Robert Hubbell you give me hope and resolve. My husband and I wrote hundreds of letters to voters with Vote Forward and the research VF conducts shows that voting rates were significantly increased due to these efforts. Please join this or another effort people!
Today's Edition writes: "Should we be worried? You betcha! Republicans are doing everything they can to beat Democrats at the ballot box and, failing that, in the state legislatures. But endlessly reciting the supposed advantages enjoyed by Republicans is pointless. Worse, it is demoralizing and contagious. Try not to be a superspreader of defeatism." Instead of defeatism, we need to understand our challenge and how to use what we've got. Consider redistricting in Arizona. It's not finished yet. Arizona's Independent Commission has sent a proposal to the state legislature. Currently AZ 01 and AZ 04 take up what look like 2/3 or 3/4 of the area of the state. AZ 04 (Starting at the northern border, extending the length of the western border) is represented by the notorious Paul Gosar. 538 says Gosar's current district has a +45 learn. AZ 01 (Starting at the northern border, extending nearly the entire length of the eastern border) is represented by Democrat Tom O'Halleran -- a moderate to conservative Democrat. Since much of Arizona's population growth has been in the southern part of the state, the proposed new map includes a proposed northern congressional district. The new district takes up so much of Paul Gosar's old district, he has to choose between running against another Republican, Debbie Lesko, in what becomes AZ 09 or against Tom O'Halleran in the expanded version of O'Halleran's district now called AZ 02. Tom O'Halleran's old district leaned Republican. By 6 points. He won anyhow -- usually by 7 or 8 points.
The new northern district, AZ 02, leans Republican by 15 points. O'Halleran is accustomed to making up the 6 points to get even and then winning by an additional 7 or 8 points. He does not quite make up 15 points. If he runs against Paul Gosar, consider that an opportunity. Give money to Tom O'Halleran. Make him into a world beater, someone who can defeat one of the most obnoxious Republicans in Congress. That's a twofer. 1. Keep an endangered Democratic seat. Expel a Member of Congress who ought to be expelled. (Or drive Gosar into believing that he really should compete with another Republican for a chance to stay in Congress.). Here's a link to Tom O'Halleran's website. As Robert Hubbell says -- end defeatism. Do that by giving money to Tom O'Halleran: https://www.tomohalleran.com. It just might work.
I have no connection with Tom O'Halleran or his campaign. I write a newsletter urging people to donate to candidates who will defeat Republicans -- lenspoliticalnotes.com. I recently made a list for Today's Edition of incumbent Senators and challengers to give money to. When and if I make a list of incumbent Members of Congress and challengers to give money to, Tom O'Halleran is likely to be at or near the top. If you can keep him in the game, he could win reelection. With enough like him, Democrats could not only keep the Senate (which I think is a little easier), they could keep a majority in the House.
"The above concerns (and many more) are legitimate". I absolutely agree and feel immeasurably heartened to hear all of this articulated so clearly, and acknowledged. I also wholeheartedly support the caution not to allow discouragement to chip away at resolve to fight against the current trends toward autocracy. I do feel like it is entirely possible to rig the elections to make it nearly impossible for Democrat candidates to win, however. It can be simple math which isn't going to yield to optimism, be empowered by pessimism, or moved by any amount of effort if that effort is applied in the wrong places or too late. The true engines of democracy may be powerful enough to overcome what assaults them, but the voter restrictions, gerrymandering and assignments of Big Lie Republicans to jobs within state and county election offices are not proper parts of the engine of democracy. We are looking at a democratic engine with replacement parts designed to run counter to the intentional output, or designed to break and impugn the design of the engine. I would never say give up, but I also think the current situation absolutely requires immediate powerful action to halt and reverse election theft. It's been said that if you want to know what Republicans are up to, look at what they accuse Democrats of doing - and that is spot on. We needed the infrastructure bill, but we needed and still need voter protection even more. Probably even more than better messaging and actual negative outcomes for political crimes though we need it all. We have to move the vote but we absolutely have to accurately and fairly record the people's will, and given there will be court cases and appeals and endless foot dragging (a tactic at which the Rs and DINOs excel) our representatives should already be deeply engaged in that.
I do write my representatives, thanks to this newsletter I did write and will write post cards with VF, but while being too discouraged to act isn't an option, there is perhaps an equal danger to having too much faith in our system of government to show resilience in the face of the R's myriad, creative and immoral tactics. "But endlessly reciting the supposed advantages enjoyed by Republicans is pointless" is true - perhaps every recitation should be accompanied by proposed remedies (which this newsletter does admirably), but avoiding pointing out the hobbles leaves us... hobbled. We simple must look all the facts over, identify the proper fulcrum points and levers and Push. I "try not to be a superspreader of defeatism" but I fear complacency and faith in our processes can lead to the same inaction.
A lot of the pundits are predicting that inflation may cripple Biden's presidency. When something like that comes along, smart politicians find a way to deflect. What could Biden and the Democrats use to take attention off of their present troubles? Hmm. How about the Republicans' attempt to replace our constitutional democracy with a fascist authoritarianism? Maybe that would work!
And maybe we need to start bombarding the White House and our senators and congressmen with demands to take action agains the threat. (And then go back to working to elect Democrats next year.)
She writes about "Autocracy, Inc." -- Trump is a proud member of that terrible club of dictators who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and power, and the fact that so many Americans are in thrall to him (and it) while Democrats appear to be hapless makes me wonder how long it will be until American democracy finally topples.
Thank you for the Concluding Thoughts! It was a great paragraph that shows we are making progress, abet small. The accomplishments in this paragraph are huge, IMHO.
Thank you. I am, in fact, demoralized. Your newsletter never fails to pick me up, dust me off, and set me in the right direction again. There are many things I would change about the administration's approach to governing, but I believe this infrastructure bill is going to work its way into the country and give Democracy a boost. I'm still frustrated at Merrick Garland and think it's best if Biden asks for his resignation and names someone else.
Thanks for another dose of realism and encouragement. I wonder if any of our "dear (Democratic) leaders" are listening to "our" complaints or taking suggestion about messaging. And, Merrick Garland? These people "act like we got time to waste!"
Robert Hubbell you give me hope and resolve. My husband and I wrote hundreds of letters to voters with Vote Forward and the research VF conducts shows that voting rates were significantly increased due to these efforts. Please join this or another effort people!
Thank you, as always for talking us off of the bridge.
Today's Edition writes: "Should we be worried? You betcha! Republicans are doing everything they can to beat Democrats at the ballot box and, failing that, in the state legislatures. But endlessly reciting the supposed advantages enjoyed by Republicans is pointless. Worse, it is demoralizing and contagious. Try not to be a superspreader of defeatism." Instead of defeatism, we need to understand our challenge and how to use what we've got. Consider redistricting in Arizona. It's not finished yet. Arizona's Independent Commission has sent a proposal to the state legislature. Currently AZ 01 and AZ 04 take up what look like 2/3 or 3/4 of the area of the state. AZ 04 (Starting at the northern border, extending the length of the western border) is represented by the notorious Paul Gosar. 538 says Gosar's current district has a +45 learn. AZ 01 (Starting at the northern border, extending nearly the entire length of the eastern border) is represented by Democrat Tom O'Halleran -- a moderate to conservative Democrat. Since much of Arizona's population growth has been in the southern part of the state, the proposed new map includes a proposed northern congressional district. The new district takes up so much of Paul Gosar's old district, he has to choose between running against another Republican, Debbie Lesko, in what becomes AZ 09 or against Tom O'Halleran in the expanded version of O'Halleran's district now called AZ 02. Tom O'Halleran's old district leaned Republican. By 6 points. He won anyhow -- usually by 7 or 8 points.
The new northern district, AZ 02, leans Republican by 15 points. O'Halleran is accustomed to making up the 6 points to get even and then winning by an additional 7 or 8 points. He does not quite make up 15 points. If he runs against Paul Gosar, consider that an opportunity. Give money to Tom O'Halleran. Make him into a world beater, someone who can defeat one of the most obnoxious Republicans in Congress. That's a twofer. 1. Keep an endangered Democratic seat. Expel a Member of Congress who ought to be expelled. (Or drive Gosar into believing that he really should compete with another Republican for a chance to stay in Congress.). Here's a link to Tom O'Halleran's website. As Robert Hubbell says -- end defeatism. Do that by giving money to Tom O'Halleran: https://www.tomohalleran.com. It just might work.
I have no connection with Tom O'Halleran or his campaign. I write a newsletter urging people to donate to candidates who will defeat Republicans -- lenspoliticalnotes.com. I recently made a list for Today's Edition of incumbent Senators and challengers to give money to. When and if I make a list of incumbent Members of Congress and challengers to give money to, Tom O'Halleran is likely to be at or near the top. If you can keep him in the game, he could win reelection. With enough like him, Democrats could not only keep the Senate (which I think is a little easier), they could keep a majority in the House.
"The above concerns (and many more) are legitimate". I absolutely agree and feel immeasurably heartened to hear all of this articulated so clearly, and acknowledged. I also wholeheartedly support the caution not to allow discouragement to chip away at resolve to fight against the current trends toward autocracy. I do feel like it is entirely possible to rig the elections to make it nearly impossible for Democrat candidates to win, however. It can be simple math which isn't going to yield to optimism, be empowered by pessimism, or moved by any amount of effort if that effort is applied in the wrong places or too late. The true engines of democracy may be powerful enough to overcome what assaults them, but the voter restrictions, gerrymandering and assignments of Big Lie Republicans to jobs within state and county election offices are not proper parts of the engine of democracy. We are looking at a democratic engine with replacement parts designed to run counter to the intentional output, or designed to break and impugn the design of the engine. I would never say give up, but I also think the current situation absolutely requires immediate powerful action to halt and reverse election theft. It's been said that if you want to know what Republicans are up to, look at what they accuse Democrats of doing - and that is spot on. We needed the infrastructure bill, but we needed and still need voter protection even more. Probably even more than better messaging and actual negative outcomes for political crimes though we need it all. We have to move the vote but we absolutely have to accurately and fairly record the people's will, and given there will be court cases and appeals and endless foot dragging (a tactic at which the Rs and DINOs excel) our representatives should already be deeply engaged in that.
I do write my representatives, thanks to this newsletter I did write and will write post cards with VF, but while being too discouraged to act isn't an option, there is perhaps an equal danger to having too much faith in our system of government to show resilience in the face of the R's myriad, creative and immoral tactics. "But endlessly reciting the supposed advantages enjoyed by Republicans is pointless" is true - perhaps every recitation should be accompanied by proposed remedies (which this newsletter does admirably), but avoiding pointing out the hobbles leaves us... hobbled. We simple must look all the facts over, identify the proper fulcrum points and levers and Push. I "try not to be a superspreader of defeatism" but I fear complacency and faith in our processes can lead to the same inaction.
A lot of the pundits are predicting that inflation may cripple Biden's presidency. When something like that comes along, smart politicians find a way to deflect. What could Biden and the Democrats use to take attention off of their present troubles? Hmm. How about the Republicans' attempt to replace our constitutional democracy with a fascist authoritarianism? Maybe that would work!
And maybe we need to start bombarding the White House and our senators and congressmen with demands to take action agains the threat. (And then go back to working to elect Democrats next year.)
Thank you again for bucking us up. But I tell ya, reading Anne Applebaum's most recent Atlantic article is the stuff of nightmares. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/the-autocrats-are-winning/620526/
She writes about "Autocracy, Inc." -- Trump is a proud member of that terrible club of dictators who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and power, and the fact that so many Americans are in thrall to him (and it) while Democrats appear to be hapless makes me wonder how long it will be until American democracy finally topples.
Whoa,!!Thsnk you!!!! A great newsletter reminding us of what WE need to do!!!
Thank you for the Concluding Thoughts! It was a great paragraph that shows we are making progress, abet small. The accomplishments in this paragraph are huge, IMHO.
Thank you. I am, in fact, demoralized. Your newsletter never fails to pick me up, dust me off, and set me in the right direction again. There are many things I would change about the administration's approach to governing, but I believe this infrastructure bill is going to work its way into the country and give Democracy a boost. I'm still frustrated at Merrick Garland and think it's best if Biden asks for his resignation and names someone else.
Thanks for another dose of realism and encouragement. I wonder if any of our "dear (Democratic) leaders" are listening to "our" complaints or taking suggestion about messaging. And, Merrick Garland? These people "act like we got time to waste!"