I really don’t like Republican political tactics. With very few exceptions, the tactics they employ are shady, conniving, and unscrupulous.
Dealing with issues like the birther conspiracy, Whitewater, Benghazi, the Iraq War, and the blocking of the Merrick Garland Supreme Court nomination have no doubt been difficult to endure. In my view, however, no issue is as important as protecting our right to vote. Democracy is predicated on this right. Without fair and free elections, a government is no longer a democracy.
As most of you know, Republican controlled states like Texas, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Iowa (among many other states) have passed strict voter suppression laws as a result of Trump’s 2020 election loss. Some of the more common of these laws include the following: early voting period restrictions, reductions in polling places, excessive voter registration purges, student voting restrictions, complicated absentee ballot requirements, and long lines in minority dense voting precincts. This is just a short list, however. Texas has managed to pass a grand total of 59 such voter suppression laws.
Most of the reaction I’ve experienced as a result of this attack on our voting rights has been that of disbelief, outrage, and horror. And rightly so. This relentless assault on our voting rights demands nothing less.than our indignation.
But indignation is not enough. Such assaults on our democracy require a swift and powerful counter-response. As the adage goes, it is ill advised to bring knives to a gunfight, It’s much better to bring tanks.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to fight back against voter suppression is through the control of college football recruiting. I am not kidding. Most progressives, liberals, and Democratic party types have little to no comprehension of the outsized, all encompassing power that college football has on the southern, and by obvious extension, conservative Republican, psyche.
Football is religion to the people in the South. These southern college fans are hard core Republicans. They are hard core Trumpist. But believe it or not, if it came down to a choice between a national championship for their college football team or a Trump presidential victory in 2024 – they would choose their college football team without hesitation. (I know that many of you don’t believe this, but I know that a couple of you closet college football fans will corroborate this fact in the comments below.)
That said, it is important to note that the vast majority of the best college football teams come from the south – teams like Alabama, Georgia, Texas, LSU, Florida, Clemson. The main reason is not because they have the best coaching, facilities, or fan support. The reason why teams from the deep south out-compete teams from other parts of the country is simply due to the fact that they recruit the most talented athletes out of high school. These athletes are commonly referred to as four or five star recruits.
Can you imagine how bat shit crazy these fans would get if one of their five star high school football recruits decommitted from Texas, Georgia, or Alabama because they are located in states with stringent voter suppression laws? I certainly can. If just one five star recruit made such a move, that decision would make national news – not just national sports news, but national political news.
A disproportionate percentage of top high school football recruits come from demographic groups that are the targets of Republican voter suppression efforts. Convincing such athletes to consider other scholarship options should not be difficult. Current rosters in the NFL are full of players that attended schools throughout the country.
This idea of encouraging top high school football players to attend colleges outside the deep south has been percolating in my brain for several years. I think it’s an endeavor worth pursuing.