Based on the results of Georgia’s run-off elections it looks like the Democrats will control the Senate by a razor thin margin, relying on the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. People are already being cringe about it. A lot of work and money went into to getting Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff elected to the Senate. As someone who is in a constant battle with their own cynicism, these results have made me a little excited. Warnock, a pastor at MLK’s church, is the first non-appointed black Senator from Georgia and Ossoff has a last name that’s very funny. It also means that Mitch McConnell will no longer be the Senate Majority leader and that Kelly Loeffler, a lich who bought a $70 trucker hat, has lost her Senate spot. That’s all well and good, a day’s worth of celebration. However, this are only minor victories.
The real value of a Senator is not what they say on the campaign trail, or what party they are in, but how they vote, what laws they enact, and what they do for the American people. While under the thumb of McConnell the Senate has done nothing but destroy the lives, dreams, and hopes of millions of Americans. In addition to this destruction, the McConnell Senate enriched the lives of a wealthy few, lining both their pockets, and the off-shore bank accounts of billionaires. Just check out Loeffler’s stock market trading. The Democrats have a chance to stop this. Will they? Based on the history of the United States, Biden’s own political beliefs, and Democrats like Joe Manchin, I doubt it. Do they have a chance to at least somewhat improve the lives of millions of Americans? Yes. And if they want to keep and retain power, then they sure as hell need to.
I’m not one for making bold predictions based off election returns, but there is one thing that I think is obvious from this last election cycle. When you promise people money, and then deliver on that money, they vote for you. The Presidential cycle saw Trump, someone personally responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans, gain votes, in large part because people remembered the $1200 he approved at the beginning of the pandemic. Warnock and Ossoff both campaigned on additional $2000 checks for people, which probably helped put them over the hump. This isn’t a modern phenomenon. Just think about the New Deal. Through the enactment of a series of programs that put money in people’s pockets when they needed it most, the Democrats ensured themselves decades of political power. No need to get tricky with means-testing, carveouts or arcane tax breaks, just cut people a check, and you’ll win over voters for the rest of their lives. It is rare that the morally correct and the best realpolitik move are one and the same, but this is one of those times. The Democrats need to take advantage.
The question then is where to start. It takes time to come up with new laws. Fortunately, that’s already been done. In the last few years, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has passed a series of laws which included DC Statehood, weed decriminalization, the PRO ACT, and $15 minimum wage. The Senate doesn’t need to write new versions of these. They just need to take them up and pass them. There is a limited window of opportunity. By 2022 the Republicans will be in full swing attack mode against the Dems. Thru passing a major suite of laws now the Democrats can cement their victories.
This of course, smacks of a shortcut. As leftists the world round know, there are no shortcuts. The same is true here. Organizers and progressive groups need to keep the pressure on. Elections are just the beginning. Manchin and his ilk do not want to vote for $15 minimum wage or DC Statehood. So, it’s up to us to make them. The pressure needs to be on, and it needs to be on high. Otherwise, we’ll just get a repeat of Obama’s term, where his supermajority dwindled to a majority and then a minority in a few short years. We must be bold, if a better future is to come.