I read all of Robert Caro a number of years ago. No better biography written.
So when I hear Portman, LaRose, Romney and others oppose the “federal takeover” of voting rights, I knew it sounded familiar.
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Indeed, that was the precise framing used by the Southern segregationists dedicated to stopping any and all civil rights legislation…but who knew they could no longer appeal to openly racist sentiments as their forerunners had
So they always grounded their obstruction…
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in the less charged narrative of a “federal takeover;” a takeover by outsiders; that the problems were already being solved within the states with no need for “federal interference.”
(And we know that those problems were NOT being solved)
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By eschewing the racist rhetoric of Southern predecessors, the “federal takeover” frame also made it easier for non-southern allies to join the cause of stopping civil rights legislation from passing.
It was a “vastly more effective” strategy.
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But as Caro points out, the impact was the same.
Those decades of obstruction rendered a cost on the Black citizens of the South in particular…a cost of “tears and plain and blood,” as even anti-lynching laws didn’t pass
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So as you hear “genteel” politicians of today throw around the term “federal takeover” as they oppose voting rights, but praise MLK, know that they are not only taking the 30s-60s segregationists’ side, they are adopting the most effective play from that segregation playbook
END
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A telling thing happened yesterday. Donald Trump figured out that Project 2025 is toxic. So he’s trying to distance himself.
But as numerous commentators noted, that’s an impossible task. He IS Project 2025.
BUT…
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…if he’s this desperate, it means we’re on the right track. Amid a chaotic election, making the horrors of Trump’s and Project 2025’s promises as real as possible for Americans is a key step toward victory.
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Which is why I started writing “2025” last month—to break it down to everyday lives.
To make it real—because that’s often how people best understand things, as opposed to facts and figures and talking points…
Same reason this image did. Maybe the most memorable moment from any of Trump’s State of the Union speeches.
Why so impactful?
It was a strong leader standing up to a bully. Fearlessly.
Owning an adversary. So much that he still incoherently rambles about her today.
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And according to a provocative new book by Steven Fish, that simple act and style of leadership is as important as anything we can do as we battle to save our democracy.
Yesterday, I wrote that amid disturbing Court decisions and dysfunctional debates, we MUST keep moving forward to lift democracy at all levels, & everywhere.
The battle never stops—so if we stop, democracy loses.
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And moving forward to protect democracy is exactly what Ohioans are doing this week….
No more than two hours after Monday’s outrageous Supreme Court decision, U-Haul trucks pulled up to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
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And what were they hauling?
Pages and pages of petitions.
Enough pages to hold 731,000(!) Ohio signatures, which represent 731,000 Ohio voters demanding that we fire the politicians from the districting process, and replace them with citizens…
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In my Voting Rights Academy, I highlight some of the worst cases in American history.
Many came down in the late 1800s and early 1900s, protecting actions by Southern white supremacists…
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..as they overran Reconstruction and destroyed a new, diverse democracy just as it was emerging in the South.
From the stunning decision that allowed those guilty of racist political violence to face zero accountability, to the maddening decision…
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that found blatantly racist voter suppression to be immune even from court challenge by wronged Black voters, these and other cases systematically dismantled the new protections of the post-Civil War amendments.
One of the most consistent and self-defeating patterns of the past 9 years is that politicians/foes in both parties, the media, the DOJ, courts & others all fail to take the threat from Trump as seriously as they should.
They think he’ll go away.
Or stop.
Or that
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…there are some things he won’t do to advance his cause or protect himself.
Usually, it’s been that misjudgment of him that has led to mistakes:
It’s why some didn’t vote for impeachment. Or start investigating him as soon as Jan. 6 happened—they thought he’d go away.
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It’s why some support him even when they know how awful he is…they think that’ll put them in a good place in the long run, without seeing that no matter what you do, he’ll turn on you when he wants or needs to
Ask Frank LaRose or Jane Timken about that. Or Pence. Or all..
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