On January 29, 2009, after Obama took the White House and Democrats gained a 79-seat majority in the House, did Republicans crawl off to lick their wounds? Hell, no. They gathered gleefully at a Virginia resort to hammer home their new strategy: Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct!
And it worked, by golly.
The Republicans were pumped because they saw a path out of the political wilderness. They were convinced that even if Obama kept winning policy battles, they could win the broader messaging war simply by remaining unified and fighting him on everything. Their conference chairman, a then-obscure Indiana conservative named Mike Pence, underscored the point with a clip from Patton, showing the general rallying his troops for war against their Nazi enemy: “We’re going to kick the hell out of him all the time! We’re going to go through him like crap through a goose!”
This strategy of kicking the hell out of Obama all the time, treating him not just as a president from the opposing party but an extreme threat to the American way of life, has been a remarkable political success. It helped Republicans take back the House in 2010, the Senate in 2014, and the White House in 2016. This no-cooperation, no-apologies approach is also on the verge of delivering a conservative majority on the Supreme Court; Republicans violated all kinds of Washington norms when they refused to even pretend to consider any Obama nominee, but they paid no electoral price for it—and probably helped persuade some reluctant Republican voters to back Donald Trump in November by keeping the Court in the balance.
And what are we seeing from Democrats, with rare exceptions? They’re defensive. Apologetic. And they’re turning on each other!
You know who we are, Democrats? We’re the people who fund those small-dollar donations. We’re the volunteers.
And we say NO MORE.
Watch this Obama video. He seems shell-shocked. He expected Republicans to behave! And you know Trump expects Democrats to cave.
Don’t do it. Get up off the floor and start fighting. You can start by opposing every. Single. One. of Trump’s nominees. What is this crazy idea that norms still exist? Norms are only norms when everyone observes the terms — and one side doesn’t.
Where does the idea come from that Trump’s nominees are just a mere political difference of opinion, and he deserves his extremist loyalists? They’re weapons of war that will be used against us all. Vote no on all of them. Cowardly Republicans may push them through anyway. LET THEM. Let them wear the stench of being the only ones who put these monsters in positions of power.
There’s not some limited supply of no votes that will run out if you don’t give him at least some of his nominees. Vote no, and then vote no again. You may like it!
And when you’re on TV, ATTACK. Pretend you’re a Republican, if you have to. Aren’t you sick of losing? We are!
We have the upper hand, because just like the last conference, the House Republican infighting virtually guarantees they can’t get anything done without Democratic votes.
Grab them by the throat. Throw them an anvil.
And we Democrats have to do our part. Republican voters burn up the phones when they don’t like something. For some reason, Democrats are reluctant to do the same.
Well, get over it. Congressional offices know that each call represents at least 300 people who didn’t call. Democrats have to learn how to burn up the phones, too. For one thing, this is how you give your Democratic representatives a spine. Because they know they’re up for reelection in two years.
And this is how you put the fear of God into Republicans. Call relentlessly. Remind them that Trump’s majority was razor-thin, and would they rather make him happy, or keep their jobs? Don’t let up. They count those calls, and report them to leadership. It’s what lets them know how far they can safely go.
The congressional switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Put it in your cell phone. Use it. If you’re not calling at least once a week, you’re not doing your part.
Put your fury to use.