I’ve read (ok, skimmed a bit) all of Saletan’s work on Lindsey Graham, and it’s masterful in bringing back the many details we’ve forgotten. His moral case against Graham is powerful.
However, like the Democrat that I am, I have to dig deeper. One of the rationales animating Graham, according to Saletan was that a return to power by the D…
I’ve read (ok, skimmed a bit) all of Saletan’s work on Lindsey Graham, and it’s masterful in bringing back the many details we’ve forgotten. His moral case against Graham is powerful.
However, like the Democrat that I am, I have to dig deeper. One of the rationales animating Graham, according to Saletan was that a return to power by the Democrats would be a catastrophe so great that it must be prevented at all costs - even Trump. I think that refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Democratic Party runs through Republicans from Graham, to McConnell (top priority insuring Obama be a one-term president at the beginning of his term) to almost all Republicans now in office. Even those who committed legitimate acts of heroism in opposition to Trump - one thinks of Brad Raffensberger - are perfectly okay with vote suppression measures in their states. Brian Kemp, who won re-election in part by denying that Trump won, now signs a bill enabling the legislature to remove elected prosecutors (Fani Willis?) who displease them.
What motivates such politics that can only be helpful to the return of Trump? I contend that on some level it has to be a belief that the DP is in some sense illegitimate.
In 2013, the GOP conducted an “autopsy” to understand why they couldn’t carry Romney past Obama. The autopsy concluded that the GOP needed to find a way to appeal to nonwhite constituencies and to appeal beyond their current strongly racially motivated base. The party looked this over and said “Naah”. Instead they doubled down on the base, on gerrymandering, on vote suppression.
And that has been the tip of the GOP spear ever since.
So I have to ask the Bulwark how they understand the Democratic Party. Did Bulwarkers regard, say, the “For the People Act” as the same abomination as non-RINO GOPers or did they regard it as an important tool in their effort to defeat Trump? It’s one thing to say you support Biden in 2024, but do you regard vote suppression and gerrymandering as legitimate and necessary for long-term GOP survival? How serious are you about electing a Democrat to shut down the authoritarian threat? Or are you ready to plant your flag behind the recommendations of the 2013 autopsy?
I’ve read (ok, skimmed a bit) all of Saletan’s work on Lindsey Graham, and it’s masterful in bringing back the many details we’ve forgotten. His moral case against Graham is powerful.
However, like the Democrat that I am, I have to dig deeper. One of the rationales animating Graham, according to Saletan was that a return to power by the Democrats would be a catastrophe so great that it must be prevented at all costs - even Trump. I think that refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Democratic Party runs through Republicans from Graham, to McConnell (top priority insuring Obama be a one-term president at the beginning of his term) to almost all Republicans now in office. Even those who committed legitimate acts of heroism in opposition to Trump - one thinks of Brad Raffensberger - are perfectly okay with vote suppression measures in their states. Brian Kemp, who won re-election in part by denying that Trump won, now signs a bill enabling the legislature to remove elected prosecutors (Fani Willis?) who displease them.
What motivates such politics that can only be helpful to the return of Trump? I contend that on some level it has to be a belief that the DP is in some sense illegitimate.
In 2013, the GOP conducted an “autopsy” to understand why they couldn’t carry Romney past Obama. The autopsy concluded that the GOP needed to find a way to appeal to nonwhite constituencies and to appeal beyond their current strongly racially motivated base. The party looked this over and said “Naah”. Instead they doubled down on the base, on gerrymandering, on vote suppression.
And that has been the tip of the GOP spear ever since.
So I have to ask the Bulwark how they understand the Democratic Party. Did Bulwarkers regard, say, the “For the People Act” as the same abomination as non-RINO GOPers or did they regard it as an important tool in their effort to defeat Trump? It’s one thing to say you support Biden in 2024, but do you regard vote suppression and gerrymandering as legitimate and necessary for long-term GOP survival? How serious are you about electing a Democrat to shut down the authoritarian threat? Or are you ready to plant your flag behind the recommendations of the 2013 autopsy?