Blog: He's Back

Statement

Hans von Spakovsky is not a household name. Few Republican operatives who work behind the scenes to suppress the vote are. But many of you may have heard of him when President Bush tried to appoint him to the FEC.

Well, Hans von Spakovsky is back. And here's back right here in Illinois, in the most competitive race in the nation.

In 2007, when President Bush nominated Spakovsky to be on the FEC, the New York Times called Bush's nomination of Spakovsky "a sorry ascension":

It apparently wasn't enough for the Bush administration to pack the Department of Justice with political operatives. The White House has now nominated one of the most meddlesome of those partisans, Hans von Spakovsky, to a powerful post on the Federal Election Commission.

This is the agency charged with making sure elections are fair - an especially ludicrous perch for Mr. Spakovsky. As a voting-rights appointee in the Justice Department, he promoted Republican initiatives to crimp the ballot power of minorities and the poor who typically favor Democrats. [...]

Feverish for the Republican edge, Mr. Spakovsky drove career lawyers from the Justice department and constantly parroted the (Karl) Rovian line that voter fraud is rampant, though studies have found otherwise. [...]

Democrats should make clear to the White House - and to Mr. Reid - that the F.E.C. is too important to be left in the hands of political hacks or to be sacrificed for the sake of a political deal.

Democrats did stand up to the White House. Then-Senator Barack Obama put a hold on Spakovsky's nomination.

Now, years later in the race for President Obama's Senate seat, Spakovsky, Rove and the entire Republican voter suppression machine is back.

This week, Spakovsky held a training session for young Republicans in Chicago. Chicago, by the way, in one of the areas where Mark Kirk has said he'll deploy his "voter integrity" squads on Election Day.

Earlier this week, Mark Kirk was caught on tape bragging about funding "the largest voter integrity program" in 15 years. He said that he would deploy Republican lawyers and operatives to "key vulnerable areas" like the South Side of Chicago, Metro East and Rockford. He falsely claimed that Democrats may try to "jigger the vote" in those minority/Democratic strongholds.

The response to the revelation that Mark Kirk is pouring money raised from lobbyists and corporate PACs into such a targeted program has been swift and overwhelming. This is what Will Crossley, DNC Counsel and Director of Voter Protection, said yesterday:

The simple truth is this: in Illinois' neck and neck Senate race, Republicans are trying to pull out a victory not by bringing their supporters to the polls, but by preventing Democratic voters from casting their ballots. The climate may be a little cooler, but this could be Florida 2000 all over again.

The tactics that George Bush and Karl Rove used to steal that election were devastating -- not just to our country's future but also to every voter who cast their ballot in good faith that their voice would be heard, only to have that voice silenced. That a candidate for Senate would explicitly embrace Rove's brand of dirty politics, and would go so far as to openly endorse and fund the largest voter suppression effort in Illinois in 15 years is shockingly despicable. [...]

We can and will help the Democratic candidate for Senate, Alexi Giannoulias, to win on November 2nd, but the real victory will be ensuring that every voter -- regardless of where they live or their party affiliation -- is able to cast a ballot.

I've instructed my own attorneys to do everything in their power to ensure that every voter who is eligible to vote can do so free of intimidation. My attorneys have sent letters to election authorities throughout the state putting them on notice about Mark Kirk's "voter integrity program."

Karl Rove has already spent millions airing debunked attack ads against me. Now, it looks like Illinois Republicans aren't just content with benefiting from Karl Rove's money. They apparently want to use his disgusting voter suppression tactics to their benefit as well.

We're not going to let them get away with it.

Can you help fuel our campaign in these last critical weeks? You can chip in $10 here.

We know that Republicans are going to say anything or do anything to get their hands on this Senate seat. MoveOn.org just named me one of it's "Progressive Heroes" and made this race one of its top priorities. We have energized Democrats across the country phonebanking from home and telling voters the truth about Mark Kirk pro-Wall Street voting record.

As I told my supporters today, we've come a long way in this race. We've proved the pundits wrong, we've beaten the odds and we've kept this race competitive despite being outspent 4-to-1.

We cannot afford to let Republicans undo all of our efforts on Election Day with Karl Rove trickery.

There is far too much at stake, not just for Illinois, but for our entire country. I intend to win this race, and I intend to get to the Senate to fight for the policies that benefit all Americans. And with your help, we can make sure that Republican operatives won't stand in the way of our victory.

Thanks for all your help.

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