Today, when I checked the mail I discovered that the New Jersey Republicans(The New Jersey Republican State Committee to be exact) had sent me an absentee ballot application. It was attached the an ad that had the trifecta of the Republican scare tactics. The front said that "What's at stake in this election? EVERYTHING!" On the reverse it "If the Democrats win YOU LOSE." It goes on to say Democrats will give illegal aliens amnesty and social security benefits; cut and run in the war on terror (note not Iraq) and push for massive Tax increases. Like I said the trifecta. But what really concerned me is below the fold.
What my attention was at the bottom. On a mainly black ad with pictures of Osama bin Laden, terrorists with shoulder fired missles and illegal aliens going through a hole in a border fence,was a bright yellow strip that said, "INSIDE: Fill out a Vote-by-Mail Application to ensure your vote is counted!" Now no where did it claim that the Democrats would try to steal the election, but I wondered why Republicans were urging absentee voting? So I called the hotline number and asked the woman who answered the phone at "Victory 2000" (that's how she answered)why she was sending me an absentee ballot? First, I was told that I had requested the ballot application. I replied that I had never requested an absentee ballot in my life. She then told me that I must be on a mailing list to receive them. So the Republicans are sending out absentee ballots to people on a mailing list. I then informed her that I was a registered Democrat and she seem surprised.
I called the hotline again later just to see if the story was the same. This time I was told simply that I must have been on a mailing list they used. This time the tone of the woman answering suggested that it was some generic list. I think it was the indefinite article she used that suggested they had different mailing lists. I also told her I was a registered Democrat and that seemed to perplex her.
The reason I am relating this is that two things occurred to me as I read this ad and then called the hotline. One, how bad did the Republicans screw up sending oppurtunities to vote to many Democrats (did any other NJ Dems get this add?)? The mailing lists they used suggest they were not screened to take out Democrats. It seemed they were cutting their own throats by accident. The other thing I thought was in tinfoil hat territory. Could the Republican plan for this election be truly diabolical? Could they be using voting machines with no paper trail and when the controversy erupts argue that only ballots be counted that are truly verifiable--absentee ballots? I told you it was tinfoil territory. Urging their supporters to vote absentee is strange for the party who gave you electonic voting unless they too are privatelty worried. Will someone please put my fears to rest. Thanks for listening.