well. and it is seeing these women who have come forward, getting their names dragged through the mud and seeing them get outed as they try to preserve their an anonymity. some of them is deja vu all over again. melissa harris-perry, tulane university professor and msnbc analyst. thanks for being here. we ll be right back with today s latest on the elections. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at you tdd# 1-800-345-2550 as well as your portfolio. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 we ask the right questions, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 then we actually listen to the answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 before giving you practical ideas you can act on. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck online, on the phone, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 or come in and pull up a chair. i have to be a tree in the school play. good. you like trees. well, i like climbing them, but i ve never been one.
2012. 63% of the 270 needed to win the presidency. joining me now is msnbc contributor and tulane university professor of political science, melissa harris-perry. thanks for joining me tonight, melissa. absolutely. glad to be here. melissa, it seems clear what the intent of the designs are. you never see politicians touching anything around the rules of voting except in ways they believe will help their party. this is all taking place, almost all of it taking place in republic an states with a very clear intent. sure. here s the point. it doesn t matter what the intent is. hopefully the involvement of the justice department and preclearance laws should get us to a good place on this. because the point here is that the impact is disparate. even if the intent is neutral, in other words, even if those who draft these laws claim that there s no partisan or racial purposes behind it, if the impact is clearly a disparate
election law changes made there have to be cleared by federal authorities under the voting rights act because of past voting rights abuses in that state. this year, 34 states introduced legislation to create or strengthen voter i.d. laws. of those, seven have been enacted so far. alabama, kansas, rhode island, south carolina, tennessee, texas and wisconsin. there are new restrictions these new restrictions should have a significant impact on the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. according to the brennan center for justice, the states that have already placed further restrictions on voting will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012. 63% of the 270 needed to win the presidency. joining me now is msnbc contributor and tulane university professor of
63% of the 270 needed to win the presidency. joining me now is msnbc contributor and tulane university professor of political science, melissa harris-perry. thanks for joining me tonight, melissa. absolutely. glad to be here. melissa, it seems clear what the intent of the designs are. you never see politicians touching anything around the rules of voting except in ways they believe will help their party. this is all taking place, almost all of it taking place in republican states with a very clear intent. sure. here s the point. it doesn t matter what the intent is. hopefully the involvement of the justice department and preclearance laws should get us to a good place on this. because the point here is that the impact is disparate. even if the intent is neutral, in other words, even if those who draft these laws claim that there s no partisan or racial purposes behind it, if the
perspective at morehouse when you were not participating in those processes. you watched black college students from around the country and white college students from around the country come to the south and be murdered. fighting for the rights of african-americans. do you regret sitting on those sidelines at that time? let me ask you a question. did you expect every black student and every black college in america to be out there in the middle of every fight? the answer is no. joining me now, experts on the civil rights movement. the host of politics nation, reverend al sharpton. msnbc contributor and tulane university professor of political science, melissa harris-perry. and goldie taylor from the grio.com which is part of nbc news. i want to thank you all very much for joining me tonight. i just want to begin to get some of the reaction to this interview. i want you to listen to what rush limbaugh s reaction was.