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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

by Bill Nigut

Divided over democracy

Republican and Democratic voters don’t agree on much these days, so the results of the latest poll from Quinnipiac University may be surprising. Quinnipiac found that 69% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans share the view that “the nation’s democracy is in danger of collapse.”

But before we all break into a nationwide chorus of “Kumbaya,” here’s the rub: anecdotal evidence makes it clear that Republicans are sure it was the “rigged” 2020 election that began a slide toward autocracy under President Joe Biden, while Democrats insist the blame rests with Donald Trump, whose anti-democratic impulses included summoning a mob to assault the Capitol to block the certification of votes for president-elect Biden.

In other words, we’re as divided over the question of why so many of us believe democracy may be decaying as we are over virtually every other political issue.

Many Republicans argue that Biden’s speech last week, in which he called the MAGA Republican movement “semi-fascist” is a step toward undermining our democratic norms.

On Political Rewind this week, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank laid out his case that it was former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich whose long career was marked by anti-democratic impulses. Agree with Milbank or not, he puts our current questions about the strength of American democracy in a fascinating historical perspective.

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank examines how the GOP got to where it is today. His book is called The Destructionists.

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HEADLINES

Special master to review documents seized from Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has granted former President Donald Trump's request for a special master to review documents seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago last month, temporarily stopping federal prosecutors from using those documents in their investigation into obstruction and mishandling of government secrets.

The decision was expected. Last weekend, the judge said she was inclined to grant Trump's request, and a hearing on the matter took place last Thursday. At that hearing, the Justice Department laid out its argument against the special master and signaled it was likely to appeal such a ruling.

Cannon, a Trump appointee, cited in her order on Monday the need to ensure "the appearance of fairness and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances presented."

A special master is an independent third party, typically an attorney, appointed by the judge to review materials seized in a search for anything that may be protected from investigation by attorney-client privilege or, as Trump is claiming, executive privilege.

MORE POLITICAL NEWS

In this Jan. 19, 2021, image taken from Coffee County security video, Cathy Latham, bottom, who was the chair of the Coffee County Republican Party at the time, greets a team of computer experts from data solutions company SullivanStrickler at the county elections office in Douglas, Ga. Records show that the team traveled to the rural south Georgia county to allegedly copy software and data from elections equipment, what the Georgia secretary of state's office has said was "unauthorized access."

Video fills in details on alleged Georgia election system breach
Two months after the 2020 presidential election, a team of computer experts traveled to south Georgia to copy software and data from voting equipment in an apparent breach of a county election system. They were greeted outside by the head of the local Republican Party, who was involved in efforts by then-President Donald Trump to overturn his election loss.
Republican candidates skip debates

With two months left of the 2022 campaign season, a majority of Republican candidates are continuing to skirt away from not only talking to local and national media outlets about their policy issues, but their own constituents, leaving voters with little information on their policy positions.

“If we are to hold our elected officials accountable on their policy stance(s), we have to know what they are,” said Nicholas Valentino, a political science and research professor in the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan.
Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
The November 2020 email from an anguished Fox News news producer to colleagues sent up a flare amid a fusillade of false claims.

The producer warned: Fox cannot let host Jeanine Pirro back on the air. She is pulling conspiracy theories from dark corners of the Web to justify then-President Donald Trump's lies that the election had been stolen from him. The existence of the email, confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it, is first publicly disclosed by NPR in this story. Fox News declined comment.

Political Rewind: Possible actual debate for Walker and Warnock; Coffee County saga; Pelosi's visit

This week on Political Rewind:

Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are closer to getting on the debate stage together; Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan says he will not endorse the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor Burt Jones; Video fills in details on an alleged Coffee County system breach.

On the panel:

Amy Steigerwalt, @DrSteigerwalt, professor of political science, Georgia State University

Greg Bluestein,@bluestein, political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Kurt Young, @kurtbyoung, professor of political science, Clark Atlanta University

Upcoming shows

Thursday on Political Rewind: Kevin Riley joins the panel.
Friday on Political Rewind: Jim Galloway joins the panel.

The GA Today Politics newsletter is written by Bill Nigut and Sarah Rose
and edited by Kristi York Wooten and Khari Sampson

Thank you for sharing your time with us. Feel free to send us feedback at GAtoday@gpb.org.

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