When it comes to protecting voting rights, it’s time. for Plan B.
It’s apparent there will be no support for voting rights from Republicans, and without Senators Sinema and Manchin supporting a care-out in the filibuster, Democrats alone cannot get it done.
So Mitch McConnell will hold sway at least for this year.
So what is Plan B?
Plan B involves working as hard toward their goal as right-wing fanatics work toward theirs. It means doing what Stacey Abrams did in 2020 to help the Democrats carry Georgia for Joe Biden and also to win two Senate seats. It means doing two things and both matter equally.
- Get everyone registered to vote. Do it legally and effectively. Make sure that whatever steps are required to show eligibility are taken care of and everyone has whatever identification is required.
- Get them to the polls when it comes time to vote.
It may sound simple, but it’s anything but simple. And it isn’t just about voting in the big elections. The little ones are every bit as crucial. In my home county in Georgia, 40 miles or so south of Atlanta, nearly every office below Congress usually has Republicans running unopposed.
Republicans vote all the time. That’s the main reason a minority party manages to hold so much power. They never take anything for granted, and they treat every election as if it’s life and death.
It’s one of the only things admirable about them.
If there’s one thing truly to fear about Donald Trump, it’s that the man knows how to steal. He seems to understand very well that you don’t need to get more votes than your opponent to win an election — as long as you get to count the votes.
“We have to be a lot sharper the next time when it comes to counting the vote,” he said recently. “Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate. … They have to get tougher and smarter.”
You know who else understood that?
Joe Stalin.
Democrats think it’s all about winning hearts and minds, but Nixon White House aide Charles Colson — in his pre-“come to Jesus” days — said it was far more simple than that.
“If you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow,” Colson said.
If Democrats learn one lesson, it’s that Republicans will cheat, changing the rules back and forth as it suits them.
Democrats can only defeat that by working harder and harder and harder.