Let’s go back 20 years to 2002. What was happening that year? I mean besides Britney and Justin breaking up, Nelly, Avril, and Eminem topping the charts, American Idol premiering and W Bush claiming he hardly knew Enron CEO Ken Lay.
2002
2002 was a rare year when the party holding the Presidency took control of both houses of Congress. How did it happen?
Exploiting post-9/11 trauma, Republicans built a phony case for war against Iraq by falsely linking 9/11 to Saddam Hussein, falsely claiming Saddam had WMD and tarring war opponents (and all Democrats) as traitors.
It worked: By the first anniversary of 9/11, a majority of Americans thought Saddam was responsible for the attacks. Democrats who voted against the Iraq War Resolution were branded as traitors or part of a “fifth column.” War heroes like Max Cleland were tied to bin Laden. And the President’s party gained seats in both houses, and control of Congress, for the first time since 1970.
2022
Democrats do not have to lie to make the case this year that Republicans are anti-democracy and unpatriotic by acting and voting against American interests. Why?
- Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted to cover up the worst insurrection in the country since the Civil War. They voted against a bipartisan January 6 commission, they voted repeatedly against holding in contempt those who blatantly defied subpoenas, they called the January 6 cop-killers “tourists,” they relentlessly attack the only two Republicans to support the Committee.
In 2002, Republicans successfully convinced voters that Democrats were “Objectively pro-Saddam” for opposing what is now acknowledged by all as a horrible mistake.
There is no reason why in 2022, Democrats can’t convince voters that Republicans are Pro-Insurrection, Pro-Putin and Anti-Democracy.
We have the advantage of having the truth on our side.
Don’t forget to do what it takes to encourage massive youth voting, including efforts by Civic Influencers to help college voter activism and with The Civics Center for high school students.