We all know that candidates will spend a lot of money to get out the vote.  The question is what is going too far.  This particular issue is not about a campaign that has gone too far but a newspaper.

The Tennessee Tribune – middle Tennessee’s leading black newspaper – is printing the names and addresses of all those registered voters who did not vote in the 2004 presidential election.  To see the listing, you can go to the paper’s web site – http://www.thetennesseetribune.com/ – and scroll down to see the paper where the listing is.  I did not say just names.  They are printing the names and addresses.  They are quoting the Davidson County Election Office as the source of the information.

While I do believe that Freedom of Information requests are important, this action goes to the question of why are these people being singled out.  I realize that we should all vote but is it not possible that many of these people had a legitimate reason for not getting to the polls in 2004?  There are no excuses listed, just names and addresses.

Would I feel differently if the addresses were not printed?  Quite possibly.  I am just not sure that this listing helps the debate about the election at all.  I am also not sure that the listing is in the best interest of the public.