Over and over again, we keep hearing "Democrats are bringing a knife to a gunfight." Well, what do you expect is going to happen with Butterknife Schumer as Senate Majority Leader?
We've seen this coming for months. For months. And all we kept hearing was how failure was not an option. How democracy would die otherwise.
Well, here we are. Who's preparing the eulogy?
Self-fulfilling prophecy, anyone? How many voters are now going to not be bothered to vote in 2022 because, well, what's the use? Democracy is dead, isn't it?
Schumer's inability to adjust to the needs of the moment is not the only unmentionable elephant in the Democratic Party room, but getting him to step aside for someone who will make Mitch McConnell wish he had already retired would be a good start to mounting enough of a fight to convince voters that maybe showing up is still worthwhile.
The thing that makes me alarmed and demoralized the most is the lack of a public plan by the Dems to STOP the states from putting election details in the hands of political hacks. (effectively turning the certification of elections to politicians). I'm willing to work my heart out to get people to vote within the rules, but if those votes are just going to be disregarded by politicians, you lose incentives to try. I want to hear concrete plans by DOJ or Congress that remedy this current Republican "fad".
I usually agree with your posts, Dan, but on this, I don't think you are quite correct and am puzzled by your post, at least on the issue of what yesterday's vote meant. We always knew this initial vote would fail, or at least that's what the leaders of Indivisible were saying. The plan all along, from their perspective, is to use the July recess to put such pressure on Senators that they will pass it when they return, by eliminating or reforming the filibuster. We knew we weren't at that point yet. The point of yesterday's vote was to demonstrate the Republican obstruction on voting rights - not a single one of them voted to even DEBATE the issue of voting rights, the right that is "preservative of all other rights." Now the progressive base and other people who care about our freedom to vote need to use that as a cudgel to get Dems to do the right thing. So, no, I don't think they "fumbled" this at all. But you are correct that the framing of the messaging on this could get fumbled if we don't emphasize the Republicans' willingness and indeed intent to restrict our freedom to vote. THAT should be the focus of your post, IMO. (As I said, I almost always agree with you, and I'm a relative newcomer to the political landscape, so perhaps I am missing something...)
It shouldn’t be Murkowski. It should be someone less moderate who will very clearly let it be know what the GOP stands for…and doesn’t. I know that will be difficult for Manchin and he has earned the heartache.
Also, the messaging should not be around voting and democracy, words that get muddled in many heads. It should be around freedom, patriotism and liberty, dog whistle words that the right understands in their bones.The Dems need to co-opt the language of the right and bend it to their use. They need to ask every GOP member why they are okay taking away freedoms and liberty. And why they don’t want people to execute their duties as patriots.
This is a fight for Democracy and the future of America. The Democrats (I am one) are acting like they can talk through this-they can’t, this is a fight being waged by the GOP and the Democrats need to fight back action, not rhetoric.
Media reports repeatedly described the bill as 'sweeping' reforms. The reforms are just codifying what the Supreme Court gutted from Section five into law once again. Reinstating the former rules in a different package. So whenever I heard 'sweeping' reforms or heard pundits decrying the bill being too much too fast... I cringed. And even Stacy Abrams was ready to accept a limited version of it... so the whole punditry calling it too big was a disservice. Of course it was 'too big' for Republicans.... that's not the point. But for Dems not to ask for the reinstatement of Section Five protections would have been decried also. Dems are on the go big or go home trajectory and they are right to do it this way.
Blame Schumer, but what about Pelosi? This seems like a rare failure for her, in that HR1 began as a messaging bill and was carried over into our current situation without regard to its appropriateness for this situation. It was unlikely to get 50 votes as it was written from the beginning. So we had to negotiate internally at the same time that we were saying how important it is and flogging Rs for not supporting it. Seems like a general failure of leadership on our side.
Dan, thank you for looking at the whole picture--the WH, Senate, and the activists. I'm one of those activists trying to change the narrative, and amplify the message around democracy, voting rights, and ultimately winning in 2022. (And I've founded More Perfect Democracy www.moreperfectdemocracy.org so people can use their own networks and social media to save democracy and win the midterms) There's been no leadership from the WH or even the party on how they're going to fight to maintain free and fair elections. This seems kind of basic to me. If we're going to lose all the elections going forward b/c the Rs can overturn anything they don't like, that's irrelevant. There are a ton of us out here, and you see us here on your substack and in many other places around the internet, that are ready to take action and understand the stakes. And we watch Schumer et al move in slow motion toward certain death. It's disheartening. And it's good to know that others see it. Now we have to come together to let the Dem leaders know how important we think it is.
Say magic happens, the filibuster goes away, and the For The People act is passed. What’s stopping the GOP from litigating it up to the Supreme Court and striking it down?
Thank you for this Dan. I always appreciate your viewpoint, esp as someone who has 'lived it'. I found it interesting to re-read this from Nate Cohn early this morning. Dave Wasserman had posted it on Twitter. Here's the link from April of 2019. Skim it and honestly, nothing has changed with our base: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/08/upshot/democratic-electorate-twitter-real-life.html It is shocking how few of my friends, college-educated, liberal leaning to progressive even, do NOT pay attention, and are very ignorant of most processes. Some may even thinking 'filibuster'= Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Esp in these very difficult times, so many people are not paying a whole lot of attention to this but they will when 2022 doesn't work out as they think it might. Because it's all about MESSAGING and we STILL are not good at it. The bottom line message that the base hears is 'Dems in disarray' and for younger people 'they can't ever get anything done'. I think of my first protest march in Washington DC in October 1967, against the war in Vietnam, and perhaps my last march will be the one to protest the fall of our democracy to autocracy. We shall see.
Over and over again, we keep hearing "Democrats are bringing a knife to a gunfight." Well, what do you expect is going to happen with Butterknife Schumer as Senate Majority Leader?
We've seen this coming for months. For months. And all we kept hearing was how failure was not an option. How democracy would die otherwise.
Well, here we are. Who's preparing the eulogy?
Self-fulfilling prophecy, anyone? How many voters are now going to not be bothered to vote in 2022 because, well, what's the use? Democracy is dead, isn't it?
Schumer's inability to adjust to the needs of the moment is not the only unmentionable elephant in the Democratic Party room, but getting him to step aside for someone who will make Mitch McConnell wish he had already retired would be a good start to mounting enough of a fight to convince voters that maybe showing up is still worthwhile.
Liz Warren for Majority Leader.
The thing that makes me alarmed and demoralized the most is the lack of a public plan by the Dems to STOP the states from putting election details in the hands of political hacks. (effectively turning the certification of elections to politicians). I'm willing to work my heart out to get people to vote within the rules, but if those votes are just going to be disregarded by politicians, you lose incentives to try. I want to hear concrete plans by DOJ or Congress that remedy this current Republican "fad".
I usually agree with your posts, Dan, but on this, I don't think you are quite correct and am puzzled by your post, at least on the issue of what yesterday's vote meant. We always knew this initial vote would fail, or at least that's what the leaders of Indivisible were saying. The plan all along, from their perspective, is to use the July recess to put such pressure on Senators that they will pass it when they return, by eliminating or reforming the filibuster. We knew we weren't at that point yet. The point of yesterday's vote was to demonstrate the Republican obstruction on voting rights - not a single one of them voted to even DEBATE the issue of voting rights, the right that is "preservative of all other rights." Now the progressive base and other people who care about our freedom to vote need to use that as a cudgel to get Dems to do the right thing. So, no, I don't think they "fumbled" this at all. But you are correct that the framing of the messaging on this could get fumbled if we don't emphasize the Republicans' willingness and indeed intent to restrict our freedom to vote. THAT should be the focus of your post, IMO. (As I said, I almost always agree with you, and I'm a relative newcomer to the political landscape, so perhaps I am missing something...)
It shouldn’t be Murkowski. It should be someone less moderate who will very clearly let it be know what the GOP stands for…and doesn’t. I know that will be difficult for Manchin and he has earned the heartache.
Also, the messaging should not be around voting and democracy, words that get muddled in many heads. It should be around freedom, patriotism and liberty, dog whistle words that the right understands in their bones.The Dems need to co-opt the language of the right and bend it to their use. They need to ask every GOP member why they are okay taking away freedoms and liberty. And why they don’t want people to execute their duties as patriots.
When someone says failure is not an option, it usually seems to mean that failure is almost guaranteed.
This is a fight for Democracy and the future of America. The Democrats (I am one) are acting like they can talk through this-they can’t, this is a fight being waged by the GOP and the Democrats need to fight back action, not rhetoric.
Media reports repeatedly described the bill as 'sweeping' reforms. The reforms are just codifying what the Supreme Court gutted from Section five into law once again. Reinstating the former rules in a different package. So whenever I heard 'sweeping' reforms or heard pundits decrying the bill being too much too fast... I cringed. And even Stacy Abrams was ready to accept a limited version of it... so the whole punditry calling it too big was a disservice. Of course it was 'too big' for Republicans.... that's not the point. But for Dems not to ask for the reinstatement of Section Five protections would have been decried also. Dems are on the go big or go home trajectory and they are right to do it this way.
Blame Schumer, but what about Pelosi? This seems like a rare failure for her, in that HR1 began as a messaging bill and was carried over into our current situation without regard to its appropriateness for this situation. It was unlikely to get 50 votes as it was written from the beginning. So we had to negotiate internally at the same time that we were saying how important it is and flogging Rs for not supporting it. Seems like a general failure of leadership on our side.
Dan, thank you for looking at the whole picture--the WH, Senate, and the activists. I'm one of those activists trying to change the narrative, and amplify the message around democracy, voting rights, and ultimately winning in 2022. (And I've founded More Perfect Democracy www.moreperfectdemocracy.org so people can use their own networks and social media to save democracy and win the midterms) There's been no leadership from the WH or even the party on how they're going to fight to maintain free and fair elections. This seems kind of basic to me. If we're going to lose all the elections going forward b/c the Rs can overturn anything they don't like, that's irrelevant. There are a ton of us out here, and you see us here on your substack and in many other places around the internet, that are ready to take action and understand the stakes. And we watch Schumer et al move in slow motion toward certain death. It's disheartening. And it's good to know that others see it. Now we have to come together to let the Dem leaders know how important we think it is.
The Boston Globe's take on this was that with the failure of S,1, Biden lost the liberal wing of the partyI. Is this grounded at all in reality?
Say magic happens, the filibuster goes away, and the For The People act is passed. What’s stopping the GOP from litigating it up to the Supreme Court and striking it down?
Thank you for this Dan. I always appreciate your viewpoint, esp as someone who has 'lived it'. I found it interesting to re-read this from Nate Cohn early this morning. Dave Wasserman had posted it on Twitter. Here's the link from April of 2019. Skim it and honestly, nothing has changed with our base: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/08/upshot/democratic-electorate-twitter-real-life.html It is shocking how few of my friends, college-educated, liberal leaning to progressive even, do NOT pay attention, and are very ignorant of most processes. Some may even thinking 'filibuster'= Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Esp in these very difficult times, so many people are not paying a whole lot of attention to this but they will when 2022 doesn't work out as they think it might. Because it's all about MESSAGING and we STILL are not good at it. The bottom line message that the base hears is 'Dems in disarray' and for younger people 'they can't ever get anything done'. I think of my first protest march in Washington DC in October 1967, against the war in Vietnam, and perhaps my last march will be the one to protest the fall of our democracy to autocracy. We shall see.