And like Wisconsin and Michigan. Republicans were voted out of the governorships and other statewide offices. But though also outvoted for state legislative seats, they kept majorities through extreme gerrymandering. And, Venezuela-like, used that legislative control to strip the incoming governors and other officials of key powers, grabbing those powers for themselves.
Politics is a hardball game. But this is something new — shredding the rules of the game as they’ve long been understood in democracies. A key element of democratic culture is honoring voter sovereignty, pluralism, and the legitimacy of opposition. When you lose an election, you accept it, bow out, and let the other side have its day.
But Republicans no longer believe in democracy. They only believe in their own power. They executed their power grabs in Michigan and Wisconsin, with hardly a fig leaf of justification, because they could. Likewise when they abused their U.S. Senate majority to steal a Supreme Court seat, something unprecedented in our history.
Blacks are primary targets. A lot of Republican election wins have actually been achieved by preventing many blacks (and members of other demographic groups) from voting. This was certainly true of Georgia’s gubernatorial election; maybe the 2016 presidential election too.
Despite these shameful tactics, most blacks in America still can vote. And what mystifies me is why their turnout is not virtually 100%.
Look again at 2016 and tell me voting doesn’t matter. America would be a completely different country today if all blacks able to vote in 2016 had done so. Probably if just 5% more had done so.