Submitted by Richard Wolfram, Old Greenwich
Democracy once again is on the ballot. Not because of any systematic, material fraud or error in the November 2020 election – none was found, as 60 (!) lawsuits confirmed – but because some 370 Republicans running for the U.S. Senate and House, and the state offices of governor, secretary of state and attorney general around the country, “have questioned and, at times, outright denied the results of the 2020 election” (The New York Times, 10/15/22). These were the same ballots around the country, of course, on which a great many Republican candidates won their elections. So the doubts are logically absurd on their face.
But logic and overwhelming prior evidence just aren’t enough for these 370 candidates, and their supporters. Something else moves them. Donald Trump knows what it is, and he’s rekindling the flame of January 6th at every major whistle stop from coast to coast.
Meanwhile, last week the country saw stunning real-time, moment-to-moment video footage of members of Congress running for their lives, fruitlessly imploring the administration to stop the assault on our democracy, and then holding the line and proceeding with the orderly certification of electors – in the face of all efforts by the January 6th insurrectionists and the President of the United States himself to undermine that process. The video should be required viewing in every civics class in the country, to show just how close we came, how fragile our democracy is and what it may take to preserve it.
Nor have we closed the book on the crisis: some 138 Republican U.S. Representatives,
out of a total of approximately 210, and eight Republican Senators voted against certification
after the attack, yet they knew full well there were no honest grounds for their votes. And now,
potentially more dangerous, there are bills and already enacted laws from a number of
Republican-dominated statehouses injecting legislative oversight into previously non-partisan
election administration and even assuming legislative power to override the popular vote in
elections.
And to top it off, we now know that Trump himself privately acknowledged to staff that he lost, fair and square. But there we are. Some 370 Republican candidates – “the vast majority of Republicans running for these offices in November” (NYT) – still doubting the election. Why? Because they are in thrall to Donald Trump, who knowingly egged on the January 6th insurrectionists with his ‘Big Lie’, and because they (and no doubt many other down-ballot candidates) apparently fear the ‘base’ – unless they are the base – more than they are committed to the truth.
But wait. Trump, insurrectionists, a majority of Republican candidates for higher federal and state office around the country buying into the ‘Big Lie’ . . . what does all this have to do with us? After all, aren’t we, upstanding citizens of Greenwich and neighboring towns, more reasonable, moderate and insulated from all that? (‘Steady, sensible Nutmeggers?’ . . . – Not a great handle, but that’s the idea.)
It has everything to do with us. Democracy starts here; constitutional power flows up, not down. We confer power on our elected officials. But if we don’t select candidates based on their commitment to truth, reason and evidence, then we lose hold of our power and seed the destruction of our democracy. Not today, not tomorrow, but eventually, and bit by bit. So now, with the majority of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee reportedly drifting further and further into MAGA territory, leaving its traditional elements and members in the rear-view mirror, questioning whether they even belong anymore, we have to ask: where do our Republican candidates for local and statewide office stand on this question? Do they share the doubts and even denialism of those 370-plus Republican candidates and (reportedly) a significant percentage of Republicans in the country?
This should be a qualifying criterion – yes, a litmus test – for any candidate for office, including state representative and senator. If we can’t get a straight, unqualified answer – and there is only one right answer, with no hemming and hawing – then what confidence can or should we have that we’ll get truth, reason and evidence-based lawmaking from those candidates if they’re elected? This is a predicate question for qualification and everything else – every other issue – pales in comparison.
It wasn’t indifference that righted our ship of state after being attacked, under the approving eye of Donald Trump, on January 6th. And indifference won’t right it now, as it faces assault this time from a dishonest pack of ‘suits’. It’s not someone else’s job; it’s our job to keep watch and ensure our ship sails on. “Have we got a republic or a monarchy,”the lady asked Ben Franklin. “A republic,” he replied, “but only if we can keep it.”
So ask them. Quick. And talk among yourselves.
NOTE: The deadline to submit letters to the editor for the Nov 8 election is Nov 1 at 12:00 noon.