Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose. Republicans in general and MAGAs specifically are always in the attack mode. They are constantly advancing on all fronts legally and politically while Democrats are always in a defensive and reactive crouch clinging to the hope that some court will bail them out.
True, not all MAGA attacks prevail. They do not always win. But nothing deters them from trying again.
In this blog, I wish to address examples of how to bring a political gun to a political gun fight such that MAGAs will begin to think twice (or perhaps for the first time) before deploying some outrageous assault on the American public.
SUNSET LAWS
Sunset laws represent an effort by Senator Rick Scott (FL) to put a damper on federal spending. His hope was that once a cutoff date was established for federal legislation, the renewal process would fail for at least some legislation especially social legislation with a Republican majority. The result would be a reduction in government spending as well as a alleviating of the burden of federal rule on the American people. His Sunset Law proposition never saw the legislative light of day even within the Republic Party. Nonetheless it provided an opportunity for Democrats that they did not take.
Response: Agree to sunset law legislation only as it applies to the divorce states as designated by defrocked Marjorie Taylor Greene. These states then would become an example for the remaining states. The point is not whether such a proposal would come to pass or not but to respond to the Republican initiative on its own terms and put those states on the defensive.
SPENDING CUTS
At this point there are multiple spending bills which need to be passed separately to avoid a government shutdown. There are a number of Congressional representatives in the “Just say no, Always” camp. I do not know the exact number but there seem to be dozens if not over 40 members of Congress who always vote “No.” The issue then becomes the ability of this disciplined group to hold the Speaker hostage in a closely divided Congress. If the net result is a government shutdown do much the better from their perspective. This leaves the Speaker of the House desperate to find Democrats to help him pass the legislation.
Response: Call for the reduction in spending in the spending bills the Freedom Caucus always opposes but only for their Congressional districts. Without knowing the exact figures, this would mean cutback in spending of over 10% in the spending bills the Freedom Caucus routinely opposes. I leave it to others more knowledgeable than I am to calculate the exact amounts.
Such a reduction in spending creates a win-win situation. It’s not as precise as a scalpel but still it minimizes the collateral damage by focusing on the precise people who through their elected officials have signified their desire for reducing government spending. What would be the basis for objecting to the elimination of government spending that they are opposed to in the first place? In any event, it would provide Democrats with a great talking points and sound bites for the budget negotiations.
COLONIZATION
Republicans have engaged in colonization efforts to strip Democrats of power. These efforts include:
1. removal of power from Governors by the state legislatures when the former is a Democrat and the latter has a Republican super majority
2. removal of state legislators from their position
3. gerrymandering electoral districts at both the state and federal level so the winners are disproportionately Republican
4. removal of judicial/police authority in Democratic majority cities and transferring power to Republican-controlled legislatures.
The big one here would be the removal of the Fulton County District Attorney and shutting down the indictment of the criminal loser who is their Lord and Savior, the Holy One, Blessed Be his Name.
Response: The best way to circumvent the power of the Republican colonization efforts is for the affected area(s) to declare its (their) independence. West Virginia originated when people declared their independence from the Commonwealth of Virginia over slavery during the last civil war. Imagine a national press conference of all the colonized areas in the Confederate states vowing to declare their independence in time for the 2024 elections. Wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?
TAKING CREDIT FOR BILLS YOU OPPOSED
Bringing home the bacon is a time honored tradition for elected officials. Generally it is assumed that the elected official actually acted to help bring home the bacon. For MAGAS, they are under no such restriction. They are quite capable of broadcasting their bringing home the bacon even under legislation which they opposed.
Response: Create a list of “bacon,” especially for infrastructure projects in the districts where MAGA representatives opposed the legislation. Then publicly ask each of those representatives if they want the federal government to provide such funding even though it is “socialism.”
MENTAL NECESSITIES
Suppose a candidate spoke incoherently. Suppose the messages of the same person also showed signs of stupidity. Now add ignorance and then some more ignorance. How many clips of that candidate as a stupid, ignorant, moron would you see on Foxhub? Actually quite a few. Such utterances seem to play well with the MAGA audience.
Commentators on other networks may poke holes in those comments but that is somewhat like preaching to the choir.
Response: How about a series of commercials on Foxhub asking if this person has the mental necessities to be president? Or a related question if the smartest person in the room is actually the dumbest person in the room? Or if the person who vowed to hire nothing but the best people, then why did he always choose crooks, liars, and traitors or people he would later denounce?
WITCH HUNT
How do MAGAs feel about a President who weaponized the Department of Justice? How do MAGAs feel about a President who weaponized the IRS? How come the witnesses against the LOSER in the multitude of trials against him are all or almost all Republicans? How come in all the trials the defendant never takes the stand in his own defense?
These are questions the MAGA audience should be forced to answer. These are questions the MAGA audience should know that whenever they are watching their favorite cable show or listening to their favorite radio show, they never know when these questions will be presented to them. Podcasts are a little more difficult to reach but other social media platforms may be more accessible. Think of what Russia did in 2016 and do the same in 2024 only against Trump instead of on his behalf. Just complaining about how a foreign government interfered in our election is not enough.
I offer these examples as just some of the ways Democrats could get into the arena with Bone Spur Boy rather than simply bringing a plastic spoon to a political gun fight and expecting to win.
