Editorial from the Washington Post:
"Thousands of voting rights demonstrators who gathered in Washington recently seemed to have something to celebrate: The House had just passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, an update to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, but the mood was not celebratory. One of two major voting bills lacking Republican support, the bill attracted no GOP votes and faces long odds in the Senate, a sign of how far the party has fallen on fundamental matters of democracy. [snip]
Republicans across the country have bet that fewer voters, particularly voters of color, means better fortunes for their party. This year alone, over a dozen GOP-led states have enacted more than 30 laws restricting voting, largely justified by the mythology of rampant voter fraud.
Democrats should not give up on the John Lewis Act. They should merge it with other provisions designed to promote fairness at the ballot box, such as universal voter registration, protections for absentee voters, standards to guard against rampant gerrymandering and restrictions on partisan interference with vote counting. They should dare Republicans to vote down a package that unambiguously enhances democracy, with no extraneous measures. If Republicans continue to unify against it, they should consider ways to reform the filibuster rule blocking urgent democracy reform." (our emphasis)
Dems could double dog dare Republicans to drop their opposition and it wouldn't work, since they view their future as dependent on voter suppression and gerrymandering. So it's clear that dropping the filibuster rule has to be the next step. It's been dropped for Supreme Court appointments, courtesy of Sen. "Moscow Mitch" McConnell (Secession-KY), and it has to be dropped for legislation involving the most fundamental right in our democratic republic: the right of the people to select their leaders. The House passed the legislation on August 24 without a single Republican vote, moving it to the Senate. As has been noted before (e.g., here and "plan B" here) it's questionable whether Dems and the White House have the stomach and spine for a fight in the Senate. We need to make our votes for them contingent on their support for the bill.
