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Greg Sargent Profile picture
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12 Mar, 4 tweets, 3 min read
No analysis of GOP strategy for the next two years is complete if it doesn't mention the central role of voter suppression and anti-majoritarian tactics. With Dems on the cusp of transformative victories, those tactics are key to GOP survival. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
It's very possible that Biden and Dems -- with the participation of zero Republicans -- will preside over the defeat of the pandemic that traumatized the nation for a year, while implementing the most transformative social policy since the Great Society:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
On top of all this, Republicans are sinking deeper into cancel culture and Dr. Seuss mania.

As @DamonLinker notes, Biden and elected Dems are largely not taking the bait, instead staying focused on working to make people's lives better:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@DamonLinker Many MSM analyses of GOP strategy for the next two years don't mention voter suppression/anti-majoritarian tactics, instead treating the moment as conventional politics.

I bet Rs hope Ds get lulled into the same, and blink on filibuster/democracy reform:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

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More from @ThePlumLineGS

Greg Sargent Profile picture
9 Mar
The new voter suppression effort in Georgia is a horror. It's telling that this comes in the very state that made Biden's rescue bill possible. Indeed, that bill's popularity is itself making anti-majoritarian tactics more urgent for the GOP. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Biden’s bill could boost the income of the poorest fifth by 20%, help millions save on health care and cut child poverty in half. Yet Republicans are off spinning wild tales about checks going to terrorists.

They simply aren't part of the conversation:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
“Collectively, these bills represent the most sustained effort to roll back access to the ballot in Georgia since the Jim Crow era.”

@AriBerman. It's highly significant that this is happening in the state that made the relief bill possible:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
8 Mar
How do GOP elites keep getting away with screwing their own constituents? A great new analysis from @Jacob_S_Hacker and colleagues bring deep context to this question. Cultural resentments/pro-rural electoral bias protect GOP lawmakers from accountability:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@Jacob_S_Hacker “Red America is falling farther behind, but politicians who represent it at all levels have gotten more unified on an economic agenda that hurts the people who live there."

@Jacob_S_Hacker. Great stuff tracing this regional divergence back over decades:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@Jacob_S_Hacker What's notable here is that this is an analysis of the *political economy* of Red America.

The authors develop an important concept of "low road states," that is, Republican states with weak unions, low wages, and underfunded public goods:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
2 Mar
The Trumpified GOP's descent into anti-leftist delirium gives Biden and Dems a major opening. Going big on the economy and infrastructure could deal a crippling blow to authoritarian populism just as it devolves into a QAnon-ified Trump cult. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
This quote from Ron DeSantis perfectly captures the bankruptcy of Trumpism's hallucinatory anti-leftism:

“We can have academic debates about conservative policy. But the question is, when the left comes after you: Will you stay strong, or will you fold?”

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Biden and Dems have an opening to create a new synthesis: Ambitious progressive economics (infrastructure!) combined with boldness on issues Dems often fear (immigration, climate).

Biden's comments on Amazon unionization fit into this:

(w/@jbouie)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
26 Feb
The GOP opposition strategy is more radical than in 2009. This time they're betting they can win back power through voter suppression and countermajoritarian tactics, even if Biden succeeds. They don't need to be part of the conversation at all. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Republicans have entirely ceded the field in the debate over two of the biggest crises of modern times.

In 2009 at least you had people like Paul Ryan making BS arguments about deficits.

Now Rs are barely making a public case at all. Because they can't:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The child tax credit is a great example of the GOP ceding the field.

Romney rolled out a good plan. Yet even the supposed "populist" Republicans panned it. They're reverting to Paul Ryan-esque anti-safety net nonsense.

Why aren't they part of the convo?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
25 Feb
Stephen Miller is running a disgusting shadow war against Biden. Central to it is the claim that Biden is reverting to Trump policies, including "kids in cages."

It's nonsense. This isn't "kids in cages" redux at all. Here's my effort at an explainer:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
People are lying. This isn't "kids in cages" redux. Two reasons:

* Trump's mess was created by family separations. This isn't.

* New Texas facility is HHS, not border patrol

Texas facility is problematic for other reasons that can/should be addressed:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
This is a central fact about this debate, and it's never discussed:

You cannot release kids alone. It's MORE dangerous for them.

Thus, the debate becomes HOW to hold and process them.

I talked to Wendy Young, an advocate on this issue for 30 years:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
24 Feb
NEW:

Republicans are objecting to the 1/6 commission having a broad purpose in its investigation of the factors leading up to the insurrection, a Dem aide tells me.

The problem is not partisanship. It's GOP radicalization.

Lots of new detail here:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
New reporting:

Ds proposed language suggesting broad purpose for the commission, looking at all factors leading to the attack.

Rs objected. Ds are frustrated, as objection is unclear. Ds asked Rs to propose their own language.

No answer yet, aide says:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Will Republicans really pick anyone for the commission who will back an accounting that includes the role of Trump/his election lies in inciting the insurrection?

Doubtful. Rs are too tied up in all that themselves.

The problem is GOP radicalization:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets

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