A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

3 January 2017

The political battle manual every Democrat must read

Democrats are constitutionally ill-equipped for political combat. They consider compromise an intrinsic, not an instrumental, good. Reaching across the aisle makes them feel good even when their hand gets slapped. They genuinely disdain and fear confrontation and conflict. In short, they want to make nice.

But making nice is no longer a viable option for Democrats who want to save what’s left of the New Deal and Great Society. That requires making trouble — which is a big problem, for in addition to not liking trouble, Democrats are not very good at making it.

That’s why former congressional staffers and advocates have written Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda. It’s a 26-page manual for political troublemaking that’s a free download.

In an oped in yesterday’s New York Times, its authors said:

It takes a few pages from the Tea Party playbook, focusing on its strategic choices and tactics, while dispensing with its viciousness. It’s the Tea Party inverted: locally driven advocacy built on inclusion, fairness and respect. It’s playing defense, not to obstruct, but to protect.

The guide is informed by a simple principle: Federal policy change in the next four years doesn’t depend on Mr. Trump but on whether our representatives support or oppose him. And through local pressure, we have the power to shape what they consider possible.

This kind of local advocacy can make nearly any member of Congress think a lot harder about his re-election chances. It can ensure that the 10 Senate Democrats up next year in Trump-won states recognize that their best hope for survival lies in bold action to defend democracy rather than cutting deals with a petty tyrant.

It can also weaken the grip of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on his slim two-vote majority when he tries to empower Mr. Trump. It can drive home for Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, that his constituents won’t accept deals with a would-be dictator. And it can complement the efforts of organizers as they mobilize to support those most threatened by Mr. Trump’s agenda.

Indivisible pays too much tribute to making nice — its authors don’t want to iredeemably offend Democratic pattycakers — but it unerringly identifies the levers and buttons activists much pull and punch to knock members of Congress (and state legislatures) back on their heels.

It’s time to lay down the olive branch and pick up the cudgel. Indivisible explains how to swing it to the greatest effect.