Safeguarding Our Democracy - Horowitz

Safeguarding Our Democracy - Horowitz

With today’s planned vote in the United States Senate to carve out an exception to the filibuster for two Democratic voting rights bills nearly certain to fall short, it is time for us to become reacquainted with the old adage attributed to Germany’s first chancellor Otto Von Bismarck that politics is the art of the possible. 

While it is understandable that the sweeping For the People Act cannot garner the support needed to pass the U.S. Senate, it is profoundly disappointing that the narrower John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act also doesn’t appear to have sufficient support to garner the 10 Republican votes that would be required to overcome a filibuster; nor the votes of all 50 Democrats that is needed to make an exception to the filibuster. The Voting Rights Advancement Act does what the U.S .Supreme Court asked when they struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act several years ago and sets new modern criteria for determining which states would fall under restored requirements for preclearance of any new state measures addressing voting due to a documented recent history of discrimination in this area 

It was only 15 years ago that the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act containing robust preclearance provisions received unanimous Republican support in the U.S. Senate. Still, this is today’s cold hard political reality, no matter how much we might not like it.

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It is instructive to be reminded of the full Bismarck remark: “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.” These words ring as true today as when the skillful politician responsible for forging Germany into its own nation and emerging as that nation’s ruler uttered them in the late 19th Century.  The reauthorization of a restored and strengthened Voting Rights Act does not appear to be possible at this political moment.  But the next best option of passing a tailored less ambitious measure to guard against the kind of subversion of the election results attempted by the former president and his allies remains a realistic possibility.

A bipartisan group of 8 Senators led by Susan Collins (R-ME) are currently working towards that goal.  The legislation they are drafting would overhaul the 1887 Electoral Count Act, clarifying that the vice-president’s role in the certification of the presidential election results is strictly ministerial and upping the trigger for a challenge to the electoral votes of any state from just one senator or congressman as is now the case to a threshold that demonstrates substantial support for the challenge.  Other components under consideration include “barring the removal of nonpartisan election officials without cause and creating federal penalties for the harassment or intimidation of election officials.” reported The New York Times. Some elements of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act may also be incorporated into the package.

This legislation would serve as a counter to the measures passed by some states with large Republican state legislative majorities that have cleared the way for partisan state legislatures to overturn the results of a presidential election. With Mr. Trump still falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, making it a litmus test for his endorsement in primaries that candidates echo his falsehoods and seriously considering running again in 2024, safeguarding our democracy through legislation designed to ensure that the will of the people as expressed through the vote determines who wins the presidency is imperative.

It is time for President Biden to turn his attention to this more limited goal and work together with Senator Collins and the bipartisan group she has assembled to ensure the adoption of these needed safeguards.  The passage of the infrastructure legislation shows that even in this polarized political environment, there is a window for bipartisanship.  Additionally, given that the filibuster is here to stay for the foreseeable future, on non-budgetary matters, such as regulation of voting, it is the only path forward.

The ambitious agenda of President Biden has come up against his thin majorities in the Senate and House. It is essential, especially on matters that are fundamental to the preservation of our democracy, that we don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” 

The president well understands political reality. It is now time to act on it. Much progress can be made in securing “the attainable.”

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.