I turned on MSNOW late in the afternoon to find Ali Velshi filling in as host. The discussion was about Indiana Republicans in their Senate telling Trump to pound sand on mid-cycle redistricting and why. Velshi said something that stuck with me, along with some of the pundit comments. It was about enough of those Indianans banding together that they felt safe in defying Trump. What made the discussion really interesting was roping in how the vote to release the Epstein files unfolded. I don’t remember who said it but the term herd immunity came up.
Herd Immunity – from TRUMP. It’s another way of saying ‘safety in numbers.’ Trump is so scatterbrained that for all his threats before a big vote he can’t go around and find primary candidates to take on ALL of them, at least if there are enough. That raises a question, for me at least. Are there ways in which we can help fearful GOPers who have only played along with much (not all, but also more than a little) of Trump’s policies get together and form some sort of alliance. And grow it to a point where there’s safety in numbers. Perhaps enough to even generate a general GOP Herd Immunity on a given issue.
The discussion I watched delved into what happened with the Epstein file vote. You know the story of Johnson doing all he could to prevent that discharge petition from getting over the finish line. This evening I’ve been wondering if he didn’t have a sinking feeling that what wound up happening would happen once a vote was taken. The pundit dicsussion noted that once the discharge petition got the 218th signature, instead of the vote to release the files barely passing several dozen GOPers would cross over.
Well, why I think Johnson had a belief it would go badly is that he didn’t milk out the deadline. He actually allowed the vote sooner than he could have because what he feared would happen did. Things snowballed. Even he wound up joining the crowd which was everyone in both Parties. Over in the Senate THAT got attention and whether they wanted to or not Senators went along. In the end only one GOP Congress Critter kept it from being unanimous. That’s the only reason Trump grudgingly signed it.
It’s not like he could primary every Republican on Capitol Hill. In immunology 95% vaccination rate is enough to ensure Herd Immunity. That target got beat, at least on the Epstein vote. The Indiana Senate vote against creating a new House map was 31-19. That’s not nearly Epstein level but the vote was expected to be far closer. For all the actual threats the Indiana legislators endured, they decided there was safety in numbers. As more word spreads in the state about how hard Trump pushed and how dirty it got (getting parents of classmates of grandkids to bad mouth their grandmas and grandpas won’t sit well with most voters in Indiana. Even MAGAs
This poses what I think is a tantalizing possibility which I’ve already mentioned. Finding ways to get two or three Republicans who say one thing in private but in public support Trump and vote the way he wants to talk to each other. REALLY talk. And then slowly add more to the discussion. Think about how often you hear Capitol Hill reporters, Democrats on the Hill and pundits tell us about people they KNOW disagree with Trump but are fearful of speaking up. If you’re like me you got sick of hearing that a long time ago.
Today I had a sort of epiphany. Not just of putting enough GOPers together to feel safety in numbers but even attain Herd Immunity, at least on some issues. First, Democrats in the House and Senate need to draw up lists of GOPers who would join on specific issues and/or votes. It will vary by issue.
The next step is for each of our folks to pick two, just two GOPers to have a private sit-down with. Drinks somewhere at a quiet corner of a tiny DC bar. Or dinner in a private dining room at some nice spot. AND surprise them with a colleague showing up with at least one but no more than two of their own ‘Recruits.” Now, remember that list? If the conversation goes ok work in there are other people that feel the same way. And name a colleague who knows that and is willing to reach out to them, and perhaps arrange a larger get together. Say at a ballgame (those private skyboxes rich folks who happen to be Democrats own too) seems like a good spot. Have some fun with good food and free drinks flowing. And a little shop talk which includes name dropping of still more GOPers who would probably love being present.
Once you’ve gotten fifteen to twenty in the House and a half dozen or so in the Senate you’ve got something. A small amount of “Political Vaccine” for a specific Political Issue/Disease. It’s not enough, especially in the Senate where 60 votes are needed for cloture to bring anything to the floor for a vote. However, IF we can get 10 or more Senators on a given matter, and forty, or better still fifty over in the House that’s a stinging rebuke to Trump. Plus you never know when something like the Epstein vote can happen. Dams can spring a leak (a major one with some help) anywhere at any time. Finally, each time it happens the easier it will be to make it happen in the future.
The trick is, if a small amount of Political Vaccine can be created, then how to grow it to create a much larger “vaccinated” set of Republicans. Difficult as creating that first small batch is, turning it into more is an even trickier proposition. I think the key would be to use that initial group to do it. Make sure that like an AA sponsor they can call their Democratic pal any time day or night, and convince each of them to find one NEW person to talk to. Two at the most. It should be suggested that they don’t name names of others until they can trust there’s genuine interest. Perhaps a couple of them can pair up instead of just one recruiting a new member or two. That I think is how to generate more ‘doses of vaccine’ – have the Republicans start doing the reaching out but be damned sure to back them when they ask.
Here’s the last point on this in convincing them. Make sure all OUR people have a list of Republicans Trump backed who lost. It’s a long one. But being able to rattle off a bunch of names off the top of the head would get attention. Then, since we have what happened with the Epstein vote, AND in the Indiana Senate and Republicans getting their butts kicked in special or off year elections even in RED places we’ve got plenty of tools to work with.
I don’t know about you but I have a Democrat representing me in the House. Her staff almost always answers the phone and will take time to talk. I’m going to suggest all this. Maybe it will get passed up and maybe not. However I’m convinced I’m on to something and if anyone who’s read this feels the same do what I’m going to do. If enough of us try perhaps one or two Representatives or Senators will like the idea and start talking about it at their next weekly caucus meeting. Who knows? From where I sit it’s worth a shot.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
it also appears that the miami mayoral election was won by republicans voting for the democrat. that would be good news except that it would also mean that she failed to turn out democratuc voters.