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Voting By Mail: Good Enough for Trump, Good for All Americans

Donald Trump’s statement that making voting easier would mean “You’d never have a Republican elected in this country again” should be all the reason you need to support voting by mail and other measures to expand voting access.

But let’s set aside partisan ribbing and play by honest debate rules. Donald Trump loses the debate on whether voting by mail is good policy by his simple failure to act consistently with his words:

At his Tuesday circus-like press briefing, ostensibly about the coronavirus crisis, a reporter pressed him on his opposition to voting by mail. While he declared categorically that voting by mail is bad, the reporter pointed out that he, in fact, votes by mail.

Trump had no coherent response.

“I think mail-in voting is horrible. It’s corrupt!” he said.

“But you voted by mail in Florida’s election last month, didn’t you?” a reporter asked.

“Sure! I can vote by mail,” Trump said, refusing to recognize his contradiction.

“How do you reconcile that?” the reporter responded.

“Because I’m allowed to!” Trump shot back. Of course, the whole question at issue is whether everyone should be allowed to vote by mail. “You know why I voted? Because I happen to be in the White House, and I won’t be able to go to Florida to vote” [Alex Henderson, “Trump Babbles an Incoherent Response After He’s Cornered by Reporter over Mail-In Voting Hypocrisy,” Salon, 2020.04.09].

Do as I say, not as I do generally loses every argument. The best leadership is by example: if voting by mail works for our elected leaders, it should work for all of us. The five states that have adopted statewide voting by mail have not seen democracy collapse in ballot fraud. All states should adopt voting by mail, both as an immediate response to the current pandemic to protect voters from exposure to coronavirus and as an ongoing measure to make it easier for everyone, from the White House to your house, to vote in every election.

8 Comments

  1. Donald Pay 2020-04-09 09:05

    Liar in Chief, explaining why he voted by mail when other’s shouldn’t: “You know why I voted? Because I happen to be in the White House, and I won’t be able to go to Florida to vote.”

    Sure. He can leave the White House to go to Florida along with his taxpayer funded entourage to golf at his resorts. You would think doing his civic duty in person would show we Wisconsin residents how to do it. But, no. He votes by mail!

    “I think mail-in voting is horrible. It’s corrupt!” And then he does it. And that’s true also for our truly corrupt Republican legislators in Wisconsin. many of whom voted by mail, while denying that right to others.

  2. Buckobear 2020-04-09 09:54

    Every one of those Wisconsinites that stood in line to vote should be considered a soldier in our fight to save our democratic system despite the opposition of the GOP, SCOTUS, trump and his lickspittle lackeys. Let’s hope they sent their “bullets” accurately.

  3. David Bergan 2020-04-09 10:18

    “Example is not the main thing. It is the only thing.”

  4. Scott 2020-04-09 14:53

    The stuff that comes out of this Presidents mouth and twitter is truly beyond believe. This man just sets himself up for daily criticism. How can you not criticize this president. You cannot believe a thing he says anymore

    What is more amazing is that the republican faithful still back this guy. He truly has brain washed many people.

  5. Debbo 2020-04-09 17:37

    Buckobear: “Every one of those Wisconsinites that stood in line to vote should be considered a soldier in our fight to save our democratic system.”

    Absolutely. ❤

  6. Pat Meyer 2020-04-09 21:48

    If citizens of the USA followed the examples set by Sir Pinocchio, we’d really be in a pickle! I guess it’s our responsibility to set forth what’s right and wrong through determinedly standing up & demanding that laws be followed, rights are to be properly exercised & those who break laws or trample on our Constitution MUST be removed from any position of “responsibility “…
    VOTE the transgressors OUT!! Also, any supporters who push to support the poorly selected individuals should be voted out & subjected to the full extent of legal action & jail if so deemed. It’s time for a good “house cleaning“& the use of a boot or broom to insure we are on a better path to democracy.

  7. jerry 2020-04-10 19:15

    Our military votes by mail and has forever. We can save our postal system by voting by mail so we get a twofer. How about that. In case you might have missed it. Closed by June 2020, what will that do to rural South Dakotan’s who get their prescriptions by mail? I wonder where Rounds and Thune or Dirty Johnson are on this? Seeing how much loot they can make by screwing us, no doubt.

    “The U.S. Postal Service could be gone by June unless Congress immediately delivers billions of dollars to counteract the impact of the coronavirus crisis, a House committee chairwoman warned Monday night.

    “Based on a number of briefings and warnings this week about a critical fall-off in mail across the country, it has become clear that the Postal Service will not survive the summer without immediate help from Congress and the White House,” Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

    Maloney, who was joined in the statement by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), indicated the Postal service has seen a “drastic” reduction in mail volume and could shutter by the summer without intervention, a collapse that could, among other things, jeopardize access to mail-order prescription drugs for millions of Americans, especially in rural communities.”https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/23/coronavirus-postal-service-june-145683

  8. Debbo 2020-04-10 21:14

    Even a majority of GOP supports vote by mail.

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