By Christine Brown, July 31, 2022

Update: 8/24/22: Good news that that the ringleaders of Governor Whitmer’s kidnapping attempt were convicted in Federal Court today. Update: 8/3/22 Rep. Peter Meijer, one of 10 Republicans that voted to impeach Trump, lost his primary to Trump endorsed challenger John Gibbs. Democrat Hillary Scholten will pursue this House Seat (MI-3). Governor Whitmer will face anti-abortion candidate Tudor Dixon in November. Dixon, who is endorsed by Betsy DeVos and Trump, said a 14 year old should be forced to give birth.

Michigan is fighting for its Democracy.   The Democratic Party controls the office of Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General.   The Republican Party controls both chambers of the state legislature, and has been radicalized by insurrectionists. (Read How a Michigan Couple Radicalized the State)  The statehouse was attacked, and they attempted to kidnap Governor Whitmer. As in other places, radical Republicans are attacking public education and voting rights.

In addition to the strong and determined women holding statewide office (Governor Whitmer, Secretary of State Benson and Attorney General Nessel), another bright spot in Michigan is the Independent Redistricting Commission.  The Commission has been heralded as a model for redistricting reform. After the Republicans viciously gerrymandered the maps in 2010, the citizens of Michigan voted for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which established public criteria, non-politician commissioners, and gave the commission true authority to create and draw the maps.  Cognizant of the hyper partisanship of its government and citizens, the commission took great care to make the process transparent and fair. They were successful in their goals:  Watch the Evaluation here

However, there are strong anti-democractic forces. The Republican primary is full of insurrectionists- Politico has called it “The Messiest Primary” where the winner will be “King of the Trash Heap” and Secretary Benson has warned of the 2020- election deniers attacks on current elections.   

The latest attack comes from Michigan’s law about ballot measures.  Michigan is one of only two states that has a special constitutional provision adopted in less fraught times. Under this provision, “if 8 percent of statewide voters (about 340,000) sign petitions, the petition language can go straight to the state legislature.  When both the state House and Senate approve the petition language, it immediately becomes law.”  There is no further voting.  There is no veto by the Governor allowed.  Radicals are out gathering signatures for “five initiatives:  a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election; to “decertify” the 2020 election; prohibit the mailing of absentee ballot applications and strip voters of the option to sign an affidavit to attest to their identity; establish public funding for private school vouchers; and limit the public health emergency powers of state and local officials.”

Governor Whitmer used the law to get Abortion Rights on the ballot.  It will go to a vote, since the Republican legislature wants to ban abortion, and will not adopt the exact language of the initiative.

I hear from so many people that the democratic party is poor at messaging and that our base is discouraged.  Where are they getting these ideas?  

Let’s examine the media narrative for the midterm elections.

1.  A snapshot of X election, X candidate, X poll will determine the entire outcome of the midterm elections.  

2.  Biden has poor favorability ratings and therefore Democrats will lose the midterms.

3. Historically the opposing party takes back the House and/or Senate, therefore in this unprecedented time in history, the exact same thing will happen.

And I watch “liberal” media.

We need to remember what the media business model is:  drama, conflict and strife drive the ratings.  Polarizing, outrageous titles drive the clicks.  Fear sells.  Nuance, and subtlety, not so much.

Case in point:  The New York Times and others decided that loss of a progressive in the LA mayor’s primary and the recall of a progressive San Francisco District Attorney signaled the end of all progressive support in their article “California Sends Democrats and the Nation a Message on Crime”.  Regardless of the hundreds of other primaries that day, where progressives did just fine, the NYT pushed the story that fit their narrative of a future democratic loss in the midterms.  

June 21st Robert Hubbell reported that “Well, it turns out that one of the two races on which the breathless reporting was based has flipped the first and second-place finishers as mail ballots have been counted. Billionaire Rick Caruso has been overtaken by Rep. Karen Bass by 6 percentage points. (When the NYTimes ran its story, Caruso was leading by 5 points—and 11-point swing!) 

       What about Biden’s 40% favorability rating?  Polls tend to measure people’s discontent, and voters tend to bash whomever is in charge when they feel bad.  This could hurt turnout.  A suggestion: promote the coming election as a choice for the future – not a referendum on the past.  (works for both criticism on the Right and the Left)

But I buried the lede…..

The consensus narrative of the media is that historically, the party in power loses control of Congress.  Yes, that is true, but that belies the unprecedented nature of current events:

1. On June 24th, 130 million women lost their right to bodily autonomy and now have less rights than a corpse.  (Even dead bodies aren’t required to give up organs to preserve someone else’s life.)

2. In June, the Radicalized SCOTUS also:

• Overturned NY’s concealed carry law
• Overturned MIRANDA rights

3. The January 6th hearings are laying bare the evidence of the attempted coup.  “Heroes” like Rusty Bowers, held the line against illegality last time, but have made it clear that they support all trump’s policies and would vote for him again.

4. The massacres of Uvalde and Buffalo have fallen before a midterm. Maybe this time, the memory of those murdered will be fresh in the voter’s minds.

5. The attacks on LGTBQ, especially Trans people, are widespread and vicious.  The Texas Republican party’s platform states that “homosexuality is an aberant lifestyle.”  SCOTUS published Thomas’ concurring opinion attacking contraceptives and LGTBQ rights. (Homosexual sex was criminalized until 2003, so it’s not just marriage equality at stake.)

So what must we do to win the midterms?

Remain steadfast.  Continue the work to promote Democratic candidates and get out the vote.  If you have taken a break, that’s good, it’s time to jump back in now. The largest voting block right now?  Independents and Did Not Vote.  The smallest group is Republicans. So there is plenty of room to win.

Start Talking.  Talk with everyone you know. They say they don’t “do politics”?  Tell them this is about values. They say it is too stressful?  Tell them to imagine what will happen if they do nothing. They say they are mad because (fill in passion here) and Biden/Congress hasn’t done anything?  Well guess what: it will only get worse if we don’t keep Democrats in office.  Climate Change?  Student Loans? Citizens United?  Medicare for All?  Police Reform?  Racial Justice?  Allowing Republicans back in control will be a disaster.

Take Action!  Make a plan and take action.  Phone.  Text.  Write. Donate. Remember, we did it in 2018, and we did it again in 2020. 

Sitting on the sidelines will guarantee our loss.  

We must go all in now.  It’s time to take action.

PA played an outsized role in the 2020 election and will need to do it again in the midterms! In 2022, PA will have two of the most important elections in the country, for the US Senate and Governor: 

Must-Flip US Senate seat! – This Senate race can win a desperately needed seat to enable us to fight for nationwide voting rights and push Biden’s agenda through a fractured Senate. This Senate seat is vacated by retiring Republican senator Pat Toomey. Several strong Democratic candidates are running in the primary, making this one of our best opportunities for flipping Toomey’s seat. We must make this happen – the stakes couldn’t be higher! 

Save Pennsylvania! The gubernatorial race is a battle for nothing less than the soul and future of PA. Democratic champion Gov. Tom Wolf, who is term-limited, has been vetoing the tsunami of voter suppression laws from the radical GOP legislature for years. Democrats have an outstanding candidate in Josh Shapiro, but there is a strong GOP field so we can take nothing for granted. We must unite to elect Shapiro and save PA! 

by Barbara Head, March 31, 2022. In February, Russia brutally invaded Ukraine, in part to replace their democracy with Russian autocracy. As we witness the fierce bravery of the Ukrainians in defense of their homeland and freedom, we cannot help but reflect upon our own situation here at home. Our own democracy of nearly 250 years is at risk. Recent events have made it shockingly clear that major factions in our government are plotting to replace our democracy with autocracy. And we are not alone in our peril. Over the past year, 60 countries became less free, while only 25 improved HCR 3/10/22.  

Oligarchs everywhere want to convince the world that democracy is in decline and that autocracy is the wave of the future! Putin’s view is that democracy has outlived its usefulness, while Chinese president Xi Jinping believes that democracies cannot respond to a complex and changing world. Biden himself said in 2021, “Things are changing so rapidly in the world… the question is: In a democracy as genius as ours, can you get consensus in the timeframe that can compete with autocracy?” HCR 3/10/22.    

For all the efficiency of autocracy, it is self-serving and inevitably works against the people it rules. Autocracy can only be sustained when opposing viewpoints are repressed and disinformation fed to the population. Those who rule become corrupt. As the old adage goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

From the viewpoint of autocrats, democracy is weak and inefficient. Democratic leaders are chosen after lengthy discourse when all voices will be heard. The process takes time and is partisan by nature. How inconvenient, from the totalitarian perspective!

Yet across the globe, democracy remains more popular than autocracy. People do not have to be forced to fight and die for democracy, they do it because of their strong beliefs in what it represents and because self-determinism is a basic human need. People do not take to the streets, and risk being jailed or shot, to demand authoritarianism. But you have to ask, if democracy is so popular, how can it be under threat in the U.S. now? And what can we do to help ensure that democracy will win out over autocracy, here and across the globe?

Human Rights Watch, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization, suggests that the best way to buttress democracy is by making sure our democratic leaders do a better job meeting the challenges of global leadership: climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, poverty and inequality, racial injustice, and threats from modern technology HRW News, HWR Kenneth Roth. First and foremost, our elected officials need to hear from us, daily if necessary. We need to write, call, text, demonstrate, and let them know what they need to do to make the world a better and safer place for all of us. We need to speak loudly — through the voices of millions of voters — so our leaders can hear us more clearly. We need to show the world that our system works, and that it works while preserving basic human rights to self-determinism. This affirmation, more than anything, will help to ensure the global ascendency of democracy over autocracy.