A recent public statement posted on Facebook by Nebraska US Senator Ben Sasse laid bare how President Trump’s extraordinary challenge of his election defeat by President-elect Joe Biden is becoming a defining moment for the Republican Party.
Senator Sasse’s statement was long, detailed, and systematically within reasoning; addressed to all Republicans, though chiefly to his constituency as he has been approached by many Nebraskans demanding that he joins Republican members of the House and the Senate that are going to object to counting the votes of some states that were won by Biden.
The Republican party had long lost its bearing but now they are running amock under no leadership and assaulted by opportunistic hopefuls who know that—as second parts are never good—a 2024 rerun of a Trump presidency is far fetched and are exploring chances for their political ambitions, offered by the immediate chaotic circumstances (rigged election) that Trump baselessly has created.
In the meantime, 81,283,485 who voted for Biden are on edge and distressed over the assault on our democratic process by those in power—President Trump and a list of co-conspiring enablers engaged in plots and intrigues and schemes to overturn the elections.
A lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch Trump ally, sought to sue Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Wisconsin, which all went for Biden, and invalidate their election results. The Supreme Court slapped down the case promoted by Trump on December 11, three days before the Electoral College met to cast votes for Biden as the winner of the November election.
Now Trump is eying the certification of the results by Congress as his next opportunity to overturn the result. A growing number of Republican lawmakers are joining the president’s effort, pledging to reject the results when Congress meets to count the Electoral College votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
It will fail. The process will inevitably end with Biden entering the White House on January 20. They know that, but they don’t care.
Trump’s allies—Senators Josh Hawley (Missouri), Ted Cruz (Texas), Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), James Lankford (Oklahoma), Steve Daines (Montana), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), and Mike Braun (Indiana). Senators-elect Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), Roger Marshall (Kansas), Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), and Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)—are siding with their political ambitions. 140+ House members will also vote against counting electoral votes. They represent the most sweeping effort to undo a presidential election outcome since the Civil War.
Nonpartisan election officials have concluded it was a free and fair vote. The Electoral College certified 306-232, favoring Biden.
Trump’s allies will lose once again next week. President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20th.
But their attempt will leave a long-lasting dent in our politics, worse than Trump’s baseless and ridiculous efforts. Trump will leave office but he will continue to have a tight hold on his party, most likely deciding with a single tweet the political fate or success of whoever wants to run for office. But these House Representatives and Senators will remain in office, legislating and deciding the fate or success of Americans’ everyday lives and future. They will object and deny the legitimacy of the Biden presidency, will roadblock Democrats’ legislations, and will wreak havoc on any bipartisan process in the next four years.
They are more dangerous to democracy than President Trump. Even worse because at least President Trump had an agenda; they only are driven by a “quick way to tap into the president’s populist base” to remain in power.
Their actions and absurd charade leave Americans more divided. They are making us differ in the basic ways America perceives and frames myriad aspects of practicing democracy, leaving the door open to political payback and unfettered crony governing on every term moving forward.
The pressure to retaliate is immense. Politicians seem to barely live in the same country. The parties today have arrived at a point where they would argue that bad experiences with elections at the hands of their opponents are what’s making politics so fraught.
So, where do the American people stand, including the 74,223,744 (46.9%) eligible voters that voted for Trump?
It was a free and fair vote for Biden, Trump should concede, and those Republicans, seemingly in revolt, should desist to fracture our institutions and defend the principles of federalism and the need for people to be engaged at the state and local level in the way they conduct elections, not as a mandate from Washington.
Hopefully, come January 20th, President-elect Biden (then, President Joe Biden) will bring the country back together as the president for those who voted for him, as well as those who did not vote for him; where Americans don’t look at each other as enemies but rather have real discussions of legitimate different points of views with a civil tone which is not what we currently have.
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Trump’s challenge dangerous but a defining moment for the Republican Party
