Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Audit Trail”

May 18, 2013

Audit Trail

Hatched by Korso

Just in case you needed another reason to get all wee-weed up over the burgeoning IRS scandal, consider this: One of the factors often cited in Obama's victorious 2012 re-election bid was his campaign's formidable ground game. His get-out-the-vote efforts were superb, and probably made all the difference in what the polls were indicating would be a very close race. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, was clearly unable to match that effort himself, given that he got fewer votes than John McCain did back in 2008.

So what accounts for that difference?

Conventional wisdom tells us that there was just less enthusiasm for Mitt Romney last time around, and perhaps that's true; but one cannot discount the chilling effect that the IRS harassment of conservative grassroots groups must've had on their own get-out-the-vote efforts. What if these groups had been approved for non-profit status in a timely manner (as their progressive counterparts had), and had been allowed to operate during the election? Might they have mobilized more voters for Mitt Romney? And if they had, would it have made a difference in the outcome of the election?

Obviously, we can't know the answer to that question -- but it certainly is well within the realm of possibility. I think the Obama administration knew that too, which only taints the IRS further and makes their actions even more sinister. That a federal agency could be used by the party in power to suppress the vote of the opposition is beyond scary. It's downright terrifying.

Hatched by Korso on this day, May 18, 2013, at the time of 7:49 AM

Comments

The following hissed in response by: brotio

This is an excellent point, and reinforces the need of the conservative and libertarian blogosphere, and also the limitations.

We can't forget just how powerful the dominant liberal establishment media still is. In spite of the blogs, Fast and Furious, and Benghazi were swept out of the public consciousness to the point that Oblamebush was re-elected. The recent scandals were only reported by the dominant press because they're pissed off about the AP brouhaha. Once Brian Williams gets his ass kissed sweetly enough, he will go back to being Obama's lapdog.

The above hissed in response by: brotio at May 19, 2013 9:47 AM