This past Monday, our favorite historian Heather Cox Richardson joined Red Wine & Blue for a virtual event. We were hoping to hear her insight into how this election fits into the broader story of American history, and what we might expect over the next two weeks.

But if we’re being honest, what we really wanted was for Heather to tell us that it was all going to be okay.

And of course she couldn’t tell us that with certainty. She’s a historian, not a soothsayer. But she did offer some words of hope.

Our own podcast co-host Rep. Jasmine Clark also joined the call, and she talked about Georgia Republicans’ efforts to undermine voting in her state. During the pandemic, Georgia began offering ballot drop boxes, which were extremely popular and widely used. But despite that — or really, because of that—Republicans changed the rules and now most of the drop boxes are no longer available.

That could be a disheartening story about voter disenfranchisement, but Heather encouraged us to look at it a different way. If extremist policies were popular, why would they take away drop boxes? If most Americans supported Project 2025, why are they trying so hard to keep us from voting?

It’s because we’re the majority. Most Americans want to elect common sense candidates up and down the ballot. And we’re not letting the suppression keep us from voting. In Georgia, and many states across the country, voter turnout numbers are breaking records.

We have the power. We just have to use it.

For a transcript of this episode, please email theswppod@redwine.blue.

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