Ryan ChartrandIn light of the ongoing election drama, one man strives to continue the proverbial bloodbath between Democratic candidates Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Our nation’s top-rated talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, has labeled this mission “Operation Chaos.” Its goal: to prepare America for the McCain presidency, and it seems to be working quite well.
Limbaugh may be indicted for voter fraud in both Ohio and Texas. In Ohio, what Limbaugh is accused of is a fifth-degree felony, punishable with a $2,500 fine and six to 12 months in jail. Several Democrats and state officials (except for the ones voting for Hillary Clinton, of course) are in an uproar over Limbaugh, encouraging his mainly Republican listeners to vote for Clinton in the presidential primary in order to keep the Democratic race alive. Obama, remaining embattled by Clinton, would be a benefit for John McCain because the Democrats will continue to rip each other apart, and some think that Obama would be more difficult for McCain to beat in a general election.
Why the controversy? People should be able to vote for whom they choose by free will, right? Not necessarily. At this time, the Board of Election in Ohio has launched an investigation into illegal crossover voting. This is ironic, since both Texas and Ohio have semi-open primaries. A semi-open primary means that a voter may vote for any candidate, regardless of the voter’s registered party, but the voter must publicly declare which candidate they are going to vote for before they enter the voting booth. The rules pertaining to the Democratic Party in these states say that the voters must take a public oath stating that they are loyal to the Democratic Party and they will uphold party principles “under penalty of election falsification.”
I would challenge any Democrat reading this to list all of the specific and exact principles that you are upholding on a daily basis by being a registered Democrat. Anyone? I won’t blame you if you can’t-since voters would clearly never vote based on ethnicity or gender, I must presume that there is some debate about principles within the party, as can be seen in the division of voters between Clinton and Obama. As for the potential indictment, I’ll be happy to explain to you why an indictment of Limbaugh is outrageous, and if carried through, should also lead to the indictment of one of the Democratic candidates.
First and foremost, forcing voters to take this oath is unconstitutional. I know some of us have not taken U.S. history in several years, so I’ll go ahead and quote from the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Furthermore, the 14th Amendment states that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Some will argue that these Amendments are up for interpretation, but to a supporter of the Constitution, taking oaths in Ohio and Texas is simply wrong. Masking this offense by telling citizens that they have an open election, yet in the same breath saying that they cannot vote for their candidate of choice unless they promise to cooperate and uphold some undefined Democratic principles every day or else, completely goes against all of the rights and protections of U.S. citizens.
This testy little issue came up previously with one of the Democratic candidates. Dennis Kucinich was taken off the ballot in Texas because he rejected the forced loyalty oath that said he must “support and defend the Constitution” but also that he will “fully support the candidate for the Office of President whomever that shall be.” Kucinich refused because he believes that the war in Iraq is unconstitutional since it was never declared by Congress, but if the eventual nominee supported the war and Kucinich was forced to support that candidate, then he would be negating his duties as a member of Congress.
Forced loyalty oaths, indictments as punishment, and removal from ballots – it all sounds more like KGB than USA.
Finally, the last and the most entertaining reason that this legal action is unfounded is that if Limbaugh is indicted in Ohio, Obama should be as well. A Barack Obama door hanger that was distributed in Ohio (and other states such as Pennsylvania) was also encouraging Republican and Independent voters to vote for a Democrat (Obama). The hanger plainly stated: “Republicans and Independents can vote in the Democratic primary.”
It turns out there really could be a bipartisan ending to an election – Rush Limbaugh and Barack Obama sharing a jail cell in Ohio.
Christina Chiappe is a social sciences senior, the president of the Cal Poly College Republicans and a Mustang Daily conservative columnist.