The SAVE Act Face-plant
Watching the Democrats' slow-motion train wreck on election security.
NOTE: Audio below the paywall.
The blue team is at it again.
If there were awards for being losers, Democratic Party leadership would be shoo-ins. Just send the other contestants home. It wouldn’t be close.
Quick show of hands:
How many of you have heard of the SAVE Act?
I obviously can’t see you, but I did feel the whoosh of air as most of your hands just collectively shot up.
Next questions:
How many have heard of the Freedom to Vote Act?
How about the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act?
I’d be surprised if anywhere near as many of you knew about those latter two. There are several reasons for this oxygen gap, and pretty much none of them are your fault.
The SAVE Act is a flawed bill that nonetheless represents terrific politics for the GOP. It’s win-win for Republicans and lose-lose for Democrats. As in, if it passes, it’s good for Republican electoral prospects, and if it fails, they’ll look good failing. Whereas its passage would (probably) be bad for Democrats, and if they succeed in blocking it, they’ll land on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue with voters. Just in time for the midterms.
These conditions exist because one side is simply better at this game than the other. Today’s right is organized and energized while the left is distractible, lazy, and afraid of its own shadow. In other words, it’s a day ending in Y.
Some of this is structural. Legacy media’s coverage of the current voting rights and election security squabbles has been insanely lopsided. The SAVE Act is everywhere. The two others, which are Dem-favored pseudo-alternatives, are nowhere to be found.
This isn’t quite a case of “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” but it’s close. Donald Trump is a walking attention magnet. The media loves him like a fat kid loves cake. Since Trump talks exclusively about his support for SAVE (and Dems talk exclusively about their opposition) that’s where the coverage is.
Although, you can actually hate the players here too.
