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From time to time, especially when they are in the nurturing and comforting environment of right-wing podcasts, radio shows, or TV networks, Republicans will tell you how they really feel about democracy… and what must be done to bend it to their will.
That’s when they talk about how it’s important to only let certain people vote or the value of gerrymandering.
On Tuesday night, coping with yet another GOP election loss, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) had such a moment.
On Newsmax, he lamented that it is really tough for Republicans to win if voters show up and get to have a direct say in what kind of country they want to live in.
this Newsmax copium is actually hitting pretty good pic.twitter.com/7UpFEar53Y
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 8, 2023
“You put very sexy things like abortion and marijuana on the ballot, and a lot of young people come out and vote. … It was a secret sauce for disaster in Ohio,” Santorum said.
He was referring to two ballot initiatives — one on legalizing recreational pot use and the other on granting women the right to an abortion — that passed Tuesday in the red Buckeye State.
And then Santorum got candid about the problem with democracy: It’s so tough to pass an unpopular agenda when people get to vote on issues directly.
“Thank goodness that most of the states in our country don’t allow you to put everything on the ballot because pure democracies are not the way to run a country,” he said.
Yes, it would be a shame if Americans had a say in whether women should have autonomy over their own bodies. Once you allow that kind of thing, how are you going to criminalize abortion from the moment of conception with no exception for rape, incest, and/or protecting the life of the mother?
The Santorum clip rightfully went viral, but most people probably don’t realize the full implication of what the former senator is saying.
Generally speaking, in this day and age, the “success” of the GOP is predicated on anti-democracy gimmicks like gerrymandering or the Electoral College. In the last 30 years, a Republican has only won the popular vote once — and that was when George W. Bush was an incumbent. Yet, during the same span, GOP presidents held the White House for 12 years.
And during many of these elections, lots of red states had extreme voter suppression laws in place that made it more challenging for Democratic constituencies like minorities or young people to vote.
It is also the reason why Republicans in various states are trying to make it more difficult for voters to have a direct say on the issues.
In Ohio, for example, the GOP tried (but failed) to raise the threshold for passing ballot initiatives to 60 percent earlier this year specifically because they knew that solid majorities would vote to allow recreational marijuana use and grant women the right to an abortion.
In recent years, we have seen time and again that Americans, even in red states, generally favor “Democratic” initiatives, such as Medicaid expansion or the right to choose, when given the chance to have a direct say.
Unfortunately, they don’t often have that opportunity, which is just the way Santorum and the rest of the GOP want things to be.
