Without the Votes It’s Wishful Thinking
As Democrats, where do we go from here? The argument we have been having among ourselves, dormant since the primary, is back now the election is over. Two quotes capture the divide succinctly. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, “A Band-Aid approach won’t get the job done. We have a mandate for action on bold plans.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, warned of the lure of “irrationally exuberant expectations.” There are two questions. What do we want to accomplish? How do we get there from here? The first has to do with values. The second has to do with strategy. If our strategy is not based on reality, it will not be effective. We will never get to our values. Strategizing for success in a democracy, always has to do with votes. The vote is the unit of power. Without the votes you don’t have the power to do anything. You need votes from the people to win. You need votes in Congress to govern. This exchange between Washington and Hamilton in the Broadway musical “Hamilton” over Hamilton’s plan to create a national bank says it well.
You're gonna need congressional approval and you don't have the votes So we let Congress get held hostage by the South? You need the votes No, we need bold strokes, we need this plan (no, you need to convince more folks) James Madison won't talk to me, that's a nonstarter Ah, winning was easy, young man, governing's harder They're being intransigent You have to find a compromise But they don't have a plan, they just hate mine (convince them otherwise) And what happens if I don't get congressional approval? Figure it out, Alexander, that's an order from your commander
Biden comes to the presidency with enough votes to win, not enough votes in Congress to pass anything. He talked during the campaign about his history of working with Republicans suggesting that partisanship can be set aside. In his acceptance speech he made the approach, “Let’s give each other a chance.” More confrontational Democrats reject the idea of trying for Republican support. Times have changed, they argue. Republicans have no interest other than to obstruct as they did during the Obama presidency. A spokesperson for Justice Democrats called the election a “resounding victory” and urged Biden not to treat Republicans as good-faith governing partners. A co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee warned against watering down campaign proposals and said the country was more united around bold solutions to big problems than small-scale efforts. But the reality is, our victory was narrow, and there is little evidence from the primaries and General Election that a majority of voters are ready to support big changes. We don’t yet have the votes to support our vision. The argument about how to move forward is as much about strategy as about substance. There is probably more agreement on where we want to go than on the best way of getting there. The bottom line, however, is we need more votes. Moderates and progressives have to figure out first how to stay together and work together and then how to add to our numbers. We can’t win legislative control here in Wisconsin, or control of Congress, by electing Democrats just in strong Democratic districts. There aren’t enough of those districts in Madison and Milwaukee, or the major urban cities across the country. We also have to win in contested districts where voters are more evenly divided between the parties and are not as strong partisans. Ten years ago, when Democrats last had a legislative majority in Wisconsin, we had senators representing Eagle River, Racine, Stevens Point, Marathon, and Chippewa Falls. In the US Senate there were Democrats representing Montana, Arkansas, North Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Indiana. Members from those areas didn’t always agree with a majority of the Party, but when they lost, the Party no longer had a majority. In today’s House of Representatives, the votes giving us the majority also come from districts that are closely contested. To win in those districts, our candidate has to reflect the district. In this election, some lost and our majority next year will be smaller. If we want to govern, we have to recognize and appreciate and accept that there will be differences in constituencies, campaigns and candidates. Party members won’t always be united. That is not a bad thing. We have to learn to accommodate each other. Work with each other. Not make it difficult for each other. If we don’t, some will be replaced in the next election by Republicans – a group more difficult to work with. We should be able to figure it out. Hamilton did.
Douglas Kane is the author of "Our Politics: Reflections on Political Life" published in 2019 by Southern Illinois University Press [subscribe2]