"A Republic, If You Can Keep It"

That quote, famously attributed to Benjamin Franklin, should have special relevance for Democrats and other progressives when it comes to the 2014 elections.  Because those elections may represent our last chance to keep our Republic from becoming an empire in everything but name.

We are facing an opposition that is prepared to spend obscene amounts of money simply to buy a government that will do its total bidding.  Even worse, we are facing, in tandem with this opposition, their political servants, who are willing to do absolutely nothing for the next six months--the length of the Major League baseball season--in the hope that hated of the ACA will be great enough to single-handedly deliver them a victory they have done nothing to earn (and never mind the needs, current or unanticipated, of the country in the meantime).  And finally, we are facing some cold, political reality:  progressive turnout is low in off-year elections, and the party controlling the White House for six years is vulnerable in any event to voter fatigue.

I know what you're thinking.  Save your time and money.  Sit it out.  Let Obama veto the really bad stuff that will come out of an all-Republican Congress, and wait for Hillary and a new wave of young progressives to come along so we can all dream the dream again.

I've got bad news for you.  America, and the progressive cause, can't wait that long.

To begin with, no vote at all is a vote that effectively ratifies any outcome in which the opposition comes out on top.  This is the harsh reality of a democracy (or what's left of ours):  those who do not exercise their right to choose their government have their voices effectively silenced for two years.

And progressives, madly in love with the idea that sitting at home is some kind of "protest vote" that yields results would do well  to consider how few results we've had for our side over the last 40 years.  Do you want to know why it's the case that Noam Chomsky can call Richard Nixon, of all people, our last "liberal" president? Because when Nixon was President, progressives were out in the streets, day and night, seizing every forum--and, sometimes, even seizing arms--to advance their causes.  Nixon didn't have a choice.  He had to be a liberal at times, even when the Democratic Party was far more conservative that it is now.

Even worse, the "protest vote" you want to "cast" makes you no better than the current Republican House of Representatives, willing to hold the country's needs hostage in a desperate effort to gain point.  We can't afford to sit on the sidelines--not when the economy of this country has turned us into a banana republic (thanks to banana Republicans).

And don't fall into the trap of thinking that our clever journalists and bloggers (discounting myself) are enough to persuade those on the other side to cast their votes in our direction, or to motivate those on our side to get out and vote.  We are no longer a country that listens to opposing views; we listen to ourselves--and think that it's enough to agree with what we hear.  It's not.

Finally, and worst of all, an all-Republican Congress will be in a position to not simply cripple the last two years of Barack Obama's presidency, but to lay the groundwork for a strong Republican Presidential campaign.  And, if that campaign is successful, there's no reason to think that a GOP controlling both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue won't try--and, perhaps, succeed--to further its Bush-era efforts to turn our Republic into an empire.  How far will they get?  Will they take our country past the turning point?  Who can really tell?

I can't.  That's why I agree with Talking Points Memo and PoliticusUSA that there is only now to think about and, more importantly, do something about.  2016 may mean nothing if 2014 is a big enough disaster.

And here's how to stop that from happening:

• Advance the issues that are already popular, like raising the minimum wage and promoting immigration reform.  You can't win unless you are not afraid to tell people what you do for them.  And there's no reason to be afraid of sometime if polls show that people want it.
• Raise issues that people are not talking about, but are ready to support, like the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA.  This is by far one of the more popular provisions of the ACA; even some Republicans are on the record as supporting it.  And there is already some evidence that this issue has the potential to be a winner for Democrats.
• Expand the field of play, by attacking Republican strongholds.  Find candidates capable of winning even in red states, and back them to the hilt.  For crying out loud, if it can be done in Mississippi, it can be done anywhere.

Most of all--and I'm going to say this again and again over the next six months, ORGANIZE, CONTRIBUTE, AND VOTE!  Now as never before, the keeping of your Republic depends on it.