Shorter, sleazy CNN: The only way Republicans can win is to keep non-white voters from voting. CNN's John Harwood joined At This Hour host Kate Bolduan to allege that the GOP is suppressing the vote because it must to survive. Not only did he not provide evidence for his claim, he also admitted that allegations of voter suppression are really just get out the vote (GOTV) measures.
Bolduan wasted no time in declaring that the sky is falling. Her very first words on the Wednesday show were, "Hello everyone, I'm Kate Bolduan. Here are the top things we’re watching at this hour: democracy is under assault. President Biden vowing to fight back against Republican efforts to make it harder to vote."
She then reported that Vice President Harris will be leading the public effort to get HR/S1 passed and brought on Harwood to talk about. Harwood was forced to concede that Harris' efforts will be unsuccessful, "However, this is an extremely difficult assignment. One thing she can do is try to generate public pressure on the states attempting to constrain voting rights. We've seen in some cases, like in the state of Georgia, massive public pressure had an effect of somewhat moderating some of the provisions of that bill they enacted."
As for eliminating the Senate filibuster, "The chances of her getting ten Republican votes for that purpose are pretty much zero because Republicans today view it as critical to their survival to make it harder for non-white Americans to vote because they see that vote going strongly in the other direction and it's growing, where the white vote is shrinking."
The fact that West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is disinclined to make an exception to pass the bill, "suggests, Kate, that the ultimate step for Vice President Harris would be in 2022 to try to rally voters to overcome obstacles to voting."
Harwood then accidently told the truth when he declared that "We've seen in the past that when people believe their right to vote is being threatened, that motivates them to vote more. So, there's no guarantee that these Republican efforts are going to work at suppressing votes and or Vice President Harris, that may be where she can have the greatest impact."
Just once it would be nice if someone like Harwood could explain how being required to do basic things such as providing your driver's license number on your absentee ballot constitutes not just voter suppression, but racist voter suppression.
This segment was sponsored by Midas.
Here is a transcript for the June 2 show:
CNN
At This Hour with Kate Bolduan
11:00 AM ET
KATE BOLDUAN: Hello everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Here are the top things we’re watching at this hour: democracy is under assault. President Biden vowing to fight back against Republican efforts to make it harder to vote.
…
11:02 AM ET
JOHN HARWOOD: Well, in theory she's got an ability to get a lot done, Kate. She is a -- has a big platform as vice president. She is a former senator with relationships in that body, which is where the voting rights legislation is stalled, a former attorney general and popular throughout the Democratic Party. However, this is an extremely difficult assignment. One thing she can do is try to generate public pressure on the states attempting to constrain voting rights. We've seen in some cases, like in the state of Georgia, massive public pressure had an effect of somewhat moderating some of the provisions of that bill they enacted.
A second thing she can try to do is move the Senate. Now, to pass voting rights protections, it would take, without killing the filibuster, ten Republican votes. The chances of her getting ten Republican votes for that purpose are pretty much zero because Republicans today view it as critical to their survival to make it harder for non-white Americans to vote because they see that vote going strongly in the other direction and it's growing, where the white vote is shrinking. She could, in theory, try to move Joe Manchin to set aside the filibuster at least for this purpose, but Joe Manchin said he doesn't want to do that, he could change his mind, but he looks unalterably opposed at this moment. Which suggests, Kate, that the ultimate step for Vice President Harris would be in 2022 to try to rally voters to overcome obstacles to voting. We've seen in the past that when people believe their right to vote is being threatened, that motivates them to vote more. So, there's no guarantee that these Republican efforts are going to work at suppressing votes and or Vice President Harris, that may be where she can have the greatest impact.
