, 5 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
If Dems beat Trump in 2020 we’ll find McConnell and his system of obstruction lurking, ready to paralyze a new president. Winning the WH isn’t enough. To deliver change we need to take back the Senate & nuke the filibuster. I wrote about it for @GQMagazine gq.com/story/senate-r…
The piece includes your obligatory reminder that the 60-vote threshold was *not* an original feature of the Senate. Its use today, erroneously accepted as timeless, is a mutation of a rule that was introduced in 1917 and rarely invoked for the first half-century of its existence.
When Washington described the Senate to Jefferson as the saucer that cools the tea, he was not talking about the supermajority threshold because none existed at that time or would for 100+ years. He was talking about 6 year terms, statewide representation and staggered elections.
McConnell used the 60-vote threshold to paralyze Obama, invoking it more times than the previous 20 years combined. Even if he loses in 2020, his strategy will persist for a simple reason: it worked. Republicans surged back to power in 2010, faster than they ever hoped.
The filibuster is a test for how candidates will wield power: are they running to deliver results, or just to be POTUS?

McConnell declared himself the “grim reaper” of progressive bills.

To paraphrase Blue Oyster Cult, don’t fear the reaper - beat him.
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