Hmm. Interesting. Dem Group Hires Felons for Door-to-Door Reg. Drive

[BurtWorm]

:wtf: are they thinking?! I mean, of course felons deserve a second chance, and of course they deserve the right to vote themselves when they've paid their debt to society, but I repeat :wtf: is ACT thinking!? Do they think this is a brilliant PR move?!


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Voter-Drive-Felons.html?pagewanted=print&position=

June 23, 2004
Felons Paid in Voter Registration Drive
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:09 p.m. ET

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Democratic group crucial to John Kerry's presidential campaign has paid felons -- some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary -- to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives in at least three election swing states.

America Coming Together, contending that convicted criminals deserve a second chance in society, employs felons as voter canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida, Ohio and perhaps in other states among the 17 it is targeting in its drive. Some lived in halfway houses, and at least four returned to prison.

ACT canvassers ask residents which issues are important to them and, if they are not registered, sign them up as voters. They gather telephone numbers and other personal information, such as driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers, depending on what a state requires for voter registration.

Felons on probation or parole are ineligible to vote in many states. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, which represents election officials, said he is unaware of any laws against felons registering others to vote.

[2Design]

1. yes it is a good move... they need jobs....people don't

easily hire ex felons....
it is on every job app....they have to work some where...why not for something good

[BurtWorm]

3. WHy give the GOP something it can sink its teeth into?

I guarantee the freep squad will be out in full force in no time exploiting this, handing out flyers in every battleground neighborhood:
"LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS! THE DEMS ARE COMING TO 'REGISTER' YOU!"

[69KV]

40. But, really,

who cares what the freep squad says or thinks?

So, where do you propose EX-felons get jobs then? Flipping burgers or something equally degrading?

[Redleg]

46. Who cares? Wait until the Repubs spin this and see who cares.

I think it is naive to suggest this will all amount to nothing. Al Gore was flogged over saying things that were essentially true.

[BurtWorm]

48. I care if it loses enough votes!

Don't you?

I'm all in favor of giving ex-felons jobs, even registering voters. I'm all in favor of registering ex-felons--even giving prisoners the vote, personally.

But I think it's incredibly stupid, if you HAVE to win an election, to hand the Republicans a nice fat piece of clay for them to make what they will out of!

[pennylane100]

4. I want to help ex-felons as much as possible but

having them go door to door is just ridiculous. What if a young person opens the door and the man standing there is a sex offender.
I think that's a recipe for disaster.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. So, what you're saying is that even though an EX-felon has paid his...

...or her debt to society and has made it through his or her parole period, he or she should NOT be allowed to have a job, and/or walk around unescorted, and/or vote.

Is that what you're saying?

[BurtWorm]

14. This is not about rehabilitation and human rights.

This is about getting Bush the fuck out of office. Does it help the cause to create a public relations disaster like this?!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. Quit whining and start thinking. How many of the GOP canvassers are...

...are also ex-felons?

How many ex-felons currently hold high-paying jobs are CURRENTLY serving in the NeoCon Junta government.

[BurtWorm]

21. We don't know. All we know is ex-felons are out in force

going to to door workin for Democrats. :eyes:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

23. You don't know how many ex-felons are working for that group, do you?

[BurtWorm]

27. Here's what the story says.

Although ACT asks job applicants to cite their criminal history and hires some felons and not others, Elleithee would not reveal how many felons ACT has hired to canvass neighborhoods and register voters. They earn $8 to $12 per hour.

Elleithee confirmed that felons have been hired in Missouri, Florida and Ohio and said it is possible they have been hired in the other 14 states in which it's conducting its drive: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Ed Gillespie, the chairman of the Republican Party, issued a statement calling the policy ``disturbing'' and questioned the use of felons ``to go house to house and handle sensitive personal information.''

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. So, how many ex-felons is that, exactly? And who cares what...

...Ed Gillespie says? That guy lies just as often as his NeoCon masters.

Do you think this is a more important story than the number of Americans that are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan? How about the prisoner torture story? How about the lousy economy where more jobs are manufactured by government analysts than actual companies? How about the Valerie Plame story? How about the Cheney-Halliburton story?

Do you really think the ex-felon story is a real problem? Do you think that a group NOT associated with the Democratic Party is going to be a bigger story than any of the stories I noted above?

Get a grip.

[BurtWorm]

37. Are you the guardian of what can and can't be discussed here?

You've done a hell of a job keeping this thread kicked for someone who doesn't think it merits any discussion at all!

PS: Of course I don't fucking think this is as important as Halliburton or Plame or Chalabi. God!

[ParanoidPat]

43. Yo! Burt! The Whitehouse is FULL of ex-felons and the public.....

.....doesn't seem to care. What "public relations disaster" are you referring to? :shrug: :evilgrin:

As is the Diebold Voting Systems company who count the votes!

See Black Box Voting, Five Felons Press Conference

Why just the other day Bush* was in Ohio pushing the virtues of hiring ex-felons, LOL! Just keep reminding the other side that we're just following their example! :)

[BurtWorm]

44. Now, THAT'S thinking!

:toast:

[pennylane100]

52. Can you even read?

Or, more importantly, do you comprehend what you read?

When an article states that ex-felons (including sex-offenders) are going door to door canvassing and I state that n such a move seems like a recipe for disaster, where do you get off thinking that I believe that ex-felons should not hold jobs or vote or walk around unescorted.

I do not know what your problem is, but putting words in other peoples mouths will not solve it.

[BurtWorm]

53. That's a problem with being knee-jerk.

:eyes:

Look at the number in this thread who can't comprehend that if this is true, a group of idiot "Dems" handed Repubs a nice fat juicy piece of anti-Dem propaganda. This is not about justice, which would of course guarantee people who have paid their debt to society the right to work as well as the right to vote. This is about politics as they're really played in boneheaded middle America.

[gasperc]

7. I agree they deserve and need jobs but vet them carefully

god knows the GOP would make alot of hay out of some canvasser committing a crime while going door to door

[BurtWorm]

16. The GOP doesn't even need anything REALLY bad to happen.

They'll just make something up! Like maybe they made this stupid story up!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. Wow! You sure are getting worked up over a story you don't believe.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. I suspect that they are thinking that...

Once a person has paid his or her debt to society, they are supposed to be allowed re-entry into society, rather than condemning them to wearing a scarlet letter and being made a part of a permanent criminal sub-class.

Just a guess, but don't you think that a little education in on-the-ground civics might be a good thing?

repukes, of course, would not feel this way. They are advocates of disenfranchising as many people as possible.

[BurtWorm]

6. Republicans have no problem with the Democrats hiring felons

(including, possibly, sex offenders and burglars among them) to go door-to-door looking for votes. It gives them a giant lode of ammo for their dirty tricks propaganda campaigns.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. NeoCons have no problem hiring ex-felons for high-paying jobs...

...in the NeoCon Junta government, either.

Let them say whatever they want, but I bet THEIR ex-felons have killed far more Americans and foreign nationals with their policies both foreign and domestic.

[BurtWorm]

17. That might make you feel good to think so, but let's see

Dems make as much out of that as Repubs are guaranteed to make out of this. This is right up their alley, this kind of story.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

22. Hmmm. The only people I see having a major problem with this is you...

...and a couple of other people in this thread. Thanks to you folks, I'm sure that this thread is being linked straight to Free Republic even as we converse on this board.

Thanks for putting this story "right up their alley".

[BurtWorm]

24. It's on the AP wire right now.

:hi:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. So what? You're the one that's reacting just like they want you to react.

[BurtWorm]

31. Well I can't help reacting to stupidity when I see it.

Whoever came up with this brilliant, decent (seriously) idea wasn't thinking about the great big picture. I wonder if felons were the only people they could have hired, or if maybe there weren't others in the jobless recovery who could have used the work and the money. Oh well. It's not as if the Republicans ever spread dirt about Dems being soft on crime and more caring about criminals' rights than "regular folks'." :eyes:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

33. Neither can I.

[gardenista]

41. Having registered hundreds of voters, I have a problem with this, too.

Clearly, this story has gone beyond the bounds of DU and FR.

True, this is Freeper ambrosia, but not because it was posted here. I'm sure it will be in the RNC talking points tomorrow.

I'd like to know a lot more about this organization. It's particularly interesting that this is happening in swing states.

[sweetladybug]

9. I don't know but something doesn't sound right with this story

Could this be Republicans saying this to make Democrats look bad?
ELECT KERRY 2004!!!!

[BurtWorm]

12. That's a definite possibility. It really has the stink of RNC

propaganda all over it. But there it is.

[rumguy]

5. Bottom line: I doubt they are hiring people who are dangerous

Shit in the police state that America is rapidly becoming ALL OF US will soon be potential felons....

Did you see Symbolman's thread, the fellow Duer who is going to jail for 20 days and possibly to prison for a year due under very, very questionable circumstances?

[BurtWorm]

10. It doesn't matter if they're hiring ex-prisoners of conscience

the RNC is going to get it under America's skin that the Dems are flooding neighborhoods with rapists and thieves. I'm sorry but this was a STUPID idea! STUPID!

[rumguy]

18. I see your point - but this is a group unconnected to Kerry

at least that's one small bright spot...

[BurtWorm]

20. You think Mr. and Mrs. America will make that nice distinction?

:scared:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. Keep posting...I'm sure Free Republic is having a good time...

...reading your comments.

[BurtWorm]

29. You want I should ignore it and make it go away?

Then maybe you should too? :shrug:

It's too late, anyway, MLD. This genie was out of the bottle a half hour before I saw it. Good luck getting it back in!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

34. Good luck continuing to spread the story as fast as you can.

[BurtWorm]

36. All I can say is

thanks for doing your part. :eyes:

[Forkboy]

39. lol

kinda funny,in a sad sorta way,isn't it? :)

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

8. I agree, what were they thinking?!?!

Yes they deserve a second chance, however to put them in positions where they are going door to door is inviting trouble. People convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary should NOT be going door to door. Too much temptation. How would the ACT feel if someone was raped, assaulted or burglarized because they had access like this? It is completely ridiculous to expect a good outcome in a situation like this. Utterly incomprehensibly ridiculous.
:crazy:

[Forkboy]

13. Some people are ragging on Nader for the same thing in AZ

Whoops!

[rumguy]

30. Doesn't Bush have some ex-felons working for him?

What about Poindexter, the guy who was going to create that supercomputer to track all of us electronically?

[gardenista]

38. Yeah, and if Poindexter came to my front door, I'd be pissed, too!

Sorry, but the door-to-door thing is just stupid. Anyone who can't see that this is a lovely little tidbit for Gillespe to wag around to frighten potential Dems from registering, this is it!

Now, in some people's minds, if the RNC has its way, here is the simple equation:

DEMOCRATIC CANVASSER = SEX OFFENDER

[gardenista]

35. AP story via NYT? I think it's got RNC all over it.

This is reeking of RNC propaganda.

BUT if it IS true, its' a huge mistake.

First of all, registration should NOT be done door-to-door by anyone who is not local.

Secondly, WTF are they thinking? Did they not KNOW that this is prime filet GOP propaganda material? Yeah, felons need jobs. Hire them to stuff envelopes, answer phones, PERHAPS sit in front of the Safeway at a table to register people, but sending convicted sex offendors to people's front doors? Are they freaking NUTS? Are they moles? Come ON, this is INSANE!

Finally, are these even DEMOCRATIC felons? Gee, I guess we wouldn't know, because they can't register to vote themselves. I'm sorry, but this is just really bad, bad idea.

[left is right]

42. I don't believe it.

I think this is purely disinfomation and if someone tells me that a felon actually came to the door, I will be forced to believe that the so called Dem group were pukes in disguise. They pulled this kind of thing before. There were many stories in 2002 primaries of people being recruited to run as Dems and Indies by GOP operatives. Some of these duped people thought they were receiving "the call" to run as Repubs. The goal was to split Dem votes.

[BurtWorm]

45. My very first instinct was to find it horribly unbelievable.

Then there were the quotes from the ACT official defending the practice. I don't know what to think, really. I've heard of ACT. I get mail from them asking for money. They seem cheesy. Maybe they're a GOP front organization! ;)

[GoldenOldie]

47. Florida Felons???

Doesn't his sound a little like the purging of the felons in Florida??? Give em a label and it's good for a pretty good slime job.
There is just no limit to what the NeoCONS will do for democracy?????

[ContinentalOp]

49. This seems like a repuke scheme...

..to scare people into not talking to registrars (is that the correct term?). Stay inside and don't answer the door because the Democratic sex offenders are coming to sign you up!

[BurtWorm]

50. Excellent point!

Which is why, if it's true, it's about the stupidest idea a "Democratic" group ever came up with.

[ContinentalOp]

54. thanks,

I agree that it's a stupid idea. I'm totally behind giving jobs to felons and integrating them back into society once they have paid their debt. And I'm the last one to care "what the freepers are thinking about us" or any of that crap. But this is pretty bad. It's not what the freepers think but what "grandma Millie" thinks when she hears this on the news.

[BurtWorm]

55. Right. On.

I wish I'd said that myself. Thank you. And a belated welcome to DU. :toast:

[Radical Activist]

51. ACT wasting money is a bigger deal

Other groups are doing bigger voter registration drives much more efficiently than ACT. ACT throws away a lot of money on palm pilots, jackets, hats and other fancy crap you don't need to register voters. A lot of money is being thrown away that could be going to other liberal groups or candidates.

Hiring ex-felons is no big deal. I guess it depends on what they've done. They're not the first group to do this.