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The state of U.S. Republicans

Republican behavior

At a time when the United States is being called upon to lead in the dangerous crisis between Israel and Gaza, U.S. Republicans are locked in their own civil war, and have been unable to choose a Speaker of the House of Representatives.

During this dangerous crisis, Donald Trump has taken the side of terrorists against our ally Israel.

One Republican U.S. Senator has blocked the U.S. from filling crucial military posts, including 12 leadership posts at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which protects U.S. allies and interests in the Middle East.

Another Republican U.S. Senator says the U.S. should bomb Iran‘s oil fields and refineries, which would create a worldwide oil panic that would cause oil and gasoline prices to go through the roof.

Republicans are acting like the drunks at the bar whose car keys need to get taken away before they can get behind the wheel and kill someone. They are proving over and over again that they are unfit to govern.

So let’s not hear the media refer to “Democrats in Disarray” ever again.

Photo by Sharon Mollerus, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/x30dGq

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Tags: Congress, Democrats, Donald Trump, Gaza, House Speaker, Israel, Lindsey Graham, Middle East, oil, Palestine, Pentagon, Republicans, terrorism, terrorist, Tommy Tuberville, U.S. House, U.S. Senate

In U.S. Senate appointment, California Governor Gavin Newsom keeps his first promise

Written on October 3, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging

California Governor Gavin Newsom

Following the recent death of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, there has been intense speculation about how her replacement would be chosen, and who it would be. Now we have the answer: California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s office announced Sunday night that the Governor has chosen Emily’s List President and former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leader Laphonza Butler to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, on an interim basis until California’s voters choose a new Senator in the 2024 elections.

In making this choice, Governor Newsom was in the spotlight as much as, or possibly even more than, anyone else. That’s because not only is California the most populous and arguably most high-profile state in the U.S., it’s also no secret that Governor Newsom has presidential ambitions, presumably for 2028. Thus, Newsom had to tread carefully in making his U.S. Senate appointment.

While Sen. Feinstein’s death was sudden, there has been talk about her age (90) and visible physical and cognitive decline for months. For example, earlier this year, Feinstein was absent from the Senate for weeks with shingles and other infirmities. During that time, her empty seat on the all-important Senate Judiciary Committee caused a deadlock between Democrats and Republicans, resulting in several of President Joe Biden‘s federal judicial nominees being blocked from advancing to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Meanwhile, during these months of discussions about Sen. Feinstein’s condition and amid requests that she retire right away, Governor Newsom obviously thought and talked about what would happen if she leaves the Senate before her term expires (Feinstein’s office had previously announced that she would not run for another new term in the 2024 elections). Then, early last month, Newsom publicly announced three principles regarding his actions should Feinstein’s seat prematurely become vacant:

–He would appoint a replacement Senator only an interim basis, until a new Senator is elected in the 2024 elections and seated in the new Congress, presumably in January 2025. The purpose is to give California voters, rather than Newsom himself, the power to choose their U.S. Senator for a full six-year term.

–He would appoint a black woman, noting that currently no black women serve in the U.S. Senate.

–He would not appoint anyone who had already announced their candidacy for the seat in 2024, in order not to tip the scales in favor of someone who would then be running with the advantage of incumbency. Accordingly, this rendered U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, as well as numerous others, ineligible for the interim seat, since each of them had previously announced that they are running for the seat for a full term in the 2024 elections.

Governor Newsom ended up keeping all three of his promises. This should reflect very well on him not only now as Governor, but also if he runs for president in the 2028 elections. Imagine, alternatively, if he had violated one or more of these principles: voters across the country could then attack him by asking, “if Newsom couldn’t keep this promise, how can we trust him to keep any presidential campaign promise?” In this sense, Newsom has cleared his first presidential hurdle — the fundamental requirement of credibility.

Photo by Office of the Governor of California, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/r5OBci

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Tags: 2024 elections, 2028 elections, California, Dianne Feinstein, Emily's List, Gavin Newsom, Laphonza Butler, U.S. Senate

Senator Robert Menendez must resign, but not for the reason you think

Written on September 28, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch, Republican Messaging

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

By now, many people know that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, is in big legal trouble, again. This time, the allegations leading to the latest corruption charges against Menendez look bad, including bribery payments to the Senator in cash and gold in return for his interfering with criminal cases and giving illegal special favors, even to the government of Egypt. As a result, there have been widespread calls for Menendez to resign, including from many Democrats. Indeed, about half of Menendez’ Democratic U.S. Senate colleagues, as well as New Jersey County Chairs and others, have now called for him to step down. It’s fair to say that such calls have grown louder and are gaining momentum.

At the same time, it’s true that in America, everyone accused of a crime is deemed under the law to be innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, it is not illegal to keep cash and even gold in one’s home; plenty of people do it. Thus, an argument can be made (and Sen. Menendez is making it forcefully, while pleading not guilty to the charges) that it’s unfair for him to have to resign unless and until he is found guilty of the crimes of which he has been accused. Unfortunately, however, neither the court of public opinion nor the U.S. Senate is a court of law, and there are powerful reasons why Menendez must resign right away.

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Tags: Clarence Thomas, Congress, Dianne Feinstein, Donald Trump, George Santos, GOP, Robert Menendez, Samuel Alito, U.S. Senate, U.S. Supreme Court

President Biden attacks “MAGA Republicans”

Written on September 15, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents, Good Government

MAGA Republican extremism on display

Earlier this year, we noted that President Joe Biden had started using the term “MAGA Republicans” to describe his political opponents, especially the ones who are “threatening our freedoms, by attempting to cut Social Security,” threatening women’s healthcare decisions (i.e. banning abortion), banning books in schools, etc. Now, months later, President Biden, his 2024 reelection campaign team, his White House staff and other Democrats are continuing this use of “MAGA Republicans.” We think doing so is effective.

Essentially, there are two related advantages in using the term “MAGA Republicans.” First, it’s a way of saying, “look, there are plenty of reasonable Republicans with whom I can work, but there’s an extreme wing of the Republican Party that is causing problems.” And in fact, President Biden has worked with Republicans to pass major legislation, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Safer Communities Act of 2022 (which provides mental health assistance to reduce gun violence), the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and others, all with Republican votes (and some of which the Biden Administration even terms “Bipartisan” when referring to these laws).

Republicans in disarray over Trump indictment? More like a total mess

Written on June 15, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic vs. Republican Presidents, Republican Messaging

Chris Christie, causing problems for Donald Trump and the Republicans

Once again, Donald Trump‘s troubles are dominating the political landscape, and the Republican Party. Trump was in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, being arraigned on 37 felony counts involving his theft from the White House, retention and obstruction of justice in hindering the FBI’s retrieval of many boxes of classified documents, most of which were held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. If convicted on many or all of the charges, Trump could spend the rest of his life in prison.

None of this helps the Republican Party, which is trying to gear up for the 2024 elections and does not hold the White House or the U.S. Senate majority. Instead of gaining traction with a 2024 theme, elected Republicans are spending their time explaining how much they support Trump, and there is plenty of disagreement among them.

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Tags: 2024 Election, Chris Christie, Congress, Democrats, Donald Trump, House Freedom Caucus, Jack Smith, MAGA, Mar-a-Lago, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republicans, U.S. Senate, White House

President Biden handles the debt ceiling brilliantly

Written on June 2, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents

President Biden may have just saved the country

With the U.S. House of Representatives having passed a bill on Wednesday night to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling, and the U.S. Senate passing the bill late last night, it is now all but certain that a historic Republican-caused default on the U.S. debt has been averted. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill at any time, and to address the nation this evening. While there is plenty of credit to go around, President Biden deserves the most praise for the extreme competence, professionalism and political savvy with which he has handled the issue.

Here is Biden’s statement after Wednesday’sj House vote, with emphasis added:

Tonight, the House took a critical step forward to prevent a first-ever default and protect our country’s hard-earned and historic economic recovery. This budget agreement is a bipartisan compromise. Neither side got everything it wanted. That’s the responsibility of governing. I want to thank Speaker McCarthy and his team for negotiating in good faith, as well as Leader Jeffries for his leadership.
This agreement is good news for the American people and the American economy. It protects key priorities and accomplishments from the past two years, including historic investments that are creating good jobs across the country. And, it honors my commitment to safeguard Americans’ health care and protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It protects critical programs that millions of hardworking families, students, and veterans count on.

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Tags: 2024 elections, budget, Congress, COVID, debt, debt ceiling, debt default, Democrats, Donald Trump, Merrick Garland, Mitch McConnell, President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, Republicans, U.S. House, U.S. Senate

Don’t give up on fighting gun violence

Written on May 9, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Republican Messaging

Good Democratic messaging here

The gun violence situation looks very bad in America right now. We’re averaging more than one mass shooting every day. One of the latest such shootings took place in Allen, Texas last Saturday, where a gunman wearing a tactical vest with an “RWDS” (“Right Wing Death Squad”) patch opened fire with an AR-15-style assault weapon at a shopping mall, killing at least eight people, including two young children, and injuring approximately nine others. Meanwhile, Republican-run states are going the wrong way on guns, with Florida passing a law allowing residents to carry concealed guns without a permit, and a 2015 tweet from Texas Governor Greg Abbott resurfacing again this week, in which he complains that Texas lags behind California in gun purchases, and that Texans therefore need to buy more guns. To top it off, Republican Megyn Kelly, who should know better about toxic harmful behavior, tweeted the following last Saturday:

Serious q for gun control advocates: you’ve failed to effect change. Pls face it. You can’t do it, thx to the 2A. We’re all well aware you don’t like that fact, but fact it is. What’s next? Must we just stay here sad, concerned, lamenting? Could we possibly talk OTHER SOLUTIONS?

Then, after being reprimanded for her tweet, she doubled down with the following:

No YOU F off. I am sick and tired of nothing changing after mass shootings bc we get mired EVERY TIME IN THE DAMN GUN DEBATE. You have LOST. It’s DONE. For the love of God what else can be done? You are ruining any chance at change by not admitting that the gun debate is lost.

But giving up on fighting gun violence is the last thing we should do. First of all, let’s take a lesson from the Republicans, as we suggested back in 2011, and go on offense. Specifically, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that the Constitution provides for the right to an abortion, did the anti-choice Republicans give up? Quite the opposite! They embarked on an effort lasting nearly 50 years to fight that ruling, and they made steady progress at the federal level and in various states (waiting periods, parental consent, protests, closing clinics, late-term abortion bans, etc.), until, with the right combination of Republicans in the White House and the U.S. Senate to confirm enough right-wing justices, the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. Along the way, outlawing abortion became one of the Republicans’ chief unifying issues and rallying cries.

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Tags: abortion, Antonin Scalia, Assault Weapons Ban, Democrats, Florida, gun violence, guns, mass shooting, Republicans, right to life, Supreme Court, Texas, U.S. Senate, universal background checks, White House

The significance of Gigi Sohn’s nomination for FCC Commissioner

Written on February 15, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents, Media Watch

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held its third confirmation hearing in 15 months on the nomination of Gigi Sohn for Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The reason why Sohn, who is President Joe Biden‘s choice to fill the fifth FCC Commissioner slot to give the Democrats a 3-2 majority, has not yet been confirmed to her post (or even advanced to a Senate vote) is that apparently all Senate Republicans and a few conservative Senate Democrats oppose her on various grounds:

–First, Senate Republicans would likely oppose any of President Biden’s FCC nominees, in order to maintain this crucial agency at its current gridlocked state of two Democratic and two Republican Commissioners, preventing Biden and the Democrats from doing the business of the American people.

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Tags: 2020 Elections, Chuck Schumer, Congress, Democrats, Fairness Doctrine, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, Gigi Sohn, Internet, Mark Fowler, Media Access Project, Net Neutrality, President Joe Biden, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, U.S. Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris

President Joe Biden neutralizes Republicans at State of the Union

Written on February 8, 2023 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden once again rose to the occasion and gave an extremely effective State of the Union speech last night. But what was so successful, and perhaps unexpected, is the way Biden took apart the Republicans. The President did this in a deft, almost surgical way, alternating between touting his impressive accomplishments, pushing his Democratic agenda (something we have advocated here since Day One), and co-opting pro-American ideas that the Republicans falsely try to claim that they promote. Essentially, Biden set a trap for the GOP.

Most reviews and many posts and comments about last night’s State of the Union speech seem to focus on the ugly outbursts from a small number of House Republicans in the audience. That’s just what those attention-seekers want. Instead, a good exercise is to avoid the videos of President Biden’s speech (too late if you already watched it last night, of course), and read the transcript in the second link above. What you get is an impressive picture of patriotism, an appeal to unity, and some good sharp contrasts with the Republicans. Here are some memorable lines and passages from the speech, which paint a clear picture of what President Biden accomplished:

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Tags: Congress, Democrats, GOP, President Joe Biden, Republicans, State of the Union, U.S. House, U.S. Senate

Republicans may wish they never win a tiny House majority

Written on November 16, 2022 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch, Republican Messaging

Is it Taps for the GOP?

As of now, the Republican Party can be fairly described as having failed miserably in the 2022 midterm elections. Considering that the party in power almost always loses many seats in Congress in the first midterms two years into a new president’s term, and given the headwinds of COVID, Russia‘s war against Ukraine, and the resulting high inflation in the U.S. and around the world, the Democrats wildly exceeded expectations of a sweeping Republican “Red Wave” this time. Specifically, the Democratic Party has retained control of the U.S. Senate with at least 50 votes (Vice President Kamala Harris can provide the 51st vote for the Democrats in case of a 50-50 tie), and it may even gain a Senate seat in the upcoming Georgia runoff election on December 6.

Additionally, Democrats have increased their number of state Governorships held, gained seats and majorities in state legislatures, defeated the Republican candidates for Secretary of State who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election (and who would have been in a position in charge of elections in their state to meddle in the 2024 elections), and, where abortion rights were on the ballot, voted to protect such rights. One only need to look at the current Republican Party meltdown, including piling on Donald Trump, to judge the political consequences of the midterms.

Nevertheless, the results of the midterm elections in the U.S. House of Representatives are still unknown. According to the Associated Press, Republicans have won 217 seats, Democrats have won 209, and the outcomes for the remaining 9 seats are still being tabulated. The magic number to gain majority control in the 435-member House is 218. Thus, a number of pundits and news media organizations are projecting that Republicans will win the narrowest of majorities, by approximately one to five seats. If that occurs, Republicans may wish it never happened. Here’s why:

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Tags: 2022 midterm elections, abortion, Democrats, Donald Trump, Georgia, House of Representatives, President Joe Biden, red wave, Republicans, Russia, U.S. Senate, Ukraine