As the future looks bleaker for the Republicans as a minority party, they will get crazier and more extreme.

It comes from panic and desperation.
One way to see the evolution of the Republican Party is that what was once the right wing fringe has now taken over the party, and moderates are leaving.

The analysis, though, can do deeper . . .
Another way to see this is what @dziblatt calls the conservative dilemma, which is this:

Conservatives tend to represent the wealth and powerful corporations, therefore the policies they advocate are not appealing to the majority of people.

So how do they win elections?
They win through lies and propaganda.

The lies pulled in moderates who didn't understand what they were really about.

When Trump emerged as a logical outcome of Republican Party ideology, people like @stuartpstevens realized It Was All A Lie.

Now the party is shrinking to the extremist elements who are willing to tell Big Lies for political gain (or who are unable to distinguish truth from lies).

As moderates leave, they'll keep getting more extreme, creating a cycle of radicalization.
A few tweets back: "can go deeper," not "can do deeper."

There are probably other errors as well, none of which are my fault. It's early here, I need more ☕️ and my keyboard hates me. (I am a victim of keyboard hostility)
That's why, ironically, they see legislation that makes it easier for people to vote and harder for elections to be overturned as a Democratic power grab and attempt on the part of Dems to keep themselves in power forever.

That's how it feels.
We've had times with one dominant party while another struggled to be born (the Federalists Party implided after 1812, but the Republican Party didn't form until 1854).


As long other parties aren't prevented from forming, it's fine.
Adding: I don't see the Republican Party going away: I see them becoming smaller and more dangerous while retaining power, at least over enough states to remain a threat.

Think about it: These guys ⤵️want a party, too, and there are a lot more where these came from.
Sorry. I keep coming back and adding stuff.

It's common to say "we need a center right party."

In this new world, the two parties may align differently. Instead of left v. right, they may align pro v. anti-democracy.

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More from @Teri_Kanefield

24 Jun
Rudy Giuliani's disbarment is an "interim suspension." Here's what that means⤵️

Elsewhere the court notes that the evidence of Guiliani's lies is "uncontroverted."
Also, just because it was interim doesn't mean Giuliani didn't have a chance to present defense and evidence.

He offered two very lame defenses which the court made short work of.

First, he said he had a First Amendment right to say everything he said.
The court said NOPE.

You wanna lie? Give up your license. Lawyers as officers of the court are governed by special rules. Don't like it? Don't be a lawyer.

He also offered the "I didn't know I was lying" defense.

Yeah, riiiiight, said the court . . .
Read 5 tweets
23 Jun
From elections law prof. @rickhasen

In March he warned that the elections law reform bill was being wrongly portrayed as the only way to save democracy.

What happened is that some people took that literally and felt genuine panic when it failed.

washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/0… Image
Yes.

I had trouble understanding the genuine panic meltdown last night. It seemed clear to me (this is only June 2020) that the vote last night was the start of negotiations.

Not with the Republicans, but within the ranks of the Democratic Party.

The idea that a single vote on a single bill will end democracy is the problem with Twitter, or maybe social media.
Read 4 tweets
20 Jun
(Thread)

This week I analyzed McConnell’s power grab and offer democracy-saving responses.

Also why these kinds of responses play right into McConnell's hands:
🔹Gloves off!
🔹We have to fight fire with fire!

[Edited] transcription in the next tweet
1/ Edited transcript here: terikanefield.com/blunting-mccon…

Stand by for a Twitter summary.
2/ You see, McConnell and pals want to undermine democratic institutions.

They're having trouble winning national elections. Their policies are unpopular, and their demographics are shrinking. (Duh, right? They cater to white supremacists in a country growing diverse.
Read 22 tweets
17 Jun
The Republican Party spent almost 5 decades, since Roe v. Wade, working to install an iron-clad conservative majority on the Court.

Today 7-2, the Court tosses out the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Obamacare stays.
A fun bit of Supreme Court history: Earl Warren was appointed by a Republican. The Republicans expected him to be a conservative justice. (🤣)
Correct.

I mentioned Warren because he's really the one responsible for the liberal Supreme Court of the 1950s and 1960s that still enrages Republicans.

He brought the justices to a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board, and that changed America.
Read 5 tweets
17 Jun
My latest for @NBCNewsTHINK

The long-term solution to GOP power grabs is to strengthen and depoliticize our democratic institutions to better enable them to withstand autocratic power grabs.

As you'll see, I leaned heavily on legal and political science scholars for this.
Some people don't understand that this kind of response plays right into McConnell's hands.

McConnell has invited the Democrats to join him in engaging in the kind of behavior that will undermine and weak democratic institutions.

And people take the bait. Image
From Steven Levitsky, the greatest danger to democracy is the government slipping into dysfunction, which will erode public confidence.

When public confidence erodes, people become vulnerable to the appeal of a strongman, who promises to get things done.
Read 7 tweets
14 Jun
McConnell is a master at norm and democracy-smashing behavior.

First, he announces that he will not "allow" the president to do what the Constitution gives the president power to do.

This stokes his base ("We're going to win!")

The opposition splinters over how to respond.
From Levitsky (co-author of 👇) the greatest danger to democracy is the government slipping into dysfunction, which will erode public confidence.

When public confidence erodes, people become vulnerable to the appeal of a strongman, who promises to get things done.

1/
When the public loses confidence in democracy, they are willing to torpedo democratic processes. Using anti-democratic means to save democracy has obvious problems.

McConnell wants to break the government because he doesn't like what America has become.

2/
Read 4 tweets

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