Yesterday, the Voting Rights Act died because Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema do not understand-even at this late stage of the game-that Republicans have no interest in passing laws, unless it has something to do with abortion or taxes. It’s plainly obvious for all to see, but those two buttheads are still being painfully obtuse about their intention to make Joe Biden’s presidency die by suffocation. Make no mistake, the gambit can work, and confused voters may find themselves staying home if they don’t see any results.
Liberals are now forced to play the long game. That is to say that there’s going to be no forward movement unless we get more Democrats in office. The bitch of it is they will have to face withering criticism and bad faith arguing from Republicans for the next year and a half until we can do that. And as you know, the GOP is pushing voter suppression laws all over the country. They’re determined not to have a replay of 2020. Thankfully, the cloud of COVID is beginning to lift and we can see voters return to the polls with their feet more confidently.
Sinema’s out there arguing that there is no point to voting on something that Republicans can just reverse should they find themselves in the majority again. What she is prescribing, perhaps unwittingly, is a state of permanent gridlock. The days of sixty vote majorities are gone and they are not coming back-this country is bitterly divided, perhaps moreso than any time since our civil war. Every Democrat should already know this. What needs to happen instead is that we need to govern effectively, so much so that the people will happily cast their ballots again for Democrats. If we get results, there’s no reason to fear a Republican resurgence, is there now, Kyrsten? But she’s not giving us even half a chance to move the ball. She’s a raging disappointment and so is her compadre Manchin.
Ignoring political realities is giving Mitch McConnell everything he wants. If a dissatisfied public sees fit to award them majority status again, two things could happen: A) Nothing, because conservatives gotta conserve, and B) Republicans junk the filibuster themselves. A Biden White House will prevent B from doing too much damage, but think of all the time we are wasting not solving problems. I personally don’t see Ron DeSantis as much of a threat come ’24, but losing all the marbles is a possibility-and at a time when we should be showing Americans what we can do, we are instead showing them that politics is useless and not worth participating in.
And that, friends, is exactly how Republicans like it.