Urgent Message to Leaders of Democratic Party

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I keep thinking about how the midterm elections are the Democrats’ to lose — and how, so far, they show every sign of not really understanding or deploying the massive advantage they have. 

Well, that’s what I was thinking… before the Virginia Supreme Court threw out the map Dems were counting on to level the playing field in the redistricting wars. 

While everyone tries to sort out how Republicans keep winning at dirty pool, it’s important to address the deeper asymmetry between the parties: Democrats still largely operate within institutional norms, while Republicans increasingly do not. 

The recent redistricting fights in Louisiana and Virginia show this clearly. Democrats often rely on courts, precedent, procedural fairness, and the will of the voting public, while the GOP uses institutional power far more aggressively. That dynamic helps explain why Democrats can still lose even when they appear to have the political advantage.

I noted this pungent comment from GOP strategist Chris Pack: “Everybody counted Republicans down and out in [2020], and they’re doing it again now. When given the chance, Democrats like to step on the rake.”

Now, having brought their usual knives to this procedural gunfight, it’s all the more pressing for the Democrats to come up with the right substantive arguments. 

Democratic strategist Lis Smith seems to agree: “Rather than navel-gazing and hand-wringing, we just need to focus on what will put us over the top here, which is educating voters not just about Trump, but what his enablers in Congress have done.”

I’d go further and urge them to emphasize the big picture with this simple message that captures the totality of the disaster, and the urgency to undo it before it’s too late:  

The GOP is RUINING EVERYTHING for you, your family, and your next generation.

Here are just some of the ways:

• War. For starters, of course, Trump has dragged the world into an unnecessary war with a vast toll in lives and money, and little benefit. He wants $1.5 trillion next year for his military. Your taxes are pouring into the war machine instead of into domestic programs where that money is needed — health care, childcare, repairing our crumbling, increasingly dangerous infrastructure.

• Major Media Deceiving Public on Crucial Issues. Media consolidation by the tech bros — Elon Musk, the Ellison family, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and other billionaires are buying up the news media to shape coverage supporting the lies Republicans use to lull those who would resist all this ruination into apathy. 

• Threatening Free Speech. Attacking those they disagree with in every way, from prosecuting political enemies to suing news organizations, plus jailing or removing noncitizen legal residents for speaking their mind. Don’t assume this couldn’t affect you and people you know if you anger them. 

• Favoring the Rich. From tax breaks to those who don’t need them to legally dubious “gold card visas” for wealthy foreigners, the Republicans have been handing the country over to the 1 percent as fast as they can. 

• Reduced Spending Power, Slow Income Growth, Rising Interest Rates on Debt. Under the GOP and Trump, the US national debt has now exceeded our country’s total annual economic output, threatening a growing spiral of fiscal instability. This is bad news for everyone. 

• Loss of Crucial Expertise. The expertise and capability in government and a host of government-funded programs, like medical research, are being obliterated. Even a place like the Pentagon is suffering, as Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth got rid of many of the best military minds, then launched their war on Iran. And our homeland security is threatened by our loss of intelligence assets.

• Undermining Science and Endangering Public Health. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chaotic and irrational reign at Health and Human Services, plus defunding of crucial medical research, puts every American at risk.  

• Turning Away Foreign Expertise. America, under the GOP, has put out the Unwelcome Mat, not just for those coming illegally but even legally (if you’re the wrong color) in search of a better life. Trump, his team, and their GOP allies have harmed America’s relationships and reputation with most of the world. Skilled workers are going elsewhere — including doctors and nurses, whom we desperately need because of a national shortage, especially in rural areas. And as I noted previously, students, both American and foreign, are increasingly shunning the US’s top-drawer Ivy League schools, preferring European universities. 

• Loss of American Popularity. Americans went from being warmly welcomed to viewed with skepticism in many places. And traveling is becoming harder. According to a new study, the American passport — ranked number one in the world in terms of the number of countries one can visit without a visa during Barack Obama’s final year in office — is now ranked tenth. 

• Loss of Allies’ Trust. This could threaten American security and has financial consequences as well, including skepticism of the American dollar’s value, inflationary pressures, higher borrowing costs, and reduced competitiveness for US businesses. 

• Corruption. The Trump administration is gleefully the most corrupt and self-dealing in American history. It’s YOUR money they’re helping themselves to! 

• Human and Other Rights. America was once revered for its principled stance — not always realized but at least aspirational — of treating people with dignity and honoring basic rights. Under the current GOP domination, individuals from all walks of life face new threats from growing authoritarianism. 

• Separation of Church and State. The government has been blurring the lines between church and state. Evangelical leaders surround Trump in prayer while their hands are out to receive government subsidies. The Supreme Court promotes discrimination based on religious beliefs. 

• Dismantling the Education System in Favor of Religious Private Schools. Republicans and charter school enthusiasts are undermining the educational system by allowing religious private schools to discriminate in enrollment while being funded by the taxpayers and draining resources from public schools. Among some, the long-term goal seems to be to eliminate public schools altogether.

• Destructive Climate. While much of the economically secure world is trying to ameliorate global warming, the GOP is letting this country — and, of course, the planet — boil over, with devastating consequences for you and your children and grandchildren.

• Toxic Air and Water. While China has rapidly developed clean, cheap solar and wind energy, the GOP has blocked such innovative solutions in the US, pushing outdated, toxic, geopolitically-fraught fossil fuels. Every single one of the world’s largest wind turbine makers is Chinese. ’Nuff said. 

• Slashing or Eliminating Basic Government Services You’ve Been Promised (and Paying For) All Your Life. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, public schools, public libraries, and aid to the weakest and those who most need a little help from the rest of us will all be gone if they have their way.

• Befriending and Supporting Brutal, Dangerous Dictators Abroad Who Threaten Peace, Harmony, and Life. Putin is just one of numerous bad guys whom the Republicans are empowering and turning loose to wreak havoc — all in your name and on your dime. 

• Weakening — and Undermining Trust and Confidence In — Our Key Institutions, from the Judiciary to Voting Itself. This includes making it harder for ordinary Americans to cast their ballots. Many of the Republican candidates for governor this year refused to accept Biden’s victory in 2020; some will oversee balloting in swing states in the next presidential election. 

• The Coming AI Apocalypse. While claiming that AI will solve all of humanity’s problems, the moguls behind these companies note an unfortunate side effect of AI will be putting most of humanity out of work. Those moguls don’t want to do anything to prepare for this oncoming calamity. By placating Trump and the Republicans, they’re being given free rein to do what they wish with few if any constraints. 

• Making Self-Interest the Only Acceptable American Creed. By denigrating the shared principles of generosity and caring for others, the Republicans promote meanness as a value and dilute the moral glue that has held this country together for 250 years. 

Trump and the GOP have caused so many harms so fast — picture a pointillist rendition of The Scream — that it could take our country many generations to recover. 

Yes, the market is currently flying high, as it did straight into the Great Depression, but many factors — including unregulated AI, willfully ignored global warming, and a viciously partisan total war — portend mass suffering and a fall into chaos or worse if current trends are not recognized and reversed. 

How’s that for a catalog of reasons to reject the current political leadership and elect leaders who recognize the urgency to begin fighting for a better future? 

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As a news organization, we normally try to remain above partisan politics. But, because of how desperate, and even dangerous, things have become, I urge you — if you agree with me  — to share this paper with as many people as possible, especially those who are influential in the Democratic Party.