West Virginia native and University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban has gone full Chuck Schumer, signing a letter encouraging Joe Manchin to betray his more conservative roots and voters and support the "Freedom to Vote Act."
The football coach is highly respected in the state of Alabama and is rarely political, although he has supported Manchin in the past.
From the letter:
Elections open to all Americans: Our democracy is at its best when all Americans are encouraged to participate. We support measures to provide voters with a range of opportunities to obtain and cast a lawful ballot, including robust in-person, early, and absentee voting options. We support the use of election security, equipment and record-keeping measures that are reliable and evidence-based, and clearly support the integrity of election processes.
Impartial conduct and score-keeping. Election administration and vote certification must be nonpartisan, professional and transparent. State legislators and other officials cannot apply or change rules, standards or procedures, prospectively or retroactively, in amanner that may nullify Federal election results by excluding voters or overruling voter choices.
The Freedom to Vote Act, dubbed by Republican leaders as the Freedom to Cheat Act, would strike down voter ID laws and be part of a federalization of elections. The bill would allow same-day voter registration and would prevent states from setting their own standards of who is allowed to vote.
So, you know, it would effectively destroy the rights the Constitution reserves for the States and end the American experiment.
In order for the bill to pass, the Dems must nuke the filibuster, something that Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema oppose.
In the letter, Nick Saban says he supports the bill but does not support ending the filibuster, which brings him one step back from the edge.
Nick Saban is probably the most popular and revered human being in the state of Alabama, so for him to get this political in favor of a partisan Democratic bill might not be so popular back home.
Saban joined NBA legend Jerry West, as well as former NFL players Darryl Talley and Oliver Luck, and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabne in supporting the hyper-partisan bill.
