How far will Walker let election gimmick go?

>>> thanks for stay with us tonight. a handful of states are considering laws to redraw districts and exclude voters so they can help republicans win the white house in 2016 . here is the scary part. scott walker and four other governors may be the only people who can stop this election rigging. and that's exactly what it is. president obama won the electoral votes in michigan, florida , ohio , and pennsylvania, virginia , along with wisconsin . now republicans in all five states are pushing to change the way they allocate electoral votes . the good news is powerful republicans in florida and virginia say that they won't change the electoral vote system. governor of virginia bob mcdonnell says he is against the change as well. but his buddy scott walker was on the fence.

>> well, it's an interesting idea. i haven't committed one way or the other to it. i think we have to be very careful in changes like that. but it's worth looking at. i haven't made a commitment one way or another.

>> all this needs is a little publicity, because tonight walker has backed off the statements. he tells the journal sentinel that he has a real concern about changing the way wisconsin awards electoral votes . but a pair of lobbyists could be sending money to wisconsin anyway. they won't admit the changes would disenfranchise black and latino voters. one lobbyist claims it has nothing to do with race. it's not a race issue. it's about a machine. another lobbyist blamed black organizers for the long lines in ohio .

>> the reality is that we've had long lines due to the success of groups that turn out high numbers of voters.

>> the republicans can't figure out how to win black and latino voters so they find ways to suppress them instead. colin powell talked about it last week.

>> should we really have gone after reducing the turnout of voters in those places where we thought it would make a difference? the republican party should be a party that says we want everybody to vote, and make it easier for people to vote.

>> so far republicans may be blocking more votes than they're winning. i'm joined tonight by reverend jesse jackson , president of the rainbow-push coalition. reverend, good to have you with us tonight.

>> jefferson davis democrats were doing their thing as republican conservatives to deny access to voting.

>> well, what do you say to mr. blackwell that says african-american organizers caused those long lines?

>> well, i was in ohio during that period. we had wet people and dry machines. we had machines locked up in the warehouse dry. people stood in the rain seven hours that day to vote. so you cannot blame people for doing what they ought to do, vote. you can blame those that held the machines back for holding the machines back.

>> would changing the electoral college votes hurt african-american and latino voters?

>> ultimately it would hurt everybody, we're so inextricably bound. those who once sought to deny the right to vote now seek to suppress the right to vote. they tried all kinds of maneuvers in 2011 and '12 from trying to stop early voting , from trying to demand there be a birth certificate. and florida and pennsylvania and ohio and colorado in particular are a part of the bigger scheme. but voter suppression , i'm convinced people who would not vote ordinarily did vote because they were afraid.

>> since it's gotten some publicity in the last few weeks, state legislators can do this if they go through the process. but it doesn't seem fair to people at all. and the one vote, one person obviously is violated. so what is the defense mechanism that can be put in place here?

>> well, it's beyond that, ed. there is a supreme court case to be heard now. they want to pull the plug on section 5 enforcement mechanism. they want to argue that why quote/unquote the south, the voting act does not apply to the south. it's based upon need to protect people. when you look at the voting patterns of 2012 , it's evidence obviously people in voting patterns that threaten to ease access to voting. and race is a major factor in that conclusion.

>> i need to emphasize that. many people say it's not race. and some lobbyists obviously greasing the skids it's not about race. you say it is.

>> white women couldn't serve on juries until '67. 18-year-olds in vietnam could not vote. and you couldn't vote multilingual. in many ways, the number majority is affected by the attempt, by the scheme.

>> reverend, you're in town tonight for the wall street project. tell us about this economic summit.

>> well, in part, i'm convinced that beyond this argument by fiscal cliff and the issue that is there about debt limit is how are we going rebuild america. there are billions of trillion of billions of pension fund money. some sort of infrastructure development bank that maybe if you cut a deal, they bring back some of the money for the purpose of reinvesting in such a bank, you can rebuild. because the banks that destroyed and manipulated, they're not going to -- they're not going to green line the red line zones. president clinton will speak to us on this coming thursday.

>> so a special bank, a special fund that would be dedicated to infrastructure and jobs?

>> and based upon target, maybe appalachian, maybe in the city. what is marshall plan except 50-year loans at 2% government secured. it was a plan to invest in, quote/unquote risk areas. the major banks that engaged in predatory lending and subprime lending , they're not going to do that. but we have the capacity and infrastructure development banks to serve the purpose of green lining the red zones of that country.

>> okay, reverend jesse jackson , thanks for joining us tonight on "the ed show." appreciate your time.

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