What Can We Actually Do?
That's a real question, but it's one we don't seem to want to talk about. With Republicans in charge of all three branches of government in Washington, a lot of things we normally do to influence what happens in our federal government are relatively useless.
Contacting Republicans in Congress isn't going to work. It never has worked, really. They're voting based on other criteria than contacts from constituents. Our Democratic representatives and Senators are doing their best but, without a majority, they can't prevent bills from getting through the House and Senate.
Taking to the street is temporarily satisfying, but the Republicans are still in the majority, and can simply ignore that. They do so on a regular basis, frankly. We stand very little chance of turning back their commitment to enriching themselves and their big donors by chanting and carrying signs.
Traditional actions are not going to change their minds. So, what can we do?
It's simple. Our Constitution provides us with the final checks and balances against a government that is acting against the public interest. We will, as we always do, have elections next year. All 435 seats in the House are up for election. One-third of the Senate is also standing for election, as are state legislative offices all across the country.
That election is just 11 months away. As Democrats often do, we have internal differences within our party. That, however, should not stop us from working together to elect people to replace Republicans who hold office. We need to look toward the broader goal of defeating Republicans, rather than toward the goal of voting only for individuals who share 100% of our individual points of view.
Every DUer who lives in the United States lives in a congressional district and a state. Every DUer who lives in the United States has an opportunity to affect elections for representation in the House and state legislatures. We need the help of every individual in choosing candidates and in convincing people who will vote for Democrats to actually go to the polls and vote next November.
We must put aside our ideological differences and work together to defeat the Republicans in every possible election race. That is what we can do, and it must start now. We saw what happened in Alabama, a state that is so solid red that nobody would expect a Democrat to win any election, much less a statewide election. It happened, though.
We need to take that example and apply it to our own local House and state legislative races. We need to apply it to Governor's races and Senate races where they occur. If we do that, we can regain control of our destinies. If we do not, we may forever lose our opportunities in the near future.
Is this a boring post? Are you tired of reading my posts calling for unity? If so, think about it one more time, I beg you.
GOTV 2018!
= new reply since forum marked as read
Somehow I have trouble believing that a march of 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 or 10,000,000 million people will make any difference at all to this entrenched party of liars, thieves and traitors.
"But our voices will be heard." Yes, heard and completely ignored, I suspect. Certainly Paul Ryan won't give a shit about what we have to say. Mitch McConnell won't bat a rheum-crusted eye at this throng of peasants.
A single check to Republican from the Koch brothers will fund an awful lot of indifference toward their constituents, and frankly I'm not very optimistic about the integrity of the 2018 and 2020 elections.
I would love to be wrong. Someone PLEASE convince me that I'm wrong!
