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1

Two can play at that game. How many exurb GOP voters got caught up in the variable rate game and couldn't flip out of their property before the rates reset? Probably plenty. How about it Dem operators? Are you willing to get dirty enough to win? You can be damn sure the GOP will.

Posted by Westside forever | September 11, 2008 10:46 AM
2

Shameful and desperate.

Posted by Mehera | September 11, 2008 10:47 AM
3

Not to mention the fact that many rich GOPers own multiple homes in different localities. Will Mr. Carabelli also be checking the voter rolls to ensure they aren't voting in districts where they may perhaps own property, but don't actually reside?

Posted by COMTE | September 11, 2008 10:50 AM
4

This kind of thing really needs to be played up by the Obama campaign. While they're out registering people to vote, the Republicans are trying to prevent people from voting. A simple, stark contrast that speaks volumes.

Posted by Anthony Hecht | September 11, 2008 10:53 AM
5

I don't think this will stand.

The most depressing part of this is that 60% of sub prime loans in Michigan are to African Americans.

There's an unintended consequence of the fairness in lending laws requiring banks to prove that they have made a proportionate number of loans to minorities (who frequently have challenging credit issues). Those sub-prime loans were designed for people with challenging credit issues who may have been better off renting something they could afford instead of buying something they couldn't. But if a bank turns away too many minority borrowers, it is subject to all sorts of liability.

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me | September 11, 2008 10:54 AM
6

Watch for even more cynical efforts to disenfranchise likely Democratic voters in swing states as the election approaches and the possibility of mounting successful legal challenges in time to affect the election diminishes. Much of the Attorney General scandal that forced the resignation of Alberto Gonzalez involved efforts to stock key positions with loyalists in order to ensure that such efforts could be carried out without obstruction.

In spite of Gonzalez's resignation last year, many of the loyalists are still in place. The people in charge of insuring the integrity of the election have been hand-picked to make sure they rule the way they're told on legal challenges to voter registration. The foreclosure angle is just the latest wrinkle in ongoing efforts to purge the rolls of likely Democratic voters -- primarily minorities and working class voters in areas with strong union representation.

Posted by flamingbanjo | September 11, 2008 10:55 AM
7

Voter caging is old news. There isn't a damn thing you can do about it, and it's going to get a lot worse, not better, as data cross-checking capabilities increase. @1, @3, you're missing the point; these efforts aren't TARGETED at Dems, they are just using the sad fact that foreclosures are more likely to happen to Dems. You can't just call up a list of "all Republicans who've foreclosed". Yet.

Posted by Fnarf | September 11, 2008 10:58 AM
8

doesn't make sense...why wouldn't REPUBLICANS also have foreclosed homes?

Dumb, but typical.

The Republicans are obviously delighted that they have a nice post RNC/Palin bounce which helped them in national polls and bumped them up in Red states where Obama had been doing well, (ND, MT, NV) but they're pulling their thinning hair out by the roots because Obama is still slightly ahead in Michigan and Ohio and keeping very competitive in VA, NC and FL.

Posted by michael strangeways | September 11, 2008 10:59 AM
9

I applaud you all for staying in the game of political life.

I have been on the ecursion event of a lifetime only to find that if you can't find your own way out of triple six gunned self loathing, you may have to answer to Wired Magazine and Jen Graves for The March Issue 2008, and the political hill-er-ites of the incumbants at Heathrow.

Currently I'm running hot and the old "nnnyyyaaaaaaaeaaah" is upset in the seat behind me at the Ballard Libray.

That was my kind interpretation of what some of your readership may recognize from The Seattle Weekly September 10, 2008 front cover.

Personally I'd like a blew job... the kind described in this edition of The Stranger... the Newspaper who apparently is no-longer The Only Newspaper in Town.

Posted by daniel | September 11, 2008 11:13 AM
10

Republicans DO have foreclosed homes, just not as many. Similarly, cagers go after new registrations, which are much more likely to be Democrats.

Posted by Fnarf | September 11, 2008 11:36 AM
11

nice to see the Michigan Messenger is on your daily reading list!

Posted by michigan messenger | September 11, 2008 11:36 AM
12

So how ARE people with foreclosed homes supposed to vote, anyway? Is the problem strictly one of residence? Isn't there some elbow room for having lived somewhere recently?

Posted by leek | September 11, 2008 12:17 PM
13

Plenty of ways to target vote caging, even in states without party affiliation.

Phone calls from previous elections, precinct performance, demographic microtargetting, race, etc.

Posted by whatwhat | September 11, 2008 12:18 PM
14

@7 but you can reference zip codes against a rich stew of publicly available demographic data that will give you a pretty good idea about the political leanings of that population. It won't be perfect, but you can get pretty close--just like how the campaigns target their mail to likely supporters.

Posted by Westside forever | September 11, 2008 12:20 PM
15

Our PM called an federal election last week. We go to the polls on October 14th. So far, the biggest scandal we had was a slightly juvenille web site sighting. We're still gonna end up with the guy that we hate, but at least we only have to put up with this crap for 5 weeks.

Posted by Charm | September 11, 2008 12:32 PM

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