Alexandra Erin:
"So I'm going to talk for a bit about what's going on with the Congressional Democrats being a half-empty gallon of lukewarm milk right now.
"We saw some of the Senate Democrats make a principled stand on very practical and concerning points in the cabinet picks recently. The GOP responded by nuking the rule that allowed the committee members to delay a vote in the first place. This, broadly, is what the Democrats in national office fear: that any power they have they attempt to wield will be taken away from them. This is a very rational fear, because the GOP's playbook since Newt Gingrich became speaker has been: make America a single party country. The Democrats exist, in this scheme, to give the illusion of democracy and choice to the people. But they must not be allowed to govern. Where the GOP is out of power, it throws sand in the gears of government. Where it is in power, it dismantles them. The idea that the GOP will strip any procedural tool, rule, or law the opposition uses against them is rational. The response is not.
"When you're powerless because you do nothing, you're a coward. When you're powerless because you stood up to power, you're making a stand. If you know the GOP is going to take away your power as soon as you try to use it, "saving it for when it counts" is meaningless. It will never count. You will never get to wield those powers you're sitting on. If the GOP will prevent Congressional Democrats from wielding any official power, what can they do? Stand up. Be a symbol. Expose the GOP. As long as Democrats are sitting on the sidelines, they're sitting there. That's the visual. If the GOP sidelines them, THAT's the visual. We are living in a burgeoning autocracy where a single party is making itself synonymous with The State. Don't let them do it covertly.
"'Don't they realize how bad things are?' As I've been saying: people in this position have strong psychological incentives not to. They keep pulling the "wait and see, common ground, learn to work with" lines because the slim hope seems better than the certain horror. Right now the country is more unified against #TheRegime than it has been against any administration in my life. When I went to demonstrate outside the Senate Dem retreat last week some of my fellow marchers said "They need to know we have their backs!" And I said, "I need to know that they have ours." Because of lucky placement, I got to speak briefly to Sherrod Brown and some of the other senators. I said, "I hope you're ready to fight." And they told me, "That's why we're here!" And when they later addressed the crowd, that was the word, again and again: fight. It later got out that the reason the were meeting in West Virginia was they wanted Senator Manchin to teach them how to talk "real American". And it's like, you motherfudging sacks of sugar. Why not ask someone who's going to win their next election how to start winning? Trump's alternate-reality "Real America" turned out about 18% of the country for him. Well less than half the voting public. Democrats represent the will of most people in this country. Republicans represent the will of most wide empty space in it. Don't learn how to talk to the wide empty spaces. Learn how to harness the will that backs you. The party line from Dems in Congress needs to be: learn to compromise like we do with you when we're in power, or declare a one party state. "Is this a one party state, Mr. Speaker? Do we not both represent the will of our constituents?" "Is this a one party state, Mr. Chairman?"
"This is what we face: Autocracy. Power concentrated in the hands of the executive, bypassing judicial oversight. Single party in control. The West Virginians I marched with greeted Senators Warren, Sanders, etc., like rock stars. Then shouted "WE'RE WATCHING YOU, MANCHIN!" But Senator Manchin is apparently seen as the future of the Democratic Party, at least by some in the senate. Manchin isn't trusted by the Democratic base, and his pandering to the GOP's base just makes the GOP's positions seem more legitimate. Manchin could be brought down by a half savvy GOP candidate saying, "Clearly the senator thinks we have good ideas, but [pivot to wedge]."
"The exact confluence of demographics in WV makes Manchin's "centrist" schtick viable in the short term. But it's not going to serve the Senate or the Democrats nationally, nor will it help Democratic Senators in many other states. If Democrats started winning nationwide using GOP talking points and positions, the GOP would pivot to a wedge where the Dems won't follow. You're trying to match them on ~*economic anxiety*~ but they can just scream "THEY WANT TO KILL YOUR BABIES & TEACH YOUR KIDS SEX & SHARIA!" And it's like, oh. Both parties agree that the concerns of the vanishing middle class are paramount, but one wants to murder babies? Hmm. Less time figuring out how to talk to the empty spaces and more time learning how to listen to the people, @SenateDems @TheDemocrats. Less time waiting to see how things are going to be under autocracy, more time telling them how it's going to be. @SenateDems @TheDemocrats."
