A year or so ago, President Trump was warning of a rigged election. He believed – or at least said – that if he did not win it would be because of a rigged election.
That brought about a chorus of opposition voices. In even suggesting that the 2020 presidential election was in any way rigged was not only wrong, but the mere claim undermined public confidence in the electoral process, the claimed repeatedly.
Weeeell … Trump lost and sure enough he proclaimed it to be a rigged election that he had actually won by a wide margin. That claim – and the counter arguments – have dominated the political discourse to this day. It led to peaceful protests across the nation and culminated in a protest-turned-riot on Capitol Hill on January 6th.
I have never stated my definitive opinion as to whether I believe that Trump won the election, or he lost it – although I have no doubt that there was some level of vote fraud, irregularities and illegal counting.
Despite the claims by Democrats that there is no such thing as significant vote fraud, their contention of perfect elections is preposterous and easily disproven. Whether it was sufficient to flip a Trump re-election to President Biden is a whole ‘nother matter.
I have not – and will not – give my opinion on that question because the answer is meaningless at this moment. Biden was elected President by the Electoral College and certified by the Congress. He is sitting in the Oval Office with all the powers of the presidency. A hostile debate over how he got there will not change that. Engaging in that debate is a waste of time. It is destructive and creates needlessly heightened public confrontation. It distracts from critical current issues and the much more important 2022 midterms election.
Speaking of the 2022 midterm election … there is a profound irony in the debate. Once again, there are specious predictions of a rigged election. In fact, those voices claim that the entire Republic is on the precipice of collapse if their side does not win.
This is not coming from Trump – or even Republicans. This is the Draconian warning of the Democrats – being amplified by their cronies in the Fourth Estate. They are implying that if THEY do not win in 2022, the election will have been rigged by Trump-led Republicans. Their contention is a toxic combination of hypocrisy and hyperbole.
Ironically, they have abandoned their previous contention that calling elections rigged – prior to and after – undermines public trust. In this case, Democrats are making an overt attempt to … undermine public trust in a future election. This comes on the heels of their exaggerated claim that vote fraud simply does not exist.
Their narrative is based on a bogus claim that there was a real insurrection – and there is an ongoing coup attempt that is designed to put Trump into the White House as a permanent dictator. Anyone who believes that nonsense should be embarrassed at their level of critical thinking.
There are two things that are central to their propaganda campaign. They contend that the various election laws being enacted in some 48 states are part of the coup attempt. They would have you believe that thousands of elected officials are all coup-plotters.
While the laws are designed to make elections more secure, they pose no threat to easy ballot access by any voter with an IQ higher than a hockey score. All states have early voting. (Georgia actually increased the time contrary to Biden’s 4-Pinocchio-lie that they shortened the hours). All states have mail-in ballot provisions.
Democrats claim that Republican state administrations have been manipulating the voting process to reduce the number of minority voters. They make this claim despite the fact that minorities have been voting in record high numbers in the very states where the suppression is supposed to be happening.
No eligible American will have a problem voting in 2022 if they desire. It will just be a bit harder to cheat. Harder for the ineligible and dead to vote. Harder to cast a ballot for another person – dead or alive.
The Democrats second leg of their narrative is based on the claim that Republicans are empowering state legislatures to send an alternative delegation of electors in opposition to those who were on the ballot. In this, Democrats are relying on the ignorance of the American people.
State legislatures have always had the ability to send electors to vote in the Electoral College. In fact, in the earliest days of the Republic, the President was chosen by electors chosen by the state legislatures. After the system was changed to have electors chosen by popular vote in congressional districts, the state legislatures still had the constitutional power to send electors to replace the delegation elected by the people. That is not new.
In the election of 1876, the selection of the President was held up over a fight between Republicans and Democrats of the legitimacy of competing elector delegations. The election was settled in what is known as the Compromise of 1877 – with the southern states agreeing to support Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in return for the removal of federal troops from the old Confederacy. It was a tragic deal, since Democrats quickly seized control of the South by force, leading to the era of southern segregation and black oppression.
The right of state legislatures to trump (no pun intended) the popularly elected electors has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
If there is concern over that possibility, it is not due to any GOP actions. None of the proposed state election laws change the reality or enhance any power held by state legislatures under the Constitution. To change the historic reality, it would probably take a constitutional amendment.
Most politicians and pundits predict that the GOP will regain control of the House – and perhaps the Senate. They base their predictions on historic precedence and the declining popularity of Biden.
Democrats have only one strategy to try to stop Republican resurgence. Make the election about a demonized Trump and slander the Republican Party brand — and claim that 2022 will be a rigged election to explain the loss.
It is a desperate strategy, to be sure. But you have to laugh at the irony of all those Democrats and media personalities fearmongering about a “rigged” 2022 election. They must think the American people have the attention span of a fruit fly.
So, there ‘tis.