The American Right is fully committed to a fundamentally anti-democratic project, and the Republican Party has a comprehensive strategy to put it into practice.
Some thoughts on the radicalizing threat of authoritarian minority rule: 1/
North Carolina GOP advanced a new congressional gerrymander with 10 safe GOP seats, 3 safe Dem seats, & 1 GOP-trending swing district in a key swing state
It would be among America's most extreme gerrymanders & replace a court-drawn map that went 7D-7R in 2022 davesredistricting.org/join/e595a26...
The overriding concern for the Republican Party, which is almost solely focused on the sensibilities, anxieties, and interests of (wealthy) white conservatives, is to maintain hierarchies of race, gender, wealth, and religion. 2/
Republicans don’t call it “maintaining hierarchies,” of course - they call it preserving “real” America, by which they mean a predominantly white, Christian, patriarchal nation. They also call it defending the “natural” and/or divinely ordained order - deviation must be punished. 3/
No one understands better than Republicans themselves that due to political, cultural, and most importantly demographic changes, they no longer have majority support for this core political project – certainly not on the federal level, and even in “red” states, their position is becoming tenuous. 4/
Republicans understand clearly that in a functioning democratic system, they would have to either widen their focus beyond the interests and sensibilities of white conservatives, which they are not willing to do; or relinquish power, which they categorically reject. 5/
Republicans see Democrats not as a political opponent, but as an Un-American enemy that must not be allowed to govern and destroy “real” America. Everything else follows from that understanding of the political conflict. (Small-d) democrats they are not. 6/
Republicans are not simply throwing stuff against the wall, desperately hoping that anything might stick. They are systematically pursuing an anti-democratic project to entrench reactionary hierarchies, and they have a comprehensive strategy to put it into practice. 7/
OMG I'm going to embroider this on cushions and sell them on Etsy (don't worry - I'll give you a cut). The number of conversations I've had with bewildered friends who "can't understand how those people could vote for him and against their interests like that." These *are* their interests.
Sadly, both sides gerrymander.
Dems need to win on issues.
Why anyone on < $250k/yr votes GOP is utterly beyond me, but Dems need to get the message out.
Voteblue
A consistent theme in the American mixed form of government, which has always blended democratic and oligarchic elements (a blend that that usually leans oligarchic), is how land holdings are valued more than people.
I think Republicans have been more aggressive and have had better opportunities for this. And I agree the anti-democratic streak is too strong in the parties. But see Maryland 7-1 Dem, Illinois 14-3 Dem, Mass 9-0, Connecticut 5-0. Gerrymandering should go across the board.
