The chickens may not have come home to roost last Tuesday, but the GOP laid an egg. In March 2016, when former President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, eleven months before the election, the Republicans refused to honor the letter and spirit of the law. In more than a spirited defense of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination in September 2020, less than two months before the election, Republicans confirmed that their zeal for power superseded the Constitution.
The closed world of GOP politics believes that banning America’s racial history is a good move. Their animus and the lack of a visionary future were not the powerplays they assumed. They appeased their base with stories of kitty litter in schools to accommodate the children of “liberal parents,” asserting their kids want to identify as cats. Instead of offering solutions—like, heaven forbid, banning assault weapons they concentrated on banning kitty litter. One of the reasons schools ordered more kitty litter, aside from snow melt, is that they keep a supply in case children are sheltered in place because of a school shooter. Instead of being insulted, the MAGA Republicans tuned in to see the befuddled faces of Tucker Carlson and cheered on the nonsense.
Whenever I spoke to Republican friends or strangers willing to engage, I would ask what the GOP plan was to solve inflation and gas prices; In response, I got the Tucker bewildered face and silent gaze.
Unlike conventional wisdom, Dems were in array
From the beginning of his campaign for President, Joe Biden told anyone who would listen that he ran to save “the soul of America.” Without democracy, that soul would fall into the abyss, and it seems America got the message. The GOP may still gain a tenuous hold on the House, but the future looks bright. Young people between 18-29 came out in droves, neutralizing the GOP’s reliable over 60 white vote. Young women rejected Gilead, and young men see the women in their lives as more than incubators. Both groups, it appears, liked the idea of not being saddled until age 50 with school debt and having clearer air to breathe and clean water to drink. People liked the idea of a plan and not just reminders of who to hate. In today’s Republican party, you have to believe that everyone else is the problem, from blacks and browns, Jews and Muslims, to the working poor and women. Who would have believed it?
Another Autopsy
The inevitable Republican autopsy will follow in a few months, but I contend it is the Democrats that need a heart check. Strengthening the Democratic heart is the way to stay strong. Al Gore ran from Bill Clinton in 1999. Democratic voters abandoned Barack Obama in his first midterm in 2010 and again in 2014 at the first sign of trouble. Dems, like Ohio’s Tim Ryan, disavowed Joe Biden in last Tuesday’s election cycle. Gore’s refusal to take the mantle of a successful president led to war and economic collapse. Aside from averting financial disaster, affordable healthcare became Mr. Obama’s signature accomplishment. Fixing immigration, climate change, and détente with Iran became the victims of losing Congress. Biden’s strategy was correct—democracy was on the ballot. Sure, kitchen table issues are essential, but the point is moot without a kitchen.
Continue to Vote for Change
