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Few onlookers applauding Joe Biden could have questioned the sincerity of his warning of a capital threat to American democracy.
But they may have walked away with lingering doubts about its ability to cope with the present moment or respond to fears that even the presidency’s office was deemed politically powerless in the face of the challenge.
“We are facing the most important test of our democracy since the Civil War,” Biden said in a speech Tuesday in Philadelphia, recalling the mid-19th century conflict that claimed more than 600,000 lives. “The Confederates at the time never broke through the Capitol like the insurgents did on January 6.”
The President pointedly added, “I am not saying this to alarm you; I say this because you should be alarmed.
Yet while Biden has been praised by voting rights activists for correctly diagnosing the disease, albeit a bit late, he has been criticized for not offering a cure. He concluded his 24-minute speech with the exhortation “We must act! But did not provide a battle plan.
What is at stake are the basic principles of democracy: who can vote, how to exercise that right, and who decides which vote counts. Since Biden’s victory over Donald Trump last November – an outcome Trump and many Republicans refuse to accept, citing false allegations of fraud – this right has been the subject of a coordinated and relentless assault like never before in modern times.
This year, 17 states enacted 28 new laws to make voting more difficult. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, nearly 400 voter suppression bills have been introduced in 48 states.
There are measures aimed at reversing the expansion of postal voting that was put in place in the 2020 elections due to the coronavirus pandemic. Others are trying to tighten voter identification requirements, reduce the times and locations of early voting and ballot depositing, or increase the risk that voters will be intimidated by poll observers.
Activists say people of color, young people and the poor would be the biggest losers. These groups are generally more likely to vote Democrat than Republican. Civil rights leaders met Biden at the White House earlier this month and appear to have convinced him that “Jim Crow’s assault in the 21st century is real,” as he said on Tuesday.
The speech in Philadelphia, cradle of American democracy, was “a good first step”, according to Chris Scott, political leader of the Democracy for America group. “I think that’s what a lot of us, especially in the progressive movement, have been calling for,” he said.
“The part that really stood out to me was invoking Congressman John Lewis and saying, ‘Freedom is not a state; it is an act. And that’s why I say the speech is the first part, but we ask him to take action on it. “
Never once in his remarks did Biden mention Washington DC’s version of the F-word: obstruction. This obscure rule of procedure in the Senate allows the minority to block debate on legislation. Last month, Republicans used filibuster to block the For the People Act, which would create national voting standards that could prevent some of the restrictions imposed by the Red States.
Former President Barack Obama called the filibuster a “relic of Jim Crow”, in reference to his long history of thwarting civil rights legislation. Biden, who served in the Senate for 36 years, could push for its abolition or reform from his bully chair and by privately pleading the case to skeptical Democratic senators such as Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of ‘Arizona.
Scott continued, “We can’t push through meaningful reforms while we still have this obstruction in place and so one of the biggest issues is seeing him being able to have the capacity of some of his predecessors. I think of Lyndon B Johnson and how he was able to use his experience in the United States Senate to get members of his own party to line up.
“When we have members like Joe Manchin, like Kyrsten Sinema, we have to get them to line up because what we’re seeing is Mitch McConnell doing what he does best. Whether or not he is the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader, he always finds a way to cuff any progress we really want to make.
Fears were expressed during the Democratic primary campaign that Biden was a boxer, not a fighter, whose faith in an era of political chivalry and two-party politics is ill-suited to the bloodthirsty sport of the Trump era. On Tuesday he called for both the For the People Act – “a national imperative” – and the John Lewis Advancement of Voting Rights Act to be passed, but both appear doomed to fail. under current Senate rules.
In an interview with Reuters news agency after the speech, civil rights leader Al Sharpton pointed out that Biden had not mentioned the filibuster, adding that he had just spoken to the president. “And he said to me earlier, ‘Al, we’re still working on what we’re going to do with it.’ He is not yet engaged.
Biden’s passivity on the issue has been highlighted by more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who abruptly left Texas in an attempt to derail Republicans’ efforts to enact voting restrictions in the state. The group came to Washington, gave impassioned speeches outside the United States Capitol and met with Kamala Harris, the vice president who leads the White House’s efforts on voting rights.
Leah Greenberg, Co-Executive Director of the Progressive People’s Movement Indivisible, said: “This is inspiring, this is exactly what should happen. Everyone in the country should watch what they’re doing and ask themselves, how can I fight so hard for the franchise as these Texas Democrats are doing?
“First, they are delaying the legislative process, but second, they are taking a stand and leading this fight in Washington and asking for help from the federal government and now it’s up to all of us to come on board. “
Greenberg also urged Democrats to be equally aggressive about filibuster. “Both Manchin and Sinema, while they are clear that they will not abolish the filibuster, have both had discussions in the past about its reform in an attempt to bring it back to its true purpose, from l ‘systematic obstruction of things like eliminating quorum limits. down over time.
“These are the kinds of things the Democratic caucus should be talking about, because the idea that we are basically going to leave our democracy unprotected because of this legislative loophole in the late 1700s is just absurd.”
She added: “Basically President Biden could say it out loud. He hasn’t even called for reform yet, so for him to say, “I’m doing all I can” when he hasn’t even literally called for any legislative reform that would be necessary to pass the law to. the people just don’t pass the smell test.
Some Democrats are looking for creative ways to break the deadlock. James Clyburn, the House majority whip, has suggested creating a filibuster exception for legislation applicable to election law or other constitutional changes, which would give Democrats a way to pass their Bills on the right to vote with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes. .
Clyburn, who arguably did more than anyone to secure Biden’s victory in the Democratic primary, told reporters on Wednesday: “I think President Biden should weigh in. All I want him to do is express support. “
Biden also argued that legislation is not the only tool, noting that the Justice Department will challenge the onslaught of voting rights restrictions and focus on dismantling racially discriminatory laws. Such an intervention is already underway in Georgia.
But the issue continues to threaten Democratic unity and shine a light on the limitations of the presidency – or the man who currently holds that office. Adam Jentleson, executive director of the Battle Born Collective lobby group, said in a statement: “Regarding voting rights, President Joe Biden is unable to meet at the moment.
“There is a big gap between his rhetoric and his leadership. In his speech, he described the Tory assault on our democracy as an existential threat, but he refused to endorse the obvious solution, which is to pass voting rights legislation and filibuster reform to do so. , if necessary.
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