The Republican War on Voting Rights and Why We MUST Fight Back

My favorite Presidential candidate for the 2012 American Presidential Election is President Barack Obama. President Obama is my preferred candidate not only because he is highly intelligent and hawkish on both domestic and foreign policy, but also because I believe the man is honest, possesses a high sense of integrity and he understands the plight of the poor. I would like to highlight especially that he understands the "plight of the poor" because to me that is a very important attribute in being a President of a country where a large proportion of its citizenry is poor. All of my life, with the exception of President Bill Clinton, I have seen only the "Born Rich" run for the office of President. These individuals, in my opinion, can't really be classified as "self made" men, especially since "daddy's money" helped sustain them and "daddy's connections" helped to make them. However, I consider President Obama a "self made" man. I also considered former President Bill Clinton to be a "self made" man. However, these reasons alone are not the reasons I am voting for President Obama. I am also voting this year for President Obama because we need to ensure that "Voting Rights" are protected for ALL Americans and it seems that this is a democratic cause which only the democratic party supports.

As a woman of color, a black woman, I am keenly aware of the disparate impact republican "voter suppression" laws have on people of color in our society. I have also been disappointed and stunned that so many Republican legislatures from the Governor to State Representatives seem to have made it a priority of theirs to disenfranchise as many minorities as possible this year in anticipation of the November

2012 election. They have passed voter suppression laws from Mississippi to West Virginia, Texas to Tennessee, Georgia to North Carolina and a host of other Republican controlled states that will have a disparate impact on the rights of minorities to vote. 41 states in all so far. What laws have been passed that directly affect the rights of minorities to vote one may ask. Well, here's a couple. Laws requiring a photo I.D. to vote, laws requiring showing proof of citizenship and laws, especially in Florida and Iowa, have made restoring voting rights even harder for those who have for whatever the reason lost those rights. Some states have enacted laws to make voting registration even "more difficult" and the icing that takes the cake is many states have passed laws to end early voting registration. Why would you want to end early voting registration as this has really no impact on the supposed fraud that takes place at the ballot box. Fraud, that the Bush administration spent eight years trying to uncover and so far less than 5 valid cases were found.

This is disheartening to me. As a black woman. As a woman. As a citizen. As an American. It is the bedrock of our democracy that all citizens get a chance to participate in the voting process and the fact that republicans, who claim to be such patriots, would attack what is a "bedrock" of our democracy shows that not only do these people not care about the country, they will do anything in their power to disenfranchise the most vulnerable citizens who are historically its minorities. The republican party, mostly led by white males, have waged an all out attack on the rights of others to vote, essentially turning back the hands of time in this country. This saddens me greatly and I appeal to the American people to stand up and fight to protect the most important aspect of what it means to "Be American". The republicans don't care about America. They don't care that their fat cat rich buddies are shipping American jobs overseas to line their pockets or the fact that nuclear waste dumps are being built in poor, rural communities in republican controlled states with little to no regulation. They don't care that our sons and daughters die on the front lines while of wars while the military industrial complex gets rich at the expense of the American taxpayer. They don't care that the poor and middle class are struggling while they vote to strike down the power of Unions and turn back "Equal Pay Laws" for women. They simply don't care.

I am voting for President Obama because I believe the man has the vision and the right character to lead this country in these very trying times. I believe the man has a "righteous wind" at his back and that he deeply loves this country and all it stands for. All it means. I believe President Obama can restore America to its most highly held principles and ensure all Americans get a fair chance.

Let us all get behind President Obama. This will be a close election.  The President needs our help. To fight for the weak. The poor. The middle class. And to protect our rights to vote.
by YourLocalSecurity.com