On Monday, writing for MSNBC, columnist Hayes Brown outlined the real reason Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has suggested he is open to reforming the Electoral Count Act, the law that pro-Trump figures were hoping to use to force former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The whole thing, Brown warned, is a "poison pill" to end discussion of more important reforms.
"McConnell’s modus operandi throughout his years in the Senate has been to block, stymie and otherwise subvert changes to federal election law that he believes would disadvantage Republicans," wrote Brown. "In his view, anything beyond the status quo — whether it’s more transparent elections or easier voter participation — must be treated as a partisan attack and defeated."
"So why, then, is McConnell showing his willingness to take up reforms to the Electoral Count Act?" wrote Brown. "Because he knows that offering the chance for a bipartisan win is tempting to many moderate Democrats. A stand-alone bill on the Electoral Count Act could sap the unified Democratic support for the Freedom to Vote Act. Moreover, that kind of bipartisan cooperation would also likely undercut any momentum toward reforming the filibuster to carve out an exception for voting rights, leaving red states free to make the ballot box as inaccessible as possible."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), noted Brown, is not falling for the ploy, calling McConnell's offer "unacceptable" and "offensive." But if only one Democrat turns away from the pending voting rights bills and the Senate rule changes to pass them as a result of McConnell's offer, he has succeeded.
"It’s up to Schumer to make sure that nobody breaks ranks in the name of a short-term victory," Brown warned.
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