Never let an act of God go to waste

With Hurricane Michael set to come ashore on the Florida panhandle preparations are being made to deal with the onslaught. The Florida Democratic Party meanwhile is at work seizing on an opportunity with an eye on the upcoming midterm election. They are attempting a hurricane heist with voters.

The FDP has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the secretary of state attempting to get a one week extension on the voter registration deadline, as a result of the impending tempest. To say this is a cynical and opportunistic gambit is not a stretch. “Florida voters … face a daunting and, indeed, life- threatening obstacle to registering to vote,” reads the suit, intoning the proper drama while sidestepping many key facts.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner issued a directive that permits election supervisors to extend the period they can accept registrations by one day if affected by office closings. For Democrats that is not sufficient, as they call for extending the period by a full week, and doing so statewide. This is a rather brazen move, when you consider a number of details.

Governor Rick Scott has issued a state of emergency for 35 counties, ranging from the Alabama border down to the Tampa Bay area. With the eye expected to land between Panama City and the state capital roughly 15 counties are expected to be seriously affected. Of those the majority are considered conservative red counties.

The voter registration deadline was Oct. 9, ahead of landfall and before utilities have been interrupted. There are those counties in the storm path that saw office closings yesterday and that has been the reason for Detzner’s call for a one day extension. The Democrat lawsuit is calling for the entire state to have a one week extension.

This extension would include the deeply blue (practically navy-hued) counties in south Florida of Dade and Broward, which are experiencing cloudy skies. The central counties in the Orlando area are also unaffected, and this is where the Democrats have been focused on bringing in the Puerto Rican transplants from last year’s hurricane into their fold.

The revelation here is that the extension being called for is not applicable to just the affected counties. The FDP wants a blanket extension to include the vast majority of the state that has experienced zero impact of the storm and had no issue with the deadline on Tuesday. It is a craven move to try to cash in on a natural disaster for a political maneuver.

The amusing aspect is that the suit was filed in a federal in Tallahassee. All government offices, and the courts, have been closed for the storm.