Ellison: NC is a very dangerous precedent and everyone in every state should be worried about it
In North Carolina, Some Democrats See Their Grim Future
Jonathan Katz
Politico
In the end, even Phil Berger, the powerful Republican leader of North Carolina’s Senate, couldn’t stop the debacle. A state law that effectively banned legal protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people—a law he’d pushed through the statehouse less than a year before—had become such a national embarrassment that even he wanted to see it repealed. But the far-right members of his caucus, happily ensconced in ultra-safe Republican districts he’d help draw, saw no reason to back a full repeal, and what was supposed to be a last-minute deal with the incoming Democratic governor fell apart.
“I cannot believe this,” Berger said, throwing down his microphone and slumping back into his leather chair at the front of the senate chamber, as the last session of the year came to a close, the stain still indelibly affixed to his state’s reputation, and his own.
For some Democrats, the answer is to fight back in any way they can, including in the streets. “This is a very dangerous precedent and everyone in every state should be worried about it,” said Rep.
Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a frontrunner for the leadership of the Democratic National Committee. “What we’re seeing here is reminiscent of interposition and nullification from the segregation days.” He said the Democratic Party needs to reestablish trust with voters whose faith in the system has been destroyed by “going to them, sitting with them, listening to them, encouraging them to run for office themselves.”
“I think we should back up the protest movement that is emerging” in North Carolina, Ellison added.
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