I almost never say this, but this Politico article is important information and is very much worth a read. It talks about how Orban-style fascism works. The Republican Party is implementing Oban’s style and methods to a huge degree, and for the moment they’re making it work.
What are we as Liberals to do about it? Here’s the short version:
Hungary’s key lesson is you don’t protect democracy by talking about democracy — you protect democracy by protecting people. Only a democracy that works for the people is sustainable.
The Democratic Party simply doesn’t work as a top-down party, led by major donors and paid consultants. It must be rebuilt from the ground up. Democrats need to be knocking on the doors of people who’ve voted Democratic but held out this time. Find out their priorities and speak to them. It’s particularly important to increase outreach to Hispanic populations, but not at the expense of the black voters who frankly have been carrying the party for the past 20 years. Get out into exurban areas as well. Democrats need to extend beyond the blue dots, which is going to be a big job and will take years.
Abandon neoliberalism. It was almost entirely a Republican project anyway, when we called it Reaganomics. Then Clintonian triangulation found short term success by jumping on the bandwagon. That was a trap. Trade liberalization wasn’t a Clinton project, but Republicans made sure Democrats got the blame for a globalization without protections for workers or the environment. Deregulation was a key element of Reaganomics, but Republicans made sure Democrats took the blame for the financial crash which caused the Great Recession. It was the GW Bush administration which created the plan to bail out the big banks, but I’ll bet 7 out of 10 Americans you ask will blame it on Obama. To this day Republicans keep cutting taxes on the rich and corporations then blaming Democrats for the resulting deficits. Stop cooperating with the Republican project of tax cuts for the rich, trade liberalization, deregulation, austerity budgeting, destruction of worker rights, and financialization of business. After 45 years it’s obviously a loser for the economy. It’s a winner for the wealthy elites, however.
To do it, Democrats are going to need to break the hold big donors have on the party. The billionaires are not our friends, period. Even the purportedly liberal billionaires won’t agree to even slow down the gravy train, the rigged economy which ensures that once you’re reached a certain point you can only get richer. A crypto bro just paid $6.2M for a 27 cent banana and a bit of duct tape. Does anyone think that crypto bro gives a damn about the guy who sold the banana? He doesn’t have to. He already ate the banana just to prove he has money to burn.
Then, focus HARD on the reality which exists for Americans of middle class and below. Not in the rarified air of “it would be nice to have a Minimum Wage increase,” but in a way which speaks to the existential dread which accompanies living under the shadow of impending layoffs. In a way which acknowledges the reality of people who have to hope it will stay warm long enough for the kids to wear shorts to school for a few weeks because school supplies took all the money. Also, in a way which rages at the obscenity of people who can eat a $6.2M breakfast as a big FU to the rest of America.
That guy, btw? He’s a Trump supporter. So, we all know, is the richest man on Earth, who’s telling US that WE need shared sacrifice. He’s not going to sacrifice anything. He’s gotten $8B in federal contracts. He’s not a maker, he’s a taker. Ask the pizza guy if Elon works harder than he does at his two jobs that don’t even offer health insurance. Then point out that he has health insurance because of Obamacare and Democrats intend to get him a lot more, too.
And mean it this time. Don’t propose a Minimum Wage increase just to bargain it away for something else, then vote for yet another tax decrease that gives 2/3 of its benefits to people who are already rich. Don’t pass an increase in the Child Tax Credit that cuts the child poverty rate in half and then let it expire with hardly any effort to get it renewed. If you get another chance at something like the Inflation Reduction Act, for Gods sake Brag. About. Every. Damn. Deal. Loudly.
Let it starts in the blue states which are preparing for battle with Trump right now. They’re the ones who are doing it right.
