The GOP — the party, I’d like to remind you, that has considered challenging voters whose homes are in foreclosure — is all up in arms that the Obama campaign is offering preferred seating at Wednesday’s free rally to those who cast an early vote.

It’s like the pre-primary Dave Matthews concert kerfuffle all over again.

Presumably, my Republican friends are looking to IC 3-14-3-19 and IC 3-14-3-20 to prove that the Obama campaign is somehow inducing votes with these tickets from voters who are, in turn, accepting “compensation” for those votes.

Here’s yer problem, kids: a violation of the law requires that a person “vote or refrain from voting for or against a candidate or for or against a public question at an election or political convention; receives, accepts, requests, or solicits from any person any money or other property commits a Class D felony.”

No one is saying you have to vote for Barack Obama to get the tickets. And the tickets, by the way, carry no actual value since the event itself is open to everyone.

That means you can trot your butt down to the City-County Building, vote early for John McCain, get yourself a free preferred seating ticket to the Obama rally and shred it.

Personally, it’s entertaining to me to watch the party that invented caging and other fun voter suppression techniques throw a hissy fit because they couldn’t pay people to attend a John McCain rally.