EP. 20 — FIREWALL

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Weston Wamp: I'm Weston Wamp and this is Swamp Stories brought to you by Issue One.

President Barack Obama: Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t.

Kimberly Guilfoyle: When you are in trouble and need police, don’t count on the Democrats.

Rep. Steve Scalise: This is an election between a party that wants to burn down the foundations of our country to the ground, and a party that wants to rebuild and protect our great nation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi: So I think a good deal of what we have suffered is clearly the Trump virus.

Weston Wamp: This summer, our political rhetoric managed to get even hotter. A reckoning with racial justice, of course a pandemic, and a polarizing election seemed to compound each other to take the nation to the brink.

The president amped up his war on vote by mail, and then used allegations of fraud as a reason to hedge when asked about whether he would accept the results of the election.

In recent months, every publication in America has openly considered the array of possibilities that loom ahead in November. Delayed election results, or contested outcomes, or even a refusal to concede.

Many experts and historians have expressed fear that the 2020 election has been shaping up to be historic for all the wrong reasons.

As one of the few organizations in Washington that diligently remains crosspartisan, Issue One went into what I call “special operations” mode by the middle of the year in order to protect the integrity of our elections. To bring calm to the coming storm. The result of that work is a historic council of respected Americans to guide us through the next several weeks — whatever they may bring.

This is Episode 20: Firewall

Much of the energy of Issue One’s all-hands-on-deck approach in recent months has supported the creation of the National Council on Election Integrity. From former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the first two secretaries of Homeland Security in American history — Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bill Frist to former Defense Secretaries Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel, former members of Congress like Donna Edwards and Deborah Pryce, to former military leaders and some of our nation’s top voting experts. The council is made up of 44 officials, equal part Republican and Democrat, standing together as we all prepare for a historic election.

Among the rallying cries of the council: put country over party and count every vote in accordance with applicable laws

Already the council has made numerous national television appearances and penned several op-eds, laying the groundwork for a greater role in educating the public, and advocating for patience and trust in our institutions in the days that lie ahead.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo: This council has no interest in who wins the election. This council is organized and designed to protect the integrity of the election. And that's what we want to do. To protect the rules, make sure they're followed and to counter any efforts to undermine those rules or to undermine the result if the result was reached in accordance with the rules. And one side will win this election. About half the country is going to be upset and frustrated, no matter the result. And what we have set out to do is to share the message that regardless of the result, if the election was fair, if the rules were followed, then everyone has to recognize a result.

Weston Wamp: Carlos Curbelo is a 40 year old former Republican member of Congress from Miami. His willingness to serve on the council stems from his hope that America will never see what his family has experienced firsthand.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo: So the issue of election security is very important to me. My family is from Cuba. They lost their country. They lost all their possessions because in their country, people didn't follow the rules, didn't follow the constitution, elections weren't taken seriously. There were coups d’etat that preempted elections. So, this idea of making sure everyone has the opportunity to vote and making sure every vote is accurately counted is a big deal to me personally. It's something that I know is fundamental to keeping the public trust in our government and our institutions and ultimately in our nation. Right? In our society. So I wanted to be a part of this effort because I don't think there's anything more important in the context of government and democracy.

Weston Wamp: Much of the council’s role will be determined by what happens after Election Day. And hopefully we avoid a protracted, let alone a contested, election outcome. But the unique makeup of the group gives it the credibility to hold both parties accountable to adhere to and honor our traditions.

Rep. Jane Harman: Well, I think we are toxically polarized in this election. But, I think it is crucial for those of us who've seen the movie to talk about what could happen in a calm way. And, in fact, that on election night, we may not know the results.

Weston Wamp: Jane Harman represented California in Congress for 16 years and today she runs the Wilson Center, one of the world’s preeminent think tanks. Harman is a liberal who represented a different coast and comes from a different generation than Curbelo, but they are working side-by-side on the National Council for Election Integrity.

Rep. Jane Harman: This is not an election for one party. This is an election for our country. And sadly, too many Americans have no exposure to civics, but the Constitution requires this election for president of the United States. And that's what I think we're supposed to be doing, not just gaming this in an unfair way so that our party has some advantage that it shouldn't have.

Weston Wamp: Curbelo’s Cuban heritage and Harman’s time working around the world with the National Democratic Institute before she was a member of Congress give them both a perspective on the importance of free and fair elections, as well as a peaceful transition.

Rep. Jane Harman: It never crossed my mind, when I was in Chile or Hungary or what was then Czechoslovakia or Tunisia, or the middle East, that there would be a question about the U.S. election. Anything, like the question about those elections. And now I think we have lost our ability to set a good example and it's embarrassing and it's disturbing.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo: We've seen over and over in different parts of the world or all over the world, how the transfer of power is often times where democracies trip and where democracies are lost. And if there's a significant percentage of the population who is doubtful, who thinks that maybe there was a massive fraud or cheating, then we literally start losing our democracy because people lose faith and trust in the system.And that basically means that we lose faith and trust in one another and our nation will quickly deteriorate after that.

So, that's my biggest concern. And that's why we've come together to shine a light on everything that's happening with the electoral process. Make sure people can see it clearly and don't have to imagine what's happening. And also encouraging as many people as possible to vote and making sure they have those opportunities.

Rep. Jane Harman: We have a republic, if we can keep it. And that's based on an electoral college system, not a direct election of a president system, and it's complicated. And we ought to step up and realize that we are the beacon for most people in the rest of the world, but that's something we have to earn. It's not something we can assume just continues, despite the kind of toxic rhetoric and embarrassing episodes that we've seen in the last several years.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo: Certainly the president has contributed to it. I regret that he has used that language more than once about not being sure if he will recognize a resolve or not being sure there will be a peaceful transfer of power. It's a very selfish approach to this election, especially for someone who in 2016 did not win the popular vote. Won some states by very close margins and by and large, the American people accepted his victory. He was sworn in and there was a peaceful transfer of power. Even though about half the people, if not more, in this country were very upset about the result of the election. So again, the most valuable asset we have as Americans, as free Americans, is the trust and confidence in these rules and this process, the goodwill of everyone involved. And we have to do everything we can to protect that.

Weston Wamp: I asked Congresswoman Harman how she would advise the candidates to handle concession, given that she once had her own close call that involved absentee ballots.

Rep. Jane Harman: My answer would be, carefully. I think that's the whole point of our group, is to counsel patience and peacefulness. And I had my own experience with this on election night in 1994, where when the count was concluded on that night, I was down 250 votes. And there were 10,000 uncounted absentee ballots. So my hardy campaign team said, "Don't concede. Do not concede. There are a lot of ballots, they could tip the result in the race." So I didn't concede. My opponent declared victory, flew to Washington to campaign for freshmen class president on the other side. And I didn't concede. There then was put in place, a process to count the late absentees. We were both represented by counsel and everything was closely watched. And two weeks later I won by 812 votes out of 196,000 votes counted. And my race was certified three weeks after that. So it was five weeks, split between the election and my being certified.

And it was painful and miserable, but the right result was achieved.

Weston Wamp: Despite the pandemic, and despite the division in the country, Curbelo is optimistic. Like Harman, he’s preaching patience and vigilance. 

Rep. Carlos Curbelo: I think we're in a good position, but I do think it's going to take a little longer than normal in some states. I mean, we already got a preview of this in 2018 in California. A number of congressional races were not decided until a couple of weeks later. And in one case, I think it was even longer than that, almost a month. That could happen again, except this time it'll happen, not in individual districts, but perhaps in entire states, right? Because of the way we award electoral votes in this country. So, that could raise anxiety levels. Again, that period of uncertainty could be a period of great vulnerability and those who don't have good intentions could try to exploit that. And sow chaos and doubt and fear and distrust in our society. And look, we already have enough of that. 

No matter the results, we come out and, assuming all the rules were followed, we defend that result and we encourage the American people to accept the outcome based on our social contract, which is the Constitution, and that Constitution spelled out exactly how this process works.

Weston Wamp: When you hear from me again, all of the votes will be cast. And here’s to hoping the winner will be clear — for all of our sake.

Now on a personal note, I want you to take heart. Better days are ahead. Cooler heads will prevail. The National Council on Election Integrity is yet another example in a long, long line of American leaders putting their country over their party when it matters the most.

When “Swamp Stories” returns we will begin to unpackage everything the 2020 cycle revealed about our broken political system. Record fundraising meant that record profits were made by political consultants. Small dollar contributions once again played a massive role in financing campaigns. And as always dark money has reared its ugly head again — on both sides of the aisle.

Thanks for listening to “Swamp Stories,” presented by Issue One, the country's leading political reform organization that unites Republicans, Democrats, and independents to fix our broken political system.

Please subscribe to the podcast and share it with your friends. Even better, rate and review it on iTunes to help us reach more listeners. You can find out more at swampstories.org. I'm your host, Weston Wamp.

A special thank you to executive producer Ethan Rome, producers Evan Ottenfeld and Sydney Richards, and editor Parker Tant from parkerpodcasting.com. Swamp Stories was recorded in Tennessee, edited in Texas, and can be found wherever you listen to podcasts.

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