Republican controlled state legislatures are mounting an unprecedented push to restrict voting access. Some 250 bills in 43 states are aimed at curtailing voter access. Many of them are inspired by former President Trump’s bogus claims that the election was rigged against him.
A new restriction in Georgia states if you give food or water to a someone standing in line to vote you are breaking the law. That sounds like a third world dictatorship. It seems like the Republican Party is in the midst of desperation because they lost an election. When the Supreme Court stopped the recount and Al Gore lost the election, the Democratic Party didn’t try to change our electoral system.
When Mitt Romney lost his bid for the White House to President Obama, he put his big boy pants on, conceded and moved on with his life. I always felt Romney picked the wrong time to run. We were just climbing out of the deepest recession in our history; banks and businesses had collapsed and millions had lost homes and jobs. The voters were reluctant to change horses in mid-recovery.
When Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the election she conceded and moved on with her life.
When I was a young voter the candidate you elected actually represented the people who voted for them. Today I feel the politicians we elect represent the party before us. Their goal is to grow the party and keep the campaign contributions coming in no matter what the cost for the voters. Back then if a party lost an election, they ran a better candidate the next time. Today they change the voting laws in an effort to win the next election.
Trump’s approval rating was in the 30% range last year but the party stuck with him. Some voters voted for Biden as a vote against Trump, just as they did in the Trump versus Clinton election. I believe any one of four top Republicans would have won over Biden and his super liberal running mate. Trump and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi increased the national debt 33% in four years and Biden is on track to match or surpass that.
Last year, during the debates and campaign speeches, not once did I hear the term fiscal responsibility or balancing the budget from either candidate.
How long can a nation be a world leader if its leaders lack common sense, integrity and whose foresight extends no further than the next election?
—Tom Janicki,
Almont
