The good news is this: there are plenty fighting the good fight, and they are well organized! A lot of the groundwork has been done, and we only need to show up to an event and receive a little bit of guidance there, to know how to pitch in effectively. Local branches of national organizations are postcarding, phonebanking, texting, and canvassing. These include Sister District, Swing Left, and Indivisible. Find them. Join. Lend your voice to the fight. You will be glad you did!
These midterm elections are tremendously important. Easily the most important midterm elections of a generation -- possibly of the post Civil War era. The Republican Party, that is now almost entirely the Party of Trump, controls the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and will soon likely have a supportive majority on the Supreme Court. The President, and his allies in the Congress, are undermining the independence of the Justice Department, destabilizing health insurance markets, appointing people to cabinet positions based on loyalty rather than experience, ability, and ethics, exacerbating inequality, stoking anti-immigrant fears, inflicting thousands of unnecessary cruelties upon immigrants, cozying up to tyrants, and weakening the trans-Atlantic alliance and other institutions important to the stability of the world. The President has created a political cult that cares not for truth, is hostile to a free press, and strikes a compliance-producing fear in the large majority of Republican office holders.
Our primary goal is to remove the House from Republican control. The Democrats have a 5/7 chance to take back the House, according to 538, so it appears to be an achievable goal. Republican control of the House has meant near-impunity for the President. For example, the House Intelligence Committee currently sees its role as protecting the President at all costs. We are working so that Democrats can launch and control their own congressional investigations, and hold this president and his allies accountable for their actions. We are working so that Congress will stop the dismantling of Obamacare, and preserve social security and medicare.
The midterm elections will be viewed as a referendum on the President. If we fail to take the House back (and this could happen: arguably the most credible estimate is that there is a 2 in 7 chance of this failure so it is a distinct possibility) the President and his congressional allies will be emboldened. Things will get worse. Congress will abdicate yet more power to a President incapable of restraining himself. On the other hand, if we produce a great Blue Wave, then not only do we have a hope that Congress can play its constitutional role as a check against the power of the President, but some of the spell that Trump has cast will be broken. Those opposing the President, both those in elected office, and the majority of citizens, will be heartened by the achievement. Some faith in the staying power of liberal democracy will be restored, not only here, but around the world as well.
The stakes are very high.
The good news is that a lot of people have been getting organized to facilitate this re-taking of the House, and they have made it easy for anyone to pitch in and make a difference. Will you resolve today to find your local branches and their events? Will you commit to attending your first event? It might help to get some friends together to decide what to do. Maybe you can even give your group a slightly silly name. We expect you, and your friends, will be glad if you engage. Come join us!
Lloyd Knox
for GameOn
(Group for Action in the Midterm Elections Of November)
GameOnPoliticalAction.blogspot.com
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| Roseville, CA September 1, 2018. Morse Campaign coordinator and nine volunteers from Davis about to go canvass for the Morse congressional campaign, including GameOn member Lloyd Knox (back row on right). |
