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The most important thing to know about this week’s primary results in Texas is that nearly 60% of Republican voters told sitting Sen. John Cornyn that they do not want him returning to Washington, and it will take more than an endorsement from President Donald Trump to change that.
On Thursday, Cornyn’s opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, made an interesting offer to avoid an ugly and costly runoff election in May. Put simply, if the Senate approves the Save America Act, requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship to vite in federal elections, then Paxton will drop out.
It is an elegant solution that had been suggested by some commentators, including myself, once it became clear that neither Cornyn nor Paxton had cleared the 50% hurdle to avoid a runoff, and it would save Trump from having to swoop in and make an endorsement.
The president said Friday that he would make a decision on who to endorse “fairly shortly,” but added that he wants “the full and complete Save America Act” passed, the first time he explicitly connected the two.
The offer to Senate GOP leadership, desperate to hang on to their old buddy, seems to be, “You pass the Save America Act, and I’ll save John Cornyn.” And even Paxton is on board.
This solution is a perfect one, specifically because the Save America Act is a microcosm of everything that frustrated GOP voters hate about the Republican establishment that runs the Senate. It polls at 70-80% approval, and yet it can’t get passed.
Why did 60% of Republicans send this stinging message to Cornyn and the GOP on Tuesday? Because, for all their big talk, men like Majority Leader John Thune and his inner circle of exceedingly careful lawmakers can’t get anything done, even when it’s something as popular as Santa Claus.
KEN PAXTON BELIEVES HE’LL CRUSH ‘FAKE JOHN CORNYN’ EVEN WITHOUT A TRUMP ENDORSEMENT
Tellingly, over the weekend leading up to Tuesday’s election in the Lone Star State, the most prominent ads on TV were not for any particular candidate, but rather a pro-Save America Act spot that broke down exactly how senators, like Cornyn, could vote to protect U.S. elections.
I heard about the issue directly from voters, including one man from El Paso who told me, “If they can’t pass things that 80% of us want, then what is the point of all this?”
If Cornyn wants to regain the trust of the Texas GOP voters who rejected him on Tuesday, there would be no better way to start than to champion, and even whip for the Save America Act.
HARDLINE CONSERVATIVES DOUBLE DOWN TO SAVE THE SAVE ACT
Cornyn, and all of the Rinosuars of the upper chamber need to show they are not just going to sit around doing nothing for another six years.
The Save America Act is actually so popular that it could potentially get the vote of at least one Democrat.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told me on Thursday, when asked if he could support using the standing filibuster to pass the bill with a simple majority, “GOP is greedy on it. Make it simple: legit ID to vote for any federal elections.” He went on to suggest Wisconsin’s law as a model and said, “If that did happen, I would support it.”
ONLY ONE HOUSE DEM VOTED IN FAVOR OF VOTER ID, PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP IN US ELECTIONS
In fact, Fetterman argues such changes would “flip the narrative into the Dem’s lap,” forcing them to tell 80% of Americans their position is “outlandish,” or “Jim Crow.”
The point here is that when something is as popular as voter ID is, there is simply no excuse for not getting it, or some version of it, across the finish line.
It is hard to describe how demoralizing it is for GOP voters, especially in deep red states, when controlling the Senate feels meaningless.
GOP WARNS DEMOCRATS USING DHS SHUTDOWN TO STALL SENATE VOTER ID PUSH
Since Tuesday’s lackluster results, in which Cornyn, to be fair, did better than many expected him to, his campaign has been in full attack mode against Paxton, making an argument that only Cornyn is electable. It’s not enough.
When 60% of your own party’s voters want to send you packing you have to listen to them and find out why. It is not sufficient for Cornyn to simply cross his arms and say it’s me or James “God is non-binary” Talarico.
Sometimes in life, a rebuke can be a good thing in the long run, a wake up call. And Cornyn certainly got one of those this week.
If Cornyn wants to keep his seat, he needs to grab the bull by the longhorns and get something done, show the voters he isn’t just along for the ride. And there could be no better accomplishment than to help secure our nation’s elections.
It is time for Cornyn to lead, to earn his seat, not to fall backwards into it with a Trump endorsement. Passing the Save America Act is the best and most important way he could do it.
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