Commentary
While anti -Trumpers have been working to keep the former president off ballots, I find it interesting that President Biden, the self-proclaimed defender of democracy, who promotes free and fair elections, is attempting to keep his challengers, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., off the ballot.
Over the years, those of us who watch political moves by both parties, commonly referred to as dirty tricks, especially look for what is termed an “October Surprise,” an unexpected event in the waning days of the campaigns designed to impact voters, that turns out to be not so “unexpected.” More on that later.
But first, I want to remind you of an innocuous executive order, Promoting Access to Voting, signed by Biden on March 7, 2021, which I wrote about three years ago.
Signed to mark the 56th anniversary of the protest march in Selma, Alabama, it was to promote voting access and all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.
Sounds harmless, right? No, it isn’t. The next sentence in the description reads, “This executive order will leverage the resources of the federal government to increase access to voter registration services and information about voting.”
Stating the need for free and fair elections, the order further states that “It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to expand access to, and education about, voter registration and election information, and to combat misinformation.”
The order directs the heads of each agency to evaluate ways in which the agency can support this effort, suggesting the use of websites, online forms, and social media platforms.
Within this effort, the Federal Government, as the nation’s largest employer, serves as a model employer by encouraging and facilitating employee participation.
Agency heads were directed to provide support to employees desiring to volunteer to serve as non-partisan poll workers or observers, particularly during early or extended voting periods.
Think about it. Biden has employees of the nation’s largest employer at his disposal.
There are more worrisome plans suggested within the order, too detailed to provide to you here, like the coordination of the Departments of Defense, State and the Postal Service to “establish procedures to enable comprehensive end-to-end ballot tracking for absentee ballots.”
Biden’s Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice, who was named to pull the elements of the order together, issued a statement detailing progress before she left the administration.
She outlined several hands-on programs that had been undertaken by the administration since the order was issued. All of which lend themselves to ballot harvesting.
The VA was working with three states to provide voter registration to veterans and their families and caregivers while they access VA facilities.
The Department of Interior, working with a native American school in New Mexico, was designated as a voter registration site for attending students.
The Department of Labor established department-funded programs to assist with voter registration at its job centers.
Even the GSA was involved as it issued guidance to managers of federally-owned public buildings on how to make space available for “non-partisan” voter registration.
Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, working with leftist organizations, announced its intent to increase voting among prisoners.
Republican members of a House committee that oversees activities of the Small Business Administration is demanding answers from the Biden administration concerning the funneling of resources to Michigan, a key swing state, to register voters.
“It is inconceivable why Michigan, a state with a registered voting populations above the national average, is where the SBA found a need to use taxpayer funds to register more Michigan voters,” wrote Texas Republican Rep. Roger Williams.
Members of the Freedom Caucus view the order as a scheme to benefit the president’s political party and his own re-election.
While Biden’s order specifies that it will be implemented “consistent with applicable law,” it comes close to violating The Hatch Act, passed in 1939, a federal law that restricts activity of federal employees and some state and local employees who work in connection with federally funded programs.
Hatch was written to prevent pernicious political activities and political pressures in the executive branch. A list of some 20 agencies where employees cannot participate in politics is included in the Act.
BUT HARK! …… what is it they say about the best laid plan? A confidential memo circulated among Democrat donors has revealed a concern that the non-partisan nature of Biden’s order could result in signing up likely Republicans, calling for the narrowing of the registration focus.
“In recent years, there has been a marked shift among roughly one in five people of voting age who are unregistered toward Republicans,” according to the Washington Post, “raising fresh questions about how much boosting non-partisan voter registration could help Donald Trump heading into November.”
The ‘October Surprise”
The term was coined by Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager William Casey during the 1980 campaign, but there were events dating back many years.
The 1880 presidential contest was considered “one of the dirtiest in American history.” Thomas Jefferson was conducting a smear campaign against then President John Adams, when Alexander Hamilton, a longtime political foe of Adams, published a 54-page document assailing the president, stating, “If we must have an enemy at the head of the government, let it be one whom we can oppose … who will not involve our party in the disgraced of his foolish and bad measures.”
That was considered tame since James Callendar, a Jefferson surrogate, had spent months ridiculing Adams as “a hideous hermaphroditical character,” among other insults.
Even though historians believe that Hamilton had temporarily lost his mind, his writing worked, and Jefferson won.
Closer to modern day events. Jimmy Carter, facing criticism over our hostages being held by Iran in 1980, led to Reagan’s win as it was said to be the result of Reagan’s convincing the Iranian government to delay the release of American hostages until after the election.
Of course, we recall how Al Gore advocates leaked the story about Geoge W. Bush being arrested for drunk driving in 1976. But after a controversial recount in Florida, Bush still won.
Salacious stories about Donald Trump in 2016 just before the election didn’t work for the Hillary Clinton team.
It is believed that the FBI meetings with social media heads to control content and the mid-October 2020 letter, signed by 51 former intelligence officials, declaring that the content of Hunter Biden’s laptop had all the earmarks of Russian information, helped Joe Biden in the debates.
With the 2024 election already looking like one for the history books, an October or November surprise wouldn’t really be a surprise.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
