Conservative columnist Matthew Vadum explained to the Texas-based King Street Patriots on Monday night that his “Registering The Poor To Vote Is Un-American” article may have been “indelicately worded” but said his larger point stands.
“Why do I hate democracy and the poor?” Vadum joked, clarifying that he “wasn’t saying that people shouldn’t have the right to vote if they’re poor.”
He went on to criticize the National Voter Registration Act (also known as the “Motor Voter” act) calling it “an evil thing” that was “created to muck up” the election process.
“How else can you justify a law that mandates that welfare recipients be given — be encouraged — to vote when they’re there in the cheese line picking up their check?” Vadum said.
“Now this is not to say you should have a property qualification to vote, I’m not going to go back to that period in American history, but you shouldn’t be encouraging people to destroy the country, you shouldn’t be encouraging people to vote themselves benefits from the government,” Vadum added.
“This is pathological, to go to people who have no stake in this society and to use tax dollars to encourage them to vote themselves more benefits,” he said.
“This is not to say that anyone should be discouraged from going to the polls, if you’re a citizen and you’re eligible to vote, you’re qualified, by all means, vote. But the government shouldn’t be subsidizing this kind of behavior, and I think that kind of got lost,” Vadum conceded.
“Anyway, that was a learning experience. I stand by what’s in the article, but maybe I wouldn’t use such provocative language next time,” Vadum said.
The King Street Patriot’s Catherine Engelbrecht, who is running what she says is a non-partisan effort to train a million poll watchers to combat voter fraud during the 2012 elections, agreed that might be a good idea.
“At least not things that can be reduced to a sound bite,” she said.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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