Because the election is so close to Halloween, Republicans
are suggesting their supporters wear scary Halloween costumes to the polls and
stand around outside afterwards, just for social contact and a jubilant,
festive atmosphere. They are even claiming that creating a party atmosphere
would attract more voter turnout, and thus more votes for both sides. And in a
split from their usual corporate stance, Republicans have recommended their
supporters wear scary homemade costumes, like blood-soaked serial killers,
ravenous zombies, and terrorists with suicide bomb vests, rather than the
corporate-inspired sell-out crap like superheroes and such. This would clearly
make for a fun Halloween for adults, since adults usually have to go
trick-or-treating with their children or stay home to give out candy.
Oh, but Democrats are crying foul, claiming that scary
characters hanging around outside the polling stations might tend to scare away
Democratic voters. But Republicans claim they got the idea from Democrats, who
said it was fine for guys to stand outside a polling station four years ago
dressed up as Black Panthers* (a very scary costume indeed for Republicans to
see). And when Republicans suggested giving out candy to voters, they were
accused of trying to buy votes. It surely looks like the buzzkill Democrats
want to spoil a good time for everyone again by denying us the scary costume
party at the polls this year. And isn’t this a clear attempt at voter
suppression aimed at masquerade aficionados?
* I thought the Black Panthers were there at the poll in
Philadelphia during the 2008 presidential election in an attempt to prevent voter suppression efforts, since there had been reports
of voter suppression attempts perpetrated by Republican activists in previous
elections. (I don’t know if Republicans really engaged in voter suppression,
but there were news reports to that effect. And actually, there were charges of
voter suppression against both Democrats and Republicans in 2004. {*Sigh*}) But maybe it was an
attempt at voter suppression: who knows? I guess truth, like beauty, is really
in the eye of the beholder these days.
