I have a new hero.
Her name is Mallory McMorrow, and she's a state senator in Michigan.
The video below is about four minutes long. In it McMorrow gives a master class in toughness, poise, empowerment, and how Democrats should be dealing with the Republican lying machine that is only going to crank up even more as we approach the midterm elections in November.
Every single Democrat -- particularly every single Democrat on this year’s ballot -- should watch this video. This is how you win. This is how you stand up. This is how you deal with a dirty, underhanded, hateful, racist enemy that has no rules and no cares about what institution it destroys or which person's life it ruins.
Please take a few minutes to watch it, and I’ll see you on the other side.
Let’s contrast McMorrow’s tour de force with a recent tweet from U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, one of the leaders of the Progressive segment of House Democrats.
“Today would be a great day for the Senate to end the filibuster and pass the MORE Act -- which would legalize marijuana and expunge records.”
What? End the filibuster? Ending the filibuster is a settled matter – it’s not going to happen with the present group of 50 Democratic senators.
Why is Jayapal leaning on an unrealistic Democratic talking point? Why isn’t she dealing with reality, which is that the best chance for Democrats to actually pass something in line with their campaign talking points is to try to get some part – any part – of President Joe Biden’s failed Build Back Better Bill into law.
If you follow what’s going on in Congress, you’d dismiss Jayapal as a Progressive babbling for something that can’t happen. Someone simply posturing and playing to her base. Why is she even talking about the filibuster in this way? Why instead doesn’t she say, “You want the MORE Act passed? Great. We can’t do it unless we elect more Democrats. Otherwise, it’s never going to happen.”
Why does Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is looking more feckless every day, and various Progressives keep calling for Biden to cancel student loan debt? (Something that has been opposed in this space in the past)
Why are they playing into the GOP narrative that Democrats will throw money at everything by calling for a one-size-fits-all solution that’ll use tax dollars of ordinary citizens to pay off, in some cases, the college bills of doctors, lawyers, and hedge fund managers who’ll make more than enough money in their careers to address their debts?
Most importantly, why can’t more Democrats be like McMorrow?
Why can’t they show passion and anger and still make it clear they’re coming from a higher moral ground? Why can’t they call a liar a liar? Why can’t they hammer the Republicans for using kids and immigrants as political props, or the GOP’s pathetic attempts at pitting us against each other in a series of ridiculous culture wars? Why can’t they call Republicans what they are: frauds with no policy ideas except to benefit the wealthy, corporations, and the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the poor, the middle class, and our planet?
Why, when I see most Democrats get angry, do they still seem so prim and proper and afraid to cross some line of civility that was wiped out a long time ago? Sure, some can effectively get their point across. But too many can’t.
This and future elections will be a battle to determine what kind of country we want to live in. How we want people to be treated. What our values are. If we want to still be a Democracy. What the hell we even stand for.
I have a feeling McMorrow knows that. I also have a feeling many Democrats haven’t figured that out. They’re living in some kind of cookie-cutter world, reading from some long-out-of-date playbook, and have no clue what they’re up against or the stakes they’re supposed to be fighting – emphasize fighting – for.
My advice to Democrats in Congress and on the ballot this year is simple: Wake the hell up. If you don’t understand that beating your Republican opponent will be one of the most important things that you’ll do in your lifetime, then I can’t help you. Nobody can.
It seems everyone is predicting a Democratic bloodbath in November. I don’t know about that, but I do know it’s less likely to happen if the party that’s known for bringing a knife to a gunfight follows this simple piece of advice:
Channel your inner Mallory McMorrow.
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Thank you for reading my post. You can see my other writings by visiting my blog: “Musings of a Nobody.”