Republicans have spent decades rewriting the rules, then breaking the rules they rewrote, then declaring that those were the rules all along. Now an extremist Supreme Court put into place by that ruthless process is gutting the Constitution and the nation’s future, and Democrats … are debating whether to do anything about it.
The White House is defending President Joe Biden’s limited response to the end of Roe v. Wade’s national abortion rights guarantee by pointing out that executive power is limited here. That’s true—and yet we got here because Republicans have not worried nearly as much about what they can’t do. And without concrete solutions on offer—even if those solutions are steps in a years-long fight to claw back to where we were in 2016, as inadequate as that was—how do Democratic leaders like Biden imagine they will inspire voters to turn out in November to move us a step or two toward the goal?
There may not be a cheat code here, but the way to mobilize people is to give them hope, to let them know you’re in the fight with them and looking for answers, from the limited but specific to the unorthodox. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren said to John Delaney in a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate, “You know, I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for. I don’t get it.”
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The Rev. Dr. William Barber II called on Democratic leaders to come to terms with the reality of the situation, saying, “We are dealing with one side that is undermining the very essence of what it means to be a country that roots itself in this philosophy of equal protection under the law. You cannot battle that if folks on the other side are always moderating, modulating and compromising. It’s not the age we’re in.”
Black Voters Matter cofounder LaTosha Brown similarly expressed frustration, tweeting, “If Republicans are enacting extreme laws to take away our rights shouldn’t the Dems match that energy with extreme solutions?! I’ve dedicated my life to fight for voting rights but telling people to VOTE AGAIN is NOT ENOUGH! We need a radical response to a radical attack on us!” She continued, “Conventional politics WILL NOT get us out of this mess. Holding on to antiquated political tools like the filibuster and traditional political approaches only makes us more vulnerable.
”How can our leaders allow others to inflict pain on us BUT refuse to inflict political pain on the Republicans?” she concluded her short thread. “There are NO real consequences directed towards the Republicans for their actions so why would they not continue to grab and abuse power?”
The Democratic Party and social movement groups are different organizations with different goals, but when key movement organizers are sounding this kind of warning, party leaders should be listening.
Some Democratic lawmakers and many activists are offering ideas for the fight, ranging from ambitious ones like putting abortion clinics on federal land to very simple ones like telling people exactly which elections are most important this fall.
Here’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offering a broad swath of possibilities:
And here’s Warren simply getting specific about Senate races that could make a difference:
AOC has spoken out in that vein:
Here’s Rep. Ayanna Pressley:
Democratic leaders don’t need to pretend they can do more than they can in the next few months. That would be lying. But if our leaders don’t embrace the need to fight, why would voters?
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Joe Sudbay returns to geek out with Kerry Eleveld and Cara Zelaya on the Democratic Party must do, what they are doing, and what they aren’t doing on Daily Kos' The Brief podcast
