There has been a lot of talk about a few things that have bothered me in the past week. The first is the ongoing progressive vs. moderate bloodletting about Congressional loses and falling short in the Senate. First off, Republicans never look at a partial victory and start asking what they did wrong. They take any shred of a mandate, no matter how actually unpopular it may be, and run with it. Democrats should do the same.
This was a big victory. 306 electoral votes is no small feat. Biden won two states Barack Obama never did and Bill Clinton only once a piece (GA and AZ). He restored the blue wall and was very competitive in OH, NC, FL, and even TX. The fact remains, had Trump not generated unprecedented turnout of his own, the downballot GOP would have been drowned in a blue wave. Their life raft is increasingly an unstable albatross dragging their party further and further away from the center and the norms which have governed our nation for over a half century. Without a charismatic reality tv star at the top of the ticket, they got nothing. Cruz, Hawley, and Cotton can run as the Trump heirs all they want, but these Harvard graduates can’t possibly connect with the MAGA hatters like Trump can.
Secondly, I’m bothered by the talk of how little Biden can get done with a Republican Senate. First off, there are still two races to go in Georgia and the Democrats have a 25% chance of getting both of those seats and a 50% shot at getting one of them. That’s about the same odds the GOP has in a state that nearly went against Hillary by a ten point margin. Georgia is gonna be lit blue on that electoral map, and I trust Stacy Abrams to deliver more votes for our excellent nominees than either of the losers the GOP has nominated.
Even if those two Democrats do lose, talk of a stalled agenda or a McConnell veto is premature and absurdly self defeating. There’s a lot Biden can do via executive order as Sen. Warren pointed out in a recent Op-Ed. Beyond that, Biden should pick the cabinet he wants. If he really wants to secure the Senate he should advance Bernie and Warren as nominees now. Sure, they probably can’t get confirmed if McConnell retains his majority, but putting that majority on the line will excite progressives and get them to donate, volunteer, and flip those seats. If the GOP has to tip toe around the reality of the results for their basement, surely we can use a little hope on our side too. Warren and Sanders will be confirmed and Sen. Warnock and Sen. Ossoff will be the deciding votes. Say it enough times and it can happen.
If they fall short? Biden is still the guy who convinced Arlen Spector to switch parties. Make Toomey, Burr, or even the deeply troubled Collins an offer they can’t refuse. Ambassador to the country of their choice or free reigns over a minor department. Doing so let’s their Democratic governors make the replacement and can shore up or cause a Democratic majority. Or convince Murkowski or Romney to vote for Schumer. Or all of the above. At the end of the day Biden is a politician who likes winning, hates losing, and loves the game of politics. Time for him to play ball.
I expect Joe Biden to put a qualified professional prosecutor in charge of the DoJ.
I think the result will be a torrent of evidence that has been suppressed until now.
I think we’ll see that serious crimes have been committed by Donald Trump, his family, his cabinet, and his House and Senate supporters.
I think we’re looking at an ACTUAL criminal organization. I think these crimes should be aggressively investigated and prosecuted regardless of the political consequences.
The one phrase that I want EVERY Democratic to loudly, categorically, and emphatically REJECT is “America needs to heal”.
America needs to re-establish the rule of law.
Prosecuting Trump folks is a bit of a tightrope. To many of us it is an obvious necessity, but I’m still trying to figure out how a Biden Justice Department does it without looking like they are the one persecuting vanquished political opponents.
They do it by DOING IT. They do it be gathering and pursuing evidence wherever it leads. “Proof beyond reasonable doubt” is the standard that addresses the concern.
If we do not prosecute these actions, then that is even more compelling evidence that the American system of government has failed.
I don’t care what it “looks like”, I care about the rule of law.
I’m not the one you need to convince, but I do predict the whataboutism is going to come fast and furious.
The louder the squawking, the more accurate the charges.
If we do not prosecute these actions, they will be dwarfed by even worse abuses in the years to come.
That’s not hardball. That’s just normal governing.
It probably is not enough.
Hardball is DOJ investigations of former Trump gangsters, including members of Congress.
Hardball is televised house hearings on the integrity of the judiciary, and the influence of money on politics. “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Federalist Society.”
Hardball is a perpetual campaign against corrupt lying protofascists, so they are always on the defensive and face a political price for obstructionism at home today and in 2022.
The appalling tactics we have seen, from Merck Garland to collusion with Russian interference, have been validated by success. The only thing that can stop them is if they backfire. That requires hardball, not “back to normal.”
I do not see this in Biden’s DNA, and the party is similarly hobbling itself.
But I agree, Biden has to play hardball. Or the future is written, and it’s not pretty.
Hardball about the stuff that matters like Covid aid and appointments. I don’t see court packing or PR or DC statehood being big enough hills to die on, nice as they would be. I do see Covid, health care, jobs, climate, and reigning in corporate power being the top five for me and for him. I hope he sticks it to Mitch.
I think that four years of consistently putting the interests of Vladimir Putin above the interests of America is a big deal.
I think the best way to stick it to Mitch is to publish the details of how tens of millions of dollars of illegal Russian money found its way into his campaign coffers. I want to see the details of who was handling him and how that handler is connected to Vladimir Putin. We already know that similar material about Devin Nunes was in-hand before Bill Barr shut it down. I think we’ll see similar evidence about Lindsay Graham.
I think the GOP was turned by the Vladimir Putin, using hundreds of millions of dollars of dirty Russian money. I think the intelligence agencies already have the data and the evidence. I think if these facts aren’t revealed by American sources, they will be revealed by overseas sources.
I think the duck rule applies. These people have walked, quacked, and swam like assets of Vladimir Putin. If there are other explanations, I want to see them.
I think we won’t know until January 20, 2021 whether or not the ploy by Mr. Putin succeeded, nor will we know how much damage has been done before then.
I think that getting the FACTS about that operation into the public eye is near or at the top of things that an incoming Joe Biden administration needs to do.
Absolutely. I want full accountability for all these figures.
Covid etc are great issues. It will all come to naught if the Congressional dems do not push really hard and reach out to the grass roots and aggressively frame the issues to the public.
They will need to do several things they have never seemed to be able to get right:
and probably a few other things that do not come right to mind, but that is good for starters.
They will need to draw on the most talented and connected communicators and campaigners to do this. (Instead, these folks are blacklisted by the DNCC.)
Otherwise, sit on your duffs wringing your hands, get pushed around for 2 years, and lose the House.
Beautiful losers, but at least they didn’t stoop to populism. How noble.
That’s what hardball is—not what issues, but how you prosecute them. How you wield power.
Completely agree. It’s how the Republicans always do well even when they don’t actually win the most votes!