When a sensible party loses an election, they reassesses their positions, their approaches, their rhetoric, and they retool, trying to understand why The People didn't like their approach.
Republicans do the opposite. They double-down on exactly the things voters rejected.
1/7
Republicans do the opposite. They double-down on exactly the things voters rejected.
1/7
Instead of trying to expand their appeal, instead of changing their policies to address what more Americans want, Republicans increasingly narrow their focus--to further enrage their shrinking base, to create more desperation and rage, and to ever-more isolate themselves.
2/7
2/7
We see this same approach in other places. Vlad Putin, for instance; rather than alter the nature of his rule to make it more attractive and to build international allies, he increases his criminality, brutality, and iron-handed authoritarianism.
3/7
3/7
In the long run, these techniques fail. The thugs at the top of these Jenga towers grow increasingly chaotic and paranoid as their support disintegrates beneath them. Brutality drives people away, and unites opposition.
4/7
4/7
Whatever happens in Ukraine in the next few months, Putin cannot oppress them forever. Their steadfast commitment to democracy inspires the world. We can all see, in their struggle, our own struggles. That draws us together. Intersectionality will win out.
5/7
5/7
Whatever happens, or has happened, domestically, Republicans cannot create the brutal authoritarian state they crave. They are too few, too cruel, too blind, and their numbers, though loud, continue to shrink. They unite their opposition. Intersectionality will win out.
6/7
6/7
The midterms will be one test. So were 2008, 2012, 2018, 2020. There will be others. We shall prevail. We shall overcome.
Next fall, fight for democracy. Show up like a Ukrainian.
#VoteBlue2022.
7/7
Next fall, fight for democracy. Show up like a Ukrainian.
#VoteBlue2022.
7/7
PS. At the risk of sounding divisive: Some Democratic-aligned politicians need to learn this lesson also. Democratic primary voters soundly defeated a particular approach in both 2016 and 2020, but the carriers of that message doubled-down instead of reaching out. Just sayin'.
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