Thread by @WendyRWeiser

Some worry that making changes to the filibuster (there are more than 160 already) will make the Senate more polarized—more like the House—undermining the stability of federal policy. /1

This concern is driven by how polarized our politics has grown. To prove the point, Mitch McConnell (using comic-villain language) threatened to burn down the Senate if Democrats alter the filibuster to pass critical voting & democracy reforms. /2

https://twitter.com/SuzYoungblood/status/1480940633347002372

Of course, this concern is overblown: the filibuster has not saved the Senate from becoming dysfunctional & polarized or ensured stable federal laws and policies. /3

In fact, prominent political science research finds that the filibuster actually fuels polarization, both because it ensures policy decisions are driven by the extremes, and because legislative inaction shifts power to the executive. Here’s one example: cambridge.org/core/books/abs… /4

As many have argued, there are also many reasons this concern should not impede action to protect voting rights and save our democracy from being sabotaged. /5 usatoday.com/story/opinion/…

Here’s one that has gotten less attention: Ironically, the filibuster is being wielded to block the very reforms needed to fix our politics and make them *less* polarized. /6

The #FreedomToVoteAct addresses many of the root causes of polarization and would diminish it in ways that will be felt across our politics, including in the Senate. We can’t wait for polarization to go away on its own before passing the laws needed to diminish it. /7

Let’s start with gerrymandering. As most politicians know, gerrymandering pushes politics to the extremes. It eliminates competition and accountability. It ensures that only primary elections matter, not general elections. /8

Sadly, the gerrymandering this year is extreme and widespread—historically high levels of abuse. @mcpli lays it out in this memo (and in a forthcoming report). Congressional maps continue to be especially distorted. /9 brennancenter.org/sites/default/…

Even though the Senate isn’t subject to redistricting, it too is infected. By our count, 45 current senators were previously in the (gerrymandered, polarized) House. Some also served in state legislatures. /10

The #FreedomToVoteAct bans partisan gerrymandering. Period. It also ensures #fairmaps in other ways too. And together with the #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct, it would thwart discriminatory redistricting abuses. /11

Dark money, too, is polarizing. Research shows that dark money spending supports ideological extremes, and is driven by ideologically extreme megadonors. Here is one ex: escholarship.org/uc/item/8jr754… /12

The #FreedomToVoteAct reins in the dark money driving our angry and ideological politics. It is the strongest response to date to #CitizensUnited. /13

Of course, the biggest source of polarization--and main driver of vote suppression & election sabotage efforts--is the Big Lie, the relentless propaganda campaign to try to persuade a segment of the American public that the 2020 election was rigged & democracy illegitimate. /14

It has been alarmingly—and dangerously—successful, persuading a majority of Republicans that they can’t trust our elections. /15 washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/…

This Big Lie is fueling the massive wave of vote suppression laws across the country. brennancenter.org/our-work/resea… /16

It is fueling brazen attempts to reshape our laws and institutions to enable partisans to sabotage elections. /17 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…

It is fueling actual attacks on election workers nationwide just for doing their jobs making our elections work. /18 brennancenter.org/our-work/polic…

And it is a central element of a growing number political campaigns nationwide—especially in contests for election official and state executive positions. The @brennancenter is tracking those here: /19
brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…

These abuses, driven by the Big Lie, in turn fuel further polarization and mistrust—of elections, of government, and of Americans with different political views. /20

The #FreedomToVoteAct and the #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct would stop all of those abuses, along with the resulting descent into deeper polarization, division, and rancor. /21

As long as it is possible to manipulate and sabotage our elections, the effort to do so, and the campaign to discredit our democracy, will only grow. /22

By setting clear national standards for voting and elections and preventing attempts to overturn and sabotage them, the #FreedomToVoteAct addresses the campaign to discredit democracy. More here: brennancenter.org/freedom-vote-a… /23

By addressing these root causes of polarization, the #FreedomToVoteAct and the #VRAA will make it possible to bring about the very politics that will allow for civil discourse and bipartisan cooperation to move our nation forward. /24

If we don’t pass these bills (which unfortunately can only be accomplished on a party line vote given the hard line position taken by Senate Republicans), we may never get there. /25

There is nothing unusual about one party acting alone to fix democracy for all. As the @brennancenter’s @mawaldman lays out in @politico, “most of the time in U.S. history, voting rights were expanded by one party over the objections of the other.”
politico.com/news/magazine/… /26

The ultimate result will be a less polarized politics -- not to mention a saved democracy.