UPDATE: After reading the entire law and the Obama campaign efforts, the story has taken a slightly different turn. I won’t delete this post since my integrity forbids me from hiding my mistakes, but owning them. The Obama campaign is not seeking to suppress the military vote…this time. It was easy for me to jump on that bandwagon since the Obama Justice Department has refused to enforce laws meant to assist overseas troops’ voting rights. When states failed to get ballots out to troops on time during the 2010 election, Holder refused to sue those them. So, when I initially read these reports it fit with the Obama narrative.
However, now that I am more informed and educated, the reality is that the campaign is suing to give EVERYONE the same voting opportunities as the troops. In essence, the suit is designed to give non-military voters an extra three days to vote in early voting. This means that liberals will be able to cast at least ten more votes per person.
By suing to have this law changed, the Obama campaign and DNC are basically saying that the sacrifices troops make that resulted in the need for the three additional dates is no more important than the sacrifices of every other citizen.
There’s a saying that goes, “when everyone is special, no one is special.”
Since President Obama began his 2012 reelection campaign back in January 2009, my inbox has been inundated with emails from the administration touting all the great things it has done for our troops. Program after program after program geared towards helping troops. Everything from the First Lady’s “Joining Forces” initiative to the launch of the redesigned Transition Assistance Program for troops leaving the service. Many are saying that the military vote could be the deciding factor in several key states.
The campaign even sent out a link to this Huffington Post op-ed written by Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Beau, who, according to the byline wrote it as a Major in the National Guard:
To help veterans find jobs when they get home, President Obama signed into law two tax credits that encourage businesses to hire unemployed veterans and wounded warriors.
A record number of veterans are entering the VA health system, so President Obama has significantly boosted the Veterans Affairs budget to ensure that veterans receive timely access to the highest-quality benefits and services. And though he knew it would be difficult, he’s making sure the VA eliminates the backlog by 2015.
Often times, it’s easy for a politician – on both sides of the aisle – to claim their overwhelming support for our nation’s fighting troops. It’s not hard to throw money at a perceived problem and say that something is being done.
If you really want to know whether a candidate supports the troops, one simply needs to observe their actions.
On July 17th, the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in OH to strike down part of that state’s law governing voting by members of the military. Their suit said that part of the law is “arbitrary” with “no discernible rational basis.”
Currently, Ohio allows the public to vote early in-person up until the Friday before the election. Members of the military are given three extra days to do so. While the Democrats may see this as “arbitrary” and having “no discernible rational basis,” I think it is entirely reasonable given the demands on servicemen and women’s time and their obligations to their sworn duty.
While our Justice Department is working so hard to ensure that states can’t prevent the illegal immigrant vote, our troops’ votes are being sold down the river.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any government agency or military unit. Quoted facts belong to their respective authors.