With Democrats Like These, Who Needs 'Em?

This is a wake-up call for my party

Let me get this first piece of crappy news out of the way before I get into the main point of today’s article.

A Colorado Supreme Court just struck down a Democratic redistricting proposal that would have awarded Democrats three more House seats ahead of the midterms.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, every single justice was appointed by Democratic governors, and they ruled 7–0 against it.

Read that again.

Democratic appointees unanimously voted against giving their own party three more House seats at a time when Congress is kicking people off Medicaid and cutting taxes for billionaires and corporations.

This is the type of fecklessness that pisses me off and makes me question what the hell we’re even doing as a party anymore.

They tell us we’re fighting against fascism and corruption. They beg for donations. They tell us democracy is on the ballot.

Yet they just ruled against themselves and emboldened the very corrupt fascists they wring their hands about on MSNow and The View.

My gosh, man.

The other side is gerrymandering, gutting voting rights, suppressing the vote, purchasing the media, lying, cheating, stealing, and using every lever of power imaginable to stay in power.

Meanwhile, our party is blocking itself from gaining three legitimate House seats in a year where we need every seat we can get.

What am I missing here?

There is a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist, and an Epstein-affiliated con artist grifting billions of dollars out of the Oval Office, flying around in a $400M Qatari jet he received from a foreign government after he tore up the Constitution on day one, signed hundreds of executive orders eroding democracy, destroying the environment, pardoning insurrectionists, and using the presidency to grift billions in Crypto while manipulating the stock market with a war that’s costing taxpayers billions per day.

And our party won’t use a map that would have given us three more House seats because “it’s not fair.”

I saw this ruling and almost pulled my hair out.

I thought it had to be Republican-appointed judges who blocked the map.

But no.

It was Democratic-appointed judges.

That begs the question: What is the point of electing these people if they won’t do what is necessary to take back power?

Hell, I’d rather have one of you guys run for office! I at least know you would be doing more than these clowns!

After all these years, our party still doesn’t know how to fight back. How many times can they bring a knife to a gun fight and expect to win?

I’m too young to know if this is always how Democrats have been…were they this impotent during the Bush era?

They won’t expand the courts. They won’t gerrymander. They took too long to arrest Trump when they had the chance.

From what I’ve seen, our current party’s comprised of a bunch of fucking pussies, excuse my french.

Which brings me to the bigger issue

We need a unifying voice in our party. A strong, fearless, unafraid, uncompromising leader to get us fired up again.

At least get me fired up again, god dammit!

Who is it?

Gavin Newsom, like him or hate him, was the only one willing to retaliate against GOP gerrymandering by getting a new redistricting map approved. Pundits say he’d be the worst nominee because he’s a California liberal.

Maybe.

But he actually does stuff that matters when it comes to safeguarding democracy. He’s got a little performative quality about him, yes, but name a politician that doesn’t.

I like Jon Ossoff too. He’s popular in battleground Georgia—a state Harris lost to Trump.

That in itself is a big check mark. We need a winner who can perform in the purple states.

Pete Buttigieg is probably making a run. I think he’s great. People dig him. He’s articulate. But he also hasn’t won and has been kicking around the scene more so as a galvanizing voice/surrogate—a bit like Beto in that regard—but without all the elections under his belt. Unproven.

Kamala Harris also seems to be running again, which is not my favorite idea. As you know, I loved her. But after losing the popular vote to Trump and getting swept in all seven battleground states, she’s risky. Yes, she got a late start in ‘24, kicked ass on the debate stage, and raised money like nobody’s business. But still, even before she was subbed in, she did not perform well in primaries. A second time around could be different, sure, but it could also be the same.

Of course, there are rumors about AOC running. She’s a polarizing candidate. But in polarizing times, maybe that isn’t the worst thing.

She’s a social media wizard, vibrant, brings firey energy, and is probably the most authentic of the bunch. Could inspire voters who sat out previous elections. Could also scare away voters in the middle . Then again, she might be what gets voters in the middle to cross the line—nobody really knows.

Could be Andy Beshear, a boring, non-flashy, under the radar Dem who quietly wins elections in red Kentucky.

When I think about it, there’s a risk with every candidate

Do we go with a moderate?

A progressive?

A proven leader?

An unproven outsider?

A popular social media politician?

An ordinary, mundane politician with no drama?

Do we care who wins as long as it isn’t MAGA?

I also think it depends on who rises to the top of GOP contenders.

Will Trump somehow try to run for an unconstitutional third term? If he does, Democracy is truly dead. Doesn’t matter who we run. They’ll have our elections so rigged I’ll be in Canada.

Will it be Vance?

Tucker Carlson?

Marco Rubio?

I feel like certain Democratic candidates would fare better against certain Republican ones. It’s all about the match-up.

Anyhow…

There’s a lot to think about going into November.

The first priority is winning the midterms.

But lately I’ve found myself feeling stranded on a political island with no map. No leader to look up to. Nobody to listen to as a North Star.

Don’t know what the strategy is going forward, either, other than simply reporting the news and hearing more from you, the readers, and listening to the voters as primaries are underway.

I will continue to do so.

As always, stay in the game. Happy Wednesday, guys.