I’ve written numerous times about voter registration fraud this election cycle. Most recently about the the Obama campaign worker visiting from California who is (was) planning on voting absentee in New Mexico. Does that mean that I’m worried that fraud will win this election? In a word, “No.”
However, I am concerned about the lack of interest in preventing and prosecuting voter fraud. When we start ignoring the little crimes, we create an environment that allows lawlessness to flourish. Before the Republican presidential primary campaigns had gotten underway, I was a big fan of Rudy Giuliani’s. I was a fan not because of the leadership he showed post-9/11 (albeit admirable), but because of the leadership he showed pre-9/11. Specifically, the leadership in fighting crime in New York City.
Since I started attending New York University in the pre-Giuliani period, I experienced first hand the deterioration of a great city by the decision of previous administrations to ignore the little crimes (i.e. turnstyle jumping in subways and agressive panhandlers). I also saw the post-Giuliani improvement by concentrating on ridding the city of those crimes.
Now, this is not to say I stayed a fan of Giuliani as the campaign continued. I didn’t. He lost me because of his interest in continuing taxpayer funded abortions. Notice, I didn’t say his pro-choice stance, which I disagreed with but was willing to ignore – politics is all about compromise.
What does this all have to do with the outcome of today’s election? Well, I do believe on a national basis we are going to see a Democratic sweep (hey, I’m partisan, but I’m also a realist), and I do believe the Democrats will be in a position to institute wide-scale change. I just don’t believe we will all be better of as the result of it.
One of my fears is that while these changes are going on, those in power will become less and less concerned with the integrity of the process, and when that happens what starts as a little voter fraud will eventually snowball into wide-scale fraud that will result in the collapse of a system (think housing and stock markets).
Regardless, of which side of the aisle you are on, if you believe in a Democratic process, you better take an interest in the integrity of that process. Remember, balances of power shift all of the time. It is up to those in power to enforce the rules of the game. After all, keep in mind that power shifts are like a pendulum, the further they shift to the left in one cycle means the further they will shift to the right in another cycle. And, you won’t like the results when that shift occurs again if institutional fraud is part of the game. And you know what? Neither will I.