Good Republicans: The thin red line

A few good Republicans saved the American republic last year. 

The January 6 Capitol riot was not the attempted coup d'état. The riot was a disorganized mob and a tactical mistake. The real attempt to un-do the election was done quietly. It failed because some key Republicans did their jobs faithfully.

I thank them today.

Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election by means of legal fictions pointed at the weak spots in the American election system.

Raffensperger

Plan A was for Republican state and local officials in battleground states to refuse to process and validate Biden's win. There are points of vulnerability. In Arizona there are both a Republican governor and Republican majority in the legislature. Georgia has a Republican governor, legislature, and Secretary of State. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have Republican legislatures. In Michigan the law provides for county elections to be certified by bi-partisan four-person bodies with two Democrats and two Republicans, a ministerial role. But if the two Republicans in a big Democratic county refuse to act, then those Democratic county votes are not processed. 

In the two months between the election and January 6 Trump and his allies lobbied those pressure points with White House visits and phone calls. Find votes. Disallow votes. Say you have unanswered questions. Do it for the team.

Rosen

Plan B was to get federal officials to validate claims of fraud. Federal claims of special information could justify states choosing to rescind their votes, or federal instigation of martial law, or something--anything--that justifies getting the election to a presumably-friendly Supreme Court. Jeffrey Clark, the former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, attempted to replace the Attorney General in the final days of the Trump presidency. He had written and presented to Trump a plan to tell battleground states that the Justice Department had substantial information of fraud and that the Justice Department approved rescinding electoral votes for Biden. Trump loved the plan.

Another attorney, John Eastman, had Plan C, which was for Vice President Pence to disallow electoral votes for Biden on his own authority as the presiding officer of the senate. The assault on the Capitol was the Hail Mary aspect of Plan C. Protesters were to "be strong" and show how adamant they were. 

Plans A, B, and C did not work. Plan C backfired. It painted the entire coup agenda in the worst possible light. Plans A and B did not work because Republicans in key places did their duty. Most are unknown to me: Local county clerks in hundreds of places who counted and reported the results, some of whom were elected as Republicans. Four people in elected offices became famous for faithfully carrying out executive functions: Vice President Michael Pence; Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona; Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia; Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of Georgia. 

Pence

Within the Trump administration, the election security chief, Chris Krebs, refused to agree the election was stolen. Within the Justice Department, William Barr, the Attorney General said there was no fraud, and resigned. Jeffrey Rosen, the Acting AG, Richard Donoghue, briefly the Deputy AG, and then a large group of "senior Justice Department lawyers" all agreed to resign in mass if Rosen were fired and the Justice Department gave its imprimatur to Jeffrey Clark's strategy. Pat Cipollone, the White House Counsel, joined them. The threat of mass resignations caused Trump to stand down. Had these people gone along with Trump, the outcome might have been very different.

There are others. I don't know their names. They did their duty. I am grateful.

I remain disappointed that so many Republicans--officeholders, candidates, and prominent citizens across the country--fail to speak out in support of honest election administrators. In general legislators and people who voice and vote policy preferences, have gone along with Trump, actively or through their silent consent. But people whose job it was to carry out the law--governors, secretaries of state, election officials--did their jobs. They are being replaced. Trump remains politically popular among Republicans. 

The many Republicans who did their duty have my respect, but they don't need it. They need the respect of fellow partisans who speak out on their behalf.