OPINION:
Progressives believe that the more people that vote, the more progressives will win. Republicans even buy into this trope occasionally.
It’s time to consider the progressives have it backward and that the more people who vote, the more progressives will lose.
Submitted for your consideration, the more Americans who are registered and voting, the more conservatives will win elections.
New data released shows that voter registrations rates have hit a two-decade high. As the National Voter Registration Act turns 30 this month — commonly called the “Motor Voter” law — it’s time to ask whether it worked out the way the authors intended.
Despite billion-dollar campaigns to transform the country, America remains a center-right nation. The majority of Americans still love America. They still stand for the flag. They still respect and admire the police.
After decades of concentrated fire by leftist philanthropy on American institutions, America still leans right. Their cultural deconstruction hasn’t broken through yet.
The domestic foes of the American system of ordered liberty are geographically isolated in a few pockets of urban density and naturally on college campuses. Despite pouring billions of dollars at unraveling American greatness, Americans still value free speech, free enterprise, and freedom writ large.
Don’t take my word for it. Polling reveals that many more Americans identify with conservatism than with liberalism.
According to a Gallup Poll, 36% of U.S. adults identify as conservative and 35% identify as moderate. These numbers squash the 26% who identify as liberal. This is not a one-time finding. These numbers are consistent with annual averages Gallup has seen since 2015.
Americans cook with gas. They believe that content of character should matter more than skin color. They treasure their daughter’s sporting accomplishments, competing against real women. And despite the best efforts of the left, they still believe America is the last best chance of mankind to create a peaceable society where anything is possible if you set your mind to it.
If more Americans voted, we would have more presidents like Donald Trump than like Barack Obama.
In 2016, voter registration reached a new high with 200 million people being registered to vote for the first time in history. According to a Reuters poll, 15% of Americans who cast a ballot on Election Day in 2016 said it was their first time voting in a presidential election.
Mr. Trump drilled deeper into the electorate than any Republican had since President Ronald Reagan, and no Republican before that. He drew low propensity voters with cultural roots in American greatness. Americans who would never vote for a Bush, McCain or Romney voted for Mr. Trump.
Love him or hate him, Mr. Trump appealed to voters who passionately believe in America, and aren’t ashamed to say so.
I contend that the more Americans who vote, the more elections will be won by candidates who treasure American values of liberty, limited government, and economic opportunity.
I believe it is time to reassess the progressive trope that more people registering and voting equals more progressive wins at the ballot box.
To be sure, using the power of the government to only register some citizens and not others won’t do. Biased registration campaigns aren’t fair.
President Biden issued an executive order to harness the power of the federal government to register voters who would most likely vote for him. That federal program explicitly focused on prisoners, drug addicts and college students. It reinforced the cynical perception that government officials use their position to accumulate even more power.
But we cannot be reflexively opposed to increasing the number of Americans registered to vote, and voting. For too long, good-faith concerns about Motor Voter have led to opposition to increased registration opportunities. Of course, the concerns about Motor Voter are often well grounded.
For example, the Motor Voter registration process at motor vehicle offices is indisputably the chief cause of foreign nationals becoming registered to vote in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Arizona in sizable numbers.
It has never been easier to register and vote. Too many Americans who treasure America don’t take advantage of the opportunity. If they did, America would be an even better country, not merely because they decided to vote, but because of what they believe.
• J. Christian Adams is president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a former Justice Department attorney, and current commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
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