It’s downright refreshing, in a sick sort of way, whenever right-wingers commit candor and confess their most deeply held belief that democracy sucks because the wrong kind of people are allowed to vote.
A few weeks ago, for instance, conservative Arizona state lawmaker John Kavanaugh insisted that “everybody shouldn’t be voting…Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes.” The other day, Mississippi’s top election official, Republican Michael Watson, warned that America will “pay” a price if “woke college university students” flock en masse to the polls. In his words, “you got an uninformed citizen who may not be prepared and ready to vote.”
But the prize goes to Kevin Williamson, a commentator at the conservative National Review, whose latest piece is a veritable parody of anti-democratic elitism. I swear that these are his actual words:
It’s widely asserted “that having more people vote is a good thing. Why should we believe that? Why shouldn’t we believe the opposite? That the republic would be better served by having fewer – but better – voters?”
We Americans “act as though unqualified voters were just stars in the splendid constellation of democracy,” he scoffs. “That sounds like a wonderful thing…if you haven’t met the average American voter.” Hence we should “make voting somewhat more difficult for at least some part of the population.”
This mentality isn’t new, of course – for the past decade, Republicans and conservatives have been pining and pushing for vote suppression – but these foes of the universal franchise have become particularly unhinged lately, in the wake of the historically high turnout that ousted their fake god from power. Yes, “at least some part of the population” should be stopped from doing such a thing again, because clearly they are “unqualified” to vote.
It would’ve been helpful if Williamson had actually defined his terms a tad. Who exactly does not deserve to participate in the election process? When he disses “unqualified” people, when he disparages “the average American voter” as often “contentedly ignorant,” who is he talking about?
Take a wild guess. But I’ll give you a hint.
At one point he declares, out of the blue, that voters are lazy in Philadelphia, that they cast ballots but fail to exercise “responsible citizenship” – which “is why the Philadelphia city council has not been drowned in the Schuylkill River.” Frankly, I can’t follow his pretzel logic. But it doesn’t take a genius to recognize that “Philadelphia” is intended to be a synonym for Black people, the same racist con that Don tried during his failed coup, when he repeatedly spoke darkly about voters in “Philadelphia” and “Detroit.”
So Black people are deemed to be “unqualified?” As the old saying goes, history rhymes. That was how the old South rigged elections for the “better” people, by enforcing literacy tests.
Williamson says that since “voters got us into this mess” – he doesn’t define the mess – “maybe the answer isn’t more voters.” In his words, the solution is “fewer – but better – voters.” He doesn’t define “better,” but I think we all know what folks he’s talking about. The problem, of course, is that he doesn’t get to pick and choose. And I’ll readily admit that my criteria are very different from his. If we’re gonna play his game, here’s how I would do it, just for starters:
A “better” voter is someone who acknowledges that Joe Biden won the election fair and square.
A “better” voter is someone who acknowledges that human-triggered climate change is real.
A “better” voter is someone who acknowledges that masks slow the spread of Covid-19.
A “better” voter is someone who acknowledges that the border wall was never actually built.
A “better” voter is someone who acknowledges that Bill Gates isn’t trying to microchip humanity.
A “better” voter is someone who acknowledges that Antifa didn’t plot the Capitol insurrection.
A “better” voter is someone who is college-educated…but clearly that’s not Williamson’s definition either, because in the last election, 55 percent of college graduates voted for Biden.
So what we’re now getting, from these vote-suppressing conservatives, is some sort of reverse elitism – the apparent belief that “better” voters are white, dumb, and paranoid. What a blessing it is that we have the means to outflank them and to ensure, via a perpetually engaged and diverse electorate, that democracy can thrive.