The Bush-Cheney campaign has created a hot line for victims of voter intimidation after a spate of "violence and vandalism" at campaign offices nationwide. The hot line effectively serves as an answering machine and instructs callers to leave a message about any incidents of "intimidation or harassment" or "destruction of Bush-Cheney property." The number is 888/303-7125.
The hot line comes on the heels of accusations by the campaign against the nation's largest labor union, the AFL-CIO, of voter-intimidation tactics, including the storming of a state Republican Party office in Orlando, Fla... On Monday, Bush-Cheney campaign Chairman Marc Racicot wrote a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, warning him: "We will hold you and your organization accountable for the actions of your members." The letter charged that the AFL-CIO's Oct. 5 demonstrations were part of "a national strategy" to protest at more than a dozen Bush-Cheney and Republican Party headquarters offices around the nation. "In many locations protesters attempted to enter, or entered, campaign or party facilities," the letter says, adding that in Orlando, "protesters forced their way into the facility, fracturing the arm of one staffer, and vandalized the office." AFL-CIO spokeswoman Lane Windham said incidents of break-ins or vandalism were "completely unrelated" to the Oct. 5 demonstrations ... A recent search of archived news reports nationwide indicated a higher number of reports during the past few months compared with the same periods during the 2000 and 1996 campaigns.
emphasis mine |