Jayne: GOP lacking in election integrity

“Even you don’t believe that.”

“Of course not. If it looks like an insurrection and sounds like an insurrection, it’s an insurrection. And the fake-elector scheme? Trump clearly tried to overthrow an election.”

“And now Republicans have tried to confuse voters by putting two extra Bob Fergusons on the ballot for governor.”

“Well, I know one Bob Ferguson. He’s the state attorney general. Don’t care for him much. He kept suing Trump to stop doing illegal stuff, and he’s always trying to pass gun laws — as if mass shootings are not just the cost of freedom. Who are the other two Bob Fergusons?”

“Oh, they were recruited by a conservative gadfly named Glen Morgan. He said he contacted 53 Washington residents named Bob Ferguson and asked them to run for governor, according to Washington State Standard. Two of them agreed. Morgan even paid their filing fees.”

“Well, maybe these Bob Fergusons really want to be governor.”

“Perhaps. But they dropped out of the race after learning it’s a felony to run solely for the purpose of confusing voters.”

“Yeah, that does seem to violate the notion of integrity. But what about all the election fraud?”

“You know that’s a canard, right? Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security called the 2020 election the ‘most secure in American history.’ One of his lawyers admitted in court that ‘no reasonable person’ would believe her lies about election fraud.”

“But a lot of people still believe it. I heard a local radio host claim that 9 million illegals will vote this year in Arizona.”

“Did he have any proof?”

“Well, I guess not.”

“Exactly.”

“So tell me this: Why would this Morgan guy try to confuse voters with multiple Bob Fergusons on the ballot? Doesn’t he think Republicans can win the election without subterfuge?”

“Apparently not, and that’s the point,” Biff said. “MAGA Republicans keep lying about election fraud because they are losing on the issues. And when they get control of Congress, they demonstrate they have no ability to govern.”

“Losing? Thanks to Trump, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. And Republicans are defending gun rights. And they say climate change is a hoax. Losing? I’m tired of all the winning.”

“Nationally, those issues generally are losers. In this state, they are political anthrax that will have voters running in the other direction.”

“But Democrats keep pandering to people just to get votes.”

“Isn’t that the point of democracy? You get elected to represent the people.”

“Open borders!”

“Yeah, when all else fails, that seems to be the extent of Republicans’ argument.”

“And why not?”

“Well, it might work,” Biff said. “But given all the other issues, it seems they aren’t very sincere about making America great.”