You’re gonna have such great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost, and it’s going to be so easy. ~Donald Trump, October 2016
I have concepts of a plan. ~Donald Trump, September 2024
Yesterday we had the anniversary of a violent insurrection. In two weeks, we’ll have the inauguration of the man who was responsible for it. There’s good reason to be jittery, and I understand why I see so much doom and gloom.
That’s why I think it’s a good day to reflect on a moment during the first Trump administration that (in my humble opinion) has been under-appreciated.
No doubt you remember Senator John McCain’s dramatic thumbs down vote saving the Affordable Care Act.
What you might not remember is that two other Republican Senators made that whole setup possible.
It was 2017, and the Republican House had passed their alternative to the ACA: the American Health Care Act of 2017. That bill would have repealed the individual and employer mandate, dramatically cut Medicaid spending and eligibility, eliminated tax credits, abolished some taxes, and removed rules capping how much people with pre-existing conditions could be charged.
It was especially awful.
The Senate had a similar bill under consideration – the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or BCRA. It included most of the same provisions as the House’s ACHA.
If you recall, Republicans had 52-seat Senate majority, so Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could only lose two votes in his caucus. And because Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky had already come out against the bill, any more defections would kill the BCRA.
So to say it was a swirling time for activists is an understatement. National advocacy efforts ramped up to fever pitch – with Indivisible’s Trumpcare Ten focusing on 10 swing(ish) state Republicans, and another effort called Trumpcare Toolkit expanding that number of targeted Senators to 18. There were scripts, protests, emails, petitions – you name it.
The pressure on swing state Republican senators was exceptionally high.
But, in a complete surprise to literally everyone, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran and Utah Senator Mike Lee announced on Twitter that they’d not support the BCRA. The two rock-ribbed Republicans were in electorally red states; they were “safe” senators, not “swing” senators. So Democrats hadn’t targeted them at all.
Neither had Republicans – McConnell was reportedly blindsided.
But with those two defections, the BCRA was scrapped, and McConnell was forced to try to pass a so-called “skinny repeal” bill which would only have eliminated the ACA’s individual and employer mandate. (That was bad enough, but not as bad as the BCRA.)
It’s that legislation – the skinny repeal – that McCain famously jettisoned with his thumbs-down vote.
Neither Kansas nor Utah is a swing state. Neither Senators Moran nor Lee is what you’d consider a progressive champion. Neither had a background leading anyone to believe they should be on the short list of persuadable senators. (They are both still senators, by the way.)
So much had gone into advocacy and lobbying efforts targeting moderate Senators, while other Red State Senators – like the ones who ultimately scuttled the BCRA – were passed over.
I’m not bringing this up to suggest that Democratic activists got their advocacy targets wrong. They didn’t. Not really – Lee and Moran had their own reasons for rejecting the legislation.
I’m bringing it up as a reminder that folks can surprise you. And for that reason alone, we should talk to anyone and everyone – even if (especially if?) doing so seems like a lost cause.
That’s a lesson that the Democratic party really needs to internalize.
Folks have criticized Democrats for lacking a comprehensive 50-state strategy, for failing to financially support – or even nominate candidates for – races that don’t seem winnable. I’ve been a very vocal part of that chorus because that kind of neglect has caused a decay of party structure and strength in many Red States – Missouri (where I currently live) included. (I have a lot of thoughts on that topic, actually, and I’ve written about that here and here and here.)
But we, as supporters of democracy, need to recognize our own tendency to focus only on what appears winnable, too.
I’ve seen a few activists – very keen on protecting everyone’s mental health and energy (valid and important goals) – question the “efficiency” and effectiveness of calling Red State elected officials.
Friend, it’s never a waste of time or energy to tell our elected officials how something will impact us, even if changing their mind seems impossible. It’s never a mistake to protest their votes, or call them out for hypocrisy and corruption, or creatively expose the results of their policies (remember the glitter bombs, and message-in-a-pill-bottle, and Activist Art from 2017?).
Our only mistake is in staying silent.
If we stay silent, we give them tacit permission to be their worst selves. We allow them to interpret lack of resistance as acceptance – or even approval. We deny them the cover that our strident protest could provide.
Our voices may not bring about the result we want. But we’ll never know unless we try.
What’s coming at us in a few weeks will be anything but normal. Whether they want to admit it or not, even our Republican elected leaders know that. Sadly, they do not have steel backbones. So we need to give them the courage that they will need to do the right thing.
After all, the people who called their Red State Senators – even though changing their mind seemed to have a snowball’s chance in hell – won one helluva battle in 2017.
And we all learned a lesson.
Let’s not forget it now, when we need it the most.
Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of January 7, 2025
Here’s the part where – if you are so inclined – we roll up our sleeves and engage in what I like to call Action Therapy. In each Tuesday post I share a few “small things” – usually a Small Thing to Read, a Small Event to Attend, and a Small Call to Make or Action to Take. You can tuck these actions into your week with ease – and know that you’re doing something today to make tomorrow better.
Small Event(s) to Attend: National Democratic Training Committee Training & Indivisible Chat
First, I’ve been a huge fan of the National Democratic Training Committee and its free, on-demand, online training system for years. It’s great for busy people who don’t have the spoons to go to trainings, great for rural candidates who would otherwise have to travel hours to get to trainings, and it’s great for those of us who binge consume content. When I say there are hours and hours of top-notch content, I’m not kidding.
If you’ve not heard of it, you should check out all their trainings here: https://traindemocrats.org/
And, as the always amazing Rogan’s List noted in their action list today, the NDTC is having a virtual event this Thursday from 1-2pm eastern – So You Want to Run for Office? The training will cover the steps necessary to run, best practices for choosing your race, the kinds of support you’ll need, and how to share your decision to run with your network.
Register here.
Second, the always-inspiring Jess Craven of Chop Wood Carry Water brought to my attention today an excellent weekly chat session from Indivisible. From her newsletter: The leaders of Indivisible will be holding a weekly discussion every Thursday in January at 3pm ET / noon PT. That’s 1/9, 1/16, 1/23, and 1/30. They’ll open with some reflections on news of the day, but mostly they’ll be taking in your questions — which you can send ahead of time or ask live. These are really helpful get-togethers; I hope many of you will join them! This week’s is called “Bracing For Impact,” and it’ll be specifically geared towards preparing for Inauguration Day and everything that comes immediately after.
Register and drop your questions here.
Small Thing to Read: How Trump “Won”
Michael Podhorzer (former political director of the AFL-CIO, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, founder of a bunch of orgs that you’ve heard of and writer at Weekend Edition) has published an excellent analysis of the 2024 election – one that adds so much nuance to the conversation about how Trump “won” the popular vote. Honestly, it provides so much context that I’ve bookmarked it and will likely go back to it multiple times for reference. It’s wonky, but it’s worth it.
Read it here.
Small Call to Make: Call Your Senators to Oppose Nominations
Now that the new session has begun, we can start our advocacy against Trump’s terrible nominations in earnest. The script is simple, and short. This will take you less than five minutes.
Don’t yet have your Senators’ telephone numbers programmed into your phone? No worries – you can find their contact info here: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Script: Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent at [zip code]. I want the Senator to oppose Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, RFK Jr. for HHS, and Kash Patel to run the FBI. These nominees simply aren’t qualified to lead agencies that are supposed to support and protect people like me. Thank you.
Thanks for reading, friend – I’m glad to see you here! If you love what I do and you want to support it, consider becoming a paid subscriber on Substack. It means a lot!
Small Deeds Done 