1. A video of Eric Holder went viral Wednesday. The former US Attorney General, and close friend of former President Barack Obama, was speaking in Georgia in support of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate there. Holder said:
2. Holder: Michelle [Obama] always says … ‘When they go low, we go high.’ No. When they go low, we kick them.
3. Holder: That’s what this new Democratic Party is about. We’re proud as hell to be Democrats. We’re ready to fight for the ideals of the Democratic Party.
We’re not in this to make a statement.
We’re in this to win.
We’re not in this to make a statement.
We’re in this to win.
4.
5. Why would this go viral? It appears to some that Michael Avenatti is affecting the Dem Party. Avenatti is Stormy Daniels attorney. He’s been ginning up publicity by demanding the Democrats “fight fire with fire.” Given Holder’s remarks, some people are drawing straight lines.
6. Don’t. Please don’t.
Don’t credit Avenatti for a debate ongoing among Democrats since Hillary Clinton lost the election.
Don’t credit Avenatti for a debate ongoing among Democrats since Hillary Clinton lost the election.
7. In January, Susan Rice wrote an op-ed for the Times. She said polarization was like a flesh-eating disease threatening to consume the body politic. I did not doubt her at the time, but she offered no remedy. There isn’t one, I suggested, because the Republicans over the years:
8. Me, in January: have benefited from reckless irresponsibility. They crashed the economy during the Bush years, then attacked the Democrats for trying to save it. They looked the other way as the Russians sabotaged our elections, while attacking the Democrats who want justice.
9. Me, in January: Our national politics is like a codependent relationship, with no prospect of changing, as long as the Republicans know the Democrats can be counted on to clean up the mess, and as long as the Democrats can win with a promise of cleaning it up.
10. In January, I felt trepidation in offering a remedy. I knew the conventional wisdom was a return to the days “when Republicans and Democrats found ways to get things done.” But I also know that that was a story Democrats told themselves to win elections. It didn’t work.
11. So I said: “There’s another solution to this co-dependent relationship that’s more taboo—for the Democrats to behave badly.”
12. Now “badly” can be defined in various ways. You can betray your country for the sake of power, as Mitch McConnell did. Or you can use every shred of evidence you can find to paint the opposition as the enemy of the people, as John Burton is doing. bloomberg.com/news/features/…
13. He’s an Obama alum and opposition researcher who’s built an army of dirt diggers ready to bring down Republican incumbents next month. When it comes to acting badly, one of these approaches is better, morally and politically, than the other.
14. Or you can “kick” the Republicans when they go low.
15. “Badly” is how a lot of people are already taking Holder’s remarks, and they are already saying the Democrats are no better than the GOP.
16. This both-sides angle is going to get worse as GOP operatives exploit Holder’s remarks to whip up fear among white voters of an angry mob poised to “kick” Republicans and otherwise bring chaos and disorder.
17. The fear of white backlash might have been enough in the old days to chill Democratic rage. It was certainly a powerful deterrent for Obama. Instead of fighting, as many Democrats wanted him to, he chose caution and lofty rhetoric.
18. The tension between these attitudes was evident in Hillary Clinton’s campaign, too. As I wrote: On the one hand were those wanting to stay the course Obama started (I include myself in this camp).
19. Me, in January: On the other hand were those wanting the Democrats go to war with an enemy clearly warring with the Democrats. One side wanted to turn the other cheek for the sake of country. The other wanted to ball up its fist and punch back.
20. That tension was never resolved in 2016. But, as we look to November, it would appear one side of the argument is winning, for now.
21. The Democrats have always understand that anger is costly. But their anger is so great, and the stakes are so high, that the party appears ready to accept whatever may come. To that, I say amen.
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