Bryant’s comments should be revisited
Published 11:49 am Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant apparently agrees with presidential candidate Donald Trump, echoing his unsubstantiated claims that this year’s election is somehow “rigged.”
Bryant said this week on Paul Gallo’s radio show that large liberal voting populations in New York and California mean that all a Democrat like Hillary Clinton has to do is win those states to gain the White House due to significant electoral votes.
“That doesn’t seem fair to me at all,” Bryant said.
Bryant is right that Democrat Hillary Clinton will benefit from the electoral votes. But his choice of words in framing the issue is troubling.
There’s a difference in questioning America’s electoral system and saying that our nation’s presidential election process, established by the U.S. Constitution, is rigged.
When he argues rigged, America sounds more like a dishonest, communist country than a free country that is following its founding rules.
It’s true that the electoral process does not let the majority of America speak in a presidential election, and questioning that is reasonable.
But the rigged argument isn’t healthy for our country. We wish Gov. Bryant would better articulate the issue rather than simply repeating dangerous political campaign rhetoric.
After all, it’s not a conspiracy that established the electoral system. It is the U.S. Constitution.