Bob Woodward Still Has Never Heard Of The Voter Suppression Tactic ‘Caging’
Bob Woodward Still Has Never Heard Of The Voter Suppression Tactic ‘Caging’
Earlier this week, Washington Post investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Jeff Leen hosted an online chat at washingtonpost.com. One of the participants asked Woodward and Leen how pervasive the voter suppression tactic known as “caging” is. The investigative reporters had no idea what it was:
Washington, D.C.: Don’t you have a duty to report criminal activity to the appropriate authorities?
How pervasive is “caging”?
Bob Woodward and Jeff Leen: We publish what we can find and document. Many times over the years government authorities have pursued the information we have dug up and launched their own investigations. But we’re trying to serve the readers, and we do not act as police or prosecutors. And please send us an e-mail explaing what “caging” is.
Woodward and Leen aren’t the only Washington Post reporters who are clueless about caging. In a washingtonpost.com online chat with congressional reporter Jonathan Weisman in May, a questioner asked “why Congress didn’t jump on Monica Goodling’s testimony about caging.” Weisman’s response: “So what is this caging thing?”
So for all those Washington Post reporters out there, let’s go over the facts again.
Caging most recently gained attention in the U.S. attorney scandal. In 2004, BBC News published a report showing that Tim Griffin, the former Rove protege who was placed as a U.S. attorney in Arkansas, led a “caging” scheme to suppress the votes of African-American servicemembers in Florida.
On Nov. 5, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced the Caging Prohibition Act, a bill to outlaw this “long-recognized voter suppression tactic which has often been used to target minority voters.” Bush administration officials have repeatedly tried to dismiss this as “direct-mail term.” But the charges are serious enough that earlier this year, several senators called for an investigation into the RNC’s use of this voter suppression tactic. Whitehouse and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) explained:
Caging is a voter suppression tactic whereby a political campaign sends mail marked “do not forward” to a targeted group of eligible voters. A more aggressive version involves sending mail to a targeted group of voters with instructions to sign and return an acknowledgment card. The campaign then creates a list of those whose mail was returned undelivered and challenges the right of those citizens to vote — on the ground that the voter does not live at the registered address.
Fill in Woodward and Leen on caging by contacting them here and here.
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45 Responses to “Bob Woodward Still Has Never Heard Of The Voter Suppression Tactic ‘Caging’”
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Well if Woodward is playing true to form, the reason he’s playing dumb is because he’s working on another “insider” book, and probably one that puts the practice of caging in a positive light. There’s no money in getting his sources p*ssed off by answering an off-hand question. They might decide to take a pass on him.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:50 pmBob Woodward was a Pit Bull in his time. He has morphed into a lap dog. He will bw 65 in March, perhaps he is developing dementia.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:53 pmAnd please send us an e-mail explaing what “caging†is.
that comment right there tells you everything that has gone wrong with booby. he (and his village pals) are so friggin accustomed to having nuggets dropped in their laps, he’s forgotten how to conduct this little thing called ‘research’.
it took .18 seconds for a google search providing several links explaining the term.
damn, whoever knew stenography could make you so rich.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:54 pmthis is an amazingly appalling commentary on the ignorance of the premier journalists on the staff of the premier newspaper in the capital of the world’s most powerful nation… you would think that they would have at least HEARD of caging merely by hanging around news as part of their working lives as political journalists at the washington post… so much for whatever was left of their credibility and that of their employer…
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:58 pmAnd, yes, I DO take it personally
What’s he doing — auditioning for Faux Noose?
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:58 pmDoes he really want people to think he’s that stupid that he can’t even google a term on the internet?
Comment by BARTLEBEE — November 22, 2007 @ 3:00 pm
Internet? Please send me an email explaining what is this “internet”. And what is a “google”?
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:18 pmWhy should these stenographers know what caging is? After all, this term isn’t ever used in the White House press releases they write.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:28 pmItalian publicly funded RAI and Berlusconis Mediaset seem to have mutually wiretapped each other
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:39 pmWith some notable exceptions, the large majority of so-called traditional media “journalists” are lazy, ignorant, and very complacent. And if you’re talking about the ones who work primarily on television, I’d add the adjective “stupid” to the list.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 pmI guess the only thing that matters among reporters in Washington is which parties you are invited to.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 pmSo…Bobbie knows not why the “caged” voter screams?
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:28 pmWoodward is a bootlicking, asskissing, excuse maker for the thugs in the crime family…nothing more and nothing less. He is one of them.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:44 pmLeftists for voter fraud - nothing new there.
Comment by USA_Patriot — November 22, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
It is not the leftists who have been under court order over voter fraud and caging for the past several years, sh*t for brains, it is the GOP. Get a life, sparky.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 pmWRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!
This is NOT CAGING!
CAGING IS what people in this country should do with those in government who lied to us and started an illegal war that killed almost 4,000 of our valuable kids so far, those who waste over $2 billion/week of our money, those who don’t care for people’s health and education, those who do not protect the border but allow security patroll to be put in jail for 11-12 years for doing their job, those who protect drug dealers, those who pardon criminals who leak protected information, and on, and on, and on…
Whoever those are, they are the ones that should be CAGED, i.e., PUT IN A CAGE for a long long time.
But, America no longer cares, isn’t it???
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:51 pmThey all know perfectly well what “caging” is, they just don’t want to talk about it because they know that their party, the Republiscums, are guilty of caging schemes all across America.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:19 pmPlease do not derail this thread by responding to the idiotic statements made by USA_Traitor. Please just flag him for abuse and move on. We are losing this site, once again, to the trolls because people can’t resist playing Whack a Troll. I know it’s fun, but do you really want to turn this site over to the trolls?
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:22 pmMy my. Our favorite little troll is spamming all over the place. And still hasn’t managed a single rational thought.
DISCREDITED. NEXT ALIASS PLEASE!
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:39 pmIt’s a mean little troll, isn’t it? Sort of like Chucky.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:45 pmHow do political reporters and journalists serve their readers when they don’t know what the hell is going on???? And these people look down their noses at bloggers??? I thought these were the almight MSM know it all reporters. Turns out, not so much.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pmThere’s some of that “respect for dissent and free speech†liberals are always patting themselves on the back for. *L*
Comment by USA_Patriot — November 22, 2007
You mean those little free speech zones they have to remain in while giving an opposing view? Did you find some Jonestown Guyana egg-nog in some college Fed-soc dorm?
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:50 pmTo play devil’s advocate…what’s so terrible about this “caging”?
If the person doesn’t live at their registered address, why are they being allowed to vote in that district?
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:10 pmThe problem is that they were not caging equally EvilCornbread and only went after the non-republican voters.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 pmIn Florida, they sent letters to addresses at NAS JAX. If sailors were away on duty and the certified letter was not signed for it was returned to the sender. The names associated with the returned letters were then placed on a list. The listed names were either purged from the rolls or used to challange mail-in ballots.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pmThe USPS has installed banks of boxes that has increased their efficiency and provided added security to peoples mail. Many times the letter carrier does not even attempt to get a signature for a delivery requiring one, especially if there are multiple deliveries for an apartment complex, condo development, trailer park, military base or lower class neighborhood and just leave an Attempted Delivery notice.
Many times people whose mail is delivered to a locked box don’t even bother to check for mail everyday and don’t see the notice until after the 3-day pick-up period at the postoffice or they have no ability to travel to the postoffice to sign for the letter.
I was living in Jacksonville in 2004, and received such a letter. I just happened to be home and at the mailboxes the day my certified letter came. I had no problem when I voted, however I am white.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:57 pmRepublicans can never allow free and fair voting, or they’ll never win another seat anywhere in this country, excepting the Deep South. this is why they have developed such immoral and illegal techniques over the past 40 years; otherwise, we would have been rid of them long ago. Republicans have no interest in freedom or democracy; they are the former supporters of George III, and the current supporters of the Hitler-funding Bush family, the family of traitors and war profiteers. These are the facts, and the truth. republican bribery of the Congress and media is why we have entered this dangerous phase of our history, when the deluded and authoritarian warmongers seize power through chicanery, bribery and treason. History, folks, something we should learn from, not lazily reapeat ever few decades.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:24 pmHey USA_Patriot - remember this?
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:28 pmAs the middle-aged sales woman said on the British Being Served TV show, “He’s past it…” Woodward is truly a pathetic case. How can he be writing and publishing books on the current political scene and be so ignorant? But, it seems that the Washington Post Corporation wants to know very little about the truth of the fascistic Bush regime and its endless dirty election tricks, so the Washington Post staff writers and editors happily go along with the gag, as long as they are getting well paid (bribed…)
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:54 pmHey USA_Patriot - remember this?
Comment by EvilPoet — November 22, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
Of course, but just par for the course; the same cowards that refuse to enlist will of course kick women when they’re on the ground, defenseless. Not surprising at all. It’s one of the main reasons I get upset at the left’s unwillingness to kick the crap out of the chickenhawk cowards that they encounter; these little pansies would cry at a loud voice. Just like Bush, afraid of horses, afraid of finishing his tour of duty, afraid of the truth.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 pmWoodward became a RePugniScum phu(k when he got rich during the Regan years. Money corrupts you know!!!
He’s a lazy, ill informed, has been!!
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:05 pmI think the Bob Woodward who worked to uncover Watergate died shortly there after because the one who shows up these days seems really, really stupid. I have nothing but contempt for him. He seems to approve of treason in the outing of a CIA agent by his pal Bush.
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:08 pmTo play devil’s advocate…what’s so terrible about this “caging�
If the person doesn’t live at their registered address, why are they being allowed to vote in that district?
If a person is away at college or overseas serving in Iraq, are they not residents, just because they weren’t home when the postcard arrived? Remember, the postcards are not allowed to be forwarded. Also, remember that the caging was done in areas having a high percentage of non-white voters. Also, keep in mind that the Republican’ts have been barred by a federal court injunction from racially targeted vote caging since 1981.
Nobody’s allowed to vote in a district in which they can’t prove residence. But, having some GOP scumbags hanging out in the polling places challenging legitimate voters because they didn’t (couldn’t) return a postcard is at the very least harassment and at the most obstructing their legal right to vote. And it’s illegal.
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:43 pmTHE NEXT ELECTION TO TAKE PLACE IN THE FSA (FACISTS STATES OF AMERICA, FORMALY KNOW AS USA) SHOULD HAVE UN OBSERVERS. SINCE THE LAST TWO ELECTIONS WERE NOT TRANSPARENT CLEAR AND SINCE THE WAR CRIMINAL IN THE WHITE HOUSE STOLE 2000 ELECTION.
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 pmOh please, Woodward — do you really expect us to believe this load of crap from your mouth? You are in DC and you haven’t the faintest clue of what “caging” is?
If this is an example of what being a “journalist” is about it’s no wonder the print media is losing subscribers.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:29 pmIsn’t it important to make sure everyone that votes is truly a citizen and has legal residence where he/she states? Seems VERY important to me. Even 1 single vote from someone that shouldn’t be voting is a horrible crime.
Personally, we need to do way more to protect true voters.
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:25 amI thought this guy was dead? his last work was done by and about a dead guy, figured he was being thirded by another ghost?
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:27 am#42- Your straw arguement doesn’t hold water. You do not put the fox in charge of guarding the hen house and you sure as hell to not put the RNC in charge of deciding who should be eligible to vote and who is not. Caging is an illegal act that the GOP has gotten into trouble using over and over and over. Idiot like you should learn something instead of coming on this board and acting stupid. Isn’t there a war on Christmas on FAUXNOIZ you should be getting your talking points on? Go play there.
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:20 pmThe conservative trolls around here are amazing. Today’s repubs have actually admitted in congressional testimony that they are engaging in “caging,” a federal crime. The Florida repub party settled out of court with the NAACP for illegally preventing thousands of people from voting in 2000. The repub party itself has been under a court order for 6 years now to cease and desist from vote “caging, ” but they continue to do it. Tens of thousands were illegally prevented from voting in Ohio in 2004 — and conservatives are still citing this lame, tired old myth that JFK won because of cheating in northern Illinois. It’s a myth. There was actually more evidence of voting fraud in the southern part of the state in favor of Nixon. That’s why Nixon chose not to contest the Illinois vote. Or, one of them points to an example of vandalism by 3 individuals and says this shows that “liberals are thugs.” Pathetic.
And, besides the point. This discussion is about the disgraceful fact that our pampered, powdered millionaire press corp has no interest in discussions or issues which are embarassing to their corporate bosses.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:54 pmSomeone should send him “Armed Madhouse” so that he can see what a “pit bull” looks like. He’ll get a handle on caging and one or two other things that the MSM might want to look at.
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:42 pmEven 1 single vote from someone that shouldn’t be voting is a horrible crime.
Personally, we need to do way more to protect true voters.
Comment by Roger_Roger — November 23, 2007 @ 10:25 am
Horrible crime, Rogerx2?
Murder, rape, kidnapping — those are horrible crimes.
Voting in the wrong precinct or “1 single vote from someone that shouldn’t be voting” is not a horrible crime.
Take it down a notch, buddy.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:35 amThe Bob Woodward story is the story about someone who was overrated at the start. He never was a deeply serious, idealistic journalist.
There are a few things to remember about Bob Woodward.
He’s a Republican, said so in All The President’s Men.
By his own admission he’s weak when it comes to the analytical thingy.
He doesn’t really hang out at the Post. He spends most of his ‘working’ time at home.
The real breakout of the Watergate scandal came from McCord’s letter to Judge Sirica not from the Post’s articles.
Since he became a celebrity via the BOOK and especially the MOVIE he’s become a Wahington Insider’s insider. Like all of today’s celebrity journalists, he’s really a part of the Village culture and he follows all of their rules.
November 24th, 2007 at 2:45 amMr. Comment number 45 - What a crock. The GOTV story sounds like the silliest kind of fiction. I’ve worked GOTV for several elections.
GOTV is about 95% plus a telephone operation. Ride to the polls is rare since the advent of widespread absentee voting.
Explain to us Mr. 45 the New Hampshire phone jamming in the 2002 election. That was the subversion of a GOTV operation. That caper was settled in the court room with several Republicans going to jail.
The cigarettes for votes story makes no sense. How is it possible to know if the bribe worked when a secret ballot is involved? And since voting is tied to an address in a given precinct I really have to wonder how many homeless people are registered to vote.
The reward story (cigarettes) is especially funny. In the 19th century, in some areas, rewards were used, but, only in those areas without a secret ballot.
Your stories, Mr. 45, sound like children’s fairy tales.
Republicans love to use the Chicago 1960 story. A cute story but not the complete book.
Republicans controlled the Illinois election board that year and certified the elction as quickly as possible even while Republicans were starting to tell the Chicago tale.
The reason Republicans in Illinois were quick to bless the election - they wanted it over to avoid the discovery of massive Republican ballot box stuffing in several counties in downstate Illinois.
Republicans who tell that story ALWAYS omit the fact that JFK didn’t need Illinois to win the election.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:33 amHow could Bob (thekissup) Woodward hear anything except what Dubya is whispering in his ear. Or the tune Dubya is whistling when Butt Kissin Bob is sniffing his rear.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:17 am#28, you’re not playing “devil’s advocate,” you’re being obtuse. Did you not read the article? In the first ploy, the mail sent to the voters in question was marked “do not forward” to create the impression that they had moved and not left a forwarding address. In the second, those who responded to the mail were put on a list to be targeted for challenge to their voting status without any basis at all for doing so (except that the folks who sent the mail viewed them as potential opposition supporters), In neither case did the addressees not live at their reported address. Read, wise up, don’t be such a tool.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:24 amWoodward has evolved into a complete hack.
Granted, he did great things in exposing Nixon . . . but lately, he just wants to generate a cash flow . . . in that vein, he prostituted himself to the Christian right, gun carrying zelots by publishing a pro-Bush book glorifying the war and dissing anti-war”complainers,” then, realizing that the vast majority of the public (who he had underestimated as being too illiterate to buy books), realized the fallicy of his thinking, reversed course and wrote a book (one year later) denouncing Bush.
In the one year interim, the world didn’t change . . . the only thing that changed was Woodward’s estimation of the abilities of democrats to read books, an epiphany regarding the absolute hatred that America, the world and the book-buying public has about this president and this war, and a concern for his legacy.
Ugh. Hack.
Many great books have been written about this debacle by many great authors. Woodward didn’t write one, isn’t one, but is an uninformed opportunist.
November 24th, 2007 at 7:59 pmYeah Mr. Woodward,
Dismiss the reviews. I used “has” when I should have used “have . . . doesn’t change your status as a hack.
I know that your read . . . so don’t be such a snot that you disregard the content of comments for the spelling/grammical errors.”
How do you feel about privacy & the First Amendment? Woody, speak to this (it ain’t “caging” so perhaps you’ll understand).
Government Drones Over Houston Caught on Camera.
Investigate that.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:14 pm