JUNE 22, 2021 – Back in eighth grade algebra, to pass a test with 100 problems you had to score at least 61. To ace the test you had to hit 90 or above. Seventy to 79 got you a “C,” meaning your grasp of concepts was sketchy—putting at risk your entire GPA and life’s better prospects.
Yesterday, I reviewed the results of a recent Monmouth University poll on Americans’ faith in the 2020 presidential election. Among the questions: “Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square, or do you believe that he only won it due to voter fraud?” The aggregated response (Democrats/Republicans/Independents): only 61% thought Biden won “fair and square.” That percentage hasn’t improved in polling conducted in November, January, March, and June. Among Republicans, 63% still believe Biden won by fraud. When I saw these results, I immediately thought of eighth grade math. If [Ms.] Johnson were grading the health of American democracy today, she’d give it a “D”—in red ink.
After studying the Monmouth poll results, I read a law review article (NYU) by Professor Edward B. Foley (Ohio State University), an expert in election law. In unusually clear fashion (for a law review article), Professor Foley explains the history, conceptual aspects, and present threats to electoral validity. In reading the article, I realized that our “D” grade is in flashing red ink. Republicans are playing a dangerous game—denial of Biden’s electoral legitimacy (wholly apart from disagreement on policy matters) combined with efforts to de-register voters, enact voting suppression legislation, and conduct baseless election audits.
Converging with the Republicans’ assault on democracy is an even greater threat.
Matthew Dowd, chief political strategist of Bush I (i.e. a former Republican), urges Democrats to “wake up” before it’s too late. Detached from facts and a shared value system, today’s Republicans have positioned themselves outside the traditional bounds of political give-and-take.
Dowd exhorts Democrats to shed the gloves and resist, first by ditching the filibuster—a creature of tradition; not some legal mandate. He gave examples—climate change, gun control, federal voting standards, minimum wage, universal health care—on which the overwhelming (70% to 80%) majority of Americans favor progressive action. Yet, by filibustering—or the threat of it—the Republican minority continues to stall, block, and tackle to prevent advancement of meaningful legislation. For the People Act of 2021 is an immediate case in point.
Unless Democrats go “all hands on deck” in response to Republican powerplays, more Americans—meaning Democrats/Independents—will distrust an electoral process that produces results in conflict with super-majority popular sentiment. Under such circumstances, the entire foundation will fail.
A democracy in “C” territory is unstable. A democracy in the “D” for “Danger” zone is one election cycle away from “FAIL.” In the short run it’s up to Senate Democrats to save democracy. It’s time to bust the filibuster and break the unprincipled, fact-defiant, minority Republican stranglehold on America.
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© 2021 by Eric Nilsson
