I'm not seeing NEARLY enough press on how much of a hero @SenatorBaldwin is. It's incredible. This Senator is up for reelection in a Trump-won state THIS YEAR. And she's demonstrating more leadership to #SaveSCOTUS than all these blue state Dems. Quick thread on what this means:
This is a huge deal because we're NEVER going to get Collins or Murkowski against Kavanaugh if we can't even get safe blue state Dems onboard. Hell, we're not going to get Heitkamp, Donnelly, or Manchin onboard if we can't lock up these safe Dems ASAP.
Remember, the strategy to defeat Kavanaugh is simple:
I'm seeing a ton of press about how Minority Leader @SenSchumer doesn't have sway over the 3 Dems who voted for Gorsuch. That misses the point - what is he doing to #whipthevote to unify the safe blue state Dems? We won't get to domino #2 above if he doesn't tip over domino #1.
Take @SenatorDurbin. He's generally a good senator! Very safe seat. Won his last election by more than 10 points. He's not up for reelect until 2020. He's also the top Dem on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. If Durbin & his ilk won't unify with Dems, we're screwed.
And that's what makes @SenatorBaldwin's act of political bravery so important. She wasn't SUPPOSED to come out against Kavanaugh before safe Dems did. But she did. This is a real, significant act of political leadership.
But now all these safe Dems are leaving her out to dry. Her opponent can run ads saying "Sen. Baldwin is more liberal than that fellow from Hawaii!" @brianschatz tweets a big game, but why isn't he helping his fellow Dem senators? Same goes for all blue state Dems. UNIFY ALREADY.
If our plan for victory is righteous acts of political courage like @SenatorBaldwin's, we're going to lose. We need safe Dems to unify NOW to make it easier for less-safe Dems to take the plunge. @SenSchumer needs to lead the Dem caucus ASAP to make it happen. /end
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Former congressional staffer here. I'm seeing a few different tactics/strategies being thrown out to #SaveSCOTUS, and a fair amount of misinformation. Here's a short thread on a few tactics that won't work.
1) Pressure on Senators who don't represent you. If you don't live in Maine, Sen. Collins doesn't care what you think. That's not even a knock on Collins - that's just how representative democracy works.
Exceptions: You are a millionaire, famous person, or big campaign donor.
2) Pressure on House members. Members of the House of Reps are very important for many things, but they have no vote on Supreme Court justices.
Exception: Could be worthwhile to get every Dem House member in red states to publicly oppose, creating contrast with GOP senators.
OK, I’ve got 4 thoughts to share on the passage of this historically monstrous tax bill in the House and now the Senate tonight.
I know, it's past 1am (blame the GOP for these midnight shenanigans), but I just gotta get this out.
1st thought: this really, really sucks. I've noticed some progressives want to paint this as a “win” because this will “hurt” the GOP in elections next year. That’s not a where I start. This bill will have real and awful human consequences. This is tragic.
If it wasn’t clear before, it’s very clear now: the congressional GOP are ideological extremists. They cared less about their constituents and our democratic institutions than about raw political power and the enrichment of themselves and their donors.