I am familiar with Florida politics, and the situation is the same here. Ron DeSantis won by 34,000 votes (0.4%) but the Florida House went to the GOP by 75-45 (estimate) and the Florida Senate 24-16.
This is mostly due to gerrymandering, the great scourge of our time, so what I think we should do locally is one get EDUCATED on the statehouse, join up with groups that do advocacy issue, and then tell your friends.
Set up a voting guide, send a blast email to your friends, host a weekend canvas. Its not nor sexy, but it is what gets the work done.
I'm (unfortunately) living in one of these states at the moment. If states were countries, I'd live in an authoritarian nation, and it's deeply unsettling that the fascist right has realized the effectiveness of turning to local politics. Statehouses are indeed laboratories of autocracy, and I guarantee places like where I live will see armed Proud Boys attending lawmaking sessions (like some school boards have) in the next few years. What I wish people understood was just what a post-democracy US would look like in their own lives; we say they should fear the autocratic GOP taking power, but don't describe in explicit terms what our only other option is. I'd love to write an article to publish somewhere describing a near-future Trumpist police state, with connections to present-day fascist policies.
Also, anyone else wonder why the trolls are targeting such luminous and informed sources of reporting? As if they're, I don't know, organized?
While import, and powerful, it seems having only voter registration in response to full-on assault by purging, gerrymandering, and suppression won’t cut it. We need national voting rights action. Even as the autocratic powers will contest it to SCOTUS.
My takeaway from reading Mr. Pepper's book is that we individuals who are not politicians can most effectively volunteer our time to register voters. My goal in NY's Westchester County is to find the best group that does this (perhaps, League of Women Voters?) and sign up. It's not such a blue state out here in the suburbs. We need to register voters and get out the vote! Thanks!
He offers a playbook to counter autocratic capture. Ohio is a microcosm of how democracy is being steadily eroded at all levels. They've infiltrated states all around the country with new voter suppression laws that are designed to allow the take over of elections by partisan loyalists, who want to see Trump returned to power. If this is part of a slow moving coup, the sanctity of free fair elections don't matter in the least to them.
It seems to me undeniable that so many state legislatures are "laboratories of autocracy". But ultimately, isn't that the fault of voters who do not turn out to vote--voters who, it would appear, don't care who gets elected to state legislatures, and who don't care what happens to our democratic republic?
My concern is that every analysis that I read about the dangers of losing democracy fails to paint a picture of exactly what that means. Americans born into freedom have little concept of a world without such freedoms. Few are connecting the dots, and the lack of urgency or direction or leadership from the White House and Congressional Democrats has led to a false sense of complacency about the dangers ahead. We are quickly moving towards a reality where there will be restrictions on first amendment rights and no restrictions on second amendment rights. A portion rights are minutes from disappearing. Democrats lost 1,000 state and local seats across the country after Obama's election, yet there was no 'war room's to address this catastrophe. Every significant change in the past 5 years has come from grassroots efforts. "Run for Something" will train anyone to run for local office, and have had great success since so many Republicans have run unopposed in the past. Voters also have to make a real effort to vet candidates...there are too many biased Rittenhouse judges running unopposed term after term. The window to prevent complete disaster is closing quickly, but there is time to save some of the state and local offices. It's up to us, there is little to no leadership or funding from DC. What kind of country do we want to live in?
Some good points here, but I'd liike t0 see more analyses by experts in political behavior, such as political psychologists, political scientists, etc.
I am familiar with Florida politics, and the situation is the same here. Ron DeSantis won by 34,000 votes (0.4%) but the Florida House went to the GOP by 75-45 (estimate) and the Florida Senate 24-16.
This is mostly due to gerrymandering, the great scourge of our time, so what I think we should do locally is one get EDUCATED on the statehouse, join up with groups that do advocacy issue, and then tell your friends.
Set up a voting guide, send a blast email to your friends, host a weekend canvas. Its not nor sexy, but it is what gets the work done.
I'm (unfortunately) living in one of these states at the moment. If states were countries, I'd live in an authoritarian nation, and it's deeply unsettling that the fascist right has realized the effectiveness of turning to local politics. Statehouses are indeed laboratories of autocracy, and I guarantee places like where I live will see armed Proud Boys attending lawmaking sessions (like some school boards have) in the next few years. What I wish people understood was just what a post-democracy US would look like in their own lives; we say they should fear the autocratic GOP taking power, but don't describe in explicit terms what our only other option is. I'd love to write an article to publish somewhere describing a near-future Trumpist police state, with connections to present-day fascist policies.
Also, anyone else wonder why the trolls are targeting such luminous and informed sources of reporting? As if they're, I don't know, organized?
While import, and powerful, it seems having only voter registration in response to full-on assault by purging, gerrymandering, and suppression won’t cut it. We need national voting rights action. Even as the autocratic powers will contest it to SCOTUS.
My takeaway from reading Mr. Pepper's book is that we individuals who are not politicians can most effectively volunteer our time to register voters. My goal in NY's Westchester County is to find the best group that does this (perhaps, League of Women Voters?) and sign up. It's not such a blue state out here in the suburbs. We need to register voters and get out the vote! Thanks!
He offers a playbook to counter autocratic capture. Ohio is a microcosm of how democracy is being steadily eroded at all levels. They've infiltrated states all around the country with new voter suppression laws that are designed to allow the take over of elections by partisan loyalists, who want to see Trump returned to power. If this is part of a slow moving coup, the sanctity of free fair elections don't matter in the least to them.
It seems to me undeniable that so many state legislatures are "laboratories of autocracy". But ultimately, isn't that the fault of voters who do not turn out to vote--voters who, it would appear, don't care who gets elected to state legislatures, and who don't care what happens to our democratic republic?
My concern is that every analysis that I read about the dangers of losing democracy fails to paint a picture of exactly what that means. Americans born into freedom have little concept of a world without such freedoms. Few are connecting the dots, and the lack of urgency or direction or leadership from the White House and Congressional Democrats has led to a false sense of complacency about the dangers ahead. We are quickly moving towards a reality where there will be restrictions on first amendment rights and no restrictions on second amendment rights. A portion rights are minutes from disappearing. Democrats lost 1,000 state and local seats across the country after Obama's election, yet there was no 'war room's to address this catastrophe. Every significant change in the past 5 years has come from grassroots efforts. "Run for Something" will train anyone to run for local office, and have had great success since so many Republicans have run unopposed in the past. Voters also have to make a real effort to vet candidates...there are too many biased Rittenhouse judges running unopposed term after term. The window to prevent complete disaster is closing quickly, but there is time to save some of the state and local offices. It's up to us, there is little to no leadership or funding from DC. What kind of country do we want to live in?
Some good points here, but I'd liike t0 see more analyses by experts in political behavior, such as political psychologists, political scientists, etc.