The Naked Truth/Jamala Rogers
Mo' Money and Less Sense in Our Elections
Billionaires have all three branches of the U.S. government by the throat. And they definitely are making their presence felt in the electoral arena. True defenders of democracy must confront the reality that money will heavily influence our elections until we collectively say it will not. Until then, we have to deal with widespread cheating, rigging, and stealing on top of lies and deception. Billionaires don’t have to play fair; they can buy what they want.
We can learn from the bitterly fought races between Cori Bush and Wesley Bell in Missouri, between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens in Michigan, and between Francesca Hong and David Crowley in Wisconsin. While we’re at it, let’s look at how young Justin Pearson prevailed in Tennessee even after the GOP rigged the map to seize all nine congressional seats after the midterms.
In the Missouri matchup, Bell outspent his DSA opponent and easily held onto his congressional seat. In a different kind of race, El-Sayed is not a DSA member, though he certainly shares much of the platform. Like Wesley Bell, Stevens received a ton of money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and corporate special interests. The tens of millions that flooded in made it the most expensive Democratic Senate primary to date.
Voters should brace themselves for all the tricks that are being cooked up by the MAGA monsters. From voter suppression to red-baiting on the way to the November elections, they are gearing up to steal the elections. We should expect that Plan B will be Trump’s claim of a national security emergency.
Now that most of the primaries are behind us, democracy defenders have a better sense of the political landscape. It’s time to ratchet up our efforts. Our playbook includes an ongoing voter education campaign that projects a vision of what our city, our state, and our country can look like. It means exposing the people, corporations, and laws that are obstacles to an inclusive and just democracy that meets the human needs of its people.
Voters have proven that big money doesn’t always guarantee a victory. Our ground game must be nearly flawless to offset the limited budget we’re working with. It means having a clear and concise message that motivates your people to act on that vision. It means campaign organizations must be disciplined, energetic, and focused.
This country is at a political, economic, and moral crossroads. When it comes down to the choice between voting for a status quo candidate and a candidate with a progressive platform, working people should always push for a new direction. We cannot let the Democratic Party elites scare us into settling for Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum because they don’t want to really fight to beat a Republican candidate in the midterm.
The Democratic Party has presented no viable plan for midterm victory. Its lack of a national strategy contributed to the rise of Trump and all the corruption and instability that comes with it. Now that younger, bolder candidates are stepping out to run for office, party bureaucrats want to exert their weak leadership. Its support of Crowley over Hong is a prime example of this backward thinking. Crowley had dropped out of the gubernatorial race and was on his way to Jamaica, leaving Hong to duke it out alone. That doesn’t sound like a committed fighter for the working class.
There’s a lot of housecleaning that needs to happen on the way to the November polls. The House of Dems could use a good sweeping.