The Republican Lawyer Blog : DNC

PRESS RELEASE: The DNC Voter ID Double Standard

Maya Noronha — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:04:00 GMT

In a telling new video, a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte said that asking for a voter’s ID is “like raping someone.” The delegate went on to explain that showing ID at the convention, by contrast, is fine “it’s about ‘security’ and ‘that’s too crucial.”

“In order to select their nominee for president, Democrats require their convention delegates to present ID,” said David Norcross, chairman of the RNLA and former Republican Convention Chair. “Why then is it unreasonable to ask people to show ID to vote for president? Democrats are fond of using absurd hyperbole to rail against voter ID— likening it to ‘rape’ or the abhorrent Jim Crow laws of fifty years ago. These charges are and have always been hypocritical. This proves it. This ridiculous opposition to Voter ID is all about easing the difficulty the democrats are going to have turning out their voters.”

From the Democrat official convention website (emphasis added):

CREDENTIAL DISTRIBUTION

Please complete the following form regarding your organization's primary contact information and the authorized designee(s) to whom your 2012 Democratic National Convention credentials can be issued.

. . .

Authorized Pickup

All pickup persons must have a state-issued ID that matches the name submitted below.

This requirement of a state-issued ID is stricter than recent laws that the Democrats have protested and the Obama Justice Department has blocked such as in Texas.

Norcross concluded: “Our elections should be at least as secure as the convention nominations of the candidate. Democrat hypocrisy has rarely been worse.”

Click here for a pdf of the press release.

DNC Chair’s Voter ID Comment Is Finalist for PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year”

Maya Noronha — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:03:00 GMT

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s claim that voter ID was comparable to Jim Crow laws has been featured as one of the top ten lies of 2011 by PolitiFact.

Here’s the ‘winning’ lie (which was said to CNN's Roland Martin in June):

You have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally -- and very transparently -- block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates.

PolitiFact criticized “the inflammatory nature of the phrase, which all but calls the laws’ supporters racists.” PolitiFact points out that voter ID has a “feasible ‘out’ -- getting an ID card.” PolitiFact concludes, “they would not return the United States to Jim Crow. Saying so offers more heat than light.”

PolitiFact relied on input from Harvard Law School Professor Michael J. Klarman, FairVote’s executive director Rob Richie, East Georgia College historian Thomas Adams Upchurch, Yale Law School Professor Heather Gerkin, and Loyola Law School professor Richard Hasen to rate Wasserman Schultz’s comment false.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s character came into question this year also for letting the DNC use footage of House chamber for political ads in violation of House of Representatives ethics rules.

Will Debbie Wasserman Schultz ‘win’ the title of ‘liar of the year’? She stands a good chance, but then again, President Obama is also a finalist on the top ten list... twice.

Supplemental RNLA Complaint Against DNC Chair

Maya Noronha — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:37:00 GMT

The RNLA has issued a supplemental complaint against the DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz for approving more ads using footage of the House of Representatives chamber displaying Obama giving a speech to a September 8 joint session of Congress.

The original complaint was filed earlier this week. The grounds for both complaints are based in House Rule 5 which bars use of broadcast recordings of House proceedings for political uses. The complaint indicates that the ads are clearly political, advocating for the President’s jobs plan in swing states that are key for the upcoming presidential election. The ads are titled, “fourteen months”- a clear reference to the upcoming presidential election. In addition, the DNC issued press releases regarding the ads and the DNC website use the footage to advocate for the president’s initiatives.

David Norcross, chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, said, “The Obama administration, the DNC and the Democrat leadership in the House believe in rules only as they apply to others.”

The Daily Caller has reported:

The letter that will be sent Thursday doubles down on the original complaint, targeting newly-released Spanish-language ads in Tampa, Denver, Miami and Las Vegas. The ads proclaim in Spanish: “In the face of Republicans, the President can’t do it alone. Read the plan. Stand together for more jobs.”

Read the RNLA’s press release.

The RNLA Files Complaint Against DNC Committee Chair

Michael Thielen — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:58:00 GMT

As the Denver Post reported last night:

Republican party officials are requesting a Congressional ethics investigation into a television ad that ran last week in Colorado and a handful of other states that shows President Barack Obama on the House floor during a speech to both chambers of Congress.

The ad violates House Ethics Rule 5, which "clearly states that live broadcast recordings in the House chamber may not be used for any political purpose," the Republican National Lawyers Association told The Denver Post Sunday.

RNLA Chair David Norcross commented in the RNLA Press Release on the complaint:

In fact, Representative Schultz actually voted in 2008 to establish the Office of Congressional Ethics. David Norcross, chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, said that "it is certainly worth noting and has been typical of the House Democrat leadership to create rules they have no intention of adhering to themselves."

The television ad is not the first time President Obama or his allies such as the DNC Chair have abused ethics regarding fundraising ads, see here and here. Stay tuned for more on this.