"If You Care About the Court, Don't Talk About It" ... is this a good strategy?

[Ninga]

Personally, I’m so conflicted about what the Dems “should” do, “could do” that I am in a perpetual state of distress. Opinions?

-snip-
Why? Fixating on the Court organizes the electorate along two fronts of a culture war, and forces people to make stark ideological choices. Instead of focusing voters on the president’s failure to control COVID-19 or the consequent economic collapse, the culture war makes voters think only of their deepest tribal identities. To put it differently: Americans who define themselves as “pro-life” or as socially conservative might consider voting for Joe Biden if the issue at stake is the botched pandemic response. If the issue is conservative judges versus liberal judges, then they may stick with the Republicans.

Given the quirks of the American electoral system, these undecided voters matter, even more than the fired-up, well-organized inhabitants of liberal enclaves. The Democratic base may now be making record donations to Democratic campaigns, but if money was the only thing that mattered, Jeb Bush would be president. On its own, the Democratic base can’t determine the outcome of presidential elections, let alone the Senate majority. These contests are settled in a small number of states by a tiny number of independents and disillusioned partisans, the kinds of voters who used to be “Reagan Democrats,” but who now might become “Biden Republicans.” And they may well be spooked by the prospect of “liberal judges,” a phrase designed to evoke lawlessness, degeneracy, and disorder.

-snip-

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/dont-make-the-election-about-the-court/616417/?fbclid=IwAR3MkrwqCuomrAbPn0mymEkIYGESuuBXL_ZjAr4ymtDsfQUfDker_HrZb3o

[mcar]

1. I like how Biden is talking about the court in the framework of healthcare

IMPOTUS' nominee will vote to repeal the ACA, which means that COVID survivors will be considered as having pre-existing conditions and won't be able to get care.

[DonaldsRump]

2. Same article mentioned in my OP from yesterday

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214109426

[EarlG]

3. I can see the logic to this

Realistically, there's nothing we can do to prevent the Republicans from installing a new Supreme Court justice, whether it be before the election or in the lame duck session afterwards.

This election needs to be a referendum on Trump, not on the Supreme Court. Big picture here is that Trump is a despicable, crooked racist, and Senate Republicans are a bunch of hypocritical, destructive assholes who seem to be doing as much damage as they can to the country out of pure partisan spite. Killing the ACA in the middle of a pandemic? Why?

With six weeks to go the message should be, "Do you want these jerks to keep running the country, or do you want to throw the bums out and have fresh leadership that's going to come in and fix what the Republicans have broken?"

[beachbumbob]

6. GOP Will use the 6-3 court as a tool to motivate their people to vote for GOP senators

GOP is betting on having more of them come out than more of us. The bottom line, if we lose in 2020, the America we know , is simply GONE.

We explained all this in 2016 to the anti-hillary forces that were here in DU and you know? They could give a fuck so here we are, the worse outcome we could imagine with a 6-3 court.

IF democrats win the senate, hold the House and win the Whitehouse, I expect handwringing by a number of democrats over adding 4 more SC seats. WE WILL HAVE ZERO CHOICE but to do so. McConnel broke the system when he would not hold hearings or a vote for Obama's nominee. He broke it and we have no choice do all we can to fight back.

[Statistical]

7. Exactly. Biden's message that "the virus was too big for Trump" is perfect.

It pities Trump for how small and incapable he is. It reminds voters he can't handle this. If you want someone to handle it you need a change in leadership.

The more the focus is on covid and the economy between now and Nov 3rd the harder it will be for Trump to make any traction at all in the polls.

[PunkinPi]

9. Also, Kamala is on the senate Judiciary committee and...

I anticipate republicans weaponizing her being at the SC nominee hearings, since she's the VP nominee. Keep the focus on Trump, and then connect the dots to the SC, esp. regarding the ACA.

[Statistical]

4. Yes. Don't talk about it until after the election.

I don't mean don't have discussion here on DU. However it shouldn't be an issue for this election cycle. It shouldn't be something candidates and politicians talk about because it will eat up news cycles.

The Democrats are poised to win the Presidency and likely the senate as well. Trump is losing across large swathes of the country on the current issues (covid, economy, police, healthcare). Changing the narrative helps Republicans. They are in a losing battle they WANT the topic to be changed to one they have a better shot at.

Now if/when we win both the Presidency and Senate I do think we should talk about it as well as other things like statehood for PR & DC and expanding the House. However if we don't win both it is all moot anyways and more time spent making it the issue reduces the chance of that happening.

[qazplm135]

5. This just concedes they care more about the court

Than we do, which has been true up til now and is why we are here.

So, do we start caring more, or do we hide and hope they start caring less?

[crickets]

8. I am tired of being told how to react to something

based on how someone else is going to react to my reasonable reaction. I think the proper working term for the requested behavior is called walking on eggshells.

NO.

I am super tired of Democrats being told how to react to something based on how some undecideds might react to a reasonable reaction or strategy. When was the last time 'keeping our powder dry' and so on actually did any good? I am surprised this is an article from the Atlantic. It sounds more like Politico.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214107553

Link to tweet

[csziggy]

10. We should talk about the way the GOP changes the rules to gain power

In 2016, months before the election McConnell and the GOP Senators refused to even talk to Merrick Garland in their lust to place a right wing judge on the Supreme Court. Now much closer to an election, when they KNOW in their hearts that they are not only going to lose the Presidency they may lose control of the Senate, they are desperate to secure control of the Court and will change their rules in order to make sure of that.

This is purely about their perverted ideology and how they want to take all the power for themselves. They do not care about the welfare of the country or what the majority of the population wants - their entire goal is to hold the power for their small cadre of zealots.

THIS is what we are fighting for - preventing a small group from taking over our country. They already have control of the executive branch and will do anything to keep it. For now they control the Senate so control Congress, and same deal, will use any means to keep it.

If they put another ultra conservative on the Supreme Court, they control every branch of government. This means that no matter what our laws or what the precedent, their cadre will hold the line and invent any pretext to prevent the return of balance in our government. The indicator for that was the 2000 decision, Bush V. Gore, where every previous precedent was set aside and SCOTUS made a ruling that nothing in our history justified.

We HAVE to fight the approval of a third Trump justice. Our government, our country, and our lives depend on it.