Much has been made of the latest Republican scheme to change the winner-take-all electoral college rules in selected blue states while leaving it unchanged in red states.
Folks rightly point out that those plans that determine votes by congressional district put voters in artificial and gerrymandered regions, designed to increase the power of some voters while decreasing the power of others.
Folks rightly point out that the CD plans place blacks in legislative ghettos, where their votes are clearly diminished in power from the current levels.
Folks rightly point out that the proportional plans would give a state like Pennsylvania less clout in determining a President than Idaho....because Idaho has four electoral votes, while a closely divided PA would give its winner a plurality of perhaps three.
The plans are transparently evil schemes to rig the system so that a minority of voters can prevail for the Republicans. But to defeat them requires getting the attention of the American people and explaining a complicated issue in the clearest and most morally unambiguous matter.....
I suggest we go back to the 1912 GOP convention battle between incumbent William Howard Taft and challenger and former President Theodore Roosevelt. In the battle over credentials, TR's forces used a line that was echoed 40 years later at another GOP convention by Eisenhower forces in another credentials battle against another Taft, Senator Robert Taft. The battle cry was as clear and powerful as can be....
Thou Shalt Not Steal.
The Republicans are trying to steal elections. Pure and simple. They are putting in an arcane series of rules changes designed solely for their advantage, and are stealing the tradition of majority rule.
The best defense against these miscreants is to attack them for what they are. They claim to be God's Own Party, and yet they are violating the Eighth Commandment. They are stealing elections, and stealing the equality of voters.
Language has power, and whether you win or lose a debate often depends on the language you use to frame your argument and that of your opponent.
Every debate, every argument about these nefarious schemes should include the Eighth Commandment (and remind them they are commandments, not suggestions)...
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.
Somebody say amen.