With an electorate as deeply divided as America's, it's not unusual for elections to be decided by a point or two. So what happens if one side disenfranchises nine or ten percent of the electorate, people who just happen to vote overwhelmingly for the other side? Is that country still capable of real democracy marked by free and fair elections?
America's modern Republicans, a.k.a. the radical right, is using all but non-existant voter fraud to justify voter I.D. laws that will effectively disenfranchise a significant portion of the Democratic voting base. With evidence showing fewer than a hundred possible cases of voter fraud versus the elimination of many millions of legitimate voters from the rolls, the election is effectively "thrown" to the Republicans. They have deliberately and ruthlessly corrupted their nation's democracy and fixed the election.
This is the country that prides itself as the greatest democracy in the world and boasts of being the "shining city on the hill" yet without conscience or even reservation entertains this degree of wilful corruption. This coupled with the emergence of the first true "warfare state" in centuries and the displacement of democracy by corporatism and oligarchy in which the rule of law is now appropriated to the highest bidder. This is a nation in ruin.
Another major threat to democracy is this business of Super-Pac. Romney has upper hand there and is getting hundreds of millions of dollars in Super-Pac contributions and negative advertising against Dems. This buying of election strengthens oligarchy. This is an added strike against democracy in America.
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