Dems Can Defeat McCarthy
Here’s something that’s been on my mind the last several days, and I’m reaching out directly to people I know who might be as troubled as I am about the new Congress.
Most of my fellow progressives, liberals and Democrats seem to have resigned themselves to the likelihood of a new Congress dominated by Kevin McCarthy and the fringiest of right-wing extremists.
However, we don't have to accept that outcome as inevitable. There's another alternative. But it requires resolute action, rather than resignation. That alternative is for House Democrats to leverage their 200+ votes in favor of a moderate Republican for Speaker in January. Republicans won a majority of seats and are entitled to the Speakership. But Democrats don't have to waste their votes in a pointless gesture of party loyalty.
This may sound like a radical idea, but it just makes sense. The possibility of forming a governing coalition is very real. It happens in other mature democracies all the time. Moving away from bitter, paralyzing partisanship requires nothing more than having the will to do it.
There really are moderate Republicans, though we rarely hear about them. In fact, there's a group of about ninety in the House of Representatives who call themselves "Main Street Republicans". One of the group’s founders, Don Bacon of Nebraska, was recently quoted in the Omaha World Herald:
"If we have total gridlock, I'm going to work with like-minded people across the aisle to find someone agreeable for Speaker. We have to govern. We can't afford to have our country be stuck in neutral."
-- Don Bacon (R, NB) November 15, 2022
The congressman is clearly reaching out. Democrats need only reach back in order to defeat McCarthy and marginalize the MAGA die-hards he's empowering.
So what can you and I do to help?
Obviously, we can write or call our representatives, as well as new minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Mr. Jeffries would normally be expected to garner the 212 Democratic votes, so his endorsement is crucial.
But more importantly right now, we have to get media people talking about it. Politicians are notoriously cautious, and want to know people will have their back if they take a risk.
Jennifer Rubin writes an opinion column forThe Washington Post, is a former Republican and would likely be receptive to raising this proposal as a subject for discussion. jennifer.rubin@washpost.com
Michael Moore is both activist and media celebrity, known to champion unconventional ideas. mike@michaelmoore.com
Rachel Maddow is, well she's Rachel Maddow -- probably the most influential opinion shaper in our media bubble. rachel@msnbc.com
If you think we should at least be talking about this idea, please spread the word to these three right away.
You can also suggest the idea in the comment section of newspaper columns, as I recently did in The New York Times (see screenshot above) where it was well received by the few dozen who saw it. The comment is a pretty succinct summary of all this, and you can copy it if you want.
The majority of Representatives want a normal, functioning Congress. Let's not allow extremists to dominate for another two years. We need a moderate Republican as Speaker of the House, and we need our Democratic leaders to make that happen.
We can defeat Kevin McCarthy!
Thanks for your help. And please feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be interested in joining our effort.