New RNC Website Draws on Fears of Voter Fraud to Ask for Your Cash

The Republican National Committee has a new website making appeals for its Get Out the Vote Program, and the message is entirely designed to play into the fears of a left-wing voter fraud conspiracy:

The only way to prevent more Al Frankens is to win and win big. Your contribution will go toward the RNC’s proven 72-hour Get Out the Vote program and help us get the margins of victory we need to make sure the real winners are recognized on November 3rd. There is no margin for error. Will you help us?

Preventing “more Al Frankens” is not-so-subtle code language for the widely held belief on the right that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) stole the 2008 election from Republican Norm Coleman. Here are the RNC’s data points:

• In 2008, Norm Coleman was ahead on Election Night by over 700 votes.
• Soon, additional ballots were discovered, over 300 of which should have been disqualified as they appear to be have been cast by convicted felons.
• Yet, Franken was declared the winner by 225 votes out of nearly 2.5 million cast.
• Now…Reports are emerging in Las Vegas that Republican voters are finding electronic ballots defaulting to Harry Reid.
• And…Governments in New York and Illinois failed to mail absentee ballots to U.S. service members on time, potentially disenfranchising those who wear the uniform.

The RNC is realizing, correctly, that voter fraud fears are animating a sizable element of the Republican base like nothing else — and they’re trying to leverage that energy into fundraising for its underfunded GOTV program.