There Are Two Fights to Save Democracy. Pay Attention to Both

Call it joy, call it a sugar high, call it a huge sigh of relief. Whatever you call it, there’s no doubt that that the Harris/Walz campaign has energized the political dynamic in America. The momentum at the moment is swinging the Democrats way. On the other side, the campaign to elect a convicted felon, child rapist, and doddering old dangerous fool is still trying to figure out how to run a campaign while keeping its candidate’s mouth shut.

At the moment it certainly feels like the enthusiasm will carry through to election day on November 5th. There’s certainly no guarantee of that, because as this last month or so has proven anything can happen. But in the short election cycle this has become, the chances are increasing. To make good on that rush of enthusiasm a lot of work has to happen, because as we all know the margins of victory in each and every state will matter, once the other side starts playing the games they’ve been plotting since Trump’s defeat in 2020.

While the work has to happen to ensure large victory margins, work also has to happen on what is sure to come following Election Day on November 5th. I hope you’re paying attention during this surge of relief, because the MAGAt folks have already laid significant ground work to do what they tried to do in 2020 and move the vote into the House of Representatives.

If that someone does happen, the MAGAts will be in the driver’s seat towards its goal of putting Trump back in the White House. Even though the Dems may win the House back, it doesn’t appear that they will control the majority of House delegations. And if this election gets tossed into the House each state gets one vote. 26 votes decides the presidency.

So, pay attention to articles like these from The Bulwark and Rolling Stone. I don’t want to dampen any enthusiasm or be negative amidst all of the joy, but this underhanded work is happening and in some places is even locked in.  Yes, the Democrats are working to prevent this, as this article points out, but keep in mind that timing and the calendar don’t work when you dealing with corrupt officials, judges, and Supreme Court justices who will try to use existing laws and constitutional provisions to further their goals.

Here’s hoping that this dangerous story moves beyond the pages of the publications above and all of the good work that Rachel Maddow is doing to highlight it on cable. This needs to be a talked about loudly and often in the months ahead, as much as we need to talk about voting and increasing margins.

We can’t say we haven’t been warned.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.