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Nearly two years into all-Democratic control of Congress and the White House, the party has not passed sweeping legislation for one of its stated top priorities: an overhaul of voting rights, campaign finance and elections law. It’s a failure, yes, but one entirely expected — and not necessarily wholly unwelcome.
Democrats went for big, bold (read: partisan messaging) measures. While they got nothing enacted, even with members of the Congressional Black Caucus trying unsuccessfully to attach voting rights to the defense authorization bill this week, they aren’t departing the 117th Congress empty-handed. Even some skeptics of Democrats’ strategy say the party got something that may not have been possible even a few years ago: