I am deeply disappointed and concerned to hear that an appellate court has determined New York Democrats were gerrymandering. I understand the temptation, in light of the wave of Republican gerrymandering and their having deliberately shut minorities out of the vote using bogus claims of “election integrity.” But gerrymandering isn’t the answer. The answer is to show minority and non-minority voters alike that progressives represent real democratic values in a way that the Republican party no longer does. The best, and perhaps only, way to respond to the anti-democratic machinations of the Republican party is to show the world that they are, in fact, anti-democratic machinations. The Republicans have a weakness far greater than any advantage they can gain by gerrymandering–they have completely lost touch with the Constitution and what it stands for. The answer is to show just how removed from reality the “Republicans” have become. I put this in quotes because the people who are calling themselves “Republicans” do not exist anywhere on the conservative vs. progressive spectrum.
I am a life-long liberal, going back generations. But I live in a conservative state in the Midwest where at one time all the Democrats could caucus in one person’s home. I have had to deal with Republicans. They’re good people. We disagree. Being a Republican is not an excuse to be anti-democratic. It isn’t that the more conservative you get the less you care about democratic values. We need to be able to reach out to conservatives who don’t want to go along with the Big Lie.
Conspiracy theories aren’t progressive or conservative, they are dangerous. It is this insight, not gerrymandering, that points the way to the strategy we need to meet the challenge at hand.
Gerrymandering must become part of the past. The undermines the ability of progressives to do what needs to be done to ensure that the “Republicans” are seen for what they are–totally disconnected from democratic values. We must show the American people that progressives are about progress, the moving forward of democratic values, and understand not to lose sight of the big picture.
The best plan is to form a coalition of people unwilling to ally themselves with extremism and conspiracy theories. Our best hope is that there are still enough people out there in America who don’t want to be a part of a movement that it’s anywhere on the political spectrum, and instead want to build a coalition of people who truly believe in what America says it stands for.
Progressive Without Apology 