Special elections were held in Ohio on August 8. One provision proposed by Republican state legislators would have made it more difficult to change the state constitution. They proposed requiring 60% of voters to approve anything, up from the current majority requirement of 50%.
It was widely understood that this vote was cast in an effort to protect life in the state by making it more difficult for voters to approve a constitutional amendment in November that would have made abortion easier to get. The initiative supported by the Republican Party was defeated by a large turnout of voters. One of MSNBC’s contributors used harsh language to criticize Republicans on an episode of “Deadline” that aired just before the vote.
Attack on MAGA
Dr. Jason Johnson asserted that if a state like Ohio begins “eking towards blueness or purple,” the Republican legislators in that state “try to block people’s access to vote.” It was his contention that gerrymandered legislatures actively work to alter voting procedures and schedules in order to thwart the will of the people.
When the legislature tries to force a vote on abortion or another divisive topic, Johnson said, “people get angry and […] turn out to vote.” The lecturer went too far when she referred to the Republican Party as a “terrorist organization” whose name is “MAGA.” He continued, saying the party achieved what it wanted when the Supreme Court removed the federal right to an abortion, but instead of being glad about it, they wanted to go farther by passing state legislation. As a result, “they’ve angered a bunch of people,” he declared.
Democrats Disparage MAGA Supporters
Johnson’s remarks weren’t the first time someone on the Left has attacked Republican lawmakers and voters over their support for the Make America Great Again movement. Failed 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton famously said some of former President Donald Trump’s supporters were “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and Islamaphobic.” She said they were a “basket of deplorables.”
When asked about “extreme MAGA Republicans” in 2022, President Joe Biden warned that they were dangerous to “personal and economic rights” and advocated “political violence.” Democracy, he said, was in danger from them. Many Democrats, while accusing the GOP of causing division, have accepted this position in recent years.
Both prominent Democrats were accused of further polarizing an already bitterly divided country. Once upon a time, Senator Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, and he famously declared, “there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America.” Some people in his party obviously missed the memo.
