An obscure Republican Party activist in Reno named Orrin Johnson - whom political pundit Jon Ralston calls a "true conservative" (meaning he agrees with Jon) - inked a blog post on Thursday in defense of allowing non-Republicans to show up at the Republican presidential caucus in February, register to vote right there on the spot, and cast a ballot to help choose the GOP nominee.
The fallacy and folly of Mr. Johnson's argument is immediately apparent in the second paragraph, where he claims he "vehemently oppose(s) same-day voter registration for regular elections" because "it's an open invitation to fraud."
Well, um, if you admit that same-day registration is an open invitation to fraud, why in the world would you support opening the Republican presidential caucus to, um, fraud?
Mr. Johnson goes on to say that "Certainly voting should be simple and accessible," however, "this access shouldn't be at the expense of a reliable vote."
And yet he endorses the notion of making the GOP presidential caucus more accessible at the expense of a reliable vote.
Later in his missive, Mr. Johnson writes: "Voter fraud is very, very real, and can and does sway the outcome of elections. And even if you don't think it happens, why invite it?"
And yet, by supporting same-day registration Mr. Johnson is, in fact, inviting it at the Republican presidential caucus.
Mr. Johnson then points out that "If someone registers to vote illegally and then casts a ballot, there is no possible way to verify that eligibility before the vote is cast."
And yet he supports the ability for someone to register to vote illegally and then cast a ballot in the Republican presidential caucus with no possible way to verify their eligibility before the vote is cast.
Next Mr. Johnson wrote: "In the thankfully unsuccessful effort to bring same-day voter registration to Nevada earlier this year, Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax testified that if a felon registered to vote illegally, that fact wouldn't be uncovered until months later - AFTER the election had probably already been certified."
And yet Mr. Johnson supports same-day registration for the Republican presidential caucus which would mean that if a felon registered to vote illegally on the day of the caucus, that fact wouldn't be uncovered until months AFTER the caucus.
Then came this head-scratching statement: "A caucus is not an election. It is a party event designed to.choose standard bearers for that party."
Um, excuse me? A caucus where people vote for candidates is not an election? Welcome to Orrin in Wonderland, where the word "election" means whatever he says it means.
Mr. Johnson then admits that it's "true that 'ACORN and SEIU' could send hundreds of people in to register that day in an organized and coordinated effort to throw the preference poll to the weakest candidate. But if those groups are really that organized and motivated, they'll pre-register as Republicans and do the same thing."
Um, Mr. Johnson..if they can do it, why can't Republicans get organized and motivated to get people to pre-register as Republicans instead of undermining a core GOP party platform and opening the party to what you, yourself, admit could be potential fraud and other shenanigans?
By the way, these arguments put forth by Mr. Johnson were characterized yesterday by Mr. Ralston - who is anything but a friend to the GOP in Nevada - as "thoughtful."
Nuff said.
Nugget 1: Political pundit Jon Ralston commented yesterday on a column I wrote in opposition to same-day voter registration for the GOP presidential caucus. Here's what he had to say.
And here is one by a naysayer that is not quite so thoughtful and actually states: "Voter registration numbers are almost meaningless anyway." Yes, in presidential election years, where partisan voting is at its zenith, voter registration numbers are almost meaningless. Genius.
Well, I may not be a genius, but the simple reality is that the most important thing in an election is who the voter votes for, not which party the voter is registered with. Here, I'll prove it.
In the special election in New York's 9th district just a couple weeks ago, Democrats enjoyed a 3-1 majority over Republicans. And yet Republican Bob Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin. So it wasn't how people were registered that decided that election. It was how they voted.
Here's another example: In 2010, Democrats in Nevada outnumbered Republicans by some 60,000 voters, and yet Republican Brian Sandoval defeated Democrat Rory Reid in the governor's race.
That same year, in Nevada's 3rd congressional district, there were over 25,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. And yet, Republican Joe Heck defeated Democrat Dina Titus.
And let's not forget state Senate district 9 in which the well-funded, establishment-backed Democrat candidate enjoyed a 3,000+ voter registration advantage against underfunded, very conservative Republican Elizabeth Halseth. We now call her SENATOR Halseth.
By the way, it works both ways. For example, for many years until 2010, Republicans enjoyed a very large voter registration advantage in the Capital state assembly district in Carson City and yet voters there consistently elected and re-elected a Democrat, Bonnie Parnell.
It doesn't take a genius to see that the outcome of an election has far less to do with the voter registration numbers than it does with the quality of the candidate, the power of the candidate's message, the effectiveness of the campaign in delivering that message, and the overall mood of the vast number of non-ideological voters - Democrat, Republican and independent - who quite often are heard saying things like, "I vote for the person, not the party."
And that concludes today's Politics 101 lesson. Class dismissed.
Nugget 2: Jon also wrote yesterday: "Those in the GOP in favor of same-day registration for the caucus: Smart elected officials, campaign consultant types, seasoned operatives. Those against: Sharron Angle allies, tea party nuts, Citizen Outreach boss."
The Citizen Outreach boss (as well as the "naysayer" in the item above) is, of course, yours truly - who Jon, for his own purposes, now refuses to name. Kinda like Lord Voldemort. It's silly, but.whatever.
In any event, consider for a minute just what Jon wrote here: All of the folks supporting same-day registration are "smart." But apparently not smart enough to beat a bunch of "nuts."
So when you think about it, just how smart are they really?
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
"In 2008, both parties had a (presidential) primary. In 2012, only the Republican Party will have a primary. The unions have no reason to encourage their members to attend the Democrat's caucus and every reason to encourage them to attend the Republican caucus, change their voter registration for a day, and skew the results.
"The Republican Party does not have unions to encourage their members to attend the caucus, including bussing them from their places of employment in mass numbers. However, Democrats do have unions that will encourage their members, and undoubtedly transport them, to the Republican Party's caucus."
- Melody Howard, a member of the Nevada Republican Central Committee, in a September 23 letter to Nevada GOP Chairman Amy Tarkanian pointing out an extreme, but certainly plausible scenario. After all, remember the extraordinary lengths Harry Reid and the unions did in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in 2010 to help nominate the weakest GOP candidate.
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