prof. foner: just trying to be less partisan. prof. klarman: i am not invested in defending the democratic party as the openly white party, which it was for 100 years after the civil war. i am not trying to defend those democrats. there is another point that is important to make which is democrats, when they get control also do things to and if it -- things that benefit themselves. many democrats and north carolina had control of big government, they expanded suffrage, same-day registration, they and franchised-year-olds. registered 18-year-olds. democrats have done their share of gerrymandering. one party tries to expand the suffrage and the other party tries to advantage itself by contracting the suffrage. that does not strike me as morally equivalent positions. prof. hasen: i would say on the question of felon disenfranchisement, it is a state-by-state battle. things have gotten better because of political action. felons is a group are not politically strong and able to get change. they have a