Evacuees can't vote

This is a virgin diary and I apologize for any seeming waste of time or space I might cause.

That said, as I pointed out in this comment recently: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/5/183758/7470#185

I hope Kossacks are aware, as cynical as it seems, that aside from the huge loss of life, the equally tragic disruption and uprooting of generational family, the Democratic voting base has lost a huge chunk of its base as registered Dem voters are evacuated to voting districts in which they are not registered.

While all the clamoring is, as well it should be, "My God, take care of these people", has anyone considered that all these people are temporarily lost also, as registered voters for the Democrat Party?

May I suggest that Louisiana will be a shoo-in Republican victory in 2006 simply by virtue that the wealthy and comfortably evacuated will knowingly re-register? Meanwhile, if not careful, our Democrat party will have abandoned, dare I say a million voters, simply because we did not re-register them in their new districts-of-residence.

We Dems often talk about getting out the vote. When elections in districts and states and even the entire country are now won by the slimmest of margins, can we afford to overlook that the tragedy of Katrina has not only cruely destroyed the lives of decent, god-fearing American, it has also destroyed a huge traditional voting block for the Democratic cause.

Can't you just see Rove and Bush slathering over the fact they don't have to pay Diebold for the next rigged election? Why, good ole Mother Nature  just took care of disenfranchising another million votes.

We need to be just as calculating as any Rove or Republican machine. We need to re-register a million Dem voters before the 2006 election and make sure they can get to their new polling stations.

•  Ever heard of absentee ballots?

  Of course they can vote.

  by PAprogressive on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:03:37 PM PDT

•  I hope so /nt

  by RickWn on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:05:20 PM PDT

  •  Chuckle

    My wife just read your reply and asked, "Did he just volunteer to distribute those absentee ballots?"

    Good question.

    by RickWn on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:09:33 PM PDT

•  May I suggest

  that no one in Louisiana will ever vote for a Republican again?

  by jazzmaniac on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:05:28 PM PDT

  •  so what?

    that wont stop the repubs from winning the state!

    ever here of Deibold?  rigged elections?
    

    by topicalstorm on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:33:41 PM PDT

•  They've got a year.

  There are, quite frankly, more pressing priorities to attend to.

  But right now I can't help but think how disturbingly apt P. Diddy's "Vote or Die" campaign was...

  by Sixfortyfive on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:06:14 PM PDT

•  Don't you think

  they're going to find houses/apts, jobs, etc? They're not going back to NO next week. It's likely to be months, if not YEARS before they get back, if they EVER get back.

  You don't think they'll start new lives, including voting?

  Not all, of course, but many.

  And I think it's a given they won't vote rethug.

  by mmacdDE on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:12:29 PM PDT

•  Texas evacuees

  Those evacuees who plan to stay in Texas (i.e., "consider Texas their permanent home") can register a month before an election and be eligible to vote. Theoretically, they can even vote in the election coming up November 4, as long as they register by October 4. So Louisiana absentee ballots aren't their only options.
  

  by Penny Century on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:18:40 PM PDT

  •  Aike.

    This year's ballot elections actually occur on November 8. My bad!
    

    by Penny Century on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:24:17 PM PDT

  •  Democrats in Texas

    need to register evacuees to vote there if they don't have absentee ballots for LA.  These new constituents can make some changes in Texas!

    by ybruti on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 10:52:13 PM PDT

•  Please, it is the "Democratic" party

  not the "democrat" party, a locution designed by dishonest Republicans to avoid describing democrats as the "democratic" party and separate us from our root word, democracy. The frame is, democratic=the people rule; democrat=politician (inherently untrustworthy). If you're just looking to abbreviate, stick with "dem."

  As for elections--they've got a year to work that out. Note that even among the white population that successfully evacuated, most are not in Trent Lott's financial neighborhood. I heard someone saying on NPR's "Marketplace" a few days ago that average projected losses per household in Louisiana would run about $70,000. A lot of people are going to be downwardly mobile--middle class will be working class, working class will be poor, the poor...

  This could be the tipping point for some red states...

  by Alice in Florida on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:26:26 PM PDT

  •  You are correct

    And the spanking is grudgingly, whiningly, but... yeah, admittedly maybe a good thing somewhere there in the learning process.

    Here's a link I should have read before posting. Thanks to the good folks at Wikipedia:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_%28United_States%29

    by RickWn on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 10:11:34 PM PDT

•  Those are Red States Anyway...

  I hate to say it, but this is the root cause of much of their suffering.  It seems so goddamn callous to say that they've inflicted a lot of this on themselves.

  But we all know it's true.

  The worst part is not having an alternative.  It seems like it should be somewhat simple to come up with a halfway effective response to the Roveisms.

  Why is our party so completely incapable of delivering a constructive alternative to this Bu$hCo Death and Destruction (tm)??

  by bincbom on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:29:06 PM PDT

  •  Only a few percentage points

    of voters separate some "red" states from "blue" states. The constant invoking of the false "red/blue" dichotomy only serves to divide us. I respectfully request that people reconsider perpetuating this destructive myth.

    by roses on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 10:18:42 PM PDT

•  Louisiana doesn't hold elections

  in 2006.  But Texas and Missisippi and Alabama will.  The whole country will vote and people will be affected by this for a while to come.  I don't think this one is going away.  People are angry and disturbed by it, we can only hope that the Dems play their cards right.  My suggestion is that instead of outrightly attacking Dubya (except for Mary Landrieu of course) go out and demand accountability for what happenned and also make constructive policy suggestions in press conferences.  Local Leaders should do this while subtly attacking the feds.  Imagine a joint press conference of California's two golden boy mayors, Tony and Gavin, where they basically announce some new emergency procedures and say something to the effect of "What' we've learned from Hurricane Katrina is that if we have a major disaster, the federal government won't be there to help us."  And then "here is what we're doing to better prepare ourselves...."  

  by SoCalLiberal on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:32:35 PM PDT

  •  2006 Elections

    Won't they have to hold elections for the House of Representatives? I thought the term for Representatives was 2 years.

    by vgranucci on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:51:23 PM PDT

    •  Oh that's true

      Silly me...I was thinking of major races like for governor and senator and those who were visible.  I hope that Chris John comes back and gives Lord Charles Boustany the boot.  I'd like to see the Louisiana congressional delegation cracked.  

      by SoCalLiberal on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:59:38 PM PDT

•  I further encourage your comments...

  and your point of view.

  Louisiana is hardly a Democrat stronghold, and while  I agree with the suggestion that no one in Louisiana will ever vote Republican again, I was disappointingly surprised at the results of our most recent national president election.

  All are invited to the following link to see just how narrow was a Dem's governor victory and the depth to which this state is swimming in Red.

  http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G04/LA.phtml

  May I humbly suggest that comments like "ever heard of absentee ballots?", "no one will ever vote Repub again" and "we've got a year" are just the type of lackadaisical, ain't-my-problem thinking that has the Dem party so paralyzed and so smarting after one election loss after another.

  Aside from the immediate, basic needs of human survival, we need also to be, even though it seems cynical or somehow cruel, making sure they have not also lost their greatest empowerment as U.S. citizens.

  by RickWn on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:40:30 PM PDT

  •  We also need to stop assuming that all black

    voters will vote Democratic and, instead, the Democratic Party needs to treat them as swing voters and EARN their vote all over again. For instance, Dems have a HUGE opportunity to devise a clear and concise new liberal agenda because the rest of the country is hungry for it now!

    America is now hungry for true populist-oriented leadership based on economics and morality! Dems to the rescue. We just need to force the Dem political leadership to remember that historically they stand for the Common Good. This is how they got the black vote in the first place. This is also how they will keep it.

    by shrdiv on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 09:57:04 PM PDT

    •  I'm sorry...

      ...but isn't it a little (unintentionally) condescending to say we must "earn their vote." Rather, if they join us, they are on our team. Period.

      I guess I'm a little sensative to this because, as a gay Dem., I have heard some other gay people say "what have the Democrats done to earn my vote."

      And to that I reply: Gosh! I was not aware that the Democratic party owed me something for being gay.

      I subscribe to what Barney Frank said. Which was gays (and all other groups, probably) need to look at the NRA. They bring votes to the table, and get what they want. If black, gays, etc., want something from the Democratic party, we must bring the votes, and then we will get our concerns considered.

      In the end, the party is US, and NOT some THEY that has to lure us in.

      by daulton on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 10:09:30 PM PDT

•  don't forget the diebold machines...

  It doesn't matter who we vote for if the machines are still rigged in 2006.  Yes, efforts should be made to register evacuees in their new districts but republican computer hackers will repeat their 2000 & 2004 performances with the same deadly results.

  by bolinas1 on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 10:17:54 PM PDT

•  Perhaps,

  but the obvious point needs to be made: WE CARE about their safety and comfort, even if they don't vote, or even if they vote for the other guys. Say that about the GOP...I dare ya!

  by PBJ Diddy on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 10:32:41 PM PDT

•  Not too many wishy-washy opinions

  Not too many wishy-washy opinions posted here in this humble, virgin diary. To all of you who have been reading, especially those of you that have posted, my thanks for every one of your cogent and very perceptive comments.

  I don't wish to sound as if this is the end of discussion (I will be monitoring this post long after it soon scrolls away). It isn't the end, of course.

  I'd just like to give at this point a high-five to every member of the DKos community. You folks are a breath of fresh air and always a good slap aside the head when needed in a toxic cloud of misinformation.

  I haven't yet, so let me do it now, reminded you of the actual situation on the ground in the most recently devasted areas of our country. I urge you, if you haven't already or have the resources to do so again, visit this CNN website and donate to a charity of your choice:

  http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/help.center/
   

  by RickWn on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 11:34:43 PM PDT