I'd like to see you write more about the right's antidemocratic election rigging legislation at the state level. Congress desperately needs to get its act together to save our democracy and I don't think they understand that. You can't out-organize the type of legislation they're passing. Even with several-point national margins of vict…
I'd like to see you write more about the right's antidemocratic election rigging legislation at the state level. Congress desperately needs to get its act together to save our democracy and I don't think they understand that. You can't out-organize the type of legislation they're passing. Even with several-point national margins of victory, the Democratic party barely got a majority in the House and Senate. With these restrictive measures, or democracy is truly toast if the federal government doesn't take swift action to ensure representative elections in the midterms!
I've covered a lot of that this year with the various voter suppression laws. I do think the scrutiny (which came from many directions) helped pare back some of the worst excesses. But it's still bad. The interesting thing is that voting methods being targeted, like mail-in voting, often benefit Republicans! Look at what happened in Virginia where there were a lot of recent changes that made it easier to vote.
Although definitely under-reported generally is the systemic underfunding of the election mechanisms — from county and municipal clerks (who pivot to run elections along side their quotidian duties) to tools to ensure safe voting (like secure drop boxes outside of government/library/school buildings in after-hours) to extended early voting… etc. The civic volunteers have been driven away by threats and intimidation. It is a toxic stew we’ve let brew and yet few seem fully aware of just how much life will change absent this basic element of democracy.
Nate, you stole my thunder. I wish that the Democrats would focus their efforts on voting rights legislation because if they don't, 2022 (and 2024 and beyond) will be an absolute bloodbath on election night as the Republicans legislate/gerrymander the Democrats right out of existence in many states. And, to harp on a point I have made time and again, if you think that there won't be a federal "election/voter integrity" law as soon as the Republicans retake the House and Senate, you're delusional. Rest assured, Moscow Mitch wall have absolutely NO hesitation to kill Senators Manchin and Sinema's beloved filibuster in order to get it passed.
Biden has shown little appetite for using either his political capital or bully pulpit to back voting rights legislation, which is demoralizing the very voters that made Biden's win possible. Biden believes that his infrastructure legislation is the path to save democracy. As I've noted elsewhere, if Trump is reelected and unified GOP government installed via gerrymandering, voter suppression legislation, and a demoralized base, who would stop Trump from reallocating infrastructure funds to another 'wall' or his personal militia, or really anything else. The idea that disenfranchising the core Democratic base in a mostly vain effort to win back working class voters will backfire. The country needs infrastructure but we first need to harden democracy. I see no efforts to do so by the Biden administration and it is a fatal mistake.
You are completely correct. I don't know why this isn't a bigger issue. I wonder how Senators Manchin and Sinema will feel when they are made part of a permanent (and shrinking) voting minority in the Senate..............or would they just "switch teams"?
It is almost preferable to be the minority, since you get to stand on principle without having to actually accomplish anything or answer for what you’ve done, you just get to say things knowing nothing will come of it.
Manchin's voters love him...they don't seem to be bothered by remaining one of the poorest states in the country, with low literacy, abysmal health care, and few decent prospects outside coal jobs. Manchin is the only Democrat who will ever win in WV. Sinema's poll numbers are terrible, but she has the backing of big pharma, and corporate donors, she can point to the infrastructure bill she helped negotiate, and she may well get the support of moderate Republicans voters who view her as a check on 'socialism'. She knows exactly what she's doing. I don't think Manchin or Sinema care about being in the minority, but both should care that their electoral 'wins' could be overturned by WV/AZ voter nullification laws. And again, as long as Biden refuses to endorse a carve-out for democracy hardening legislation, he provides ample cover for Manchin, Sinema, Hasan, and other moderates who refuse to budge on the filibuster.
Thank you for the information. Even so, she has a large war chest and name recognition. I know that there is a PAC (with no candidate) devoted to primarying Sinema, but this strategy failed with Susan Collins. It's not enough to be against her, AZ Democrats have to find a dynamic candidate.
And if a carve out for voting rights protection isn't as important as the other carve outs, then survival is not as important as eating or sleeping or any other portion of the business of survival.
I think they already switched teams and the only reason for the little D pin on their lapels is so they can garner attention as the one vote that Might be swung if courted and ki$$ed.
@Rather not — Ms. Sinema perhaps, though I don’t think anyone has a pulse on her motivations for power. Mr. Manchin’s pre-political dirty business gains are in excess of his ability to squander in his lifetime. Neither seems able to engage broadly or to sit humbly in this moment — a symptom of excessive devotion to self-importance.
Biden knows more than he's being given credit for. If Republicans don't want to give any aid to those in the lowest economic 50%, to approve the human infrastructure bill, what makes us think there's hope for Voting Rights? What to do about the DEEPLY racist undercurrent in our country? Keep telling the truth? Expose the machinations of Koch, Mercer et.al.
Koch et.al. have been exposed and many are delighted to receive their beneficence and reap the rewards of association… KS is a third world state in so many sectors due to Koch reach. They’ve used the state as an ALEC Petri dish for decades and exported the ideas and legislation to other statehouses across the country.
why do you blame Biden? He strongly supports the John Lewis voting rights act.. go after the GOP who ALL oppose it.The Infrastructure bill is only part of his agenda. We just passed a huge bill and YOU are working very hard to demoralize people. Stop trolling and get busy. You are NOT helping by suppressing the vote here. You can be part of the solution or help the GOP ...choose.
Your response is absurd. I have zero ability to suppress the vote of 330M people, but Biden has the ability to undo (to a large extent) voter suppression, voter nullification, and gerrymandering legislation enacted across the country. He campaigned on a promise to protect democracy. Instead, his focus has been on passing infrastructure legislation. If you don't want to honestly face the dire prospects for democracy in the absence of national voting rights legislation, that's your choice to remain uninformed.
Biden KNOWS about all of those things....and passing legislation that helps people is a very good thing that helps us at the polls. Are you are political neophyte because you seem really clueless and arrogant.
Well, I guess that means that every authoritarian scholar, every historian, every Democratic election attorney, every non-partisan election law professor are all issuing blinking red light warnings--not to inform and warn the public--but to suppress the vote. Interesting worldview you possess.
It’s not a “ world view” it’s factual. How many doors have you knocked in swing districts where you hear the exact rhetoric I read here used as a reason to not vote or vote third party ??
And excuse me I don’t think you an authoritarian scholar just an on line troll.
The duopoly is destroying the country and our democracy. Pinning our hopes on Biden - a party hack if there ever was one - was a mistake. He keeps selling out the progressive wing of the party and will always bow to corporate interests - on climate, on voting rights, on almost everything! The answer? Open up the process - open primaries, rank choice voting, nonpartisan elections, a National Nonpartisan Presidential primary, open the debates, get money out of politics, on an on and on. But the DP of course is mostly interested in maintaining their own existence even at the expense of the American people. They could easily lose because they have no guts to truly go up against the Right because the so-called "Left" (I am a progressive Independent) insists on trying to work inside the DP. How's that going, Bernie et al? Not so good.
ou would prefer Maga fascism to Biden? You are grossly misinformed about many things here. He is not selling out the to progressive wing, progressive caucus supported Infrastructure bill in a big way only 4 LOUD hold outs.
Oh yeah. All of this exactly except for the "beloved filibuster" part - I don't think Manchin and Sinema are dedicated to the filibuster so much as they find it useful right now to slow down Democrat designed legislation and I absolutely believe they are deliberately just delaying so the voting suppression laws can survive, Democrats lose the majority, and the delayed legislation be shot and buried. I don't for a minute think either one of them treasures the filibuster, is honestly attempting to fine tune legislation or find bipartisan support.
I wonder what stops any R politician from declaring themselves a D and running as a "conservative Democrat". I can think of a few examples of those who switched when it served them to do so. What is to stop a state from having no real Democrat party, no real Democrat candidate, and just running two Republicans for, say, senate? I'm just saying that those two have made me wonder...
I'd like to see you write more about the right's antidemocratic election rigging legislation at the state level. Congress desperately needs to get its act together to save our democracy and I don't think they understand that. You can't out-organize the type of legislation they're passing. Even with several-point national margins of victory, the Democratic party barely got a majority in the House and Senate. With these restrictive measures, or democracy is truly toast if the federal government doesn't take swift action to ensure representative elections in the midterms!
I've covered a lot of that this year with the various voter suppression laws. I do think the scrutiny (which came from many directions) helped pare back some of the worst excesses. But it's still bad. The interesting thing is that voting methods being targeted, like mail-in voting, often benefit Republicans! Look at what happened in Virginia where there were a lot of recent changes that made it easier to vote.
Although definitely under-reported generally is the systemic underfunding of the election mechanisms — from county and municipal clerks (who pivot to run elections along side their quotidian duties) to tools to ensure safe voting (like secure drop boxes outside of government/library/school buildings in after-hours) to extended early voting… etc. The civic volunteers have been driven away by threats and intimidation. It is a toxic stew we’ve let brew and yet few seem fully aware of just how much life will change absent this basic element of democracy.
Nate, you stole my thunder. I wish that the Democrats would focus their efforts on voting rights legislation because if they don't, 2022 (and 2024 and beyond) will be an absolute bloodbath on election night as the Republicans legislate/gerrymander the Democrats right out of existence in many states. And, to harp on a point I have made time and again, if you think that there won't be a federal "election/voter integrity" law as soon as the Republicans retake the House and Senate, you're delusional. Rest assured, Moscow Mitch wall have absolutely NO hesitation to kill Senators Manchin and Sinema's beloved filibuster in order to get it passed.
Biden has shown little appetite for using either his political capital or bully pulpit to back voting rights legislation, which is demoralizing the very voters that made Biden's win possible. Biden believes that his infrastructure legislation is the path to save democracy. As I've noted elsewhere, if Trump is reelected and unified GOP government installed via gerrymandering, voter suppression legislation, and a demoralized base, who would stop Trump from reallocating infrastructure funds to another 'wall' or his personal militia, or really anything else. The idea that disenfranchising the core Democratic base in a mostly vain effort to win back working class voters will backfire. The country needs infrastructure but we first need to harden democracy. I see no efforts to do so by the Biden administration and it is a fatal mistake.
Re the infrastructure+, already seeing republicans that did not support it, taking credit to their constituents.
thats what they do.
You are completely correct. I don't know why this isn't a bigger issue. I wonder how Senators Manchin and Sinema will feel when they are made part of a permanent (and shrinking) voting minority in the Senate..............or would they just "switch teams"?
It is almost preferable to be the minority, since you get to stand on principle without having to actually accomplish anything or answer for what you’ve done, you just get to say things knowing nothing will come of it.
Manchin's voters love him...they don't seem to be bothered by remaining one of the poorest states in the country, with low literacy, abysmal health care, and few decent prospects outside coal jobs. Manchin is the only Democrat who will ever win in WV. Sinema's poll numbers are terrible, but she has the backing of big pharma, and corporate donors, she can point to the infrastructure bill she helped negotiate, and she may well get the support of moderate Republicans voters who view her as a check on 'socialism'. She knows exactly what she's doing. I don't think Manchin or Sinema care about being in the minority, but both should care that their electoral 'wins' could be overturned by WV/AZ voter nullification laws. And again, as long as Biden refuses to endorse a carve-out for democracy hardening legislation, he provides ample cover for Manchin, Sinema, Hasan, and other moderates who refuse to budge on the filibuster.
As a Dem in AZ, i can assure you, Sinema will be primaried. We are very unhappy with her. AZ has closed primaries.
Thank you for the information. Even so, she has a large war chest and name recognition. I know that there is a PAC (with no candidate) devoted to primarying Sinema, but this strategy failed with Susan Collins. It's not enough to be against her, AZ Democrats have to find a dynamic candidate.
She will not win a closed Dem primary.
We already have a couple picked out. There is no point in trying to do anything now, we’re stuck with her for 3 more years.
It's really not too early to build name recognition, but happy to hear that there are good candidates.
Thanks for the post! I'm hopeful.
And if a carve out for voting rights protection isn't as important as the other carve outs, then survival is not as important as eating or sleeping or any other portion of the business of survival.
I think they already switched teams and the only reason for the little D pin on their lapels is so they can garner attention as the one vote that Might be swung if courted and ki$$ed.
They’ll have enriched themselves enough by then? It’s all about the benjamins. It is abhorrent that these turncoats are drunk on their power.
@Rather not — Ms. Sinema perhaps, though I don’t think anyone has a pulse on her motivations for power. Mr. Manchin’s pre-political dirty business gains are in excess of his ability to squander in his lifetime. Neither seems able to engage broadly or to sit humbly in this moment — a symptom of excessive devotion to self-importance.
Biden knows more than he's being given credit for. If Republicans don't want to give any aid to those in the lowest economic 50%, to approve the human infrastructure bill, what makes us think there's hope for Voting Rights? What to do about the DEEPLY racist undercurrent in our country? Keep telling the truth? Expose the machinations of Koch, Mercer et.al.
Koch et.al. have been exposed and many are delighted to receive their beneficence and reap the rewards of association… KS is a third world state in so many sectors due to Koch reach. They’ve used the state as an ALEC Petri dish for decades and exported the ideas and legislation to other statehouses across the country.
why do you blame Biden? He strongly supports the John Lewis voting rights act.. go after the GOP who ALL oppose it.The Infrastructure bill is only part of his agenda. We just passed a huge bill and YOU are working very hard to demoralize people. Stop trolling and get busy. You are NOT helping by suppressing the vote here. You can be part of the solution or help the GOP ...choose.
Your response is absurd. I have zero ability to suppress the vote of 330M people, but Biden has the ability to undo (to a large extent) voter suppression, voter nullification, and gerrymandering legislation enacted across the country. He campaigned on a promise to protect democracy. Instead, his focus has been on passing infrastructure legislation. If you don't want to honestly face the dire prospects for democracy in the absence of national voting rights legislation, that's your choice to remain uninformed.
Biden KNOWS about all of those things....and passing legislation that helps people is a very good thing that helps us at the polls. Are you are political neophyte because you seem really clueless and arrogant.
When you go on line and and promote despair and negativity you are most definitely suppressing the vote.
Well, I guess that means that every authoritarian scholar, every historian, every Democratic election attorney, every non-partisan election law professor are all issuing blinking red light warnings--not to inform and warn the public--but to suppress the vote. Interesting worldview you possess.
It’s not a “ world view” it’s factual. How many doors have you knocked in swing districts where you hear the exact rhetoric I read here used as a reason to not vote or vote third party ??
And excuse me I don’t think you an authoritarian scholar just an on line troll.
The duopoly is destroying the country and our democracy. Pinning our hopes on Biden - a party hack if there ever was one - was a mistake. He keeps selling out the progressive wing of the party and will always bow to corporate interests - on climate, on voting rights, on almost everything! The answer? Open up the process - open primaries, rank choice voting, nonpartisan elections, a National Nonpartisan Presidential primary, open the debates, get money out of politics, on an on and on. But the DP of course is mostly interested in maintaining their own existence even at the expense of the American people. They could easily lose because they have no guts to truly go up against the Right because the so-called "Left" (I am a progressive Independent) insists on trying to work inside the DP. How's that going, Bernie et al? Not so good.
Glenn Greenwald is not progressive. He is a RW hack that spends his time on tucker Carlson.
ou would prefer Maga fascism to Biden? You are grossly misinformed about many things here. He is not selling out the to progressive wing, progressive caucus supported Infrastructure bill in a big way only 4 LOUD hold outs.
Oh yeah. All of this exactly except for the "beloved filibuster" part - I don't think Manchin and Sinema are dedicated to the filibuster so much as they find it useful right now to slow down Democrat designed legislation and I absolutely believe they are deliberately just delaying so the voting suppression laws can survive, Democrats lose the majority, and the delayed legislation be shot and buried. I don't for a minute think either one of them treasures the filibuster, is honestly attempting to fine tune legislation or find bipartisan support.
I wonder what stops any R politician from declaring themselves a D and running as a "conservative Democrat". I can think of a few examples of those who switched when it served them to do so. What is to stop a state from having no real Democrat party, no real Democrat candidate, and just running two Republicans for, say, senate? I'm just saying that those two have made me wonder...
And it hardly makes the news while Wolf Blitzer shares gas prices at the most expensive station in the mid Atlantic.
*our democracy is truly toast...