Any chance to salvage what remains of our democracy will be challenging and require extraordinary will and effort.
Inexplicably, millions of Americans have embraced the insanity, conspiracies, and lies of this modern Republican Party, and must be convinced not to abandon hard-fought democratic values in favor of empty authoritarian promises. After all, with GOP changes in voting laws, voter suppression, and gerrymandering, a losing Democratic Party may be out of power for a very long time.
How can the Republicans, who have no useful policies, plans or ideas (other than those that favor their wealthy donors) be doing so well in the polls? It is likely because of worries about inflation, crime, immigration, and changing demographics, as well as the historical tendency to vote against the party in power. In addition there is the influence of Fox News and other popular right-wing media, who love to fan partisan flames, aware that anger and division result in elevated ratings and hefty profits.
The reactionary, and arguably neo-fascist push from the right wing must be forcibly challenged by pro-democracy forces. That critical job falls to the polite and reasonable Democratic Party.
Fortunately, the Democrats, with help from the ultra-conservative Supreme Court, have been handed an opportune issue that could inspire and motivate their voters. They couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to contrast their party with the angry, repressive Republicans.
This GOP is pushing a debunked claim, with no evidence, that President Biden and the Democrats stole the 2020 election. They know it must be true because their leader Donald Trump said so and everybody knows how gracefully he accepts defeat. In addition, the Republicans are a party in which many members made a concerted effort to overthrow a duly elected president and nearly succeeded by violently storming the Capital just weeks after the 2020 election.
Even though millions of Americans watched it happening on television, the Republican leadership tells us not to take this attempted coup seriously. One Republican lawmaker, overlooking several deaths and suicides and over 150 injuries among Capital and Metropolitan Police and participants, described it as "a normal tourist visit."
The Democratic Party needs to fight back vigorously and challenge this fanatical onslaught from the right. But are Democratic leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi (age 82), Senate leader Chuck Schumer (71), Rep. Steny Hoyer (82), Rep. Jim Clyburn (81), and President Joe Biden (79) up to the task? With the exception of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (80), Republican leaders appear to be younger, more driven, and more uncompromising than the Democrats.
It is too late to change the Democratic leadership now, so they must be pushed and persuaded to fight back with at least the same intensity as their GOP opposition. American democracy is truly at stake. This is no time to be pleasant and collegial. Every possible law, rule, regulation, and strategy should be used against the opposition.
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