The Other Big Lie 🤥

It is super naughty of former President Donald John Trump to keep throwing bones to conspiracy theorists who believe the election was stolen. It’s also naughty that states with Republican lead legislatures are using false claims of fraud to try to manipulate voting laws to give them an advantage in edge cases – you know when the election is 49-49 or something close to that.

The thing is that throwing an election in an edge case is just that – maybe a subversion of democracy but hardly a big one or a novel things. Incumbents have long used their lawmaking powers and disbursement of public funds to enhance their chances of re-election. Elbridge Gerry was governor of Massachusetts a very long time ago. And it’s not like the lawmakers writing the laws to enhance their chances of re-election weren’t elected themselves.

Will we see the second coming of the Trumpster through election chicanery in 2024? It’s possible but he’ll still have to be quite popular and the Democratic nominee particularly weak leading to a very close election. Legal chicanery works but it’s not necessarily popular or giving of legitimacy.