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Your Voter Speech Leverage vs RINOs

Elect ‘em now!  Censure ‘em in spring!

by Ric Victor

© 2026 Ric Victor, all rights reserved.

We Americans are out of leverage against our Senate.  The Constitution has checks and balances.  But not voter leverage, except for even-year elections every six years for each of only 33-34 Senators -- like the one this week. 

The GOP should hold its Senate Majority this week -- if we turn out and vote! 

BUT:  How do we keep them on track in January after they’re elected?  Same old problem.

We need at last some real Post-election Voter Leverage starting in 2027 to keep them on track before it’s too late.  And here’s our Leverage. Take it.  It’s yours:

Free-Speech Censure/Praise Opinion Initiatives by state voters.

It’ll create Voter Opinion Leverage against Senators in non-election, Opinion-Only Voting, when election seasons are over. 

Using free-speech methods.  Whenever we voters want it.

Yes, term limits and recalls are barred by the Constitution.  Supremacy Clause means federal control of Senate elections and terms. 

But our Freedoms of Speech and Association let voters express our opinions in non-binding, opinion-only balloting.  That is, once state or local legislatures (or voters, via initiative) pass Voter-Censure enabling laws.

Why?  Because free-speech methods include any citizen’s expression of opinion, in any peaceful, non-seditious way.  That includes Opinion Voting that censures or praises your named Senator -- by you, on your off-year ballot, during any enabled ballot measure vote in any off-year that you like. 

Your legislature -- or your city or county council, acting locally – or your fellow initiative petitioners and voters-- can add US Senator Censure/Praise Balloting to the many topics that ballot laws already allow (such as taxes, bonds, zoning, gun rights, even sanctuary fakery). 

If your legislature or council won’t make it a vote-able issue, then put your Enable Censure/Praise Balloting onto the ballot as a petitioned initiative.  The voters will pass it, for it gives them more power! 

They’ll love the right to vote censure or praise of their Senators in an off-year.  It gives us more leverage to get Senators to do right. 

Yet it won’t change any federal legal structure. For it’s opinion-only voting, a ballot-measures election. Not a candidate election.  It won’t elect or remove anyone to or from office. But they damn sure won’t like being censured if the ballots go that way!

First Amendment Free Speech and Assembly protect your personal speech and opinion.  They protect your association with fellow citizens to speak and opine.  Voting your opinion-only of something/someone on the ballot is both individual speech and association of speech.  

Censure/Praise Ballots would affect only your Senators’ political self-esteem and (un)popularity.  Not their terms or elections.  The Constitution’s rules and elections would stay untouched. 

But the censured Senators would no longer enjoy them so much!

Pro-Censure balloting results would make Senators miserable and their political clout weaker.  That’ll motivate their increased compliance with your voter will.  Even fearing to face an upcoming Censure/Praise Ballot will pressure them in advance.  That’s your leverage!

This is especially urgent now, given recent Senate Republicans stonewalling major Senate works that President Trump and the American People needed all this past year.

First among them, as you know, was the SAVE Act, to clean up America’s elections.  It requires voter photo ID, proof of citizenship, and no more mail-in ballots (except in limited absentee-type cases). So simple, clean, and fair!  Some 83% of all voters favored it!!  (Even Democrats.)  

SAVE needs 51 votes to pass if the Dem Senators don’t bring a filibuster (their endless-debate blocking tactic).  They will.  They love dirty and rigged and foreign-voter elections. 

There are only 53 GOP Senators, plus VP Vance to break a tie.  There may be around that number after this week.  But it takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster and allow the 51-only vote.

Right now there’s only one way to pass SAVE without having to face the filibuster:  Attach it to a continuing budget resolution, which is an exception to the filibuster, so it needs only 51 votes. But that was “off-topic” this past year, for anti-Trumper Thune, and his client anti-Trump clique, and his Democrat Parliamentarian (who serves at his pleasure).  So why not slice off new little exception, for Election Integrity – for the SAVE Act?

But Thune says No, he just couldn’t get 51 Republican votes!  Well, he’s only the Majority Leader after all.  Oh, what?  Wait!  Isn’t that an office of great power?

Democrat Lyndon Johnson was Majority Leader back under Republican President Eisenhower, and he had his potent way with his Party except for Civil Rights.  Does Thune mean to say he can have his way with his Party, only not for Clean-Election Rights? 

Democrat Harry Reid always had his way as Majority Leader in recent times.  He even pushed through a thin little filibuster-exception for confirming federal judges. 

Old McConnell himself as Majority Leader had his way when it was important to him.  He pushed through his own thin little filibuster-exception for confirming Supreme Court Justices. 

So Thin Thune is unbelievable in claiming that he “just can’t get the votes” for this new thin exception to the filibuster Thwart. 

His sincerity is further demeaned by his willful refusal to let his own Republican President make any Senate-Recess appointments of high officials.  Not one, in nearly two years in office. 

In contrast to every non-Biden (i.e. mentally present) President since Reagan!  Obama 32, W 171, Clinton 139, Old Bush 77, Reagan 240.  But Trump 0, with GOP’er Thune in charge. 

Thune blocked it -- by holding fake sessions (“pro forma” LOL) during Senate recesses – with a collaborator Senator as chairman in the empty chamber.  He hates his own President that much.  He hates you, us, Trump’s GOP voters, that much.

Thune can readily push through a thin little filibuster exception just for Election Integrity laws. But he won’t.  There’s his not-credible insinuation that gee he’d just love to. There’s his hostile secret Senate insiders, few but enough to block it.   

They all cause us conservatives, us Republicans, nearly all Americans, to conclude that Thune and those GOP Senators, like the Democrats, oppose our SAVE and oppose clean elections.  Then the Thune thins say it’s just those mean old Senate-processes blocking them. 

They always have a reason.  And it’s always an excuse.

Like the employer who always has reasons why You don’t get the job or promotion. 

Like the flirt who always has reasons why You don’t get the date. 

Like the lender who always has reasons why You don’t get even this one little affordable loan that you need.

They just don’t want you to!!!  Sure they can justify it.  What’s that to us?   

That’s why we all need more leverage than just voting on one of 33 of 100 Senators twice in every six year period. 

Yes, we need all the Republican Senators we can elect.  That’s why you and I, all of us, must vote for our Republican nominees now, in this election.  As long as we can start Voter Senator Censure Balloting Leverage as soon as possible in our most loyal MAGA states in the new year.  It will only take one such state (or large GOP county) to start that ball rolling.  Will the Democrat base like it too?  Probably.  That means more votes for it in a given legislature  

Oh no, but what about Senator Fetterman? The last sane and sober Democrat in the national legislature.  He alone among all the other Senators will win a Senator Praise Ballot by a huge majority, in his sane state of Pennsylvania.

Note: The Censure Ballot Laws shouldn’t be written to require a reason.  That would bog the ballot down impossibly each time.  With infighting over wording.   Or over “what is a reason”.  Or with lawsuits over “is it accurate”. 

So just say: “Do You Vote to Praise or Censure Senator So&So?” 

Or, for you blunter voters: “Is he a so-&-so?” 

Save your reasons for your commercials advocating Censure votes. 

Again, being Voter-Censured doesn’t mean you lose an election or lose office.  It just means a majority of voters have opined Senator You to be a jerk or a fool or (like Little Lebowski of Alaska) a betrayer. 

You’ll still get to serve til the end of your term. And even to run for reelection LOL. But now you’ll be a weaker and less reputable Senator.  The Constitution doesn’t guarantee you against that! 

Senate RINOs and DIRCs will be desperate to avoid it. RINO: Republican In Name Only.  DIRC: Democrat In Republican Costume. We activists know who they are.  LOL again.

So let it fuel you and your friends to vote on Nov. 3^rd -- then we’ll bring this newfound Voter-Censure leverage to bear against the winners next year.

This will either be America’s biggest election or our last. We know it’s true.  Now we have this new, additional, and potent reason to get out and vote – and win now, so we can win in the new year.

Ric Victor is a singer-songwriter, actor, writer, commentator, and policy analyst.  Hear his new MAGA songs (and parodies) in full for free at RicVictor.com. 

These include Proud To Be A MEGA MAGA Rah-Rah -- ICE is NICE (Savin’ the Day) -- DOGE on the Range -- Charlie & Erika Kirk -- Bad Mullah Blues – and more (plus 9-11 songs and covid-comedy songs).