Narrow Margins and Media Fails

Plus, The Non-democratic Careers of Modern-Day Extremists

Day 33 — January 3, 2025

With new members being sworn into both the Senate and House, and Mike Johnson and John Thune being elected Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, the GOP now comprises the majority of both houses of Congress. But Johnson’s one-vote margin (secured by some last-minute Trump strong-arming) underscores the narrowness of that majority—the slimmest in almost a century, and about to get narrower (217-215) as some members take administration appointments.

On the media side, a Washington Post cartoonist resigned after an editor refused to run a cartoon depicting tech bro billionaires kissing Trump’s ring. On the same day, after facing a week of withering criticism for his stance on HB-1 visas, Elon Musk announced that the “X” algorithm will soon prioritize more positive posts. Essentially, now that Musk and Trump are running things, “X” will dissuade “[t]oo much negativity”:

To commemorate these events, let me present two of our recent cartoons (thank you Kevin Necessary):

Johnson’s Rise, Devoid of Democracy

(This updates a post from a while back that many found eye-opening. And remains apropos given yesterday’s events)

When Mike Johnson first emerged as the out-of-the-blue Speaker a few years back, I decided to take a close look at his record in elected office.

And what I found was quite stunning. In HIS political career, he has not participated in a democracy.

Johnson turns out to offer the perfect example of how in today’s gerrymandered world, people can ride to the highest levels of power without facing a real election their entire careers.

Which means they can be complete extremists and never face accountability for it. It also means that not only do they not know democracy, they actually come to fear it. Not just because they have never experienced it, but because it poses the biggest risk to their grasp on power.

Johnson’s career is the perfect example of how it works:

Before entering office, he spent his years fighting for right-wing causes as a lawyer—like fighting same-sex marriage and to keep in place laws criminalizing sodomy. That’s his right to do, of course, and I’m glad he was largely unsuccessful.

But then his political career began:

In early 2015, when the state representative where he lived in Louisiana ran for another office, Johnson ran for the vacancy.

Incredibly, even that first run for office was unopposed. (Both the primary and the general election). There ended up not even being an election! So he initially assumed power without ever having faced the voters in a general election.

Once in office, he got to work advancing the goals he had fought for as a lawyer, but now as a legislator. One law he pushed within months was so extreme that major Louisiana companies lobbied against it, and even Republicans rejected it, tabling it 10-2 in committee.

What did the voters think about the fact that in only months, he had already proven to be too extreme for even his own party?

We don’t know, because when Johnson ran again that Fall for next 2-year term, he was again unopposed.

No primary.

No general.

How easy! He pays the filing fee, gathers some signatures, and gets to go right back to the legislature with no accountability to the people whatsoever.

On the strength of his failed bill, and unopposed election victories—on that unmistakable mandate from a people who had no choice in the matter—Johnson decides it’s time to take his political juggernaut to Congress.

And then he encounters the marvels of lopsided districts. He wins in 2016, 2018 and 2020 with the winning margins we have come to expect in a gerrymandered world:

• 30% (2016)

• 30% (2018)

• 35% (2020)

And then in 2022, even after being one of the most active participants in Trump’s January 6 coup attempt, he returns to his roots and runs unopposed again.

A January 6 election-denier comes back to power via an uncontested race.

For the third time in his career.

And in 2024, Johnson won by 70%—facing only a Republican challenger.

Bottom line: the now-Speaker of the House is the perfect example of the modern extremist.

He’s spent his entire career in a world devoid of democracy—devoid of accountability:

• It’s how he entered—even his initial entree unopposed (that’s pretty rare, actually. Not even a primary).

• It’s how he rose.

• It’s his most recent race.

• It’s all he’s ever known!

And it’s why all the unabashed and toxic extremism he’s espoused along the way has essentially gone unchecked the entire time.

Mike Johnson IS the current generation of GOP leaders and members. No accountability—ever! Which means all the incentives he’s faced encouraged him to keep being extreme.

Now imagine hundreds just like him. Of course they’re going to be extremists when they thrive in a world where they CAN be extremists, never facing any real opposition (often no opposition at all) despite taking positions that only a few years ago were soundly rejected by their own party.

You actually don’t have to imagine it—just look around. It’s so many states. And it’s the GOP chaos caucus in the House.

None of this will end until we do two things.

One…end gerrymandering. It’s poisoning politics by removing almost all accountability from politics. It’s fueling the insane and extremist behavior of the U.S. House and so many of the American statehouses that are careening out of control.

We suffered a loss in Ohio (no surprise, Mike Johnson came to Ohio to campaign the effort here to end gerrymandering), but in recent years—in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin—we are making progress.

How? Direct ballot initiatives. State Supreme Court races. Continuing to raise the issue as a poison on our politics (the people detest gerrymandering). One way or another, we must continue to wage this battle.

Two…run everywhere!!

Johnson is not a rare case. We have a crisis of unopposed extremists like him everywhere.

In the past, Democrats have focused so much on federal offices in a few swing states, we have decided it’s acceptable to let the young Mike Johnsons of the world, or the Tennessee Republicans of the world, or the book banners, or the abortion banners (no exceptions), and so on, do all the damage they’re doing in statehouses, and not even face opposition in elections that could be referenda on their extremist actions if we made them that.

Just look at these charts from 2022:

• 80% unopposed in Louisiana! (that’s why I suspected Mike Johnson would have the history he has)

• 48% in Tennessee!

• 43% in Arkansas!

• 42% in Texas!

On and on. Unopposed!

That’s right: they’re running their extremist agenda through these statehouses, through these districts. Doing untold damage to lives, communities, and democracy itself. And then being rewarded for it, including rising to offices as high as Speaker of the House.

And we largely stand to the side and let it all happen without an iota of accountability or opposition. Not even a door knock saying to those in their districts: “did you know that friendly, bespectacled state rep of yours is actually a total extremist?”

Those charts show us that Mike Johnson’s career path is HOW they are rising all over—rewarded for extremism—through a system of rigged districts and a collective decision that running against these people at those levels doesn’t matter.

Look around at what’s happening to this country and tell me it doesn’t matter!

We have to start running everywhere, folks.

Bringing accountability everywhere.

And in 2024, in many states, we began to do better in this regard too.

That must become our new business as usual. My hope is that the election for who will run the DNC will help shape a party that sees this more clearly than ever—and takes the steps needed to make this happen.

Until we do, Mike Johnsons and Matt Gaetzes, Jim Jordans and MTGs, will keep emerging everywhere, along with hundreds of others like them we will never hear of, we will not run against, but who will be doing great damage every step of the way, while rising through the ranks.

Bottom line: If we don’t change our mindset and run everywhere (ie. be a national party), our future will be Mike Johnsons doing damage in states across the country, and Mike Johnsons rising to the highest offices in the land, without ever experiencing democracy any step along the way.

And that continues to be dangerous as hell to our country.