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MoosesMom's avatar

While I applaud the sentiments expressed and the efforts of those who signed, it still amounts to an appeal to a 50-50 Democratic Senate Majority to get rid of the filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation. You may as well appeal to voters to give the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in the upcoming midterms, because neither is going to happen and we all know it.

What I want to know is what are any of the signators, or anyone, doing to bring together professionals from a myriad of fields to develop a cohesive, national and workable strategy to fight this threat to our democracy before it is too late. There are millions of Americans who will be happy to join the fight if provided the leadership to do so.

While the GOP is marching towards Authoritarianism they are all on the same page, implementing their strategy state by state, and they are mounting up victory after victory. How do we successfully counter the lies and misinformation? What messaging should we be using from all quarters to reach everyday Americans and make them care about what we're about to lose?

Where are the experts from academia, journalism, media, social media, advertising, marketing, the legal profession, national security experts, government, former politicians from any party, and a whole host of other fields?

Noble sentiments will not save us, and once today's GOP retakes the House, the Senate and the White House in the next 3+ years, they will turn every institution into their own weaponry. They will go far beyond trump's first term in using the levers of government to consolidate their power,. We will see the free press and political enemies attacked and jailed. The military and armed militias will be used against peaceful protesters. Americans will be afraid to say anything at some point because it will mean risking personal freedom, livelihood, and even death. And who will stop them then? SCOTUS? Doubtful.

This moment in our history is as dire as any I've ever seen in my long lifetime, but we need so much more than noble words and sentiments. We need a cohesive strategy and national leadership.

Who is willing to roll up their sleeves and do that work?

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Paul K. Ogden's avatar

I would be more than happy to sign as well. Attorney, political blogger, former college poli sci instructor and Republican activist who has held several positions in the party.

Since voting rights comes up in the letter and several comments, I wanted to add my two cents.

Democrats are railing against "voter suppression" laws passed by GOP-dominated state legislatures. Things like cutting back on earlier voting, elimination or reduction in ballot drop boxes, shortened times for asking for absentee ballots, a requirement that voters provide more identifying information to vote absentee, etc.

In reality those are tweaks to voting procedures that will have a miniscule impact on turnout, if that. The fact is in virtually every jurisdiction of the country it is much, much easier to get registered and vote than it was 20 years ago. These most recent changes do not come close to reversing that trend. Some of the changes even have turned out to be positive. Georgia, for example, ended up expanding early voting and adding a requirement that lines at polling places be monitored so that additional equipment be sent out to aid voters. Unfortunately, most of the reporting of Georgia's law was based on proposals that were not included in the final bill.

The whole debate over voting reminds me of the magician who encourages the audience to look at one hand while he is doing the trick with the other hand. Elections involve two distinct players: voters and vote counters. While everyone is focused on how these changes affect voters, they are ignoring changes to how votes are counted and certified. And I'm not just talking about changes in the law. I'm also talking about personnel changes. When the ballots come in you have teams of Democratic and Republican workers who count the ballots and confirm the results. Then you have elected officials who certify the work of these vote counters.

The whole system depends on people doing their jobs honestly, regardless of party affiliation. Trump's 2020 post-election coup attempt failed because there were a cadre of GOP officials who stood up to him and wouldn't engage in fraud to tip the election to Trump. Those people have been targeted by Trump and his minions. Most won't be around in 2024. The electoral guardrails have been removed.

The number one priority of Democrats in Congress should be fixing the Electoral Count Act which currently will allow a Republican Congress to override the will of the voters and hand the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump. They need to fix the problems with the ECA and block state efforts to enact legislation to override the will of the voters. While I'm reluctant to deep six the filibuster on all matters, this is an area where I think a carve out is needed.

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