I went to ferguson when the grandfather of Michael Brown asked me to come. We went to get justice and a fair investigation. A big, broad conversation is good, but we cannot step over the body of Michael Brown to have the conversation, without first addressing a fair investigation. Thanks for watching. Im al sharpton. Hardball starts right now. Killing the black vote. This is hardball. Good evening, im Chris Matthews in washington. This is rotten stuff, isnt it . The republican effort to kill the black vote in state after state. Pennsylvania, wisconsin, North Carolina, florida, texas. We can all see what theyre doing. Believing they cant convert the African American vote, they
decided to slaughter it. Early voting, shrink it down to nothing, or kill it altogether. Sunday voting, souls to the polls, slam the door on it. Sameday registration, you got to be kidding. Thats putting down a welcome matt for African American voters. This is murder in broad daylight. One republican after another is telling us just exactly what theyre up to. Its not about reform or making elections more honest. The one thing theyre honest about is motive. Its aimed at killing the African American vote. Just listen. Voter i. D. , which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania. Done. Do you think all the attention drawn to voter i. D. Affected last years election . Yeah, i think a little bit. I think we probably had a better election. Think about this, we cut obama by 5 , which was big. A lot of people lost sight of that. He won, he beat mccain by 10 , only beat romney by 5 . I think voter i. D. Helped a bit in that. The law is going to kick the democrats in the butt. If it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks, so be it. And it just so happens that a lot of those people vote democrat. Gee. Wow, sarcasm even. It wasnt always like this. You dont have to go back to Abraham Lincoln to find republicans who backed civil rights. Men like edward dirks of illinois, champions of the 64 civil rights bill. Republican senators voted overwhelmingly for it. Only two republican senators in the entire body voted against the 65 Voting Rights bill. But maybe this say good time to go back to the Republican Party roots. To 1854, when it started in wisconsin, to battle the expansion of slavery into new territories. Wisconsin, priebus, who leads state by state strategy to make
sure sons and daughters of slaves have the hardest possible time getting to the voting booth. Where are the good republicans . Where are the people who joined the party of lincoln because they believe he was the greatest president in our history . Where are they . Good question. The advance project representative is here. Jonathan capehart is an opinion writer with the washington post. What happened to the republicans that believed in lincoln, joined the party, proud of him. Every time theres an event they talked about lincoln, saved the union, got rid of slavery. And now theyre out there making sure people dont get to vote. They sure have shifted. Why . Its now partisan. But the laws they have passed are surgically crafted to hit African Americans whom they know are more loyal to the Democratic Party. So were seeing this across the country. It didnt just start yesterday. We know in 2012, in 2008, this is backlash for what happened in 2008. And African American turnout in particular. Jonathan, what do you make of
the it isnt like whats his name, joe biden gaffes. Theyre usually harmless. This is people admitting that were in the business of making sure minorities dont vote. Theyre saying it. Right. Vice President Biden is the one person who says things. You just showed people in the Republican People a pantheon of people. Yes, talking about how what theyre doing is to keep basically democrats from voting, African Americans from voting. Whats different here, theyre talking about it out loud. Yeah. It used to be wink and nod and little code words. But now, yeah, its about helping mitt romney. Its about keeping lazy blacks from getting up off the couch and going to vote. You know, when president johnson, i think it was when he signed the Civil Rights Act and he famously said, and im paraphrasing, ive just delivered the foust away from the democrats for a generation. What he also did was deliver those dixie kratz you talked about from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. And we talked about lincoln. And how he freed the slaves. You know, Ronald Reagan is the saviour of the Republican Party, but i remember Ronald Reagan as the guy who went to philadelphia and mississippi. His first event after getting the republican nomination. And that says what . And that sends the signal what happened in philadelphia and mississippi . Thats where the civil rights workers were killed. Yeah. In 64. So that sends a message to those white dixie krats that hes one of us. And it says to African Americans and folks who fought really hard, not just African Americans, but folks who fought hard for the right to vote, this guy and this party isnt exactly for us, or thinking about us, or with us. And so now youve got people within the Republican Party, a generation and a half, two generations later, who are
actively trying to stop people from exercising couple points here. First of all, youre educating me. I thought it was the welfare queen and the young buck buying the gin with the welfare and food stamps. It is all of that. But i grew up with moderate republicans. The ones who read the New York Times and take the train to work and know whats going on. Theres still some left. Arent they put off, white people, put off by this behavior . Theyre the ones that used to say, we wont talk in front of them. The rightwingers. I think if the messaging around it is not clearly like were going after black people. Because theyre not actually saying, were going after black people [ all speak at once ] that one guy, he was a gem. We use that a lot in North Carolina. But usually its a little bit more nuanced. So its about your guy voting. So the thing is, in North Carolina if we can shave 100,000 votes here and there that are African American votes, then we
can win. Moderates are feeding into that, but also with the whole idea of voter fraud. If African Americans are aware this is going on, why arent whites aware its going on . Or are they closing their eyes to it . Or are they saying, thats just politics. They dont want to admit theyre racist. First of all, theyre being fed the line of voter fraud, trying to prevent that. But also this is being covered on partisan politics. These are the same business guys, republicans, who dont want a work permit. They dont want anybody to have an i. D. Card. No, just to vote. Can you work here for slave wages. You just cant vote. No i. D. Needed to work in the fields. No i. D. To work in the hotels, restaurants, or golf courses. Thats fine. Come and work here, you dont have to show i. D. You can be anybody. But to vote, i dont care if youve been here 300 years, i want to see the number. Theyre calling it what they
are, Voter Suppression laws. A rag ann appointed judge who originally supported it now says hes wrong. And said its to discourage voting by persons likely to vote against the party responsible for imposing the burdens. Charlie crist put it plainly, quote, the people that worked in 38, thats the state capital, felt that early voting was bad. I heard from republicans around the state who were bold enough to share it with me that you just gave the election to barack obama. A republican county chairman in ohio who opposed early voting said, i guess i really feel we shouldnt contort the voting process to accommodate the urban read African American voter turnout machine. And also the reduction in the number of days allowed for early voting is particularly important because early voting plays a
major role in obamas ground game. Theyre open. Theyre open and its reprehensible. Rotten reprehensible, repugnant. Can you think of another r word . [ laughter ] at least theyre talking out loud about it. At least we know what theyre motives are and what theyre trying to do. What we saw in 2012 during the president ial election, when you told black voters they couldnt vote, they said, i dont care how long it takes for me to stand in line, im going to vote. That was a president iaial election year. Is it still there to do that . I was just about to say. Now were in a Midterm Election season when all voter turnout goes down. But the obama coalition, people of color, African Americans in particular, latino voters, those numbers go way, way down. So as janice was saying before, if people can shave off a few thousands votes here and there
in various precincts, the opposition, the other folks win, not on the basis of their ideas, not on presenting an alternative vision, contrasting that to their democrat opponent. Theyre winning because theyre basically preventing people from voting their conscience. Theyre winning by changing the rules. You should be doing most the talking because youve been working on this for years. Right. Were litigating. We won voter i. D. In wisconsin in the Supreme Court. In North Carolina, we lost it. But at the end of the day, the turnout is going to be up, because theres a movement. People understand theyre under attack. Voting restrictions like limits on early voting opportunities could tip the scales in some of the tightest races of the midterm np in jj, early voting was cut in half. Thats where democrat michelle nun whos been gaving on david
perdue is in a neck and neck race, leading 4645. Georgia, carver has been narrowing the gap with diehl. Now theyre tied. In North Carolina, kay hagan maintains her steady, actually fewpoint lead over thom tillis, but its close. The latest poll has her up 4744. Talk about this. Youre an expert. Youre on the battle lines on this. When you talk to the republican legislators, or you challenge them, are they as open as they are in these clips we dug up . Theyre not. They go on the state floor of their legislature and they say this is about fraud. But at the end of the day do you ask for cases . Yes. Weve been in these cases that were in the litigation, were getting all the memos. Were going behind im sorry to interrupt. People cheat occasionally. I dont think theres a lot of it. Theres some more frequent in
others. But do they have examples of people cheating . No. In wisconsin, for example, the Supreme Court case, the judge in the seventh circuit, judge pose ner who believed in voter i. D. Actually said that, in fact, that some of this voter fraud idea is paranoid. He called it goofy, the individual of voter fraud. Because were revealing the fact that this is all a fraud. The fraud is the fact that they say theres voter fraud. In North Carolina, there arent cases of voter fraud. So its not about that, its not about preventing fraud. Its about preventing voting. Big story, and i think its so important. I hope people do what you said, they overwhelm all the forces against them, all the obstacles, making people even more determined to vote. Somebody said you have to show an i. D. To get on an airplane. Getting on an airplane is not a right. You pay for that. Voting comes from being a citizen. You have a right. They have to make a case against you coming in. You dont have to make a case to go into vote. They have to make a case against you. They got it all backwards, right . Right. Its a right. Agreed. Congratulations on your efforts. Coming up, as republicans work to suppress the African American vote, some democrats seem to be taking it for granted. And that can be dangerous. And thats their dilemma. How can democrats energize black voters when so many of their candidates are denying president obamas existence . This is hardball, a place for politics. Set, hike cheering yeah touchdown nice catch whos ready for half time . Yes ok im going to draw something up new. Wide receiver goes deep all the way to the corner and. Who ate the quarterback . Share what you love with who you love. Kelloggs frosted flakes. Theyre grrreat . . The mustsee video of the day. Watch what happens when a voter tells president obama not to touch his girlfriend. It really happened. And well have it for you later in the hour. Baron of the buildout. You need a permit. To be this awesome. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. And only national is ranked highest in car rental Customer Satisfaction by j. D. Power. aaron purrrfect. vo meeeow, business pro. Meeeow. Go national. Go like a pro. receptionist Gunderman Group is growing. Getting in a groove. Growth is gratifying. Goal is to grow. Gotta get greater growth. I just talked to ups. They got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. Like smart pick ups. Theyll only show up when you print a label and its automatic. We save time and money. Time . Money . Time and money. Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome awesome all awesome i love logistics. Did you vote for president obama in 2008 and 2012 . You know, this election isnt about the president. Its about making sure we put kentuckians back to work. I was actually in 08 a delegate for hillary clinton, i think kentuckians know im a clinton democrat through and through. Why are you reluctant to give an answer on whether or not you voted for president obama . Bill, theres no reluctance. This is a matter of principle. Our constitution grants here in kentucky the constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box. Welcome back to hardball. A Democratic Senate cannot has cut president obama from the ticket. Shes not alone. Can democrats turn out the black vote by denying the president s existence . As we showed you earlier, republicans across the country are trying to suppress the black vote. Are democrats taking it for granted . How else can you explain the rash of obama phobia . If you expose your strongest flank in politics, you play a dangerous game. Our opponent will attack it ruthlessly. Grimess opponent, mcconnell has led the charge against every major piece of the black caucus agenda. But his campaign on the radio as of today, with an ad promising that he, mitch mcconnell, will fight for black voters. Here it is. Alison grimes wont say she voted for president obama. But i will. I voted for president obama twice. So you might be surprised to hear that im also voting for mitch mcconnell, and i think you should too. Im dr. Noel hunter from moorehead, kentucky. As an African American, i know from American Experience that mitch fights for our community and cares about us. In 2011, mikes husband kidnapped our daughter and took her to a dangerous part of africa. Mitch knocked down barriers for our family and with his help, my baby came home safely. Ron, what do you make of this . This is, to me, when you cut
somebody, when you just say, well, im not saying who i voted for, it may offend people who are emotionally connected to this particular president. Thats what i think. Your thoughts . Well, her answer was a very weak one. We can agree with her on principle, by the way, that we have the right to privacy at the ballot box. Ill give her that much, but really, i think we all know, the answer was, of course i voted for president obama. Hes the standard bearer of my party. Dont be ridiculous, of course i voted for him. Now, that doesnt mean that i dont disagree with him on certain things, and then you can tick those off if you care to. But have some gumption here. Weve been having this conversation for, i think, about 14 years. Weve been talking together on the air about how democrats biggest problem, or one of them in my opinion at least, is they dont have the strength of their own quickeconvictions. They chicken out and we see it here. Its a mistake. It always is. There was a phrase from the founding fathers, which is that
if we dont hang together, we hang separately. And that seems to be true. The democrats should read some of that old history sometime. Weve seen this before in 2006, you had all these republicans say, i dont agree with bush, i dont like bush. It never worked. People believe you agree with your party, whatever party youre in because the d beside your name is the most important thing. As joe lewis said, the great heavyweight champion said, you can run, but you cant hide. Anyway, African Americans are not happy with grimes, according to the latest polling. In a poll, grimes led mcconnell amongst blacks by a margin of 8015. That was before she refused to say she voted for obama. Now shes pulling in about 60 , and mcconnell gets 22 . Thats a sevenpoint improvement for mcconnell. If youre a democrat, go home, end up voting where they have to because theyre not going to
vote for mcconnell. But theyre telling pollsters, im not saying im for him now, just like she wasnt saying she voted for obama. Theyre not saying theyre going to vote afor him. Which must be a certain of concern with 8 of the vote being African American. You usually get at least seven of those votes if youre a democrat. You would think. Im not sure black voters will go for mcconnell, but they may just sit on their hands and stay home here. Count me among the white liberals, i gues