Yesterday a reader forwarded us a copy of a letter sent by Democrats to his daughter in Brooklyn. The letter is unbelievably creepy. Below is a screenshot of the letter with the recipient’s name and address redacted.
It is impossible to imagine the furor that would accompany this story if it were Republicans rather than Democrats taking a page out of the 1984 playbook (as the cutline on the letter revealed, screenshot below). What is to be said? The Democrats thrive on the immunity afforded them by their mainstream media adjunct. They lack the constraints that decency imposes on the rest of us.
As it is, we have only the New York Post’s “Democrats bully non-voters: We know who you are.” Carl Campanile and Natalie O’Neill report:
Democrats are telling voters that they had better head to the polls — or else.
The New York State Democratic Committee is bullying people into voting next week with intimidating letters warning that it can easily find out which slackers fail to cast a ballot next Tuesday.
“Who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is public record,” the letter says.
“We will be reviewing voting records . . . to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014.”
It ends with a line better suited to a mob movie than a major political party: “If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.”
The letter and accompanying post card was criticized even by party members, with one Democratic consultant saying it was the wrong way to inspire votes.
“It’s a threatening letter. It’s a scare piece that is unnecessary and inappropriate,” the insider said.
Brooklyn and Manhattan residents who received the note Wednesday were furious, calling it an attempt to browbeat them into showing up at the polls.
“I’m outraged. Whether I vote or not is none of your business!” said a Manhattan voter, who was so incensed that she complained to a local Democratic leader.
“The letter is ludicrous and menacing,” said the voter, who requested anonymity.
The woman also received a report card of her voting record, pointing out that she had failed to vote in two of the last four elections.
Overall, the notices were sent out to 1 million registered Democrats who had failed to vote in previous midterm elections, according to the group.
The committee — chaired by former Gov. David Paterson — defended the scare tactic, calling it standard practice throughout the country.
“This flier is part of the nationwide Democratic response to traditional Republican voter-suppression efforts, because Democrats believe our democracy works better when more people vote, not less,” said Peter Kauffmann, a committee spokesman.
“The difference between Democrats and Republicans is they don’t want people to vote and we want everyone to vote.”
Paterson declined to comment.
The mailer has a phone number on it that goes to Election Protection, a nonpartisan voting organization.
The organization said it had received a “significant” number of calls about the letter.
Such attempts to shame people to vote — what politicos call “social pressure” or peer pressure — has [sic] become more commonplace and was [sic] used by the Obama campaign in 2012, sources said.
A Yale University study in 2008 found that voter participation increased substantially after lazy voters received letters telling them their spotty voting history was a public record that would be scrutinized.
The notice includes a “vote report card” rating New Yorkers’ voting records as “excellent,” “good,” “fair” or “incomplete.”
“Many organizations monitor turnout in your neighborhood and are disappointed by the inconsistent voting of many of your neighbors,” it says.
The letter came a week before heavily favored Democratic Gov. Cuomo faces off against Republican Rob Astorino.
What else is to be said? I’m not sure, but I think Glenn Reynolds would say: Tar. Feathers.
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