or to put it another way, why do republicans win elections?
Why do republicans win elections? It’s a question a lot of likeminded people ask, and it’s hard to understand why when basically every policy position that the republicans take almost always polls against the wishes of the majority in the country. Abortion, guns, immigration to name the big ones.
Abortion
http://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/
The majority of people want access to safe, legal abortions. 58% according to the attached poll. And abortion being out right illegal has NEVER polled in the majority per Gallups poll since abortion was made legal in 1974.
news.gallup.com/...
Guns
The majority of people want sensible gun control and regulation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_on_gun_control_in_the_United_States
Immigration
The majority of people say immigrants are good for the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/us/immigration-polls-donald-trump.html
So, again; I ask, why do republicans win elections? You can dismiss it with racism, you can dismiss it with religion, the usual suspects of guns, god, and the gays, money in politics, Fox news, ignorance, or whatever reason you want to use to justify this anomaly of republicans unpopularity and the voting populace, but really; the main reason why republicans keep getting elected after constantly and consistently being against the majority of the country is because republicans never stop fighting, EVER.
Since 111th (2010-2011) congress, 338 bill have been brought up to restrict abortion, and that is just in United States Congress, not counting individual states. Look at MeteorBlades diary here –
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/13/1841826/-Court-rules-that-while-women-have-a-right-to-abortion-doctors-have-no-right-to-perform-them?
Holy cats that is a horrible law, and widely unpopular…but the repubs DON’T CARE. They are fighting a losing battle because they keep getting elected, they keep getting elected because they never stop fighting the losing battle, and they keep fighting because when they win they stack the judiciary and the supreme court. They always fight like they are 10 points behind, because in reality, they ARE regardless if they have the majority in congress or not because their legislation is always unpopular with the populace.
Numerous states are doing whatever they can to allow people to carry guns, without training, or even a license. The assault weapons ban which was passed with wide support under President Clinton was then in turn allowed to expire under George Bush (the seconds watch) against numerous calls from law enforcement asking for the law to be extended and the majority of the population even wanting it to be extended. There hasn’t been another vote like that ever. Dems don’t seem to go big anymore, Dems only seem to go “safe”.
So, now you ask, if the republicans are always pushing for unpopular laws aimed at the minority of the population, why don’t people show up to vote for democrats because with the way that public opinion is the Dems should be in a super majority. People in turn dismiss the dem voters as lazy, or that republicans are better on messaging, or that dems barely show up and we can also look at gerrymandering. Gerrymandering does play a part of it, but again; that can be chalked up to republicans and how they never stop fighting, and will do anything to win.
But a main reason why people don’t show up and vote for the democrats is because the democrats barely give the populace a REASON to show up and vote for them. They barely fight for them and there is NO greater example than what Speaker Pelosi said this week when she stated “I’m not interested in impeachment”. It’s baffling to me to see how Pelosi could NOT have given Trump a bigger gift going into 2020 if she just outright endorsed him for President. If you don’t believe me, please do yourself a favor and read Durrati’s diary here
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/03/13/1841755/-Trump-Thanks-Pelosi-for-Impeachment-Statement-Welcome-to?
I have seen many excuses and a couple of diaries as to why she made that statement and even justified with their own reasoning that she is doing the right thing. Peoples say “she is playing the long game”, and “she is looking towards 2020”, and people; you couldn’t be more wrong with this thinking if you also stated that the sky was plaid and water is a solid. Pelosi’s long game is the 2020 elections wherein the republican long game is the next 50. FUCKING. YEARS. McConnell is stacking the judiciary as much as he can, he is not letting the New Green Deal come up for a vote. He held open a supreme court seat for over a YEAR to keep it out of President Obama’s hands, and he was rewarded for it despite how unpopular the action was. He is looking well beyond the 2020 elections and Trump, and people need to wake the fuck up and realize this is the endgame here. If you thought Trump is a bad president, you haven’t been around for the republican presidents since Nixon, they have ALWAYS been worse than the preceding repub president, and if you are so goddamn naive to think it can’t get worse after trump, you have NO idea HOW worse it can get. And it’s going to get worse because the dems never hold republicans accountable, EVER. Reagan with Iran Contra, Bush with Iran Contra and the savings and loan scandal, Bush the second who committed fucking WAR CRIMES (another slap in the face to the constitution by Ms. “Impeachment is off the table” Pelosi), every single republican president since Nixon has committed impeachable offenses, and NONE of them have even had impeachment brought up. If you don’t hold people accountable then they will continue to act as if their actions are unaccountable.
Also, Pelosi’s statement VASTLY undermines the investigations into Trump going on now, if she isn’t for impeachment, why bother having investigations. Is she going to say later on “Oh now, we found something to impeach Trump for”? Wow… way not to learn an important lesson from the impeachment of President Clinton wherein that the republicans kept looking and looking and looking until they finally found something to get Clinton on, which was he lied about a consensual affair with a woman of adult age who was not his wife, and even THAT revelation only came to light from the overall investigation that originally looked into the Whitewater scandal from when Clinton was governor of Arkansas. So the public saw through the charade of the republicans going after Clinton and that is what it is going to look like if Pelosi ever decides to do her constitutional duty impeach trump. Which she is NOT going to do, again; she refused to even consider it with Bush and WAR CRIMES, what makes you think she is going to hold Trump accountable, EVER? So, no; I don’t buy the logic that we can only impeach trump for things he has done since the election, that is ludicrous. And if you think that the Republicans are going to suddenly have a come to Jesus moment and vote to impeach, you’re so out of touch you might as well be living on the Moon. The Republican party IS Trump, and Trump IS the republican party.
People also don’t show up and vote for the dems is because the Democrats also don’t fight to get back things that have been lost, Voting Rights Act was left to die and hasn’t been an issue since the supreme court stated that the key part of it was unconstitutional. Good luck in getting anything like that passed now with makeup of the supreme court. And there has barely been a peep out of any dems to fight to get it back which is a HUGE slap in the face to the biggest dem voting bloc, African American women. Dems aren’t doing anything to strengthen Obamacare, and they haven’t even talked about Medicaid for All which is probably going to be the big issue in 2020. On day one of the new congress they should have had a Medicaid for All bill introduced and if it doesn’t pass, do what the republicans do and introduce it again, and again, and again. Show people that you are fighting for them and not letting the other side decide what you should do. Same with abortion, show people that you are willing to fight and die on this hill and people will show up and fight and die with you. The only thing dems show is that once they get something (whatever it is) that is it. They don’t revisit it again, even after it gets taken away.
Another reason why republicans continually get elected it’s that they never, EVER, NOT introduce a bill or resolution based on how many democrats are going to vote for it. They never EVER let the other side determine what they do with the legislative process. They vote on unpopular bills, and constantly are rewarded with reelection. Why should people vote for democrats when the democrats won’t introduce bills because they won’t pass the senate, or get some Dems in red states to vote on them. The 2018 election should have been a wake-up call to the dems that people want trump kept in check, they want him held accountable, and that they want meaningful legislation passed. 2018 got rid of the last of the blue dogs, and even in New York people voted out the traitor dems who sided with the republicans, so there is NO logic in not passing legislation because the republicans won’t vote for it. Now I do know that the dems have passed some good legislation in this congress, H.R. #1, the back ground checks on guns which they know these bills won’t get a vote in the senate, (but again this is all playing catch-up to the destruction already done by the republicans) so why isn’t that so with impeachment.
Democrats ALWAYS seem to be playing catch-up with the republicans, and it’s never the opposite. Look at how the republicans gerrymander states, they gerrymander and then the dems have to fight it out in court all the while the gerrymander is still in effect.
Look at the history of what it took to get Obamacare finally passed, it was watered down and watered down and watered down until it finally had enough votes to pass and the republicans to this date have tried to get it repealed and have brought up over 50 bills to repeal it since its inception. They never stop FIGHTING.
They never stop fighting, ever. They will never stop fighting, ever. Pelosi’s long game is the 2020 elections while republicans long game is the next 50 years and she and the dems need to wake the fuck up and realize this before it is too late.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Peace.