With the Supreme Court refusing to take the case challenging Wisconsin voter photo ID, it is time for progressives to move on. The Democratic Party establishment is raking in cash right now. We need to pressure them into using that money effectively. What is needed? Do we need expensive, connected consultants? Do we need multi-million dollar ad campaigns? Not now. We need to get people registered to vote and we need to get people photo Id's. We need a get the ID campaign.
Now that the move to disenfranchise people is successful, we need to combat it by getting people the ID's they need in order to vote. The republican states are going to make that as difficult as they legally can. There are people that plan huge GOTV and voter registration campaigns. If the Democratic Party wants to combat the vote suppression, it needs to leverage its resources to help people get photo ID's.
This could be done in multiple ways. Advertising to make people aware of the situation is the first step. But awareness is just one step. Helping people to acquire the photo ID's is the most important step. Each state has different procedures an regulations for Voter ID an how to get an approved ID. Getting people to the right place with the right documents is the most important step.
Is this something that is even on the radar of the local, state and national Democratic Parties? The rewards will go beyond just getting people registered. The people that get ID's will remember who stepped forward to assist them. They will have a loyalty to the people and organizations that helped them. This is grass roots politics at its most basic. It seems we have strayed from the wisdom of Tip O'Neill. "All politics is local". If the Democratic Party wants these people to support them and to vote then the party needs to show them that the Democrats are different from the Republicans and actually can and will help them. This is a tangible way to get those that feel like voting does not matter, to understand that their votes do matter. Even more importantly show them how their votes matter.
There is no downside.