While Take Back Our Republic Action Fund does not endorse candidates, some of our team is on unpaid leave working to win November 8 elections. Our team members have won a lot of races, in my case a 191-17 winning record in ballot referenda, a 17-6 record in nominations (including a primary win this year), and legislative takeovers in the three states in which I lived before my return to Wisconsin last year.
As a 501c4, we do not post about candidates our team members are helping. Rather, this blog is about the two biggest ironies we see on the campaign trail this year.
Irony 1 - You can’t “Save Our Democracy” When the Constitution Gave Us a Republic
As the election approaches, you will notice from the card above and our website that we are returning to using our full name - “Take Back Our Republic Action Fund” - rather than the shortened “Take Back Action Fund.” This was partially in response to the campaign signs we are seeing everywhere stating that people should vote to “Save Our Democracy.”
We are glad patriotic Americans realize what a great system was created in the US, and we want to save it, but the word “democracy'' is not even mentioned in the Constitution. Rather Article IV, Section 4 clearly states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government…”
We encourage any voter with a “Save Our Democracy” sign in their yard to replace it with a “Take Back Our Republic” sign.
Irony 2 - Strongest Opponents of Alaska-style Final 5 are Endangered Nevada Democrats
The second irony is some Republican opposition to the Final Five system that top Democrats unsuccessfully sued to stop in Nevada.
In 2020, voters in Republican Alaska chose a system similar to what we call “Final Five,” with the top few candidates advancing from a traditional vote with all parties on the ballot and then being ranked by voters to ensure it took a majority to pick a candidate. Alaska, a Republican State, changed to this system after a similar system enabled Virginia Republicans to elect the first Republican Governor in years, Glenn Youngkin. An AARP poll indicates right now two Republicans could tie in the November Senate race with 50 percent of the vote, so it will produce a Republican US Senator.
In the Alaska Congressional race, despite unfavorable ratings above 50 percent from 2010 through the present, the system almost saved Sarah Palin - who lost the traditional vote in a recent special election by 9-points but closed the gap under the new system to a 3-point loss.
Democrats immediately realized the threat the system posed, and reacted in a panic. As reported in the Nevada Independent, the legal attempt to deny voters the right to even choose whether they wanted the new system was led by, “prominent Democratic officials in Nevada, including Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, have also voiced staunch opposition to ranked-choice voting in recent weeks.”
The reason they are so desperate to stop the system is clear: they count on spoiler candidates to take votes away from the Republicans and let Democrats win without a majority of the vote. Masto and Sisolak have averaged 42% and 44% in their last three polls, but Sisolak is hoping to maintain power the same way Democratic Senator Harry Reid did - with a Libertarian candidate splitting the Republican vote.
Luckily, the Democrats failed to prevent Nevadans from choosing whether they wanted the system, and it has a chance to pass along with a Republican Senator and Governor being elected to flip Nevada. A public poll shows 42 percent support the new voting system, while 27 percent oppose it. While we are not involved in the race, we know that the NO side always has the advantage down the stretch if its spends money to confuse the issue - but if Democratic donors are so tied up trying to save Masto and Sisolak, hopefully Nevada can join Alaska in making this improvement, and other states will follow.
Hopefully Nevada’s Top 4 ballot measure passes, and newly elected officials can also tackle the worst ballot security laws in the country - which as we told the New York Times in 2020 included mailing live ballots to everyone on voter roles that had not been cleaned for people who moved and were no longer at the house to see the ballot come in the mail.
Like Baseball, Campaign Under Current Rules, Change them in the Offseason
On November 9, our team members will return from political campaigns to focus back on fixing “the rules of the game.” Until then, the next 39 days the focus is on winning elections under the current rules.
You don’t change the rules of a game or election while the competition is underway. Baseball is changing rules to speed up the game, giving pitchers only 20 seconds to throw a pitch, requiring two infielders on each side of second base with both feet on the dirt, and increasing base sizes in addition to moving them closer together to encourage attempting to steal bases again. But the rules didn’t change during the season; players are using the old rules through the World Series.
After the candidate victory parties on November 8, it will be time to address election rules. The country cannot go through its third straight Presidential election in which 38 percent do not believe the President was legitimately elected.
Remember to vote, and after the votes are counted, join Take Back Our Republic Action Fund to improve the rules to make the 2024 elections better.
For more on TBORA's efforts on election integrity, please click here.
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