Noteworthy for the same reasons that compelled me to cover last week's floor speech from Utah's junior Senator -- as well as for the forcefulness of language. Romney has been every bit the "country over party" moderate Republican that progressives so often demand, voting twice to convict former President Trump on articles of impeachment, and working across the aisle to pass a major spending bill. What the Democrats are trying now, however, has obviously angered and offended him. He excoriated President Biden's ugly speech in Atlanta last Tuesday, then came back for seconds last evening. He has had enough of the "beyond the pale" rhetoric, the shameless race-baiting, and the wild hyperbole being employed in the name of "voting rights." The Utahan blasted the unhinged rhetoric, then dismantled their ridiculous proposal, piece by piece:
Political overstatement and hyperbole may be relatively common and they are often excused, but the President and some of my Democratic colleagues have ventured deep into hysteria. Their cataclysmic predictions for failing to support their entirely partisan election reform—worked out entirely by themselves without any input whatsoever from any single person on my side of the aisle—are far beyond the pale...They point to Georgia as evidence of political election villainy. The President went there to deliver his crowning argument. But as has been pointed out by many before me, it is easier for minorities—and everyone else for that matter—to vote in Georgia than it is the President’s home state of Delaware and in Leader Schumer’s home state of New York. In Georgia, there are more days of early voting, and in Georgia there is no-excuse absentee voting, by mail. They decry Georgia’s prohibition of political activists approaching voters in line with drinks of water. But the same prohibition exists in New York. And why? So that voters don’t get harassed in line by poll activists. Just like Georgia and New York, many states keep poll activists at length from voters.
To be clear, I want an election system that allows every eligible citizen in every state to be able to exercise their right to vote in every single election. So putting aside the hysteria, let me explain why I don’t support the Democrats’ bill. First, their bill weakens voter ID. I, along with the great majority of voters of all races, favor voter photo ID. Their bill makes it easier to cheat by accommodating unmonitored vote collection boxes. Their bill opens the gates to a flood of lawsuits, pre-and-post an election. And it weakens the safeguards of voter registration. There are other things in the Democrats’ bill that I don’t support: I’m not in favor of federal funding for campaigns. I also don’t think that states should be required to allow felons to vote. And most fundamentally, I think by reserving election procedures to the states, the Founders made it more difficult for a would-be authoritarian to change the law for voting in just one place—here in Washington—to keep himself in office...People who want voter ID are not racists. People who don’t want federal funding of campaigns aren’t Bull Connor. And people who insist that vote drop boxes be monitored aren’t Jefferson Davis.
He's clearly still unhappy over Biden's pitiful smear-fest. Democrats are engaged in a dramatic, high-stakes tantrum. And they're willing to blow up minority rights in the Senate -- which they have doggedly defended while in the minority, even mounting a successful filibuster last week -- on behalf of a dangerous, partisan scheme to rewrite the whole country's election laws, without any input from the opposition party. They seek to justify this by shouting 'crisis,' but the American people disagree. Voters disapprove of President Biden because of his poor performance and misplaced priorities. A Gallup poll released at the end of last year showed that Americans simply do not share Washington Democrats' fanatical concern about "voting rights," likely because it's a made up issue:
Gallup poll from late '21 found less than half of 1% of Americans said "elections reform" was the top priority issue facing the US. Senate Democrats are tying to nuke the filibuster (something they've railed against) over a "crisis" that people don't see: https://t.co/S5fxPNaA7i
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 19, 2022
Galaxy brain stuff from Schumer — whose governing decisions appear to be driven by fear of the Very Online Left, not unlike Biden.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 19, 2022
Via @SpecialReport: pic.twitter.com/Y2C8bVSRP0
And here's Politico on their recent survey:
Electoral reform in general is not a top issue of concern for the public right now. We asked voters which of three voting reform ideas should be “the top priority” for Congress to pass: reforming Congress’ role in counting Electoral College votes, expanding voting access in federal elections or expanding oversight of states’ changes to voting practices. “None of the above” (32%) beat out all of them.
Democrats are far, far out of touch, and they're tripling down because they both see an opportunity to rig election systems in their favor and fear the fury of their radical base. Left-wing special interest groups are now saying they'll withhold endorsements from Senators who refuse to nuke the filibuster over "voting rights," including special interest groups that have aggressively defended the filibuster many, many times. Abortion zealots, for example, have celebrated filibusters against majority-supported late-term abortion bans in recent years. It's a short-sighted collective meltdown, replete with open primary threats. Wild stuff. Quote: "This dumb party is losing its g-ddamned mind." I'll leave you with this:
*Ex*-Senators who lost after angering constituents by walking the plank for Dem leadership have some advice for Manchin and Sinema! https://t.co/v3n49rOiHR
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 19, 2022
Manchin (D-WV) on facing a possible Senate Democratic primary challenge: "I've been primaried my entire life. That would not be anything new for me. I've never run in an election I wasn't primaried. It's West Virginia. It's rough and tumble. We're used to that, so bring it on." pic.twitter.com/YKMsy8Dzme
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) January 18, 2022
They’re walking the plank for a very unpopular president and a weak majority leader, on a very low-priority issue for voters (beyond the shouters on here). They deserve to lose these votes, then lose badly in November — then a bunch of them will again change their position.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 19, 2022
UPDATE - A wonderful gaffe:
Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats' federal elections takeover bill is "inspired by Hugo Chavez...Cesar Chavez." pic.twitter.com/vwLtYOMBYv
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 19, 2022
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