As Democrats in the Senate “mark up” House Resolution 1 or S1 (Senate Bill 1) the so-called “For The People Act of 2021”, a massive federal usurpation of currently state legislated electoral laws, Republicans see this as the endgame of political warfare. Weakened as they are in Congress the GOP are preparing to mount a desperate defense of the Republic against a bill that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote is “tailormade to encourage voter fraud and ensure Democrats rule the Swamp for generations to come.”
The Associated Press reported a vague description of Republican leadership’s strategy,
“They plan to force dozens of politically difficult votes during a hearing Tuesday that will spotlight an increasingly charged national debate over access to the ballot.”
It is a given that the Senate GOP will filibuster this bill at every possible turn leading to extreme pressure from the left for Democrat “swing” votes Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to cast their crucial votes along with the Kamala Harris’ tie-breaker to overturn the Senate rules on the filibuster, limiting or eliminating the centuries old practice. This seems highly unlikely as it would be a politically near-fatal about face for Manchin in largely conservative West Virginia, he told Vox’s “if we get rid of the filibuster, we would lose the purpose of this democracy.” And Manchin is not the only Democrat who feels that way.
A Small Chance But One Republicans Can’t Take
This gutting and overhaul of the entire American Electoral system is the most clear and present, threat to the very existence of the Republican party since its’ inception just before the last civil war.
Arizona State Rep. John Kavanagh (R) succinctly explained the situation with remarkable clarity, he told CNN,
“Democrats value as many people as possible voting, and they’re willing to risk fraud. Republicans are more concerned about fraud, so we don’t mind putting security measures in that won’t let everybody vote — but everybody shouldn’t be voting.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Hans A. von Spakovsky wrote,
“If H.R. 1 is not stopped, then Americans may never be able to trust the fairness and credibility of future election outcomes. To assure the integrity of future elections, a far better approach is to prod states, which have primary constitutional responsibility for the administration of elections, to fix the holes in their election laws and rules to ensure both eligible voter access and ballot security. Those are the two essential principles of the election process and, unlike what the Left believes, you cannot have one without the other.”
A Declaration of Political Warfare
While Mr. von Spakovsky is quite right for the most part, he’s fatally flawed in one single statement. He said “Americans may never be able to trust the fairness and credibility of future election outcomes.” For a majority of Republicans, this is already true, we do not trust the fairness or credibility of our elections, we were wary before after the dubious re-election of President Obama, but the 2020 Election obliterated any remaining faith in the system.
Should H.R. 1/ S1 become law, many will be convinced that there is no longer any legal means for Republicans to exercise their rights. The Republic will be fatally broken and abandoned. The dissolution of the United States will become a certainty, the only question will be if it is a peaceful break-up, or actual warfare.
