This is the next of a new series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020.
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A lot of unusual things have happened in American politics and government. Donald Trump is not even our first ignoble insurrectionist. After nearly becoming President in 1800, Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in 1804. In 1807 he was tried for insurrection over a plot to take over much of the Southeastern United States.
But Burr lost his following early. Is there anything more astounding politically that J.D. Vance and Ted Budd and Mehmet Oz declaring their deep and abiding love for Trump after he sought to prevent the peaceful transition of power? Not only have they done this, but they also know that they would not be the party’s nominee if they had not. At one time, spearheading an attempted coup or even supporting it would have been disqualifying. That this is not presently the case shames our country.
We have suffered some significant damage to our democracy. This damage does not come over deep divisions or strident views, but primarily from the discrediting of the means through which we select our leaders. Working our way back to where we were in 2016 will be difficult, to say nothing for building a society where our better angels are more visible.
What we need now is to be heading in the right direction, every month. It is self-evident that a considerable number of those who will be populating the halls of Congress in January don’t see it our way, and do not acknowledge the danger that is so vivid to us. Because we have the Presidency we will prevail, especially if we manage to keep it in 2024. However, it matters very much who controls the House and Senate, who has the majority and the gavel.
It is said that we have a good chance to maintain the majority in the Senate, and a considerably smaller chance to maintain our majority in the House. That we are this close in an off-year election is testimony to the quality of our candidates, the scale and relentlessness of our collective efforts, and the Supreme Court’s galvanizing overturning of Roe v. Wade.
At this point, it is not wise to view either leading or trailing in a race as the inevitable result. In the hugely significant polling on the “generic Congressional race” there was news a week ago that there had been a shift toward voting Republican. David Brooks reported this a bit too breathlessly. But since then, polls by Politico/Morning Consult and Gallup have called those findings into question or signaled a change from those polling periods. Midweek, the Politico polls showed Democrats at +5%. There will be final sand shifting even though ballots are already being cast.
Let’s have the election. Let’s keep our sights on every House member who is in play. Let’s focus on John Fetterman, Cheri Beasley, Tim Ryan, Val Demings and Mandela Barnes to take back a Senate seat and Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez-Mastro, Mark Kelly and Maggie Hassan to defend their seats.
On the morning of November 9, there will be races that will be agonizingly close, where the winner has not been declared. What if we anticipated one of those races and jumped on the scale one more time, right now? Let’s do this one thing.
| 1) Support Mi Familia Vota Radio Ads in Nevada | |
 | Ten days before the election, donors need to make sure that any support they provide can be put to immediate use. That is exactly the case in the extremely close Senate race in Nevada, where Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez-Mastro is polling even with the mean-spirited Adam Laxalt. It is difficult to believe this man is the affable Pete Domenici’s son. This apple fell far from the tree. Mi Familia Vota is running Spanish language radio ads in Nevada. The more we can help them, the better Catherine Cortez-Mastro’s chances. They are a proven organization which played a key role in Democrats winning in Arizona and in Nevada two years ago. The funds that are provided to them in the next three or four days will bolster this important advertising campaign, designed to influence the voter’s choices but also to get them to the polls. As one of the last things we are doing before voting, we can help win Nevada today, by clicking on this handy link! |
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
