Democratic strategists and organizers are hoping that if 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris performs well in the November election, there will be a down-ballot effect in gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and U.S. House races. Democrats have a small majority in the Senate, while Republicans have a sing...
And with some damn wiggle room this time.
We had multiple Democrats Peel off and stymied loads of progress (Manchin, Sinema etc).
We need enough room for the wolves in sheep’s clothing to not make a (D)ifference in the progress we need to shut down authoritarianism.
The supreme court being public enemy #1 means we need everything else to be operating seamlessly to be able to prevent every single goal for project 2025 line by line immediately and permanently.
Undoing regulatory capture will also be a monumental feat, as will reforming media’s ability to platform lies and disinformation that are objectively false.
Huge fucking task list and we haven’t even talked about running the actual country yet. We’re gonna need one hell of a blue wave to drown the fascists and drain the swamp.
This is a consistent problem with Dem “majority” coalitions dating back to the '77 Carter coalition that cracked up while trying to pass a universal health care plan and fossil fuel exit strategy. Clinton’s '93 coalition also splintered due to conservative Democrat infighting. Lieberman famously killed a host of legislation in '09/'10 (although he was mostly a cat’s paw for other conservatives in the House and Senate). And then Manchin/Sinema upended Biden’s reforms in '17, before squandering the House majority the following year.
These failures aren’t accidental. They are the direct result of Democrats saying “We need to vote candidates who are electable” and then getting a bunch of shitty corporate flaks who bought their way through the primaries.
We just watched Cori Bush and Jamal Bowman lose their House seats to AIPAC lobbyists, while Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlahib had to muscle through enormously expensive primaries funded by the same far-right donor groups that favor the Republican Party.
The SCOTUS is a distraction, as they’ve got no real power to enforce their decisions. The real fight is between a liberal federal government and the assorted red state and municipal governments. We’ve seen this proven out with AGs like Ken Paxton and governors like DeSantis who routinely break laws in their quest to pump up the base with high profile acts of cruelty to their minority populations. They’ve discovered its easier to ask forgiveness than permission, and the Biden admin’s response has been to just kinda shrug its way through rather than risk open confrontation.
This is the same shit guys like Pierce and Buchanan did shortly before the federal system collapsed under their feet. But if you’re always trying to triangulate and get the opposition on board, its where your party and your country eventually end up when fascists at the lower levels of government realize they’ve got carte blanche and a partisan mandate to do evil.
This is something I’ve been thinking about more and more.
With our three branches of government, it’s up to the executive to enforce the laws, and by extension, the rulings of the judiciary.
What’s the failsafe mechanism for when the executive doesn’t like a ruling and has no respect of law, or for the system?
What happens after the supreme court says, “Hey President! What you’re doing is unconstitutional and you must stop immediately.”…and the president just goes, “Actually I don’t care what you say. I’m still doing it. Have a wonderful day and go fuck all nine of yourselves.”
I have bad news about the Senate.
Reps are probably taking it unless Texas, Florida, or Montana comes through to glad Dems a 50/50 split.
Now if they can abolish the filibuster at least for adding states and also take the house, they could add DC and Puerto Rico and the next cycle would be friendlier.
Last poll I saw had Tester up 6 points here in Montana.
Even if that’s based on a small sample poll you need to be giving people hope that their vote matters. Save the doomerism, pessimism, realism, or whatever else you call what you’re doing until after the election.
Senate will be tight in any realistic scenario. Tester in Montana is the most likely of the three I listed to come through and I donated to his campaign.
I will be voting against Ted Cruz and I am volunteering on weekends to help Collin Allred.
If anyone reading this is wondering if it’s worth it, I think it absolutely is worth it to donate what you can, and volunteer how you can.
Voting is the bare minimum. Please do so.
How does volunteering help?
These campaigns are raising millions of dollars from all sorts of rich people. Why should you give them your labor for free?
Because paid operatives are expensive and knocking on doors is the most effective way to mobilize voters.