There’s an old saying every Presidential year – as Ohio goes so goes the nation. Not actually true of course because sometimes (like in 2020) Ohio goes for a P.O.S. like Trump who LOSES the Presidential race. However, as some TV news personalities loved to harp on when the state was more of a swing state than the red state it’s become “No Republilcan has ever won the WH without winning Ohio.” In any case, it’s considered by many to be something of a bellweather and not just on the Presidency.
As you know there was a ballot initiative in Ohio during the “off year elections” that got approved, enshrining abortion/reproductive rights into the state’s Constitution. Just as in every other state where the voters had a chance to tell their conservative legislators using the Dobbs decision to restrict/ban abortion to stick it where the sun don’t shine the people of Ohio joined the national chorus. Actually, voters in Ohio had to tell their Republicans TWICE as the GOP tried to pull a fast one last August by changing the rules for ballot initiatives to prevent the abortion/reproductive rights amendment from being voted on! So, by a quite strong (well into double digits) Ohioans TWICE told the GOP to back off on taking away abortion and reproductive rights.
GOPers in Ohio, especially their legislators are all pissy about it. That’s the problem they and their compatriots in other red states have with ballot initiatives. Sure, they can grab and hold power by gerrymandering the hell out of legislative districts (both state and Congressional) but they can’t gerrymander an entire state to control the laws or their state’s constitution! So, being what modern Republicans have become they are getting all fascist and figuring out ways to impose their draconian views by “working around” the new Ohio Constitutional Amendment.
This is part of a disturbing and frankly frightening trend that’s gaining steam around the country. Raw Story has published an article that examines this trend and right at the beginning it makes the point:
If you’re worried about the state of the nation, welcome to the club. For at least a decade, a number of troubling signs have emerged which raise questions about the health of the American republic. Make no mistake. The warning indicator sensor light is indeed flashing red.
It goes on to list the indicators such as (blatant) gerrymandering, the appalling practice where politicians pick their voters instead of voters picking their elected leaders. And other things like voter restrictions (cutting precincts in selected as in Democratic areas, voter ID laws, etc.) and voter roll purges. Republicans are getting even sneakier on that last one and Ohio just provided an example. They purged tens of thousands of voters without proper process so late most weren’t able to re-register in time to vote in this latest election! Another state did the same and that my friends will be something to look out for next year. I sure as hell hope the DNC and state Democratic Parties are on top of this one and educating the hell out of voters to watch for this very tactic to be used against them.
The entire article is worth a read. I say this with increasing frequency but the fact is the fictional President Sheppard in The American President had it exactly right in that epic press conference at the end when he says “America is advanced citizenship. You’ve got to want it bad because Democracy is gonna put up a fight.” Okay, so he uses free speech as an example but voter suppression works just as well in the context of what he says. And regarding the free speech he cites, a new tactic of disinformation that thanks to social media has been weaponized, and a mainstream media too weak to forcefully call it out could kill the American experiment too.
As the authors note this all got unleashed with two awful, tragic SCOTUS decisions. Citizen’s United flooded our politics with dark money. Shelby County v Holder gutted the Voting Rights Act. While the immediate effects were in the southern states that prompted the passage of the VRA in other places conservatives have, thanks to Citizen’s United spent vast sums to spread voter suppression and the other tactics nationwide.
Our weapon? Being informed! Taking the time to learn what’s happening. Making sure to pay attention to what people say (and hard core RWNJ are increasingly open about what they intend) but as Rachel Maddow likes to emphasize “Watch what they DO.” In Ohio, what they are saying is that they are going to find ways to restrict reproductive rights, especially abortion no matter what their state Constitution now says. And that’s not the only issue they are ignoring their Constitution on.
That’s why I keep saying to take a bit of time and read certain articles. So you can be forewarned on what conservatives are up to and find ways to pitch in and block their efforts. When after that Ohio vote I started reading about Republicans there talking about how they can get away with ignoring the clear will of their voters, I couldn’t help but think back to election night in 2008. It was an uncharacteristically warm night in Chicago but I’m sure Grant Park would have been packed even if it was thirty degrees and the wind had been howling off Lake Michigan. (It’s brutal if you’ve never experienced it!)
There was every reason to celebrate the moment. Yet President-Elect Obama tried to offer a warning. He said the real work was just beginning. That the other side wasn’t giving up or going away and that a LOT of hard work would be needed and for a very long time (if not always) to build the victory into the real change people had voted for. However, people didn’t pay heed. Both in 2010 with the creation of the Tea Party and then when Trump came on the political scene in 2015 people didn’t take the threats seriously enough.
However, as the blocked quote at the beginning of this say the red lights are flashing. Read. Listen to the journalists we can trust. Yes, it’s work and in the day-to-day hassles of life it can be HARD work sometimes to keep up-to-date and well informed. The only (slightly) good news is that increasingly those in the GOP with fascist traits and intentions are more open about what they intend to do with power. Ohio isn’t the only place where Republicans have decided the will of the voters doesn’t matter. Look around the country and you see it in lots of states. And as I just said they are increasingly clear about ignoring what the public wants and will do what THEY damn well please. Gutting public education, gutting public services (Medicaid, food stamps, school lunches etc. – the list goes on) and taking way rights – like abortion and family planning!
TAKEÂ THEMÂ ATÂ THEIRÂ WORD! And, even if it doesn’t seem like much do what you can to inform others, to get out the vote. And at the very least make sure you vote, for DEMOCRATS yourself.
In a very recent election, I saw on TV, where the polls in Georgia had run out of ballots. They were sent small numbers of new ballots. It appears to be another way to suppress the vote, besides purging the rolls.
It happened in Hines County Mississippi last week. That’s where Jackson, the largest city and the most populated county in MI is. Democratic officials shouldered the blame BUT a deeper dive reveals the issue was polling places not having the requisite ballots on hand to serve voters from various precincts with different local races (school boards, commissioners of various agencies no one hears of until election day, etc.). That problem wouldn’t exist if areas with heavy concentrations of Democrats had the number of polling places they should have! But eliminating (or as GOPers put it “consolidating”) precincts is became a stock voter suppression tactic. It creates long, loooooong lines and also this. Funny how in Republican areas people usually park, check in, vote and be back in their cars in 15-20 minutes, a half-hour tops isn’t it?
Still despite huge turnout statewide the MI race was lost before the voting started. Presley was poised to make a serious run and did, BUT he was on the wrong side of THE issue that could have and would have likely pushed him over the top and to victory. He’s anti-abortion! That cost him not only in counties with high proportions of black voters, but in other counties as well. Counties where he still would have lost to “Tater-Head” Reeves but not by as much. A look at Kentucky shows how this can work.
It IS possible for a pro-life Democrat to win a statewide election, as Bob Casey has proven in PA. However, Casey long ago clearly defined himself as being personally against abortion but doesn’t believe the govt. should deny anyone the right to make their own choice. Presley might have done that in MI but instead he tried to be a “GOP-Lite” candidate and like so many before him lost. Because voters almost always prefer the “real deal” instead of the watered down version.
I think you meant to write MS for Mississippi – MI is the postal code abbreviation for Michigan.
Ohioans need to do themselves a solid and get rid of every ‘pube in their state legislature and in congress. These pols have told the voters they do not give a happy rat’s ass what they want-the ‘pubes pols will rule and that’s that.
DEP TATE