CRY REPUBLICAN WOLF: A Democratic "Election Day Manual" about to be distributed in various states advises Democrats to imply that Republicans may be about to engage in voter intimidation, even if no evidence for that exists. The Drudge Report originally posted an image of a page from the Kerry-Edwards/DNC manual which says, "If no signs of intimidation techniques have emerged yet, launch a 'pre-emptive strike' (particularly well-suited to states in which there [sic] techniques have been tried in the past). Issue a press release I. Reviewing Republican tactic [sic] used in the past in your area or state, II. Quoting party/minority/civil rights leadership as denouncing tactics that discourage people from voting." Later on, the manual says, "Place stories in which minority leadership expresses concern about the threat of intimidation tactics." A Kerry spokeswoman told the Denver Post (October 15) that, in the newspaper's paraphrase, "the instructions were meant to help staffers and volunteers prepare for the possibility of minority voter intimidation." More than 60 liberal non-profit groups have joined together to form the Voter Protection Coalition, which stands ready to find voter intimidation wherever possible-and which has 5,000 lawyers ready to go.
NEW CITIZENS' VOTE: Newly naturalized citizens could tip the balance in close states this election season. Reported the National Immigration Forum on October 19, "Newly naturalized citizens accounted for more than half of the net growth in persons registered to vote between 1996 and 2000. The number of Latinos and APIAs [Asian/Pacific Islander Americans] who became U.S. citizens, registered to vote, and actually voted increased substantially between 1996 and 2000, while the number of non-Latino whites registered to vote declined by 0.5% during this period." Assuming trends have continued-and there's plenty of evidence they have-political experts say that candidates must ensure that their message appeals to enough of these voters to win.
BYE-BYE: Perhaps inaugurating a trend, the United Methodist Action Steering Committee of the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy has invited Methodists who don't like the church's stand for Biblical teaching on marriage and homosexuality to leave. "The United Methodist Church has made its decision on the issues of marriage and homosexuality," it said October 9. "We recommend allowing a gracious exit for those who cannot or will not accept the essential beliefs on which the UMC is founded. The UMC should adopt a fair plan to permit their voluntary, peaceful departure, taking with them their local church property (if the congregation votes to leave) and pension rights."
MORE VISA HOLES: More than three years after 9/11, more evidence has emerged of terrorists, using America's lax visa system to live in this country. The Bergen County, N.J. Record reported on October 14, "A senior al-Qaeda operative lived in New Jersey and posed as a student to disguise his surveillance of financial institutions as possible terror targets, officials said Wednesday. The FBI's top agent in New Jersey, Joseph Billy Jr., confirmed that the operative led an al-Qaeda mission to survey the physical layout and assess weaknesses of the Prudential Financial, Inc. building in downtown Newark." This alleged terrorist's activities triggered the alarm that America's financial sector was being targeted and led to the orange alert for that sector on August 1, the government claims. Later that month, British officials arrested the man, named Dhiren Barot. He attended "several institutions of higher learning in New Jersey," said the paper, and "entered the United States on a student visa. . . . The development Wednesday marks the third time authorities have publicly confirmed that al-Qaeda operatives used North Jersey as a base to launch terror strikes or to assess potential targets of attack."
SPEECH FOR ALL: Black clergy joined Rep. Walter Jones (R.-N.C.), chief sponsor of the Houses of Worship Freedom of Speech Restoration Act (HR 235), and other congressmen at an event to push for restoring churches' 1st Amendment rights earlier this month. Jones' bill would allow church pastors and others to speak freely about political and moral issues and endorse candidates in church. Said Pastor Carlton Preston, "As Reagan said, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,' I say today tear down this religious wall and let our preachers speak their minds." "This is a right Americans enjoyed until Lyndon Johnson's amendment in 1954," Jones told HUMAN EVENTS last week.
