My house was one of the houses that this weasel had called on Election Day. Voter suppression efforts like this are key to EVERY Republican election strategy, so it is nice to see a scam exposed and punished from time to time (you can read the local coverage in the Sun Papers here and more here).
The evidence included a memo that described “The Schurick Doctrine” in unusually blunt terms:
The first and most desired outcome is voter suppression. The goal is to have as many African American voters stay home as a result of triangulation messaging based on the Schurick Doctrine.
The second most desired outcome is to get African American voters to skip voting in the bracket for Governor and only vote “down the ballot.” This outcome’s achievement is primarily rooted in confusion about which candidate is suitable to receive their vote.
Example: Neither Ehrlich or O’Malley are worth two cents. I don’t like either one!The third and less likely outcome is to get some, about thirty-five thousand, African American Democrats to switch over at the top of the ticket and vote for Bob Ehrlich statewide.
Somehow, the Jury didn’t buy the defense that these “don’t bother to vote” robocalls were really an effort to GOTV for Democrats.
I hope they throw the book at Schurick and sentence him to five* twelve years of hard time. Even if that happens, he can go to the big house knowing that thousands of Republican operatives will be following his doctrine to the letter as they feverishly work to Block the Vote in 2012. This is an ongoing Republican crime wave that cries out for more exposure and prosecutions.
Cheers
*fixed, as it turns out he could be sentence to 12 years.
TooManyJens
I believe that’s what’s referred to in the biz as a “Kinsley gaffe.”
Special Patrol Group
Sheesh, that guy is convicted of hardball politics while Young Bucks are buying t-bone steaks with food stamps and Welfare Queens are driving Cadillacs. That’s justice in the Kenyan Marxist Atheist Muslim Era.
Schlemizel
These sorts of things go on every election always manage to benefit the same party. There have been complaints filed in the past, wrong doing exposed (and usually excused) and very rare instances of trials.
One solution would be to make voting a multi-day affair. If it were possible to vote on Friday, Saturday and Sunday it would be much harder to pull these sorts of stunts and they would get more attention.
The Bearded Blogger
@Schlemizel: But then the WRONG people would vote, silly.
Seriously, though, I think a constitutional amendment is in order, as well as WAY stiffer criminalization of voter suppresion.
Wannabe Speechwriter
Huntsman begins his appeal to the 27%ers-
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/jon-huntsman-flip-flops-on-climate-change.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Comrade Mary
@Wannabe Speechwriter: Well, I bet John Scalzi really regrets that fifty bucks now.
These are sad days for centrists who attempt to nobly stand above the fray.
The Bearded Blogger
@Wannabe Speechwriter: What a transparent pander… Huntsman is as fucking disgusting as the rest of them…
MikeJ
Just earlier today I heard someone repeat the canard, “if voting worked they would make it illegal.”
The Republicans are trying just that.
Waldo
Au contraire. If this joker spends even one day in a real prison, that will put an end to this particular voter suppression strategy. GOP operatives may be ruthless pricks, but good luck finding one who wouldn’t piss himself at the prospect of doing hard time.
jibeaux
You guys should read that .pdf for its sheer ballsiness. And I shit you not, ACORN is in there.
jibeaux
Call me cynical, but something is telling me Schurick has at some point in the last year uttered something along the lines of “Dammnit, give me the name of a good black defense attorney.”
Poopyman
Just for the record, Dengre:
And while the judge might only give him 5,
So there’s that.
Comrade Mary
And I think anyone who still believes that Huntsman is just testing the waters for 2016 is pretty naive. He’s in it to win it this year. Those sharp ads against Romney that all sorts of people, including my beloved Steve Benen, have praised are doing a good job of mocking Romney. I would rather not see GOP dollars, the donations of starry-eyed centrists who just want a fair fight, and corporate money going to support such a slick operator making similar ads against Obama.
carpeduum
It will serve as a deterrent. But they will simply find better ways to immunize themselves legally next time. I’m sure in some states it would be easier to get away with this as well.
There was a story just the other day of how they are doing something like this in Wisconson and/or Ohio and are employing out of state ‘consultants’ from Florida I think who specialize in this and take care of everything for them so they are kept insulated legally.
Frankly, I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lot more of this going on. I’ll bet there will be lots of cases in 2012 since GOPers are more desperate than ever.
MikeJ
I’ll betcha Henson’s atty is camped out in the prosecutors office begging for a deal right now.
The Moar You Know
@The Bearded Blogger: Hate to “defend” Huntsman here, but anyone who has done anything in their lives that involved more than “graduatin’ the sixth grade and workin’ at the Wal-Mart” would have to pander to satisfy the Republican primary voter, because nobody who needs a brain to function could believe all the stupid shit that those primary voters want to hear.
Martin
I don’t see how it’s possible he committed voter fraud. Schurick clearly had a government issued photo ID on him when he ordered those robocalls. Plus, he doesn’t look at all black.
FormerSwingVoter
Twenty bucks says that Republican state legislatures across the country start eliminating election fraud laws in 2012.
jl
@Wannabe Speechwriter:
Just took a little bump in the polls and little talk on the political ‘street’ about Huntsman being a real conservative for him to show all his cards. I thought he was smarter than that. But no.
No point in distinguishing between Romney and Huntsman anymore. Let’s call him/them Jitt Runtman.
Martin
@FormerSwingVoter: Nah, they’ll just appeal these cases to SCOTUS as a restraint against free speech, just like how Fox is allowed to lie on the news and how corporations can say anything they want on behalf of politicians.
David in NY
It’s not over. He’ll be out pending appeal. And white guys in suits do remarkably well on appeal.
After all, didn’t the New Hampshire Republicans running a similar scam get off essentially scot free? (Actually, refresh my recollection on that one, but I think I’ve got the bottom line right.) This is Maryland, of course, so that may make a difference, one way or the other …
The Bearded Blogger
@The Moar You Know: Agree on what would satisfy a GOP primary voter, but that doesn’t make Huntsman any less of a panderer, or any less disgusting.
Comrade Mary
Least.Appealing.Porn.Name.Ever.
TooManyJens
@jibeaux:
Call me a snob, but I’m having trouble getting past the shitty writing. I guess it doesn’t matter how well you convey ideas when all you really have to say is “we don’t want black people voting.”
David in NY
@Martin:
Oooh. I was trying to make that one, but you nailed it.
The Bearded Blogger
@FormerSwingVoter: Them damn voting regulations are interfering with the voting business!!!
Redshift
@carpeduum:
There is a lot more of it going on. Phony “Democratic” robocalls, flyers saying that Democrats vote on Wednesday, sitting outside polling places writing down license plates, the works. It happens every year in Virginia, but Republicans here are smart enough to do it anonymously and keep their fingerprints off of it.
The good news is that it’s partly based on the same kind of racism that’s behind the “teleprompter” business — they’ve convinced themselves that “those people” aren’t too bright, so they can be fooled by crap like this. I’m not saying it doesn’t have any effect, but it has way less than they probably think it does.
Martin
@Comrade Mary: Maybe we should consult with the middle-aged, panty wearing, Steeler fan who likes to spoon his dogs before rendering that verdict.
jl
@Comrade Mary:
But, that was kind of the idea.
jl
@Martin: I’ve always wondered about the nuances of the term ‘Colesque’. Thanks.
The Moar You Know
@jibeaux: Plus you should read it for three other reasons:
1. The hilarious inability of the writer to write in anything that even faintly resembles American Standard English.
2. Watch a writer so completely incriminate themselves that no judge would have any option than to send them to prison.
3. I forgot number three. But yeah, read it.
Redshift
@David in NY: Unless I’m thinking of a different incident, the NH case was using a robodialler to jam the phone lines for GOTV phone banking.
Terry Guerin
Voter suppression by Republicans are violations of the Voting Rights Act. Where the hell is Eric Holder’s DOJ?
Redshift
This Maryland crew are the same guys (well, the Ehrlich/Steele ratfvking crew, maybe not the same specific ones) who hired homeless people in Philadelphia and bused them to the Maryland suburbs to hand out flyers to try to fool people into thinking that Steele was a Democrat. And then abandoned them in Maryland after having promised to take them back to Philly after the job was done.
It takes a really serious level of racist stupidity to believe that African-American voters would fall for that after you’ve been unable to hire anyone locally to do it and have to go to another city and get people who don’t know you’re asking them to lie.
Bubblegum Tate
@David in NY:
You mean the robodialer deal? Well, one of them went to jail and subsequently wrote an interesting tell-all about the kind of sleazy, illegal shit the GOP routinely pulls to “win” elections.
David in NY
@Redshift: Yes, that’s the one I was thinking of. And OK, I’ve looked it up. Conviction got reversed because the
federal statute against “telephone harassment” was not a “close fit” for what Tobin did.
I’ve represented a lot of darker-hued criminals, and none of them was given the benefit of the “close fit” standard when I claimed there was insufficient evidence.
Terry Guerin
Where is Eric Holder? Hasn’t he read the Voting Rights Act?
jibeaux
@The Moar You Know:
I like how they list fact one and fact two, which are that if AA voters vote 90% Democratic, Ehrlich loses; and that they believe that “no discernible number” of the nearly one million AA voters will vote for Ehrlich; and then, instead of graciously admitting defeat as those two facts would suggest, they go deeper, exploring the underlying causes behind those two facts.
I can’t personally make heads or tails of any of that except that they appear to be attributing Ehrlich’s failure to be re-elected in part to his own administration.
MikeJ
@Terry Guerin: Have you? Which section do you think he should attempt prosecution under?
The VRA is mainly about what states can and can’t do. This prosecution was about a crooked campaign.
TooManyJens
@jibeaux: Anything to avoid admitting that there are damn good reasons most black people don’t vote for Republicans.
jibeaux
@TooManyJens: Even though the Republicans are just trying to make sure they’re relaxing enough! You just can’t please some people.
Maus
An important question- How and where do we report robocalls? What information and evidence do we collect?
Cermet
@Redshift: That little stunt of busing in homeless really cost Ehrlich (this last cycle)his attempt to get back the governorship – that extremely published act by the thug party pissed off a lot of people and the second largest county in Maryland, which is 55% Red, went Blue. In Maryland, better educated thugs do get angry over that type of shit.
Dennis G.
@Redshift: Yep, same guys…
Anne Laurie
Dengre, you overlooked one fortuitious bit of timing — Bob Erlich has a book to sell!
In a decently self-respecting polity, every interviewer would ask Mr. Erlich about his campaign manager’s legal problems, and how Shurick’s vote-suppression attempts interlock with Erlich’s complaints against President Obama. (“His admonitions and his audacious policy goals demonstrate very clear motives: equalize, discourage dissent, and become a nation of apologists.”)
Heck, the more ratings-conscious interviewers should at least attempt to prod Erlich into screaming the N-word on camera. Of course, that would (further) cement Erlich’s credentials with the GOP Base, but at least it would represent a victory for truth in advertising…
Bulworth
Is Faux News trumpeting this decision yet as another reason to block the vote?
David in NY
@Terry Guerin: You seem oddly more concerned about what Holder did (or didn’t) than what Schurick did.
This was, you might have noted, an election campaign for governor not for a federal office, and the Justice Department may well take the position that the states get first crack at election violations in campaigns for state positions.
AA+ Bonds
Here’s the killer quote from that memo IMO:
Leave it to a Republican to rename Jim Crow after himself.
stickler
@Comrade Mary: Wait — has Scotland just annexed East Anglia? Why haven’t I heard about this before? Scottish irredentism!
Greedy bastards.
(Or has the only GOP candidate who’s ever had a grasp of geography proven that his expertise doesn’t extend to the UK?)
AA+ Bonds
Here’s another one from an attached email
Excuse me? “His” poll workers? This goes a lot deeper than robocalls.
They really should know better than to send emails asking questions like
Would it be too much to ask for some literate ratfuckers in America?
AA+ Bonds
@jibeaux:
It is hard to parse, but no, they’re not attributing ANY of Ehrlich’s lack of popularity among African Americans to anything Ehrlich has ever said or done. They know better than to say anything like that about a client – Ehrlich is paying them, thus he’s blameless.
What they’re implying is that blacks only dislike Ehrlich because of attacks against him in his ’02 and ’06 campaigns by opponents.
Not because he’s a Republican and the Republicans are the party of, well, this shit; not because of his utter contempt for blacks; but because of the mean nasty Democrats and their mudslinging. That must be real salve on some wounds, all that “bruising and scaring [sic]” that Ehrlich cried over. They’re working the balls, is what that quote means, making claims that they know even the client doesn’t really buy.
I guess these fucks are a lot like right-wing ratfuckers everywhere: they don’t know how to think, write, or even cover their asses at a high school level. They just know how to glad-hand, and make life difficult for anyone who isn’t KKK.
Terry Guerin
David in NY & Mike J:
Sorry, wasn’t on point regarding this incident with Erlich’s campaign. I was referring to the larger
attempts at voter suppression. Techniques like
photo ID requirements are ubequitous in red states with Republican statehouses. No federal interest, you say?
Move on , nothing to see here?
AA+ Bonds
You see, though, Both Sides Do It, because of those huge numbers on illegal immigrant voter fraud for Democrats that are totally real and also not made up
AA+ Bonds
Well I hear from David Gregory that the Republicans have a “Grand Wizard” position that needs filling, so Schurick could go from campaign manager to politician in a matter of weeks here
Go Schurick, hate us some black people in prison! I suggest a swastika over the right eye to let ’em know ya crew.
David in NY
@Terry Guerin: I think that they are often difficult to prosecute. The bad stuff is done by some shadow corporation in another state, the “authorization” is in some vague name nobody’s ever heard of, the people who get the calls don’t report specifics about them. And I think (but am not entirely sure) that the calls are not at all easy to trace if you don’t know where they’re being sent from or who will receive them and haven’t set up a trace in advance. Finally, many of the calls are not so blatantly fraudulent as this.
AA+ Bonds
It’s worth pointing out that every state south of Mason-Dixon has Ku Klux Klan Republicans doing the exact same thing, every election.
In North Carolina, it’s a shithead by the name of Art Pope.
All of these people are funded by the Kochs, head Nazis of America.
There may be non-racist Republicans. But the Republican Party is racist from Washington, D.C. down to the smallest local precinct. They hate blacks and Hispanics, and they especially hate blacks and Hispanics for not “Stepin” down to the polls to vote for White Power.
AA+ Bonds
I often tell Republicans with a grin and a wink that they can easily prove they’re not racists by re-registering as independents. So far, I’ve gotten exactly one to do so, but trust me, they’re all eager for lazy-ass ways to prove they’re not racists. ESPECIALLY the racists.
Origuy
@stickler:
The Duke of Bavaria has landed in East Anglia with a Jacobite army. The House of Stuart will be overthrowing those German usurpers any day now.
stickler
@Origuy: About bloody time. Dadmned horse-faced Germans — nobody believes that “house of Windsor” crap; they’re still Saxe-Coburg-Gotha through and through.
So once the Stuarts are back on the throne, does East Anglia go to Scotland as a kind of bounty? Will the Scottish occupation forces be benevolent, or treat it like the Red Army treated Prussia?
The Sailor
The penalty needs to be a new election & prison time for the instigators.
The only real penalty is a new election, just imprisoning one scapegoat ain’t gonna do it.
Hal
Love, love, love that his attorney is African American. It’s a move right out of central casting on law and order.
Origuy
@stickler: More like the Belgians treated the Congo.
Auldblackjack
So what we’re saying here is; with all the voter-id laws passed by Republicans in State Legislatures, it is the Republicans who engage in voter fraud?
I’m phuckin’ shocked.