Max Blumenthal has been reporting on Rudy's White Power problem: Giuliani has chosen Arthur Ravnel, Jr.---a hardcore, ideological neo-Confederate---to be the regional chair of his presidential campaign in South Carolina. Ed Sebesta, an authority on the neo-Confederate movement, has more on Ravnel here.
"By appointing Ravenel to his campaign," Blumenthal writes, "Giuliani has recognized the influence neo-Confederates have in the South Carolina GOP." Blumenthal concludes:
But Giuliani's alliance with neo-Confederates like Ravenel is not surprising, nor is it necessarily novel. Those who lived under his regime in New York City are familiar with his penchant for exploiting racial divisions for political gain. Now that Giuliani has introduced his Southern strategy in the GOP primaries, he is truly the Copperhead Candidate.
Indeed, everyone should be reminded that in 1993 Giuliani beat out New York's socialist Black Mayor, Dave Dinkins, by relying on Republican voter suppression tactics.
The 1993 New York City mayoral contest was a bitter rematch between incumbent Democrat David Dinkins, the city's first black mayor, and Republican Rudolph Giuliani. Four years earlier, Dinkins had edged out Giuliani 50-48%. Racial issues, and fears of racial division, loomed large in the 1993 campaign-as did fear of fraud and intimidation. A New York Times article summed up the latter worries shortly before the election:
The Dinkins campaign expressed concern that off-duty police officers supporting Giuliani might intimidate Democratic voters, while the Giuliani campaign demanded extra police officers to make sure no fraud occurred in polling places where the Mayor's supporters outnumber the challenger's.141
Giuliani representatives earlier had sent a letter to the New York City Police Commissioner, Raymond Kelly, asking for at least 2,700 police officers to be assigned to the polls, in addition to the "thousands" of volunteer poll watchers provided by the Republican Party.142 Kelly responded by assigning 3,500 officers and creating 52 "captains" to supervise the poll watching.143 This decision was a compromise designed to please both sides: the 3,500 poll-watchers were assigned to watch for voter fraud, and the 52 captains were assigned to ensure the poll-watchers did not intimidate voters. Mayor Dinkins warned that it was improper for poll-watchers (especially officers who supported Giuliani) to "exert their influence and intimidate people" and "to throw their weight around."144
Meanwhile, New York State Republican Party Chairman William Powers made it clear that his party's volunteer poll-watchers would be out in force in majority- Democratic precincts: "We will be manning polls that have never seen a Republican before," he announced.145 The Giuliani campaign had been worried for months by rumors that many Democratic voters registered more than once or were illegal immigrants.146
On Election Day morning, Mayor Dinkins held a news conference stating that "we appear to be seeing an outrageous campaign of voter intimidation and political dirty tricks afoot in today's election."147 This allegation was based on three initially unsubstantiated reports by Dinkins' poll-watchers, and Giuliani responded, "I can assure you this has nothing to do with my campaign and it is precisely what we expected of them."148 The reports were that off-duty police officers physically threatened a Dinkins volunteer and that intimidating posters had been placed in black and Latino neighborhoods.149 The second report was later confirmed. Posters had been placed at several polling places, and read: "Federal authorities and immigration officials will be at all election sites. . . . Immigration officials will be at locations to arrest and deport undocumented illegal voters."150 Dinkins called on the Department of Justice to investigate, and a statement issued by the department advised voters to disregard the posters and pledged "to protect the rights of minority voters." It also announced that "the Department of Justice and the FBI are conducting an investigation to determine who prepared and posted these notices."151
(Chandler Davidson, Tanya Dunlap, Gale Kenny, and Benjamin Wise. REPUBLICAN BALLOT SECURITY PROGRAMS: VOTE PROTECTION OR MINORITY VOTE SUPPRESSION—OR BOTH? (pdf 476kb) A REPORT TO THE CENTER FOR VOTING RIGHTS & PROTECTION, SEPTEMBER 2004. Footnotes are below the fold.)
The Republican Party's dirty secret is that winning federal elections with the so-called Southern Strategy also involves running racist campaigns throughout the country (remember Ohio?). If Giuliani gets the Republican nomination, the GOP will be stylin' with an old pro.
FOOTNOTES
137 United States of America et al. v. Charleston County, S.C., et al., 34.
138 Ibid.
139 United States of America et al. v. Charleston County, S.C., et al., 34.
140 McDonald, “The New Poll Tax,” 28.
141 Celia W. Dugger, “2 Sides Seek More Police to Stymie Intimidation and Fraud at Polls,” The New York
Times, 1 Nov. 1993, B5.
142 Ibid.
143 Ibid.
144 Ibid.
145 Ibid.
146 Ibid.
147 Michael Rezendes, “Giuliani Projected N.Y. Victor,” The Boston Globe, 3 Nov. 1993, 1.
148 Todd S. Purdum, “Giuliani Ousts Dinkins By A Thin Margin,” The New York Times, 3 Nov. 1993, A1.
149 “Dirty Pool At Polls Alleged; Dinkins, Giuliani Trade Allegations,” The Record (New Jersey), 3 Nov.
1993, A14.
150 Thomas B. Edsall and Malcolm Gladwell, “Vote Probe Targets N.Y. City Turnout; Bid to Deter
Minorities Claimed,” The Buffalo News (New York), 12 Nov. 1993, A1.
151 “Dirty Pool At Polls Alleged,” A14.
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