Forum Post: ex-Chairmn exposes Florida GOP's voter suppression on MSNBC

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In a recent court deposition, former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer denounced state officials in his party as liars and "whack-a-do, right-wing crazies" and accused them of scheming on ways to suppress black votes. He's totally sincere in his disgust of the Republican Party's current focus on voter suppression, and he had an inside view of these efforts.

Here were Greer's main points :

In is 3.5 years as Florida GOP party chair, Greer was in numerous meetings about changing the voter registration and voter ID laws in Florida, and in not one of those meetings as voter fraud EVER brought up as a concern by Republican strategies. The main concern of the GOPers in Florida, according to Greer, was that they prevent a repeat of Obama's 2008 victory in Florida (Greer kept repeating that point). Voter fraud is merely a GOP "marketing tool" with "no validity to it," Greer said.

Greer lamented that the "Republican Party has given up on minority voters," and so their strategy right now is to keep as many minorities from voting as possible. He expressed his disgust at this tactic. He said that as chair of the Florida GOP he tried to develop strategies for the party to reach out to minority populations, but was rebuffed at every turn.

Greer described the Republican Party in Florida, and in many other states, as having been overtaken by "pitchfork, torching-bearing mobs looking for Frankenstein" rather than being a party about ideas and principles and running about what they stand for. He said the current Florida GOP leaders "hate" moderate Republicans like him and Charlie Crist. "It's very sad what's going on in the Republican Party," Greer said.

Greer claimed that Florida's new law to limit the length of early voting, which was pushed through by Republicans, was intended solely to reduce the number of minorities and young people who are able to vote, since the data show that they are more likely to vote in early voting.