There seems some buzz today about Francine Busby. She's a California Democrat who -- some are claiming -- was encouraging voter fraud when she said to a group of Spanish-speaking supporters that "You don't need papers for voting". You can get the gyst (and a link to a very short mp3 of Busby's words) over at Michelle's.
Sorry, but I'm not hearing that. Someone apparantly asks, in Spanish, if there was any way that they could help her campaign even though they are not registered to vote. Busby replies:
Oh, well sure, everybody can help. Yes, absolutely.The, um... uh... You can all help. [Voice of translator.]
Yeah, you don't need papers for voting. You don't need to be a registered voter to help.
It has been reported that the original question in spanish was more along the lines "how can I help if I have no papers."
Asked in Spanish in California it is generally assumed the questioner is an illegal.
This makes her answer a bit more problematic.
Posted by: Stephen Macklin at June 3, 2006 07:28 PMBut I don't think Busby took it that way. The way she answered the question shows that she was talking about "papers to vote", meaning: being registered to vote.
I disagree with Powerline's assessment that her "backtracking" about addressing everyone -- including minors -- was disingenuous. She clearly said "...well...everybody can help... You can all help," followed by her pointing out that "you don't need papers to vote, you don't need to be a registered voter to help."
I really don't think that she took the translation as meaning "How can an illegal immigrant like myself vote for you?".
Posted by: Tuning Spork at June 3, 2006 07:55 PMGreen card holders, of which there are plenty in the Spanish speaking sector, don't have "papers" either for voting.
Posted by: Edith at June 7, 2006 02:03 PM