Since it's acceptable nowadays for Republican leadership to bust all norms to attract their increasingly radicalized base, Democratic leadership should also think outside the box to fire up their voters and dominate the headlines. Play hardball but in a more intelligent way than the do-nothing extremists on the right side of the aisle, w…
Since it's acceptable nowadays for Republican leadership to bust all norms to attract their increasingly radicalized base, Democratic leadership should also think outside the box to fire up their voters and dominate the headlines. Play hardball but in a more intelligent way than the do-nothing extremists on the right side of the aisle, who lie through their teeth on virtually every issue.
One simple tactic on the federal level is low-hanging fruit, easy pickings if only the septuagenarians and octogenarians clinging to power in the Democratic Party would find their spine hidden inside all that blubber (think red-state Jon Tester, the flabby one, and shit-for-brains Joe Manchin, the stubborn one, allying with the murderous crazies to vote against Biden's common-sense vaccine mandate). Do the unheard-of in the Capitol: extend the workday of cushy Congress-critter jobs to eight hours and the workweek to five days, like most American workers, and radically curtail the excessive recesses and ample time off with pay, i.e., taxpayers' sweat and blood -- UNTIL they pass meaningful legislation to protect voting rights across America, which wingnut state legislators are busily dismantling in preparation for their final coup in 2022 and 2024.
OMFG! Waah! You can hear the rending of garments and clutching of pearls at the mere mention of something so counterintuitive and alien to all that is considered right and proper in the halls of power. Put normal gridlock front and center as the main issue. Make 'em suffer and piss 'em off in DC while exciting the voters and the press across the land.
At this point, what the hell is there to lose? And really, isn't that what most everyday workers/voters on both sides of the divide would not-so-secretly love to witness? C'mon, who wouldn't immensely enjoy such a spectacle of rumpled, over-worked politicos actually trying to get stuff done to "revive" democracy. "Yeah, finally! Do your damn job, you worthless sonsabitches!"
And make the usual boring and depressing headlines a joy to read with the mainstream media gone wild.
The best part? Democrats would instantly change their image from wishy-washy spineless cowards to serious, take-the-gloves-off fighters and champions for the common woman and man struggling to make ends meet.
Besides, why give Republicans the opportunity to go home and conduct retail politics, at which they excel and Democrats suck?
Go with your strengths, not your weaknesses. It's called "exercising power," which "The People" (remember them?) tried to give the Democratic Party in nearly every election. It's called the "popular vote," ergo, populism. Schumer and Pelosi could do this with a stroke of the pen, if only...
Since it's acceptable nowadays for Republican leadership to bust all norms to attract their increasingly radicalized base, Democratic leadership should also think outside the box to fire up their voters and dominate the headlines. Play hardball but in a more intelligent way than the do-nothing extremists on the right side of the aisle, who lie through their teeth on virtually every issue.
One simple tactic on the federal level is low-hanging fruit, easy pickings if only the septuagenarians and octogenarians clinging to power in the Democratic Party would find their spine hidden inside all that blubber (think red-state Jon Tester, the flabby one, and shit-for-brains Joe Manchin, the stubborn one, allying with the murderous crazies to vote against Biden's common-sense vaccine mandate). Do the unheard-of in the Capitol: extend the workday of cushy Congress-critter jobs to eight hours and the workweek to five days, like most American workers, and radically curtail the excessive recesses and ample time off with pay, i.e., taxpayers' sweat and blood -- UNTIL they pass meaningful legislation to protect voting rights across America, which wingnut state legislators are busily dismantling in preparation for their final coup in 2022 and 2024.
OMFG! Waah! You can hear the rending of garments and clutching of pearls at the mere mention of something so counterintuitive and alien to all that is considered right and proper in the halls of power. Put normal gridlock front and center as the main issue. Make 'em suffer and piss 'em off in DC while exciting the voters and the press across the land.
At this point, what the hell is there to lose? And really, isn't that what most everyday workers/voters on both sides of the divide would not-so-secretly love to witness? C'mon, who wouldn't immensely enjoy such a spectacle of rumpled, over-worked politicos actually trying to get stuff done to "revive" democracy. "Yeah, finally! Do your damn job, you worthless sonsabitches!"
And make the usual boring and depressing headlines a joy to read with the mainstream media gone wild.
The best part? Democrats would instantly change their image from wishy-washy spineless cowards to serious, take-the-gloves-off fighters and champions for the common woman and man struggling to make ends meet.
Besides, why give Republicans the opportunity to go home and conduct retail politics, at which they excel and Democrats suck?
Go with your strengths, not your weaknesses. It's called "exercising power," which "The People" (remember them?) tried to give the Democratic Party in nearly every election. It's called the "popular vote," ergo, populism. Schumer and Pelosi could do this with a stroke of the pen, if only...
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/50/e2102144118
Here's some more popular low-hanging fruit:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-day-workweek-congress-progressives/