Well, the battle for the Supreme Court Seat is over and Democrats came up snake eyes… again. It looks bad for the Democratic brand getting constantly get walloped by the Republicans who seem to operate by the motto: “rules are for sissies”. Then again… A “glass is three quarters full” type person might see the Kavanaugh debacle as actually resulting in the best possible outcome. Here’s the reality: It should be no surprise that Kavanaugh got onto the Supreme Court. If votes went strictly across partisan lines, he would have been confirmed. If one Republican voted no, they still had Mike Pence to cast the tiebreaker. And let’s not forget that there were at least two deep red state Democratic Senators that might have voted in favor, and one of them did. Had there been no sexual misconduct accusations, chances are Brett would have slid right in and made the Democrats look completely powerless during the process. That’s not what happened though. Without Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, there’d be no Kavanaugh testimony. The sight of the red-faced former frat boy, sniffling at all the wrong times and snidely challenging Democratic Senators did not make a great accounting of himself. By the time it was all over, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a Republican, stated Kavanaugh was not suited for the Supreme Court. The American Bar Association has reassessed their recommendation. Former friends and classmates of his have spoken out, noting that he lied to Congress about his drinking at the very least. Brett Kavanaugh has become a controversial candidate for the Supreme Court, one that Republicans looked worse for pushing through anyway. Mitch McConnell may snidely say that the Democrats’ actions have whipped up their base for the midterms in a way that the GOP never could, but we’ll see how long that outrage lasts. It is the history of the midterm elections that the Party that suffered the most recent loss becomes fueled by outrage and fear of what the opposing Party can do with their newfound power. The Party with the most recent win becomes more complacent. There simply isn’t the same desperation fueling Republicana to run out and try to make a major change. Thanks to Trump and the GOP, the Republican brand has become toxic, more people will spend money to get Democrats in or just to get Trump clones out than to fight to keep things as they are.
None of this addresses the largest criticism the Democrats are getting, especially lately: They’re too soft. Bill Maher, certainly outspoken against Trump and the GOP, might admit to at least being a Liberal, and recently donated a million dollars to the Democratic cause, but prides himself on being hard on both major parties. His main jab at Dems is that they’re weak; he was making fun of political correctness before Republicans were. Michael Avenatti, lawyer to Stormy Daniels, and now Julie Swetnick, has been teasing a presidential run in 2020. He feels the Democrats desperately need someone who will actually fight back, and there’s perhaps an implication here that he’d also be willing to fight dirty. Recently, Eric Holder, former Attorney General and now also a potential Democratic candidate for President, has made waves by changing his good friend Michelle Obama’s famous quote from “When they go low, we go high” to “When they go low, we kick them.” It’s caused some controversy, but the meaning is clear: Democrats don’t want to be seen as pushovers anymore.
If you’ve ever been bullied, it’s a rough feeling to know that you are being victimized by someone for no discernible reason other than that they can. It’s not uncommon for the bully to be the first to scream “foul” when things escalate; it’s terrible when you’re backed into a corner, forced to fight back, and then labeled the “out-of-control” one. This seems to be GOP 101. Like a comic book villain or a wrestling heel, they identify strength with “pushing the boundaries of the rules” until they break. Then they look for anyone and everyone they can, especially their victims, to blame for the chaos they’ve created. In school, there was always the nuclear option of going to authorities such as teachers, principals or even… parents, but this can backfire. In the court of public opinion that is the schoolyard, one can lose serious ground by being a tattler, having to be rescued by your mommy, or some other sarcastic referencing of an adult. In our current political conundrum, there are no adults. Or, worse, all of our government are the adults and they’re acting like children. There’s no one to go to as the ultimate arbiter of the Truth and Decency. Republicans have long ago learned that the Truth is what you make it to be. Following in the footsteps of Hitler and Goebbels, the GOP lives by the notion that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. Trump, who utters provable lies multiple times a day, simply ignores any statistics or evidence of any kind that proves his statements false. Mitch McConnell has rewritten history in his own mind as relates to denying Barack Obama his choice for the Supreme Court Merrick Garland, and when truly pressed on subjects like this by reporters, he simply says nothing, sometimes just waiting them out. There shouldn’t be any question anymore that Republicans fight dirty, an approach to government that doesn’t even resemble two Parties working together for the benefit of the People. This is more like opposing armies, where any tactic is acceptable if it gives your side an edge against the Enemy. This only makes we citizens of these United States the losers, but the GOP has long since set the stage, and has essentially dared Democrats to get in the mud with them.
This begs the question, do we get in the dirt? To defeat the Enemy, must we become the Enemy? Anyone who’s ever seen Star Wars or read a comic book knows that once you adopt the horrible traits of the Dark Side, you become corrupted by it. And yet, the biggest weakness Democrats have is that they play by the rules. Republicans were admittedly smart when they tied themselves to Christianity. They were the “moral” Party because they went to church and complained about swearing on TV. Democrats bought into the scenario, quickly proclaiming their own faith as if being religious is the only way to be truly moral. We are finding out in a very public way just how little knowing the Bible guarantees someone has true moral fiber. The Evangelicals have hitched their wagons to Trump and it’s leading them straight down the path to Hell. The Democrats have long been portrayed as Godless heathens, but it turns out that we are the ones who actually care about Justice, the Law, the Constitution, and basic human decency. Republicans might have gotten away with shooting spitballs while the teacher’s back was turned for years, decades even, but they’ve become too blatant, and their lies and manipulations are becoming more and more obvious. Still, that doesn’t change their approach. If anything, they are more dangerous than ever. Cornered animals, seeing their majority position in danger, they are liable to swing harder, cheat more, consequences be damned. So, does this mean that Democrats finally have to toughen up and play by the lack of rules that the GOP have established? Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious answer.
Look, if I had the perfect playbook for Democrats to turn things around, I’d be writing this from on board my yacht (I’m not. I can tell you that I’m writing this in decidedly unyacht-like surroundings). I can make a few suggestions though. Michael Avenatti is not the answer. The “creepy porn lawyer” as he is oft-referred to by Tucker Carlson, has vulnerabilities. His record isn’t exactly squeaky clean, his connection to Stormy Daniels hardly gives him the moral high ground, and he’s promised big things without delivering. We’re still waiting for those other women he’s been vetting whom Trump has either had sex with or at least tried. Some Democrats are saying Avenatti hurt more than he helped by representing another witness during the Kavanaugh hearings. I’m not sure I agree. He sure didn’t help as much as he thinks he did, providing a “witness” who essentially made allegations of gang rape without being able to identify Kavanaugh or close friend Mark Judge as the perpetrators. Republicans were able to shake their collective heads at such “outrageous claims” knowing that there was little for Democrats to go on to back them up. Still, Avenatti did provide a third name to pile on to the list of accusers, one who, at the very least provided a backdrop of the liquor-emboldened rape culture that Kavanaugh and Judge seemed to be a willing part of. Her story lines up well with Judge’s ex-girlfriend, who mentioned that Judge had at least once shamefacedly admitted to a girl being passed around for sex at a party he attended. This adds to the list of names and questions that the FBI could have asked in what was clearly a sham investigation. Crazy as he may be, Rudy Guiliani is right about one important thing and that is that any “trial” of Trump and the GOP is already being played out now, and the jury is the American People. While anyone with a strong opinion has entrenched themselves on a side, it’s the undecided/non-committed that really count here; and if Avenatti has given the Republicans a bit more rope with which to hang themselves, then he’s helped a little. But that’s a short-term effect and so is Eric Holder’s “kick them” comment. It may sound tough, but it’s not a slogan to run on.
So what’s the answer? How do you fight a bully that has all their bases covered, and is not afraid to blatantly lie or have others lie for them? If we use their tactics, are we as bad as them? Fighting for what you believe in doesn’t mean playing the same game as your opponent. Democrats need to consider what their advantages are. For one thing, we’re smarter. Don’t take my word for it. Republicans practically ran on the idea that Democrats were the “intellectual elite” which is apparently, a bad thing. We know the statistics. Trumpers are less educated, a fact Trump even embraced, stating, “I love the poorly educated.” Now Trump wants to lose the “elite” moniker and give it back to his crowd. “We are the elite.” he said at a rally in North Dakota in June. His lack of understanding that “elite” is supposed to be an insult notwithstanding, Trump’s statement here does effectively take the “intellectual” part out of the equation. Certainly, the upper echelon of the GOP are highly intelligent, being better at campaign strategy than they ever have been at actually governing. Democrats need to use their intelligencia in their favor, though. First, we need to stop pretending that this is anything other than all out war. Democrats need to make it clear that they know the GOP will not reach across the aisle unless they have absolutely no other choice, and even then, it might be a trick. We need to ignore the Republican narrative completely and repeat the facts over and over again wherever we can. We do have the majority of the media on our side. Republicans claim that television is populated by “the Liberal Media”? There’s a truth to that, so let’s use it to our advantage. Again, if our truth is The Truth, then there’s nothing the Republicans can do but complain how “unfair” it all is. We could and should be courting the sharpest minds in the world for strategy. Why wouldn’t they volunteer? Facts and science are a large part of what’s at stake here. We also could make good use of what the GOP is leaking: Republicans. As the Republican Party is becoming the Party of Trump, they have lost or forced out members of the Conservative old-guard in the process. That doesn’t necessarily mean all those deserters have turned Democrat, but it does mean that we all agree that Trump and his enablers are a political dumpster fire that needs to be put out. We should be making more use of this phenomenon. Publicize it. Remind people that some of the top conservatives of the Party have left, embarrassed by their own party, and often calling it unrecognizable. Why not pick their brains about Republican strategies? Steve Schmidt has left his former Party and now appears regularly on Bill Maher’s show. He hates the new version of Republicans, and has actively promoted for people like him to vote Democrat. If he has any knowledge of the dirty tricks the GOP has used in the past, he should be encouraged to share. It’s important in a war to be able to think like the enemy and predict their next move. You shouldn’t have to fight dirty if you can fight smart.
Of course, there’s the money issue. As someone who’s contributed to the Democratic Party before, I have the distinct honor of receiving email after email asking me to contribute because if we don’t match the Republicans and their billionaire donors, we’re done for. If you look at the different click bait headlines, you’ll see that they don’t always send the same message. Sometimes it’s the dire news that we’re losing horribly and what’s wrong with you, don’t you want a safe America? Others are celebratory: “We can’t believe how many of you have stepped up, we’re setting records.” That one of those two approaches has to be false is annoying, and considering that some of the problems Democrats are supposed to be fixing are wealth inequality and the shrinking middle class, it seems like they’re going after the wrong targets. Republicans have their Koch brothers, among other wealthy donors, who apparently are making a business investment that somehow pays them back with interest. Why are Democrats going after the people hit hardest in this war of attrition? Democrats are Progressive thinkers, so in this age of the Internet and sharing resources, Dems should be able to think outside the box and figure out ways to attract attention that don’t use crazy amounts of money. Do TV attack ads work that well? Could a cheaply produced Internet campaign designed to go viral do as much, if not more damage? Perhaps that’s naïve. What isn’t naïve is the fact that there are rich people on our side too, and Democrats shouldn’t be hiding that fact just to incentivize poorer people to keep emptying their pockets for the cause. Beyonce is rich. Barbara Streisand is rich. Bill Gates certainly seems too decent to be willing to support this GOP, same thing could be said about Warren Buffet. This isn’t just a case of me saying “leave me alone, I barely have enough money to support my own family”, this is about the symbolism of wealthy donors. The Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson, among others, don’t just provide cash, they present a will-crushing image of rich fat-cats with an unending supply of fuel for the GOP. I’m not saying that rich Democrats need to open up their purse strings, I suspect they’re already doing that. Democrats are currently outraising Republicans in most races around the country. What I’m saying is that rich donors should be less humble about it, because their mere existence brings morale down on the other side. Note how the Right is constantly bringing up the name George Soros. A billionaire known, at least on Wikipedia, for donating to multiple charities, he is the GOP whipping boy of Liberal causes. Supposedly he pays for people by the busload to cross state lines and vote illegally, and pays for crowds of protestors to make noise against White House policy such as the Travel Ban. For unproven conspiracy theories, George Soros is a virtual ATM vomiting money to anybody with their hand out willing to stick it to the poor Republicans. Interesting then that Soros is rarely, if ever, credited for backing Democratic opponents legally. It seems strange doesn’t it, that someone would go out of their way to fabricate moral outrage, undermine the Democratic process, and yet, somehow ignore the easiest, most legitimate way to damage the GOP, by funding candidates. That’s because Republicans already know what Democrats don’t seem to get, yet, and that is that blaming a boogie man only works for previous defeats. To suggest that the Dems have an unending supply of cash, and only cash wins elections so there’s nothing you can do, just suppresses voter turnout. After all why bother? Perhaps the idea of grassroots supporters reeks more “of the people”, but the idea that wealthy Liberals will continue to put their money where their mouths are could do a lot to weaken the resolve of Republican voters.
The bottom line is that Democrats need to fight stronger, more strategically, and not be afraid to cross lines when necessary. The sight of Kamala Harris grilling people with no remorse in numerous senate hearings and Corey Booker challenging Republicans to “bring it” when he revealed “confidential” documents that had no reason to be classified is a good start. But it’s only a start. We need to press every advantage and get down and dirty when we need to, because losing simply can’t be an option.