Et tu, Colorado?
Which is not to imply that Colorado was Trump’s friend until it, shockingly, wasn’t. And Colorado may be the first of many, too, rather than the implied middle of the pack. Still, who could resist?
In a stunning decision, the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.” [CNN/Politics]
But yesterday’s news that the Colorado Supreme Court removed GOP candidate for President Donald J. Trump from the GOP primary ballot on the grounds that he had been involved in promoting the insurrectional activities of Jan 6, 2021 may turn out to be the key milestone in breaking not only Trump’s run to return to the White House, but even to be the nominee of the Republican Party.
Naturally, we can look at the simple facts on the ground: Colorado is a medium state in terms of population with ten Electoral College votes, while the largest State in the Union, California, has fifty four, and the smallest States, such as neighboring Wyoming, have three. If Trump cannot be on the ballot nor, if I read the 14th Amendment properly, win the Electoral votes of Colorado via a write-in campaign, an unlikely event as Colorado gave the victory to Democrat Joe Biden by 13+ points in 2020, we can presume that the votes will be voided at worst, and more likely awarded to whoever gets the most votes in Colorado, an unremarkable procedure.
But this is a myopic reading of the results of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling. Within legal circles, even those not properly within the jurisdiction of a superior court, rulings of superior courts are not only of operational importance, but the subject of intellectual curiosity. Particularly a case such as this, which, if not unique, is at least a rare bird. What are the salient features for the majority opinion? Did they convincingly negotiate this and that key objections? Is this grounded on a foundation of convincing constitutional reasoning, or is this a partisan hack-job? Did the dissenters make good points, or do they appear to be merely surly and discontented?
If the collective sentiment of the readers of a professional legal bent inclines towards the opinion that this is a well-reasoned and disinterested opinion, then Trump may anticipate several more judicial knives in the back, as other States’ judicial systems accede to suits asserting the relevance of the 14th Amendment.
Again, removal from ballots is not necessarily cogent to the electoral issue, although if Texas were to remove Trump from their ballot, one might assume it to be the end of Trump’s political career. Such an act by Texas, sensible as it may seem, is not likely.
But this is the sort of judicial result, even if the conservative wing of SCOTUS is willing to give Trump a reprieve from the knives, that will gain the attention of independents and some of the Trump base. It’ll remind them of the ghastly occurrence of January 6th, 2021, connecting the former President to a matter of profound dishonor, as it’ll be trumpeted by news media and candidates alike.
I don’t care if Trump and his allies try to use the persecution spin here, because they, along with Gingrich and Lott and Ryan and all that crew of fourth-raters, began the political war first, trying to drag their brand of crude and brutal politics into our government. The Democrats are out to get Trump? Sure. And he’s given them reason and material with which to do so, which, in other words, means he’s guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. Pundits who sputter But, but, but this will HELP him don’t get it. Sure, his bedrock supporters will be furious. But others will finally pay attention to what’s happening and maybe think. Disrupting the leading nation in the world doesn’t go down well with people who want to lead normal lives where they vote and attend meetings, or not, and have their say and don’t have people try to manipulate them.
I’m not saying it’s time to start waving goodbye. But historians may look at this ruling as the beginning of the end for a wannabe dictator whose only real skills were in propaganda and acting, not in governance.
And in case you don’t have a good feeling for the right’s propaganda machine, this article may be of interest. Just assume the left has the same thing, but on a smaller, and perhaps embarrassed, scale.
