Waiting for Team Tillis to stand up and fight

It is hard to understand the squeamishness on the part of Speaker Thom & the House leadership in today’s N&O re: voter id.  Speaker Tillis and Rep. David Lewis say they can’t get the votes for a bill that demands some form of government issue photo ID in order to vote. So, they are caving in to the leftists and watering down the legislation to allow for phone and other utility bills.

An overwhelming number of people outside the beltline see requiring photo ID as a VERY REASONABLE protection of one of our most basic rights.  Require a passport, a drivers license, a student ID, military ID card, or other government issued ID card.  EVERYONE needs to have something on them to prove — beyond a reasonable doubt — that they are who they say they are.

Stop worrying about hurting the other side’s feelings.  Stop worrying about making the Democrat leadership happy.  (They never worried about you when you were in the minority.)  Strong voter ID requirements are in high demand by the state’s residents.

It’s an election year.  Bring up the original bill — requiring a government issued photo ID — and call for an up or down vote.  If the Democrats kill it, you’ve got an issue at the polls this year — a ready-made campaign ad.  Make them back up their demagogic hysteria about the second coming of Jim Crow with a vote. 

There are certain counties in this state — especially downeast — where election hijinks are an art form.  Old-school political machines are still calling the shots there.  In Robeson County, for instance, I can call on any of a handful of people who can tell me — the night before the election — what the next day’s results will be in the county, down to the vote percentage and order of finish of the candidates. These people ARE NOT pollsters and are not reading from professional polling data.

Speaker Thom and his team need to pick some place to draw a line in the sand and fight.  If these guys won’t stand and fight for us, who — then– can we count on?