Monday, May 21, 2012

McDonnell wants to have his cake and eat it too: HB 9 and SB 1 signed into law


To satiate his political allies in the Republican Party to the tune of $1.3 million[1], Gov. McDonnell simultaneously signed SB 1 and HB  9, legislation tightening rules governing voter identification, into law while handing out an executive order to send every registered Virginia voter a new voter-ID card in an attempt to cut off criticism for the controversial voter-ID bills.

SB 1 and HB 9 will add to the forms of acceptable ID while assisting to “further prevent voter fraud and ensuring Virginians that they can have faith that votes have not been fraudulently cast,”[2] as if this were a major concern on the minds of Virginia’s voters.

The executive order to issue new voter-ID cards for registered Virginia voters by Gov. McDonnell may allow the voter-ID laws to deter a legal challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice.  

As executive director of the advocacy group ProgressVA[3] mentioned, however, the voting rights of Virginians are “caught between Bob McDonnell’s allegiance to his right-wing allies and his vice-presidential aspirations.”

There doesn’t appear to be much Gov. McDonnell won’t do to straddle the line between his vice-presidential ambitions and kowtowing to the right-wing loony bin of the Virginia GOP.[4]

When Gov. McDonnell took the unprecedented step of airing “positive” TV ads touting the achievements of McDonnell and his administration a little less than a month ago, it symbolized a new era of advance marketing in Virginia politics that is ethically questionable.

McDonnell has followed up on his “positive” ad blitz with an obtuse set of decisions that may do more to decrease his chances at serious consideration for veep than increase them. What’s more, it remains to be seen how the new voter-ID laws are carried out and how much confusion they may cause.

There isn’t much in politics that is straight-forward and there aren’t many prescriptions that completely satisfy a problem, but as long as McDonnell becomes vice-presidential nominee, who cares right?


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