Democrats Should "Do Something" the Way the GOP Does Things

[Nevilledog]

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Tweet text:Victor Shi
@Victorshi2020
Bottom line: Democrats need to stop waiting for Republicans and need to act and deliver for their voters ASAP.

As @MollyJongFast brilliantly writes, "It’s time [for Democrats] to be brave, think big, and deliver for the American people.

newsletters.theatlantic.com
Democrats Should “Do Something” the Way the GOP Does Things
Gun control can be a winning issue for Democrats, if they act quickly.
1:22 PM · Jun 1, 2022

https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/62977fdd66d6b500218ffc11/biden-democrats-midterm-elections-gun-laws-uvalde/

On Sunday, President Joe Biden attended a Catholic Mass in Uvalde, Texas, for the 19 children and two teachers who had been murdered at Robb Elementary School. When he emerged to protesters shouting “Do something!” he stood tall, pointed his finger at the crowd, and responded loudly, at least twice, “We will.”

Support for tighter gun laws will probably last only until Americans forget about Uvalde. Given that we are, as Gore Vidal called it, “the United States of Amnesia,” Democrats have a small window of time in which to act on gun control. But that’s okay, because Democrats don’t have much time before the midterms, either—now is the time for Democrats to put a big win on the board. A win on guns would not only protect children; it would shore up Biden’s anemic poll numbers and excite the Democratic base. If Democratic voters don’t show up this fall, it will be because they’ve lost faith in Democrats’ ability to deliver. And yet, Democrats seem to be terrified to deliver.

Well, many of them do. Not, seemingly, Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, who showed up at a press conference about the Uvalde shooting and told off the current governor, Greg Abbott, saying, “You are doing nothing. You are offering up nothing. You said this was not predictable. This was totally predictable when you choose not to do anything.” I was incredibly gratified by Beto’s disruption. We want electeds who will fight for our values as hard as Republicans will fight against them.

Recent Democratic primary results seem to support this. In Georgia, Representative Lucy McBath easily defeated Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux, a member of Representative Josh Gottheimer’s “Unbreakable Nine,” the House group that has blocked Biden’s agenda and that was supported by the political organization No Labels. Two other members of the group have also been broken, or at least bent: Kurt Schrader of Oregon, who lost his primary despite having $1.3 million in funding, and Henry Cuellar of Texas, who is ensnared in a recount. In Pennsylvania’s Senate primary, meanwhile, John Fetterman crushed polite centrist Congressman Conor Lamb. Seems like a lot of Democrats don’t want to be represented by some focus-grouped, mealymouthed moderate who just wants to find common ground with Ted Cruz. Maybe because sensible people have no common ground with Ted Cruz.

*snip*

[CentralMass]

1. Joe Manchin does a lot of things the way republicans do.

Last edited Wed Jun 1, 2022, 07:25 PM - Edit history (1)

[LakeArenal]

2. Easy or sleazy......? Not mutually exclusive?

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. If you don't think they have been trying, you haven't been paying attention OR

you have your head up your ass.

[Azathoth]

4. The GOP "does something" like declaring war on Disneyworld

"Do something!" is an irrational, emotional cry from the id. That's 98% of what passes for GOP "governing."

It's not a tactic that should be seized and emulated.

[betsuni]

5. +1

[Generic Brad]

8. They also say no a lot

And they bitch and whine in unison. Apparently that is "doing something"?

[Mad_Machine76]

6. All fine and good

But what? And how?


I feel that that part is always lacking in calls like this.

[In It to Win It]

7. Let's get Dems a bigger a majority then. Every election counts