Voter Suppression is a direct threat to democracy in the US, Blow’s article states the need for the President to lead.
First, the No. 1 enemy to our democracy at this point is the Republican Party. It is Republicans at the state level who are proposing and passing regressive voting laws that will disenfranchise primarily voters of color and disempower local election boards. And it is Republicans in Congress who refuse to help defend voting rights. They want a different electorate, less Black and more beige.
Second, the president is not a member of Congress. He has no vote there. He can’t single-handedly alter any congressional policy beyond the veto.
Yet for all that, it is still important to recognize that Biden has consciously chosen not to use the full force of the bully pulpit to explicitly and repeatedly call for the protection of voting rights — and therefore our democracy — by any and all means necessary, including the elimination of the filibuster.
The primary role of our President must be in the protection of democracy, all else pales into insignificance.
Biden wants to be the Robin Hood of the working class, a swashbuckling blue-collar savior. He wants to go down in history as the president who rebuilt America. In that grand vision, risking it all to save voting access for Black people comes up short. It’s a nuisance, a horrible inconvenience.
Black people gave all to save Joe Biden’s candidacy, but Joe Biden refused to give all to protect their right to vote. Reciprocity is not compulsory.
I will note without the “Black Vote” especially “Black Women” then the mid-terms next year will be a disaster. Biden cannot let this one just play out, he needs to get with it. Mr President, you are risking an even more obstructionist and vicious congress next year. Republicans are not your friends, they are the enemies to all you hold dear.
