Today, Bob Herbert continues his series on Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) intimidation tactics to keep African American voters from voting in Orange County, Florida. The strength of today's article is Herbert's analysis:
The Republicans were stung in the 2000 presidential election when Al Gore became the first Democrat since 1948 to carry Orange County, of which Orlando is the hub. He could not have carried the county without the strong support of black voters, many of whom cast absentee ballots.
The G.O.P. was stung again in 2003 when Buddy Dyer, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Orlando. He won a special election to succeed Glenda Hood, a three-term Republican who was appointed Florida secretary of state by Governor Bush. Mr. Dyer was re-elected last March. As with Mr. Gore, the black vote was an important factor.
These two election reverses have upset Republicans in Orange County and statewide. Moreover, the anxiety over Democratic gains in Orange County is entwined with the very real fear among party stalwarts that Florida might go for John Kerry in this year's presidential election.
It is in this context that two of the ugliest developments of the current campaign season should be viewed.
"A Democrat can't win a statewide election in Florida without a high voter turnout - both at the polls and with absentee ballots - of African-Americans," said a man who is close to the Republican establishment in Florida but asked not to be identified. "It's no secret that the name of the game for Republicans is to restrain that turnout as much as possible. Black votes are Democratic votes, and there are a lot of them in Florida." . . .
The use of state troopers to zero in on voter turnout efforts is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, in Florida. But the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Guy Tunnell, who was also handpicked by Governor Bush, has been unfazed by the mounting criticism of this use of the state police. His spokesmen have said a "person of interest" in the investigation is Ezzie Thomas, a 73-year-old black man who just happens to have done very well in turning out the African-American vote.
From the G.O.P. perspective, it doesn't really matter whether anyone is arrested in the Orlando investigation, or even if a crime was committed. The idea, in Orange County and elsewhere, is to send a chill through the democratic process, suppressing opposing votes by whatever means are available.
The problem with Herbert's article is that he doesn't acknowledge that there may actually be something to the investigation (Stuart Buck via Body and Soul) which the FDLE is conducting. Jeanne D'Arc teases out the nuances just right:
The problem with playing this as such a -- well -- black and white issue is that it does no harm to Herbert's basic point to acknowledge that there may be reason to investigate Mr. Thomas's activities. (Although, curiously, before working for Buddy Dyer, Thomas "helped Glenda Hood win the Orlando mayoral race." If he's in the habit of filling out people's ballots for them, Florida might want to investigate all the candidates he's worked for.) The bigger issue is that even if there is reason to investigate Ezzie Thomas, Florida's way of going about it clearly accomplishes much more than just gathering information.
The response to Herbert's reporting is telling:
On Thursday, FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell fired back at Herbert, saying in a letter released by the department that he was "very disappointed" in the columnist and accusing Herbert of sensationalizing the story.
Tunnell said agents interviewed voters who had used absentee ballots in their homes so they might feel more relaxed than in an office setting. The agents did not wear uniforms for the same reason, he wrote.
They made a point not to wear uniforms because they didn't want to intimidate elderly people in their homes, but while they were thinking about how to handle the situation sensitively, it didn't occur to anyone that carrying clearly visible guns might not be a good idea?
Don't get distracted by the tit for tat of who's stealing the election from whom. Look at the patterns of vote suppression. Both the Democrats and the Republicans know perfectly well that each side engages in questionable electoral practices, worthy of investigation. Considering the criminal investigations not pursued regarding elections in Florida, this current one is clearly tactical to suppress enough black votes to bring Orange County back into the Republican fold.
This is a nice study in the power of racism in our society. Both political parties can probably be found guilty of inappropriately influencing voters in the the name of "helping" them cast their votes—an illegal act which should be prosecuted. But the practice which can decide the election one way or another is either fighting the effects of racism by getting out the African American vote or capitalizing on racism by playing on past African American experiences of intimidation and brutality.
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