There was a celebration of Democratic voters and other anti-Trumpers. Their very able and talented candidate, Aftyn Behn, narrowed the gap between the two parties in the Tennessee Special Election for the 7th district congressional seat. In 2024, the gap between the parties was 21.5%, and in this election, they were only apart by 8.8%.
My own opinion is that this is nice, but it's really a celebration of nothing.
"What's wrong with you, Tom? Don't you understand how important it is that we are closing the gap?"
Like I said, it's nice, but it's not enough.
We HAVE to win. We don't have time for a slow ramp build-up. We have to win NOW. Our democracy is fading every day. Unless we take back the House as soon as possible, there will be no way to escape the strangling of our constitutional republic.
Whatever we're doing, we're not moving enough voters to save ourselves.
I don't care how conservative you are. The clinging to the scarring barnacle of the orange conman has got to stop.
But too many of them cling.
They cling despite our committing war crimes/murder by blasting fishing boats out of the Caribbean, even slaughtering survivors. They think it's part of a drug war, while the other front of it is by pardoning the big fish drug dealers.
They cling as their medical insurance premiums skyrocket, as homes and college become more and more out of reach for the working American, and as groceries and other retail prices continue to soar. Meanwhile, they know he is lying when he says prices are going down - they can see for themselves that it is not true. Yet they cling.
They see that ICE is chasing down, not criminals, but every day decent folk, including those with citizenship. Yet they cling.
They change and rationalize every time the Greed King reverses and contradicts himself. Yesterday: We Want the Epstein Files released! Today: Uh, no we don't.
For me, in addition to stopping the madness of King Drumpf, I want to see the progressive wing of the Democratic Party become the majority wing. I am so tired of the cowardly and big donor-driven corporate Democrat dominating.
Mamdani was a good start, but we have to prove we can win anywhere. We have to win primaries. We have to win in places where no one expects us to.
I really, honestly, feel like the only way to restore what our country should be, to really aspire to the best dreams of an improving America that lives up to its pledge and Constitution, is to give Progressives the biggest seat at the table.
And we have yet to prove that we can do that.
Our politics are largely character-driven. If Progressives are not big, appealing characters like Mamdani, we will not gain. One of the dominant voting impulses in America is, "I don't care. I like 'em anyway." It worked for as disparate a group of politicians as Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
It works in a way for Trump. He has trouble achieving a majority support, but those who do cling to it. Oh, do they cling!
On the corporate Democratic side, the only two figures with that character potential are California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. That shouldn't be who we need (I'm 110% Team AOC), but if they have a large contingent of Progressive Congressmen and Senators, it would undoubtedly be better than the alternative.
The Republicans will have a lot of trouble replacing Trump. None can hold together his fervent, deluded base. Yet, they may not need to. They may not need to worry about elections at all. Every day moves us closer to Soviet Style elections.
By 2026 (in part) or 2028 (in full), our elections may be completely rigged. Through voter suppression, through uber-gerrymandering, through a controlled media, through a fawning Supreme Court, through whatever Elon Musk does to voting machines.
That is why we have to win NOW. Every Congressional turnover has to be a battlefield. As crazy as it sounds, we have to fight for Marjorie Taylor Greene's district.
The future cannot wait.
T. M. Strait
AOC '28
