Lessons
Learned And Not Learned
For
the past two years I have noted in this column that “not all Republicans are on
board with vote suppression.” In 2010 GOP candidates won gubernatorial contests
from Florida to Wisconsin and won majorities in many state legislatures from
Ohio to Maine. In 2011, taking their cues from conservative think tanks such as
the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), these new Republican
governors and GOP state legislators set about erecting barriers to voting not
seen in this country since the days of segregation. While voter ID laws served
as the device of the choice, other despotic tactics included shortening the
days and hours for early voting and, reducing the number of days for voting by
mail. Many of the voter ID laws were struck down by state and federal courts as
“unconstitutional.” But the other tactics, particularly reducing the number of
days and hours for early voting day, caused embarrassingly long lines in the
states of Florida and Ohio.
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist denounces GOP vote suppression.
The Rachel Maddow Show/Youtube
Now,
less than a month after being trounced in the presidential election, manifestly
partisan Republicans are formulating new machinations to deny Americans of their
right to vote. Enter Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, that proud marionette of conservative think
tanks. In May of 2011 Walker signed a voter
ID bill into law. Less than a year later Dane
County Judge David Flanagan blocked enforcement of the law. In his opinion
Judge Flanagan noted “The law disenfranchises voters, sometimes in absurd ways,
and targets a problem that is only
slightly more real than fairies and unicorns.” Walker appealed and the law was rejected
completely as unconstitutional by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard
Niess. Not satisfied with two judicial rejections, Gov. Walker has set his mind
to do away with Wisconsin’s more than three decades old system of same day
voter registration. With same day voter registration citizens are allowed to
vote when they register on election day. News flash to Gov.
Walker, when Republicans in the Maine state legislature abolished same day
voter registration the voters repealed the law via a citizens’ initiative . On
Nov. 6, voters in Maine went a step further, throwing out the Republican
majorities in the state’s House and Senate.
In the aftermath of President Obama’s and the Democrats’
trouncing of the GOP many Republican strategists heaped condemnation upon voter
ID laws and other vote suppressive schemes. Unfortunately, too many Republicans
still have a predilection for vote suppression. Rather than compete in the
market of ideas and win the votes of the many, these GOPs would prefer to limit
voter participation by way of unscrupulous election mechanics and outright chicanery.
Our present 50 state model of making and changing election law at will and for
partisan advantage delegitimizes the democratic process of elections and breeds
contempt. It is time for a major overhauling of our election system. President Obama
alluded to such in his victory speech on Nov. 6. America should have one unbiased and
nonpartisan standard for registering, voting and counting votes. We are one country, we deserve one fair and
unimpeachable process for this essential ”election” component of democracy.
Election Reform
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is urging her GOP colleagues to revive
the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC). In a letter to Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-TN and House Speaker John Boehner, R-OH, Boxer
wrote, "I
believe the dysfunction we witnessed may have been reduced had this Commission
been fully staffed and operational,… I hope that you will take immediate action
to make these recommendations so that we can get the Election Assistance
Commission working again, and let the American people know that the government
is protecting their fundamental right to vote.” The
EAC has been in operative for a nearly a year because GOP leaders have declined
to name their nominees for seats on the commission.
What
the above demonstrates is the incredible self inflicted paralysis of the
Republican Party. Unable and/or unwilling to accept that they do not control
all levers of government, Republicans have adopted an approach to governing that
is at once “do nothing” and/or “blow up the building” if they cannot get their
way on every issue. This GOP unilateral line of thinking and acting began
during the Clinton presidency when in 1994 Republicans won majorities in the House
and Senate. Frustrated Republicans in congress expressed outrage that President
Clinton, the leader of the Executive Branch, dared to exercise his
constitutional authority and veto legislation that he did not agree with. Led by
Bob Dole in the Senate and Newt Gingrinch in House, Republicans ushered in an
era of routine brinksmanship beginning
with the shutdown of the government in 1995-’96. In successive congresses
Republican lawmakers, weather in the majority or the minority, have tended to
act as though they control everything, all the time. And, if they cannot have
it their way then either nothing gets done and/or they threaten to blow up the
building. We saw this in practice in 2010 regarding the once routing “debt
ceiling” debate and we are seeing it being played out now regarding the looming “fiscal
cliff.” Republicans in congress
are also refusing to name their own members to a bipartisan commissions such as the Election
Assistance Commission. Worse, we see this our
way or no way mentality in the US Senate where GOP lawmakers have blown up
the process by requiring a super majority via filibuster in order to get
anything passed and, the empowering of a super
minority in the House of Representatives.
The Super Minority
In
2004 then House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-IL) unilaterally “enunciated a policy
in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them…”
What does this means in practical terms? A political party must hold a minimum
of 218 of the 435 seats in order to control the House. Under Hastert’s decree,
no legislation can go forth unless a majority of the GOP caucus supports it. This
means that in 2013, when the GOP will hold 233
seats, 117 Republicans (a super minority) must agree
on any legislation in order for the other 318 members of the body to be allowed
vote on it. If this strikes the reader as ridicules and undemocratic, that’s because it is.
For
their part, Democrats in Congress seem not to have noticed this completely
radical shift among their Republican counterparts. Democrats have responded to
GOP obstruction and routine brinkmanship with meek cries about not conforming according
to process and even meeker condemnation. News flash to Democrats on Capitol
Hill, it is not enough to simply whine about GOP obstruction. Real action must
be taken. Reforming the filibuster in the senate, where Democrats have a
majority, is a good start. But, what Democrats haven’t done is engage the
Republicans in the arena public discourse. Democrats have not, as Newt
Gingrinch did in the 1980s and 1990s -
before he emerged as a GOP leader- taken
their case to the American people directly through C-Span and other available outlets. The battle must
be fought not just at election time but all the time.
Skin in the Game
The
Republic Party of the 1970s and 80s is gone. It has been replaced by a radical
element ever strident in their belief that no matter the outcome of an
election, theirs is the only way to go. The time is now for Democrats and
others to reject this corrupt ideology by employing constructive yet definite strategies
(before, during and after an election) for moving forward with the business of
the nation. In Congressional elections the GOP has banished moderates such as Sen. Richard Lugar of IN (defeated
in the 2012 GOP primary). At the state level Republicans are intent on
disenfranchising tens of millions of Americans of their fundamental right to
vote. Democrats and others, to quote President Obama, “Must put some skin in
the game.” It is not hyperbole to assert that the heart of American Democracy is at
stake. When maniacal partisans of
Scott Walker’s ilk brazenly attempt to rig the election process it is time to
remind everyone of the words of the late Republican Senator Barry Goldwater, “Extremism in the defense of
liberty is no vice! Moderation in the
pursuit of justice is no virtue!” President Obama, Democrats in Congress and
fair minded Americans everywhere must take concrete steps now to safeguard our democracy
and that which facilitates democracy, the right to vote.
Brent
Scott is Executive Director of Vote by Mail America
