Cheney and the application of RICO.

[red1952]

The McCain campaign with the help of the republican party will use these last two days promoting fear, lies and hate. Obama will use his last two to promote change, hope and promise. Is there any wonder why people are looking to Obama to lead. It''s time to put to rest the politics of hate once and for all. Hopefully on November 5th, a new day will shine brightly for the US.

[kingfisher10]

I am Barack Obama and I aproved this measage

I am a clown, I have no real experience, I am just a taliking head and I let CNN and CBS run my campain for me.

[blackyowe]

Racism is an ugly wart on the face of America and we need to cut it out!

[willkurz]

This type of dirty trick is the reason moderates are desertting the GOP in droves. It is organised fraud and has, at least, the silent complicity of the RNC and the McCain campaign.

The only thing the GOP has learned since Watergate is how to reduce the chances of getting caught and to have a compliant right wing TV network (Fox)divert attention with red herrings about the alleged transgressions of ACORN.

[frillysunshi]

McCain supporters are bordering on villainous. They''d go to any lengths to make sure Obama doesn''t win. I bet none of them have any morals- I mean stooping so low as to disenfranchise voters- in a f-ing democracy! None of them happen to think that America
can''t become socialist anyway. We''re a capitalist nation- we don''t do regime changes.

[CNH]

The problem with the McCain campaign is that they have no positive, productive message of their own, no specific policies for improving the economy that differ from those of GWB, no solutions for improving America''s standing among foreign nations, no significant platform whatsoever. He is a one-trick pony pushing his vague concept of being a "reformer" and a "maverick".

As a result, he has relied on negative attack ads and speeches from the get-go. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and McCain is a desperate man whose blind ambitions have clouded any sense of judgement, fairplay, and code of ethics. (Palin, on the other hand, never had a code of ethics--only a holier-than-thou sense of morality.)

McCain and Palin have regressed from "gutter politics" to "sewer politics".

[CNH]

This country has been slowly evolving into that which we have sacrificed countless lives opposing--a militant nation with an agenda driven by religious extremists who promote freedom of thought only so long as it does not conflict with their own ideas. Sound familiar? We have become the enemy.

Ever since the 1960''s, the GOP consistently has been, and will always be, the party of exclusion, the party that attempts to diminish those who look different than themselves, pray to a different deity, or follow a different lifestyle. They are the party that uses fear and hatred as a weapon to intimidate any who do not share their points of view.

It is time for a fresh perspective, a new philosophy of America''s place in the world. It can no longer be us versus them at all costs; the world is far too small for such a narrow-minded point of view.

It is time to embrace those who are different than ourselves and accept them for who they are--it would be the "christian" thing to do.

[irmcvet97]

I am Barack Obama and I aproved this measage

I am a clown, I have no real experience, I am just a taliking head and I let CNN and CBS run my campain for me.

Posted by Kingfisher10 at 05:06 PM : Nov 02, 2008

We THE PEOPLE are better than this! WE are! We are the son''s and daughters of people who DARED to believe that the COMMON Man could Govern himself. The son''s and daughters of people who picked leaders like Abe Lincoln and FDR. Fear is not in our make up and we MUST stand with those who are under attack in just this manner. This poor uneducated LOSER doesn''t give us a reason to vote FOR his guy. No! He only attempts to scare us into voting against the Guy who OBVIOUSLY has been in OUR shoes!! Obama 08

[len134]

Hopefully in four years the Republicans, having realized that they majority of Americans will no longer stand or accept their trash politics of fear and smear, will campaign in a civil manner. Too many of us were fooled by their disingenuous tactics and allowed Bush/Cheney into office.

Can we hope for a better politics? I think, that after eight years of Obama, the American conscience will have been raised to the point that the fear and smear tactics of McCain will go down in history as the last and most egregious example of negative politics.

America needs to drag the last of the mistaken conservative right wing haters into the 21st century, and forge a new consciousness, a better society, and a better global example.

Obama/Biden 08

Remember, Polls mean Nothing, The Vote means Everything.

[frillysunshi]

For all you McCain supporters (or bloggers) here how many of you make more than $250,000?

[kansas1946]

Gosh, it seems as though most of the "dirty tricks" are coming from the right. What a shock. The Republican party lost its soul a long time ago. They have no new ideas, no good ideas, no ideas, and just run their campaigns on fear and innuendo. I think the Republican party will recover eventually and live up to its nickname, the GOP, once again, but it is going to take some time. Just like a substance abuser, the party has not hit bottom yet. And you have to hit bottom before you can swim back to the top.

[dakotaclark]

I''ve been a Republican since the first time I could vote, for Barry Goldwater.

About 13 years ago, conservative Christians hijacked the GOP. They know they are dead in the water with Family Values issues in 2008, due to McCain%u2019s past adultery, and Palin''s family issues.

Lacking any ethics, the RNC must use personal attacks.

Plus, like Senator Obama and his preacher, Senator McCain has had his own preacher Rod Parsley moments.

It is very disappointing for me to see the GOP resort to smarmy ads, lies and half-truths, to try to win this election.

There is no way around it, other than to say that considering his age, health, mental health, hot temper, draconian beliefs about women''s rights, etc., Senator McCain is not a very good choice. Yet, his supporters either do not see, or do not pay any attention to, McCain''s issues.

Therefore, I am a Republican who is tired of the way that conservative Christians in the Republican Party have been trying to have things their way.

The only way to protest effectively, the less than desirable changes in the GOP, is to join forces with Colin Powell, and vote for Obama.

Amen, and pass the biscuits, please...

[ybotheratall]

A "Black" man leads in some polls? Who is this person? We have a white man and a man of mixed race running for president, but none who are black??????

[caliguy55]

I''ve known ever since I was old enough to vote, and even a few years before, that Republicans were scumbags, who would do or say anything to win an election. I really had a hard time determining the reasons for the widespread moral bankruptcy that permeates this group of people. However, it seems related to a perverted form of Christianity they are taught and practice during their youth. Specifically, something seems to enter them during their formative years, which corrupts them into believing they can do anything, right or wrong, for God will forgive them. Further, they believe that God will condemn anyone else who engages in the same behavior. This thought pattern thus becomes self reinforcing as not only can they get away with these wrongful acts, but God will punish others who engage in similar acts. Filled with these self-righteous beliefs that only strengthen as they grow older, they continue to engage in wrongful acts until the law catches up with them or they pass away and find out what a big mistake they''ve made. Well, that''s the best I can do in attempting some sort of rational explanation for irrational thought.

[hennighg]

Yeah, well, the "mavericks" have as much to do with change as Charles Darwin has to do with the third coming. Same ol'' same ol''. Goodbye, GOP. Even if Obama gives us harder times, they will be cleaner times and I won''t feel like brushing my teeth so much.

[dakotaclark]

Sorry, I forgot to mention this eye opener from The Times of London.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5063279.ece

[tincup356]

America is under terrorist attack right now, by the government of this country, using a weapon of mass destruction...the SELLOUT.mark my word , if the same ones who voted yes to the sellout are re-elected , we will face certain economic destruction.Wake up party line voters you have been warned.

[jonathanw20]

The fact that Bush administration is getting involved in things like immigration etc. tells me that they are going to do all kinds of illegal things to reduce voter turnout.

[aworldaway]

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have been saying for weeks, "Take nothing for granted, vote early and spend Nov.4 helping others vote". If you live in a neighborhood that''s bee targeted by these cowardly, cheating tactics, I urge you to knock on doors. Ask if they''ve voted, ask if you can help them get to the poles. Ask your friends and family to do the same. it will take everyone to win this thing and if (please God) it''s a landslide, then the rift will be that much easier to mend afterward.

[aworldaway]

America, the leader of the free world is about to demonstrate to the globe that even though the campaign process is ugly, filled with nasty blogs from all corners. That''s the beauty, millions of people with an opinion and FREE to express it as they choose. On Nov.5 the world will see a nation rally behind the new President, regardless of who he is. anyone who doesn''t is just plain UN-AMERICAN!

[aworldaway]

A must watch, this is awesome, tells you how Christian Blacks see Obama-----------------------

_______________________________________________________All Christian Blacks? Wow that IS worth seeing! How''d they get all those opinions in one place? I''m impressed!

[mindlessmissy]

"New York City''s former mayor and his high-profile colleagues Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney were also targeted in fake Internet sites that featured "quotes" from the candidates espousing support for extreme positions they never endorsed."

Well somebody please tell Elizabeth Hasselbeck this news ...

She seems to think everything she prints from the internets is gospel ...

[cyberdjs4]

All of this proves that the McSame/Beauty Queen ticket doesn''t have what it takes win so it''s time to lie, cheat and steal.

And the Republican''s wonder why we want them out of office.

[nearl4511]

Maybe we should have Zimbabwe officials overseeing our elections.

Sounds like a ot of third world c r a p going on. Best part is seems that EVERYONE believes in one anothers right to vote.....just as long as it''s the same way we would vote.

Someone really needs togo to jail for some of these pranks.

[nearl4511]

Ya just don''t get it do ya? Wink, Wink! You betcha.

[the1stdude-2009]

Why are all of you Republican racist hiding behind ridicules user names and on-line blogs? You should be proud to be a Republican racist and show all of those Obama supporters that you have the gonads to stand-up for what you believe is right! Please stop hiding and use your real names and addresses so you can be appreciated for all your good work! We here at the Republican Party would like to send you something after Senator Obama wins Tuesday night but we can''t unless you stop hiding like the gutless cowards most of you are! I''m Tod Palin and I approve this message!

[strangeworld]

Voters need to steel themselves and persevere against such mean-spirited nonesense by voting...if people have to take the day off, call in sick, whatever - just get out and vote. The republican party depended on such bullying in every recent election, but you can end that right here by getting out and voting against them.

[nearl4511]

Joe McCarthy rears his ugly mouth again.

[kazoodan]

Someone really needs togo to jail for some of these pranks.
--------------------------------------
----------------
Posted by Nearl4511 at 06:50 PM : Nov 02, 2008


Yeah. Maybe we should start with the fools that hung Palin from their house? You think? Maybe?

Posted by iknowacommi at 06:54 PM : Nov 02, 2008

And the ones who hung an effigy of Obama at a small CHRISTIAN college in the south.

[erasmus81]

"(AP) In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks - confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night."

"The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent."


This is just unbelievable to me. I have never heard of people doing these things where I live.

The corruption is out of control.

[erasmus81]

Well somebody please tell Elizabeth Hasselbeck this news ...

Posted by mindlessmiss at 06:27 PM : Nov 02, 2008


Puleeeese stop! Hearing or seeing this name, is like scratching a blackboard.

[lbolle]

Isn''t it funny how it''s always the right wing scumbags? Isn''t it laughably hypocritical that they claim to be devout, God-fearing Christians, yet they lie, steal, cheat, commit debauchery, and kill innocent people without blinking twice? What, do you think you''ll be absolved by throwing a bunch of money to some bloated evangalical psycho in some strip mall mega-church? SICKENING. SICK SICK SICK.

[dnsallday]

There is no such thing as a Republicon who puts Country first.

[kazoodan]

Who or What are you going to blame if you lose this time around??? Don''''''''t give me the stupid response "we are not going to lose".

Come on, answer the question. Who''''s fault will it be this time when Obama loses? You better start looking for someone to blame.

Posted by iknowacommi at 07:43 PM : Nov 02, 2008

McCain''s not going to win!

[nursehope]

I hope they arrest the Republicans behind the voter suppression....that should be a major investigation...and I''m willing to put up money to fund it

[relee42]

If Republicans put country first then why is 7 count convicted felon, Ted Stevens(R, Ak.) still running for Senate and why is Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski(R) encouraging that move? Country means nothing to these people.

[birdyspice7]

There is no scandal involving Democrats trying to suppress Republican votes. That is very interesting.

How could anyone claim to be a real American Patriot but wish to suppress votes from their fellow countrymen? How can they claim to love America when they won''t honor her constitution?

Country First? Which country? Iraq? It''s time for the people to take our country back and have a real democracy.

[actesq]

re} caliguy55 at 05:38 PM : Nov 02, 200
Calguy. You are exactly correct. I know these people and many of them are in powerful places, e.g. US Congress, etc. They are "forgiven" in advance by the "shed blood of Jesus."

[steeepe]

Some Republicans are sleazy b@stards, aren''t they? They lie and cheat and shovel the propaganda all over you. Why can''t they lose like adults instead of acting as criminals?

[actesq]

re} caliguy55 at 05:38 PM : Nov 02, 200
Calguy. You are exactly correct. I know these people and many of them are in powerful places, e.g. US Congress, etc. They are "forgiven" in advance by the "shed blood of Jesus."

[nor-one]

You don''t need Blackwater for dirty tricks. Just a bunch of brain dead repugnicks and T. Boon Pickens wallet. When he''s not trying to steal your money he keeps busy just lying about anything his friends want him to. Typical bushie though, he hasn''t the balls to come out and put his name to the dirty work he hires out.