There's no guarantee of success, but Senate Ds do have a plan of what comes after GOP blocks #s1 debate, @SenJeffMerkley tells me. They'll quickly negotiate a new voting rights bill, centered on Manchin's plan, that all 50 Ds back, then see if any, much less 10, Rs will sign on
The eventual Dem bill, Merkley says, will include the "four core principles" of S1: "the right to vote, end gerrymandering, stop billionaires from buying elections, and stop the corruption that extends from conflicts of interest. The bill we come out w/will address all of those."
"We will provide the oppty for Sen. Manchin & Sen. Sinema, w/all of us engaged, to get R support for it." Their instinct “that it is far better to have a bipartisan bill is absolutely right so we need to do everything we can to see if we can get a bipartisan group," Merkley says
But Merkley says, “if it fails, then the 50 senators who are wiling to defend our Constitution have to get into the room & figure out how" to reform the filibuster in some way to pass the bills. One option he cites: "returning to a you must show up version" of the filibuster.
No one knows if Manchin/Sinema & others ultimately will accept any filibuster changes. But this is the only path voting rights advocates & other Ds think has any chance: repeatedly demonstrating GOP intransigence combined w/continuing grassroots pressure on the D holdouts.

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More from @RonBrownstein

2 Apr
Some elements of "accessible" & "fair" per @nytimes: "Georgia has cut by more than 1/2 the period during which voters may request an absentee ballot, from nearly six months before an election to less than three. This will almost certainly reduce the # who seek absentee ballots"
Voters "will have to provide the number from a driver’s license or an equivalent state-issued identification. This is virtually certain to limit access to absentee voting.If they fail to follow all the new steps, like printing a date of birth, their ballots could be tossed out."
"It’s now illegal for election officials to mail out absentee ballot applications to all voters."
Read 12 tweets
2 Feb
Electric vehicle advances could allow Biden to demand much bigger reductions in greenhouse emissions from cars/trucks than Obama sought-if he can convince auto workers/suppliers/companies they will thrive in an electrified future.
Environmentalists want Biden to set EPA standards that would end new sales of internal combustion engine vehicles after 2035 (as CA has done and GM says it aspires to). His admin won't commit to that yet, but clearly see opportunity for a path to zero emissions.
Gina McCarthy, the top WH climate adviser tells me: "People in our discussions understand that the future is about electric vehicles. ... How do we make sure that we do this in a way that the labor community is engaged, that we advance the manufacture of these vehicles in the US
Read 4 tweets
21 Jan
Per Rubio, it's not that Trump base includes many racists-it's that the left is oppressing them: "The overwhelming majority of Americans reject racism, bigotry & discrimination. But they also reject identity politics, which constantly divides us by race, ethnicity, and gender"
Xenophobia & nativism? Not a problem. Problem is Ds are weak on the border. "They are proud we are a nation of immigrants. But they want to have immigration laws that are followed and immigration laws that are enforced."
How about hostility to LGBTQ community & other manifestations of social change? "Most Americans... understand that some have different views or lifestyles. But they resent the effort to demonize, punish, and persecute the traditional values of our Judeo-Christian heritage."
Read 4 tweets
13 Jan
As 2nd impeachment looms, the Republican Party paved the way to this inevitable end of the Trump presidency by enabling, excusing & abetting an openly racist & authoritarian president who did not hide his contempt for the rule of law or disdain for democracy
Republicans found reasons to excuse Trump after "very fine people" in Charlottesville; "go back" to House D women of color; calling Black Lives Matter "a symbol of hate"; and repeatedly denigrating the intelligence of Black women legislators & journalists.
Rs found nothing to sanction (& often actively supported) as he weaponized the postal service, distorted the Census, obstructed the Mueller inquiry, blocked Congressional oversight, openly extorted the government of Ukraine, pressured prosecutors, dispensed improper pardons.
Read 17 tweets
3 Nov 20
No one can rule out Trump squeezing out another EC win (if less likely than 16). But win or lose, he's exiling GOP from the places shaping 21st century America. Could lose over 90/100 largest US counties & counties that generate fully 70% or more of GDP. Visible in states too
In 2016, Trump won only 4/20 states where immigrants comprise the largest share of the total population; now he’s at varying risk of losing all four: AZ, FL, GA, TX. He won only 7/25 states w/biggest share of col grads; w/PA, NC, GA teetering, he might win only 4 of them today
Trump won just 5/22 states where White Christians (per @PRRIpoll) are below 45% of pop. He could lose 4 of them: AZ, FL, GA, ~TX. This is spilling onto GOP: after today, Ds could hold 35/40 Senate seats in the 20 states w/highest immigrant % & all 28 in the 14 w/most col grads
Read 4 tweets
3 Nov 20
An E-day thread: For 4 years, Trump has governed as a wartime president for red America, w/blue America, not any foreign adversary as the target. That's provoked an enormous reaction from the diverse, well-educated urban centers & inner suburbs driving eco growth & innovation
Tonight will tell whether it's enough, but the scale of the mobilization from blue America-primarily metro America-is unprecedented. It's measured, for starters, in the record-setting Democratic fund-raising, mostly from small donors in well-educated areas, that's swamped Rs
It's measured in outpouring of celebrity support for Biden: ads from Brad Pitt, @springsteen, Eminem, campaigning by Cardi B, John Legend, Lady Gaga, Common, Spike Lee, Taylor Swift's twitter activism, $-raising reunions by casts of Avengers, Princess Bride, Veep & Happy Days etc
Read 17 tweets

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