Dems Losing Legal, Messaging Battles on Voting
Defeats in court and in the court of public opinion mean Democrats have a problem.
In politics, messaging matters. The debate over election laws highlights that as well as anything.
Democrats thought they had a winning message by framing it as a fight over “voting rights.” Their grossly misnamed “For the People Act” (HR 1) is an attempt to codify at the national level a lot of the pandemic accommodations in election practices. That includes their bulk-mail ballot strategy. They claim to be expanding and protecting “voting rights” so that everyone can vote.
Meanwhile, Democrats launched an assault on laws in Republican states meant to rein in some of the excesses, as well as to implement commonsense measures like voter ID. Joe Biden and others label these laws “voter suppression” and “Jim Crow.” Democrats in Arizona sued the state over its law, and Biden’s Justice Department sued Georgia.
With their Leftmedia super PAC trumpeting the narrative and buzzwords, Democrats thought their message and strategy was foolproof.
But the courts thus far have been unpersuaded by Democrat arguments.
The Supreme Court last week validated Arizona’s law, and this week a federal judge refused to issue an injunction against Georgia.
It turns out the Republican strategy of emphasizing election integrity really resonates with the electorate. Few Americans want the chance of fraud to undermine the legitimate votes of citizens.
Public support is especially high for requiring an ID to vote. Despite the mendacious framing by Democrats and the media, three-quarters of Americans support voter ID laws. We all know that IDs are required for all sorts of things, and perhaps it’s dawning on people just how racist it is for Democrats to insist that somehow blacks find it harder to acquire an ID.
Maybe that’s why James Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat and Black Caucus member, suddenly says, “We are always for voter ID.”
Someone should ask him about his comments last October: “Long voting lines. Closed polling locations. Voter ID laws. They’re all voter suppression.”
Election integrity is one of the great battles of our time, and it will be important to continue to not just hold the line but advance measures that will secure the legitimate votes of American citizens.
