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November
5, 2002, 11:40 a.m.
The
Color of Election Day
Democrats
resort to scare tactics to motivate black voters.
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 emocrats
in Maryland, facing the likely prospect of low turnout among black voters,
decided to motivate their most-loyal constituency through fear. An "anonymous"
flier mysteriously began "appearing" in a handful of black neighborhoods
Monday, and Democrats immediately began accusing Republicans of Jim Crow-style
intimidation of minorities.
The unsigned flier
— which looks like the handiwork of someone with a fleeting knowledge
of word processors — says in plain black lettering on white paper:
URGENT NOTICE.
Come out to vote on November 6th. Before you come to vote make sure
you pay your parking tickets, motor vehicle tickets, overdue rent AND
MOST IMPORTANT ANY WARRANTS.
Although Democrats
managed to make great hay out of the flier — Democrats say both NBC
and ABC covered it — state Democratic press secretary David Paulson
could only confirm that four of the fliers had been found, and at a single
grade school at that. Paulson speculated that there may have been "dozens"
of fliers elsewhere around the state, but he wasn't sure. It's hard to understand
how four fliers — again at one location — could gin up such hysteria,
particularly since there's no actual proof that this was anything other
than a Machiavellian stunt by Democratic operatives.
One prominent Democratic
strategist says that this move has "Bob Shrum's fingerprints all
over it." Political operative Shrum has long ties to the Kennedys.
He wrote Ted Kennedy's famous 1980 convention speech, and more recently
is known for creating some of the ugliest attack ads around. He helped
devastate Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey four years
ago with ads portraying the Republican as a bigot.
As cynical political
calculations go, posting a few fliers and then crying foul might be exactly
what the Democrats need to rally the troops in a gubernatorial race that
appears headed to the Republican column for the first time in over 30
years. Republican denials of involvement would — and did — all
have the flavor of "No, I didn't hit my wife." Anchors on one
cable-news channel, for example, debated whether the flier was the product
of a Republican organization or just an individual Republican, overlooking
the distinct possibility that Democrats orchestrated the whole affair.
Given who Democrats
have at the top of the ticket, they would have a strong incentive to fight
dirty. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has
been unable to connect with black voters, suffering from one misstep after
another.
The biggest blunder
came when she was making her selection for a running mate. In the most-Democratic
state in the union — at least Republicans periodically make respectable
showings and even sometimes win in Hawaii and Massachusetts — Townsend
picked a Republican to join her on the ticket. In a state like Mississippi
or Utah, such bipartisanship might be savvy and even a bit cunning. Running
in Maryland, however, Townsend managed to gain not one crossover vote
— aside from that of her running mate — while infuriating Democrats,
particularly blacks.
While denying they
are making any direct accusations, Democrats were furiously trying to
convince the media that the flier business was yet another in a long line
of "Republican intimidation tactics." Townsend campaign spokesman
Peter Hamm — one breath after denying that he was actually pointing
the finger at the GOP — said that the flier had to be produced by
the GOP. "I don't need to look at the sky to know it's blue,"
he quipped. When pressed for evidence to support his contention, he timidly
replied, "In a sense, we have no proof."
—
Joel Mowbray is an NRO contributor and a Townhall.com
columnist.
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