Baby Dolls and Trump Parades and Lies

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but at Democratic rallies and events and gatherings, there is always someone with a clipboard or a QR code to register voters. Usually more than one someone.

If you have ever attended a red-state GOP event, you’ll notice a strange absence of registration information. You don’t see many tables meant to register voters. I think I know why…they aren’t interested in the voting process or democracy.

Republicans have consolidated all of the power they can in states like Missouri. Now the Republican Party must gerrymander and keep folks from voting by throwing them off voting rolls and making voting so difficult that people won’t bother with it.

Instead of recruiting new voters, they try to intimidate those who won’t vote for Republicans. They will suppress the vote to remain in power. It’s all they have left.

Recently, these dolls were thrown into the driveways of rural Democrats in Gentry County. The entire county has 6,500 people. The dolls were meant to intimidate rural voters.

Why try to intimidate voters or suppress votes rather than turn out the vote?

Because Republican policies are ridiculously unpopular — even with Republican voters.

If you listen to Missouri GOP lawmakers, the most important issue in our state is the “dental hygienist who will be performing abortions” if we overturn our current ban — yes, they are telling that outrageous lie.

These lawmakers are focused on every culture war you can imagine. But here’s the thing…voters are not talking about any of those things.

I don’t live in a blue bubble. My neighbors consistently vote for Republicans. I live in a ruby-red district and I have knocked a lot of doors in my district.

When I visit with voters, we agree on nearly every issue. I have never heard someone say they want their tax money to go to private religious schools. I’ve never heard anyone ask to defund their local school. No one has ever answered the door or phone with a list of books they want banned. I’ve never had a conversation about trans kids or school bathrooms.

I’ve never had anyone say that they hoped the local hospital would be denied funding so it would close or that hungry kids should be denied a school lunch or that a woman should be denied chemotherapy because she is eight weeks pregnant.

But after speaking with voters who agreed with me, I had dozens then say they couldn’t vote for me because they were Christian.

They are under the impression that Christians can’t vote for Democrats. Where did they get that talking point? Their church.

While it is true that Democrats ceded rural America long ago, it is also true of the Republicans. I haven’t had Republican politicians knock my door or call to ask for my vote or try to register voters around me. But red-state Republicans have a huge leg up in rural parts of the country even if they aren’t actively campaigning.

Some churches are doing the work for Republicans.

Two weeks ago, I opened up my Facebook Messenger app to see several messages from friends. They sent me a letter they had received from their church instructing them to vote against Amendment 3 — the abortion amendment.

In September, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph sent the letter to every household registered with a Catholic parish in the area urging recipients to vote against legalizing abortion in Missouri. The letter was sent to over 55k Missourians.

My friends asked me if this letter broke IRS regulations. It did not.

Churches may advocate for or against ballot initiatives, just not specific parties or nominees if they want to keep their tax-exempt status. The letter is bothersome for several reasons, but the lies and misleading information are particularly egregious.

In the letter, Bishop Johnston wrote falsely that any health care professional — including a dental hygienist or pharmacist — could legally perform an abortion. He stated that the amendment would protect those performing abortion procedures from civil or criminal consequences if their negligence caused harm to the pregnant person or fetus. Under the law, though, Missouri abortion providers must have a medical license and medical malpractice insurance.

Thinking a pharmacist will be performing abortions would need someone to disconnect from reality, but if anyone can help you do that, it is the person to whom you entrust your soul. You may be able to suspend critical thinking if your pastor or bishop demands it.

Much of the disinformation on the abortion ballot initiative is coming from the pulpit.

Some churches go even further to endanger their tax-exempt status. One of them is Passion Church in Cameron, Missouri. I had several folks send over a post about a Trump parade.

The parade was scheduled for Saturday, October 12, 2024. It was organized by Passion Church member, Travis Eldredge. The parade was to begin in the church parking lot before heading into Cameron. This parade was meant to imply that this church supports Donald Trump…the 34-count felon convicted in civil court of rape.

The parade was meant as cover for a man that most Christians would understand to be anti-Christian. It was also meant as a sign of force and intimidation to church members and the community alike.

A side note: Travis Eldredge has also been vocal about books in the Cameron Public School library, showing up with other church members in “Passion Church” t-shirts to school board meetings to claim the school library has sexually explicit material and that librarians are “grooming” children in the school district.

Oddly enough, these accusations came about at the same time Passion Church opened its own Christian school, Cameron Christian Academy.

The grift is never far behind the outrageous accusation.

The point? Republicans are not looking to expand their voting base. They are not trying to register new voters or get the vote out. They are actively trying to suppress the vote and use disinformation. The same GOP uses some local churches to intimidate would-be Democratic voters.

Republicans cannot rely on popular policies to engage voters.

They do use hate and discontent to anger their base, but the real strategy seems to be to suppress the vote. To throw voters off rolls. To stand by as some churches encourage anti-democratic behavior.

To throw sand in the gears of democracy.

You don’t see Republicans using their supermajorities to register voters. They use their supermajorities to close voting precincts. They use their power to reduce the electorate, not expand it.

Republicans have all of the electorate they can hope for in states like mine; this is why they work so hard to suppress the vote and spread disinformation. They have consolidated most of the power they can ever hope to achieve.

This is an opportunity for Democrats.

~Jess

*I want to say that I personally know Christians who live a life their Christ would approve of. Their churches provide for the sick and marginalized. This essay is in no way a reflection of those folks.