How To Make New Republicans

1:04 pm EST April 8th, 2006 | Politics | 16 Comments

You dupe ‘em

More than 100 Orange County residents who thought they were simply signing petitions to cure breast cancer, punish child molesters or build schools were duped into registering as Republicans, an Orange County Register investigation found.

The ruse took place over several days in December and January at shopping centers throughout Anaheim, Santa Ana, Buena Park, Westminster and Garden Grove, where paid petitioners begged, cajoled, lied and committed forgery to get so-called Republican converts. Petition circulators were paid as much as $7 for each GOP registration.

Orange County election officials have received complaints from 167 people who were flipped to the Republican Party without their permission. The Register found the problem was far wider, interviewing 112 others who were not only switched, they were tricked and deceived. Among the victims is a lifelong Democrat who was pressured to fill out forms even though she didn’t have her glasses and couldn’t see what she was signing.

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16 Responses to “How To Make New Republicans”

  1. buma says:
    April 8, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    A defrocked Pubbie. They do grow some strange Republicans in CA.

  2. duros62 says:
    April 8, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    Wow.

  3. Frank_D says:
    April 8, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, will you ever learn?
    From the article:

    Dinoff, who was fired from the Orange County Republican registration drive for being too aggressive [emphasis added - fd], declined to comment.

  4. midderpidge says:
    April 8, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    Typical crap. It isn’t like they are purging the voter rolls or anything. It is a hazard of the practice of hiring ‘bounty hunters’ that both parties could learn from. It wasn’t like 2004 when republican registrars in a few states were throwing out democratic registrations they collected.

  5. cypher says:
    April 8, 2006 at 2:04 pm

    It might explain Drum.

  6. JWG says:
    April 8, 2006 at 2:04 pm

    In all seriousness, what is the benefit of registering people specifically to a party? In Indiana, I only get asked which ballot I want during a primary when I sign off my name. Otherwise, what difference would it make?

  7. Repack Rider says:
    April 8, 2006 at 5:04 pm

    what is the benefit of registering people specifically to a party?

    In California primaries, you can only vote for candidates in your own party. This would reduce the pool of voters, possibly in a single demographic group that has been targeted as voting for a strong Democratic candidate.

    IOW, it can’t help the Democrats, and depending on how it was targeted it can certainly help Republicans control Democratic primaries.

    Republicans doing it, no possible benefit to Democrats, conscious deceit. Who should we blame?

  8. cellulose says:
    April 8, 2006 at 5:04 pm

    This was a huge problem in Pittsburgh in 2004. People who signed a pot legalization petition will all Republicans a few days later.

    It’a as though politics is dity or something…

  9. drpedro says:
    April 8, 2006 at 7:04 pm

    democrats are such rubes…

    You will be assimilated…..resistance is futile

  10. buma says:
    April 8, 2006 at 9:04 pm

    . . . As drpedro was himself assimilated, which is apparent to everyone else who visits OW’s blog.

  11. Wilbur says:
    April 8, 2006 at 10:04 pm

    pedro is a red(state)-diaper doper doctor.

  12. scratch says:
    April 8, 2006 at 11:04 pm

    Among the victims is a lifelong Democrat who was pressured to fill out forms even though she didn t have her glasses and couldn t see what she was signing.

    There’s a lesson here somewhere. Or a joke. Think Scratch, think!

  13. Frank_D says:
    April 9, 2006 at 8:04 am

    Silly Scratch: the lesson is obvious — Republicans hate people who wear eyeglasses, because they’re a – scared of them.

  14. Diamond LeGrande says:
    April 9, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    Love the spin, Frank. Problem is, to do this, it requires more than one person. Pretty much anything in modern political campaigns does, as does modern government. So ONE person took the heat for this and was fired — BFD.

  15. Frank_D says:
    April 9, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    And the real culprit behind this democracy – ending scheme is — George Bush?

  16. littleandy says:
    April 12, 2006 at 3:04 am

    Nobody should sign something he didn’t read exactly. Don’t they learn that in the US?