The Corruption Is Transparent

The video below indicates as minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives Stacey Abrams did relatively little to promote progressive values. Moreover, she appears to be just the vice-president a Democrat would not want negotiating with a senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.

However, after leaving the state legislature and losing an extremely close gubernatorial race, Abrams founded Fair Fight 2020 to combat GOP voter suppression efforts. And she can been in the puff interview below noting (at :53)

Voting rights serves as the conduit to which all other change is possible. You cannot tackle economic insecurity, you cannot fight for better climate change legislation, you cannot protect access to criminal justice reform.The things we want to see become real become so because of voting.

So if any politician had made the following statement before Donald Trump swallowed the Republican Party, it would be his most significant lie. And for this President, still in the top 10% is his tweet (since deleted)

Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!..

This didn't go unnoticed:

1. Michigan sending absentee ballot applications not ballots to voters

2. @JocelynBenson one of best Secretaries of State in country & has authorization to do so

3. Threatening to block funding to sway election outcome exactly what Trump impeached for https://t.co/okDRAgc6uV

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) May 20, 2020

Not deleted, however, is

State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45 @USTreasury

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020

Obviously, Trump is setting the predicate for declaring that his defeat (if it occurs) in November is a "rigged election"- and worse.  The armed mobs supporting him will follow.

Not quite as obvious is the more immediate motive.   The President is sending a message about mail balloting to secretaries of state throughout the USA. Do it my way, he screams, or your state can forget about receiving funds from the federal government- not unlike his message to Ukraine.

The American people are deeply cynical about government, one of the reasons they didn't resoundingly throw Donald Trump onto the ash heap of history, or back to the gutter he came from, when he shot his mouth off about the upcoming 2016 election being "rigged."  Organizations like those of Abrams and Eric Holder's National Redistricting Foundation should be supplemented by a narrative which would serve to counter Trump's continuing project to portray himself (and his party) as a victim.

It's not sufficient for Democrats to insist they believe in democracy and access to the ballot box.  the incumbent is intent on stealing the election, they should argue.  That would not only be a reasonably effective counter-narrative; it also would be accurate. Donald Trump has told us so.

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