Are we really going to let this one slide?
Yesterday, Republican Senator Josh Hawley handed us a victory. He was the only Senator of either party who voted against the COVID 19 hate crimes bill, which is aimed at protecting Asian-Americans from violent attacks. Hawley isn’t as stupid as he looks; he did this for a reason. But it hurts his own party and helps us, if we’re savvy enough to seize upon it.
There’s a reason most Republican Senators voted for the hate crimes bill, even though they couldn’t care less about protecting Asian-Americans: they didn’t want it to be used against them when they’re up for reelection. After all, the Democrats would have an easy talking point against the Republicans, if the Republicans couldn’t even bring themselves to vote against hate crimes.
But then there’s Josh Hawley. His base consists of deranged racist extremists who love that he voted against the hate crimes bill. He’ll even try to fundraise off this. But by voting this way, Hawley knowingly harmed his fellow Republicans. Now, when the Democrats go into 2022, they’ll use Hawley’s asinine vote against every other Republican candidate – especially those in more reasonable states and districts where this kind of thing can hurt them. So Hawley’s evil vote yesterday was a win for the Democrats, and for liberal activists.
Then there’s this new effort by Arizona Republicans to once again try to convince their constituents that the 2020 election was a massive rigged conspiracy against them. The GOP is doing this to try to soothe Trump’s bruised ego. But in the process, the Republicans are simply telling their own voters that because the elections are rigged anyway, there’s not much point in voting next time. So this idiocy is another win for the Democrats, and for liberal activists.
It’s really important for liberal activists to recognize that these are victories. They’re huge gifts that can be used to help tilt the 2022 and 2024 elections. We absolutely must seize upon these gifts and take advantage of them, rather than just sitting around lamenting about how awful it is that the Republicans are so terrible.
Real policial activism begins with the premise that we can and will win. Then we figure out how to go about winning. That includes promoting our own cause, supporting the politicians who are on our side as they attempt to do our bidding, and highlighting the vulnerabilities of the other side so we can use them to our advantage. Then if we keep winning elections, we keep getting to deliver positive change, with less mess to clean up. Lamenting, fretting, and complaining that the other side is “going to get away with it all” are not political activism. They’re just defeatism. These idiot Republicans keep handing us tools to use against them. Our job is to stop lamenting, and start using those tools against them.
