Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: The walls are closing in on the Republicans
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George Packer/Atlantic: The Corruption of the Republican Party The fact that no plausible election outcome can check the abuse of power is what makes political corruption so dangerous. It strikes at the heart of democracy. It destroys the compact between tAbbreviated Pundit Round-up: The walls are closing in on the Republicans
George Packer/Atlantic: The Corruption of the Republican Party The fact that no plausible election outcome can check the abuse of power is what makes political corruption so dangerous. It strikes at the heart of democracy. It destroys the compact between the people and the government. In rendering voters voiceless, it pushes everyone closer to the use of undemocratic means. Today’s Republican Party has cornered itself with a base of ever older, whiter, more male, more rural, more conservative voters. Demography can take a long time to change—longer than in progressives’ dreams—but it isn’t on the Republicans’ side. They could have tried to expand; instead, they’ve hardened and walled themselves off. This is why, while voter fraud knows no party, only the Republican Party wildly overstates the risk so that it can pass laws (including right now in Wisconsin, with a bill that reduces early voting) to limit the franchise in ways that have a disparate partisan impact. This is why, when some Democrats in the New Jersey legislature proposed to enshrine gerrymandering in the state constitution, other Democrats, in New Jersey and around the country, objected. Taking away democratic rights—extreme gerrymandering; blocking an elected president from nominating a Supreme Court justice; selectively paring voting rolls and polling places; creating spurious anti-fraud commissions; misusing the census to undercount the opposition; calling lame-duck legislative sessions to pass laws against the will of the voters—is the Republican Party’s main political strategy, and will be for years to come. xThis new report from the WaPos' @AmyEGardner & @bethreinhard adds a lot to Mark Harris' (R) political troubles in the contested #NC09 election where absentee ballot fraud allegations have upended that close result https://t.co/tkNPFmmuUh #NCPOL— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) December 14, 2018 Read more