Letter writer: Who benefits from greater voter participation?

Graphic by Lori Deaton

For [Donald] Trump to win, he will need to attract millions of currently unregistered voters to the polls, many of whom are supposedly less-educated whites. These are the folks who have not had a raise in five years; who have lost their jobs to foreign competition; who see their government promoting liberal social issues they cannot support.

Which begs the question: In making it less cumbersome to register to vote, who will benefit? Blacks who have already registered in great numbers to support [President Barack] Obama and voted 95-5 for him or less-educated whites who have never registered in the past?

These newly registered voters will very likely vote in large numbers for Trump. Bottom line: Easier registration will benefit Trump supporters to a much greater degree than those supporting [Hillary] Clinton.

In the past, it has been liberal dogma that increasing voter participation would advance the liberal agenda. Wouldn’t it be ironic if greater voter participation did the opposite?

— Howard Arnold
Asheville

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46 thoughts on “Letter writer: Who benefits from greater voter participation?

  1. boatrocker

    Strange outlook in that letter.

    It totally discounts the draconian voter laws present in many states designed to keep minorities (read Dems) from the polls. Sure, a lot of black people voted for Obama the past 2 elections. I doubt many of them will be able to vote in this one due to new laws.

    Don Yelton said it out loud people on national TV, that NC’s voting laws were designed to make it harder for Dems to win. I mean, he said it out loud, not under duress and (as far as I know) was not under the influence of anything.

    Just vote, no matter who you vote for. I tire of the folks who whine “it doesn’t matter”- yes it does, It makes our Wall St corporatist puppet masters have to work that much harder to keep us under the shiny Italian leather boot of special interests. Trust me, nobody likes doing extra work.

    • Howard

      It’s about registering, not voting. Trump needs people to register first, then vote.

      • Lulz

        All Trump has to do is let events happen. Look, you have a candidate and a President that are all for allowing unchecked Muslim immigrants into the country. And knowingly doing so to bring about the demise of the 1st, 2nd and other Amendments to gain totalitarian control. These left wing loons will do whatever it takes to “progress” including the death of Americans to forward their agenda which is a police state. Don’t believe me? Look at France and Germany. Two countries that are rapidly de-evolving into mid-east style terrorism. And the only way to fix is will be either mass deportation or literally stomping these enclaves off the face of the planet. Along with trials and whatever else follows of those that are selling out their nations in the name of globalism. And it’s coming.

        • bsummers

          Don’t believe me?

          Why wouldn’t we believe an anonymous sockpuppet who slings lies and hate?

          • bsummers

            Obama and Clinton are knowingly allowing “unchecked Muslim immigration”, in order to cause the demise of our free society? The lies and hate of those statements are inseparable.

            Speaking of lies, “MMH” (if that is your real name…) your XPress-assigned avatar is exactly the same as “Yep”, “RedHotPoker”, & other assorted sockpuppets. Is there something you’d like to confess, Fisher?

            https://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-writer-gordon-smith-is-experienced-informed/#comment-2525590
            https://mountainx.com/news/affordable-housing-essay-collision-course/#comment-2440407

          • The Real World

            Barry – prepare to be surprised but, hopefully, not in denial of the content in this link. I’ve known about this guy for a long time and he is a very scary, barely-human person. He truly does want to socially-engineer this world.

            Interesting how I hear liberals often mention the Koch name but I’ve never heard one mention George Soros (or Tom Steyer). You all are quite clueless about the bad actors in your ranks. But, what Soros wants has less to do with US party politics and more to do with GLOBALISM. My money says that ancient reptile Kissinger is right there with him. And wouldn’t you know….Soros has been a mentor of Hillary’s for over 2 decades and the Clintons vacation with the Kissingers. Ugh, an extremely twisted club, they are.

            If anyone has wondered about the true oddity of all these migrants streaming thousands of miles from their home countries, not knowing where they’ll land, not speaking European languages, having no work or clue of their future — crazy isn’t it? — then you will find the underlying answer for how that occurred in this article.

            Read this, as it explains alot about recent geo-politcal events and about a primary influencer of our national politicians. http://www.garretgalland.com/passing-parade/how-george-soros-singlehandedly-created-the-european-refugee-crisisand-why/

            (And you people squabble about voter ID’s and bathroom access. Wake up, please!

          • bsummers

            In recent years, Soros has turned his attention back to Europe. Is it a coincidence that the continent is currently in economic and social disarray?

            Yeah, Soros isn’t always my favorite guy, but to call him some sort of supervillain, “Singlehandedly Created the European Refugee Crisis” is pretty absurd. He funds groups and political candidates on the left, and that enrages people on the right. He’s a profiteer, there’s no denying. But more often than not, I agree with the issues he supports. For example, I credit him for funding groups in the 1980s like Solidarity in Poland, and similar groups and activists like Andrei Sacharov in the Soviet Union.

            Maybe the reason the Right is going after him now, is because Trump (and his manager Paul Manafort, who has a long history of working for the Dark Side in foreign conflicts), are playing footsie with the Russians over the Crimea and the Ukraine. Soros funded groups there who were agitating for more democracy, and Putin hates that.

            Today, at the same press conference where he encouraged Russia to hack a former US Secretary of State because it might help him get elected, Trump was asked about the Crimea.

            “He was asked whether as president he would recognize Crimea as Russian territory and whether he would contemplate lifting sanctions imposed to punish Moscow’s move into the enclave by the US and its allies.
            “We’ll be looking at that. Yeah, we’ll be looking,” Trump said.”

            http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/27/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-hack-hillary-clinton/index.html

            I think this is the reason we’re going to hear more attacks on George Soros – he’s more often than not on the opposite side of the profiteering from the Putin/Russian/Soviet profiteers. Do you know why Trump is getting so cozy with Putin, “The Real World” (if that is your real name…)?

          • bsummers

            It’s also worth noting that the source there, of that blistering ‘Soros-is-the-devil’ piece, is a group of investors who currently appear to be on the other side from Soros, on a massive gold speculation involving China. Consider your source, bro.

          • The Real World

            “Do you know why Trump is getting so cozy with Putin?” — who says he is? Oh, the lefty media does. The assertion is a distraction away from the damning, irrefutable evidence in the DNC emails of their ugly hypocrisy. They want desperately for people to not notice the contents of them so they’ll spin anything. Typical Alinsky method.

            You are underestimating Soros and his ilk. They are very, very sick people. I’m not a shrink but megalomania on steroids sounds about right. In the past, I’ve worked around people who (though not at his power / money level) were as depraved as he and his cronies. Insatiably ambitious, extremely devious and with almost NO moral compass. They are not concerned with, or even interested in, the TRUE greater good. But, people fall for their syrupy lip-service. The poser who just left the stage in Philly is an excellent case in point (BO).

            This is what I’m clear about — that Soros, Kissinger and other Deep State creeps, Trump, Obama, all Clintons, all Bushs, Wall St investment bankers, etc. are motivated for themselves and their business interests. Period. We plebians might get some side benefit at times but that isn’t their goal. Yes, I know what I’ve stated is very dark. But so what? I live in the real world and don’t waste time on the pollyanna fantasies that so many do.

            As plenty have thankfully learned, the TRUE struggle is us against them, not Dem vs Repub as they love to have us believe. That realization is why so many have become Unaffiliated voters. Join the club, it’s very liberating!

            I certainly consider sources when gathering info and can tell you the Soros background provided in that link lines up with everything else I’ve learned about him. And, although long, it was very concisely and clearly stated.

          • bsummers

            As plenty have thankfully learned, the TRUE struggle is us against them, not Dem vs Repub as they love to have us believe.

            To a point, I agree with you. But don’t expect me to shrug & not vote. To the extent that those few issues we can affect matter to me, I’m going to pick my faction, hold my nose & vote for Clinton, just as I know you’ll vote for Trump.

            As for being ‘Unaffiliated’, I always have been.

          • The Real World

            Gee, you are so binary. It must be part of the Baptist upbringing. No, they are both so odious that even holding my nose doesn’t allow me to live with myself afterward. It’s the definition of insanity, you know — doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. When voters stop with their insanity, then things will change. I will vote Libertarian; the ball has got to be pushed in another direction. It’ll take awhile.

            Btw, I figure you will get your wish. She’ll win..as the fix is in. Couldn’t be more obvious. Any Repub candidate still running in Spring 2016 could have beat her because her corruption, theft and lack of a conscience make her very easy prey except against Donald Duck (he’s in on the con and will get his payday). Nixon looks an utter choirboy compared to her. We have fallen so far.

            And she will do whatever her twisted idol Soros tell her to do. It’s his payback.

        • The Real World

          Lulz – yes, you are paying attention. There are VERY serious issues in Europe related to the massive amount of immigration the last couple of years and it is a clear window into what will happen here if we allow it to occur without due diligence.

          A sincere Public Service Announcement: folks, the American media covers things very selectively. They have primarily NOT been reporting on the migrant problems in Europe. That info is being withheld from you. To build a more informed picture you have to peruse international sources. Check these on occasion: https://www.theguardian.com/world http://www.bbc.com/news/world

          • luther blissett

            ” There are VERY serious issues in Europe related to the massive amount of immigration the last couple of years”

            Next thing you know immigrants with strange religions will be killing the natives, driving from their homes, taking their land, and forcing them into cam– oh, that’s the story of America.

    • Lulz

      LOL, considering how they swindled Sanders and in return how he folded like a cheap suit, don’t for one second think these left wing loons are honest.

    • luther blissett

      Ah, right, the Voter Suppression Project. You don’t mention any instances of the kind of voter fraud screamed about by the GOP, do you? That’s because there aren’t any.

      Register everyone to vote at 18. Hook up registration to the vital records system and USPS change of address system. If conservatives want ID, fine, as long as you issue everyone an ID gratis on their 18th birthday. Stop pretending that folks born up in the mountains and African-Americans born under Jim Crow should have all their paperwork in order, when vital records kept in the county courthouse were a mess for decades, and names aren’t carved in stone from birth. Start acting like you give a hoot about free and fair elections, — which, to be fair, has never been part of the South’s civic culture — and we’ll stop acting like you’re vote suppressors.

      As for the LTE author: keep beating that straw man and maybe it’ll beg for mercy some day.

      • boatrocker

        Good point- it’s been a while since I was 18, though I still often act like it.

        Question- when one hits 18, registers for selective service (yes ladies, selective service should apply to you-you need to pull your weight too for being maimed and coming home minus body parts or your mind for unconstitutional wars but different story), does one automatically become registered to vote?
        If so, great. If not, why not?

        Why shouldn’t selective service, voter registration and receiving enough ID to vote happen all under one roof or all in one envelope in the mail once you hit 18? By that I mean nationally, as in all 50 states and not just NC. Ooooh, I raise the spectre of federal laws.

        Again, I have not been 18 for a while, but would this not make sense? I apologize for making sense if voter disenfranchisement is what you seek.

  2. MMH

    just goes to show that ignorance IS true bliss in Asheville

    there has been plenty of voter fraud uncovered, but you see, the leftwing media does not report it routinely.
    you should know by now that the media is NOT your friend.

    • bsummers

      Everything that I’ve seen from the ‘VIP’ is unsubstantiated. The only real thing that I can find that they’ve “uncovered” is that they’ve forced North Carolina to scrub a few hundred dead or inactive voters off the rolls.

      • luther blissett

        Is MepWhoPokes asking for more taxpayer money to be spent on registration outreach and better integration with vital records systems? After all, ensuring free and fair elections and voter participation is a basic function of a democratic government. Surely he doesn’t believe that all the burden should be dumped on citizens like in the days of poll taxes and ridiculous literacy tests — oh, I forgot, he does.

    • boatrocker

      I always enjoy posts that claim ‘you dirty lefties, educated people get their news from somewhere else and the numbers are wrong- but we won’t tell you where our numbers come from’.

  3. bsummers

    These newly registered voters will very likely vote in large numbers for Trump.

    Are you sure? Trump might be in prison for treason by then, for encouraging a hostile foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent, a former US Secretary of State:

    Trump then addressed the rogue nation directly, saying “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-russia-hack_us_5798d1c8e4b02d5d5ed3b51a

    • The Real World

      In the slammer we could put: Bush Jr (maybe Sr. too), Cheney, Hilly & Billy, Obama, Biden (low IQ is the crime) and Trump could be their little errand boy (no actual treason charges; but the crime of extreme obnoxiousness). I like it.

      Oh what a party! And I bet stripes would look great on all of them.

      Then we could give the Libertarians a turn at running the show and see if they can do something better.

      • boatrocker

        Can we spare Biden? Only for being so happy go lucky and out of the loop?
        I’d only hope he’d get his own reality TV show or recorded with William Shatner for making an album.

        My dad said this in 2008 on election night: “Holy crap, the VP has a duck’s ass haircut!”.

        • The Real World

          “Can we spare Biden? Only for being so happy go lucky and out of the loop?” — Sure, I’m a compromiser. Plus he’s probably mostly harmless.

          “Holy crap, the VP has a duck’s ass haircut!” — Priceless!

          • boatrocker

            Holy crap.
            Every GOP presidential candidate since Nixon 1960 is a shill for the MIC, (Military Industrial Complex), Wall St. and Sharia law aka crazy jesus freaks. How dare they inject that brown people foreign bred religion (turn the other cheek, love thy enemy, etc) from the middle east into our country. My dad and I agreed on that for sure.

            This country was founded during the last Ice Age (10,000 yrs ish ago) by American Indians and the rest of you will soon find a wall built and paid for by Ireland!
            Priceless!

            Sigh.

          • The Real World

            boatrocker – you and your Dad are out-to-lunch. It is last century to buy into the 2 party paradigm. Those paying attention to the true underbelly of politics have figured out what a sham that is. They are but 2 sides of the same coin!

            Shills? You want to talk about a world-class shills? Allow me to paste some info from today:
            Lobbyists are being welcomed back into the fold of the Democratic Party as the Obama era draws to a close.

            Hillary Clinton has accepted more than $9 million in bundled donations from registered lobbyists, while the DNC has rolled back the lobbyist bans that Obama put into place.

            “In 2008 and 2012, there was no integration with the [Obama] campaign,” said Al Mottur, a senior Democratic lobbyist at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, adding that he would have liked to have helped. “Now, the campaign is welcoming — they’re open to us. That’s why I’ve done as much work for her as I’ve done on her behalf.”

            For 2016, the DNC reversed the prohibition on lobbyist cash entirely, both for the party and the convention, giving corporations and lobbyists the opportunity to participate fully.

            “The lobbyist community is supporting her, there is no question about that,”said David Castagnetti of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas. His firm is also kicking off the convention with a party on Monday…

            Blackstone, one of the nation’s largest private equity firms, will hold an official reception in Philadelphia on Thursday featuring its president, Tony James, sometimes mentioned as a possible Treasury Secretary in a Clinton administration.

            Hedge fund managers and top Democratic donors will also be on the scene as will Morgan Stanley executive and former top Clinton aide Tom Nides. Executives from Citigroup, JPMorganChase and other large banks will also prowl the streets and bar rooms of Philadelphia.

            Republicans with ties to the financial industry will also be there, a sharp contrast to Donald Trump’s convention in Cleveland, which Wall Street largely shunned over fears of the GOP nominee’s populist agenda on trade, immigration and Wall Street reform.

            None of this is considered money toward the convention, which is being **entirely privately funded for the first time. The donors who are actually paying for the festivities in Philly are anonymous. So God (and Debbie Wasserman Shultz) only knows where it all comes from. And clearly the DNC wants to keep it that way.** The DNC’s host committee refuses to disclose the names despite a court order, allowing corporate benefactors to hide behind anonymity.
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            ME: In 2016 anyhow, the DNC is one GIANT bribe! You truly couldn’t make this stuff up, it’s so heinous. Wake up, boatrocker and stop doing their bidding. They are whores.

            And I thought maybe you had a few more marbles floating around in your cranium but maybe not. Unchecked Muslim integration has nothing to do with their skin color or necessarily their religion. It’s about their violent, repressive culture!! Ask some Europeans how the assimilation is going. Better yet, travel overseas a little and you’ll understand.

    • bsummers

      MMH, Yep, RedHotPoker, OneWhoKnows… Why are you so afraid to pick one sockpuppet name and stick to it, Fisher?

      • MMH

        again, where are your LINKS to evidence that the VoterIntegrityProject is full of LIES ? ? ?
        are you suddenly caught in a LIE yourself ? ? ? waiting on your evidence…

    • boatrocker

      Is that an admission of guilt or an invitation for others to unmask you as the master of puppets?

  4. MMH

    Do NOT Vote until you see the new D’nesh D’Souza blockbuster movie ‘Hillary’s America’ which explains the Clintons and the
    hidden historys of the democrackkk party !!!

    • luther blissett

      “Do NOT Vote until you see the new D’nesh D’Souza–”

      The convicted felon? The convicted felon who admitted making illegal campaign donations?

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