Leverage

We are one week away from a government shutdown.

Besides Dems trying to use the shutdown to get Obamacare premium credits reinstalled (which is great but also something a fair amount of Republicans want as well and which can then be “rescinded”), I don’t see any coherent argument(s) from Dem leadership.

If you live in a red state/district, of course calling/emailing your Senators and Representatives on issues that matter to you is important. But the truth is they are not going to listen to you.

So where is our leverage? Having spent time in DC, in my view, it’s with Dem leadership/electeds. We need to do two things:

• Flood leadership’s (Schumer, Jeffries) offices with messages stating that they are out of touch with their base and indpendent voters and they need to act like the opposition and come out fighting for the things that most Americans not just want, but also understand. I love this short message from Anat Shenker-Osorio that has simple one-line messaging while not framing the potential shutdown as a choice between D or R (frankly, not even mentioning the shutdown):

  • “I’m not here to vote to steal healthcare from seniors”

  • “I will not take food out of kids’ mouths”

  • “No funding for fascism”

  • “No dollars for dictatorship”

  • I’ll add my own: “No free pass for protecting pedophiles - release the Epstein files”

• Reach out the Dems who are actually fighting back and who show they understand the magnitude of the crisis - Murphy and Van Hollen in the Senate, Raskin, Crockett, Swalwell, Moskowitz, AOC in the House (there are others - this list is not meant to be comprehensive) and tell them this is not the time to sit on decorum or seniority and they need to take the reins of Dem leadership NOW!

Time is short. Dem electeds will respond but only to overwhelming feedback. I fear Schumer/Jeffries are a lost cause. We need to do an urgent end run.