Did Republicans save democracy in 2020?

Some did. But....

At the Washington Post, Henry Olsen makes the case that it was Republicans who saved American democracy in 2020.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s latest indictment of former president Donald Trump serves as a reminder that Trump strenuously tried to overturn the 2020 election. It also reveals who saved American democracy: Republicans.

Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes sufficient to overturn his state’s results — and pressured Gov. Brian Kemp to try to replace the state’s electors. These two officials investigated allegations of voter fraud and found them all without merit. They remained staunchly supportive of Georgia’s election outcome, earning Trump’s unending enmity. They also endured serious primary challenges from Trump-endorsed opponents and personal threats. That they took on those challenges head-on is praiseworthy; that they prevailed politically in last year’s primaries is a stunning personal rebuke to the former president.’

There’s a temptation to say whoooooa here. And it’s a good temptation! But I have to acknowledge that I wrote something somewhat similar in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

According to reports, Trump called Kemp on Saturday morning — ostensibly to offer condolences on the death of a family friend, but really to pressure Kemp into calling the Republican-controlled Georgia legislature into session for the purpose of overruling that state's voters (a majority of whom voted for President-elect Joe Biden) and giving Georgia's electoral votes to Trump instead. This was an outright attempt to steal the election. Kemp declined.

Good for him. And good for Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, another Republican who literally ignored Trump's phone call while certifying Biden's victory in his state. Good, too, for lesser-known GOP officials, like Michigan's Aaron Van Langevelde and Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers who have done their duty by defending the integrity of their states' votes against Trump's anger and conspiracy-mongering.

The problem with Olsen’s column, though, is that it wasn’t Republicans who saved American democracy — for now — in 2020. It’s that it was some Republicans. And most of those some Republicans have now been marginalized in the party.

Van Langevelde? The Michigan GOP refused to re-nominate him to the state’s canvassing board. Ducey? Decided to duck out of public service rather than run for U.S. Senate after his gubernatorial term was over. Bowers? Out of a job. Kemp kept his job — and so did Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger — but they are the exceptions not the rule.

Other Republicans who did their part to keep Trump from overturning the election — Attorney General Bill Barr, Vice President Mike Pence — will have no real place in a future GOP administration. And Pence was marked for death by the insurrectionist crowds on Jan. 6.

So this, from Olsen, is irritatingly and maybe dishonestly overbroad:

Past is not prologue, and national Republican leaders largely have not found the courage to say what they know is true: Trump lost, and fraud was not a factor. This does not obviate the bravery they showed when it mattered. If you love our democracy, thank Republicans for the fact we still have it.

Thank some Republicans. They can use it: Most of the ones who saved democracy are out of a job. They won’t be here to save us next time. And that’s because of all the other Republicans.