And if that means sacrificing your own base, well, what of it? Today, neighboring Wisconsin is holding an election in which the seats of judges, including a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Presidential primaries, school board seats. This, despite multiple examples of other states delaying elections, the Governor ordering a delay and a lawsuit decided in the favor of the plaintiffs. The “intervening defendants,” the Republican National Committee, appealed to the Supreme Court, and, 5-4, it overturned the District Court. Here’s the dissent of Justice Ginsburg’s concluding paragraph:
The majority of this Court declares that this case presents a “narrow, technical question.” That is wrong. The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic. Under the District Court’s order, they would be able to do so. Even if they receive their absentee ballot in the days immediately following election day, they could return it. With the majority’s stay in place, that will not be possible. Either they will have to brave the polls, endangering their own and others’ safety. Or they will lose their right to vote, through no fault of their own. That is a matter of utmost importance—to the constitutional rights of Wisconsin’s citizens, the integrity of the State’s election process, and in this most extraordinary time, the health of the Nation.
And quite right. It appears that her dissent stung the majority right wing that agreed with the RNC that voting should occur as ordered, come hell … well, that’s what’s coming:
The Court’s decision on the narrow question before the Court should not be viewed as expressing an opinion on the broader question of whether to hold the election, or whether other reforms or modifications in election procedures in light of COVID–19 are appropriate. That point cannot be stressed enough.
It may be more accurate to say the conservatives were terrified of actually stepping forward and saying lives are more important than voting on time. After all, this is not about denying voting, but merely delaying a deadline for voting until mail-in ballots arrive.
The funny thing is … if the Wisconsin conservatives go trudging off to the polls now, isn’t this going to endanger their lives? And their families? Did the RNC just throw its base under the bus?
Or are they so confident that the conservatives will all vote by mail?
I must say, my sense of the surreal demands that all Wisconsin voters refuse to vote.
