Work to be done for sure, David. Very glad this morning to read about an upstanding Republican who has endorsed Biden (see his opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal newspaper).
Thanks for bringing this out, David. Plenty of moderate or even conservative GOP legislators will go the way of Rusty Bowers in AZ, or Anthony Gonzalez here in OH at federal level. The threats and harassment should have been prosecuted somehow.
I've also wondered if Mike Turner deserves my vote this year for going public to confirm the GOP Russian Disinformation caucus, along with McCaul.
Do you think he might be targeted by the GOP for this? How do you think we should thread this kind of needle with non-MAGA repubs in Congress? I find it difficult.....
To me this essay points to the need for very clear messaging when fighting against extremism. The majority of American citizens are what strategist Rachel Bitecofer (Hit ‘Em Where it Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game) calls “civically dumb.” As Democrats our desire to be accurate, fair, balanced, etc is chronically used against us. The most effective messaging drives turnout while crapping on MAGA extremists. Blunt, I know. The desire to gain turnout this year must include independents and Republicans like many of the losing Republicans in this essay who are not in the cult or have abandoned MAGA extremism. Message example: MAGA extremists are forcing raped women and children to give birth in 22 states and they won’t stop until there is a national abortion ban.
But my question, and one which I can find NO answer, is why these targeted Republicans, once they've been "primary'd" out, don't speak out? Are their lives threatened if they do? Do they fear for their families? Or are they just trying to weasel their way back into the good graces of their "masters"? What is it that is keeping them from telling everyone exactly what is going on behind the scenes?
Excellent piece, David. As a Republican I recognize that partisan gerrymandering is at the root of the disfunction affecting our entire political system because it elects extremists in primaries who have no competition to fear in the general election. If competitive districts existed throughout this country, legislative terrorists (to use former House Speaker John Boehner's expression) like Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert would never get elected.
Work to be done for sure, David. Very glad this morning to read about an upstanding Republican who has endorsed Biden (see his opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal newspaper).
Thanks for bringing this out, David. Plenty of moderate or even conservative GOP legislators will go the way of Rusty Bowers in AZ, or Anthony Gonzalez here in OH at federal level. The threats and harassment should have been prosecuted somehow.
I've also wondered if Mike Turner deserves my vote this year for going public to confirm the GOP Russian Disinformation caucus, along with McCaul.
Do you think he might be targeted by the GOP for this? How do you think we should thread this kind of needle with non-MAGA repubs in Congress? I find it difficult.....
To me this essay points to the need for very clear messaging when fighting against extremism. The majority of American citizens are what strategist Rachel Bitecofer (Hit ‘Em Where it Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game) calls “civically dumb.” As Democrats our desire to be accurate, fair, balanced, etc is chronically used against us. The most effective messaging drives turnout while crapping on MAGA extremists. Blunt, I know. The desire to gain turnout this year must include independents and Republicans like many of the losing Republicans in this essay who are not in the cult or have abandoned MAGA extremism. Message example: MAGA extremists are forcing raped women and children to give birth in 22 states and they won’t stop until there is a national abortion ban.
But my question, and one which I can find NO answer, is why these targeted Republicans, once they've been "primary'd" out, don't speak out? Are their lives threatened if they do? Do they fear for their families? Or are they just trying to weasel their way back into the good graces of their "masters"? What is it that is keeping them from telling everyone exactly what is going on behind the scenes?
Excellent piece, David. As a Republican I recognize that partisan gerrymandering is at the root of the disfunction affecting our entire political system because it elects extremists in primaries who have no competition to fear in the general election. If competitive districts existed throughout this country, legislative terrorists (to use former House Speaker John Boehner's expression) like Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert would never get elected.