We tend to talk about the upcoming election as though it was purely a binary choice. Elect Biden over Trump, and we've done what we need to do to save the nation and ourselves. But, while it's got to be done, it's not enough.
No, I am not advocating for some would-be progressive third-party savior to protect us from the corporatocacy. I have noticed over the past week or two in social media that the Bernie-and-Elizabeth dead-enders are trying to make some last-minute noise about how we all need to withhold our votes from Biden and the Democrats to teach them a lesson that only the purest, most uncompromising progressives can and will save all of us, even attracting votes in red states. These people are overlooking the fact that Senators Sanders and Warren are both supporting AND working with Biden on progressive concerns And they also have somehow managed to either forget the last four years entirely, or don't mind overlooking the fact that Reagan-era conservatism has burrowed into our society as deeply as it has due to the fact that Reagan conservatives were willing to play a game of inches, in a system designed to reward those who are willing to play that way.
Which brings me to what I want to write about today. The United States Senate.
For the past six years, under Mitch McCONnell and his fellow-travellers in perfidy, the Senate has been a graveyard not just for great ideas, or good ones, but for any ideas at all except ideas that benefit the interests of Donald Trump and donors to Republican Senators. They enacted a tax cut that amounts to welfare for Wall Street, stuffed the federal court systems with unqualified stiffs, and, worst of all, used the impeachment process to give the most openly crooked President in the history of the Republic a free pass to set new records of corruption.
Whatever happens, this craven, criminal version of what was once called the World's Greatest Deliberative Body cannot be allowed to stand, not in its present form. If it does, and if (G-d forbid) Trump manages to win a second term, even if the Democrats hold on to the House of Representatives, Trump's perverse behavior will be allowed to destroy whatever is left now of constitutional government in our country. And if it does, and even if Biden does manage to throw Trump out of the White House, his term is liable to be a nightmare of frustration as McCONnell as his partners in crime hold the line on behalf of the autocracy they wish to create.
Political success, like all other kinds, requires money and, thus far, Biden has done surprisingly better than Trump in raising it. I say "surprisingly" not because I don't doubt that most of us are sick of Trump but because, historically, money in elections (especially national ones) has historically been a Republican advantage. But I'm not as sure that the same level of financial success applies to Democratic efforts to retake the Senate. For a time, Democrats attempting to flip Republican Senate seats seemed to be done well enough in the polls that I considered the possibility that not only would the next Senate have a Democratic majority, but that it might even be large enough to make liberal agonizing over the filibuster a thing of the past.
But, as we get closer to Election Day, and as Republican campaign efforts start to ramp up, the polls in a number of Senate races have tightened significantly--so much so that, as I type this, I cannot say for sure that even a bare-minimum Democratic Senate majority is guaranteed. And it is for this reason, combined with Biden's apparent financial superiority over Trump, that I am for the moment, not only concentrating my political donations to Democratic (or, in races with a Democrat, independent) Senate candidates attempting to flip Republican seats, but making sure that I give something to every candidate attempting to do so, regardless of how "hopeless" their standing in the polls seems to be.
And I urge all of you, as strongly as I possibly can, to do the same thing, to the very best of your ability. Don't bankrupt yourself, obviously, and, in your donating, don't forget the presidential or House races. But the Senate needs to be flipped--to borrow a phrase, for the sake of ourselves, and our posterity.
I've divided these candidates into three groups, and am providing links to the campaign websites.
In the first group, I'm including those candidates that, based on polling, seem to have the best chance of actually flipping the seat for which they're running: Sara Gideon, Cal Cunningham, Mark Kelly, and John Hickenlooper. Make sure that you give something to them.
In the second group, I'm including those candidates who are deadlocked with their Republican opponent, or close to being so: Al Gross, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Theresa Greenfield, Barbara Bollier, Amy McGrath, Steve Bullock, Jaime Harrison, and MJ Hegar. I would urge all of you to find a way to give these candidates a significant amount of money, or other forms of support, especially in the case of McGrath, who is waging a courageous battle against McCONnell, a take-no-prisoners politician. And I would also suggest doing the same for Doug Jones, who is doing everything he can to hold onto a traditionally Republican seat in Alabama.
In the third group, I'm including those candidates who are, statistically speaking based on polling, unlikely to win their races, but who are still worth supporting (especially compared to the alternatives) as good people, and as an exercise in political party-building in severely red states whose citizens need all of the help they can get. And, as some of these people are progressive, the progressive dead-enders can and should treat those races as opportunities to put their money where their mouths and typing fingers are, and prove that they can make a difference. In any case, here they are: Dan Whitfield, Paulette Jordan, Adrian Perkins, Mike Espy, Preston Love, Jr., Abby Broyles, Dan Ahlers, Marquita Bradshaw, Paula Jean Swearengin, and Merav Ben-David. Whitfield and Love are write-in candidates, but don't let that stop you.
In fact, don't let anything stop you, if you can afford it. I don't think any of us can afford to do nothing to support these candidates. Many of them are flying well below the media radar and, while that can be a liability, it can also be an asset; if Republicans and the media ignores these races, it could open up opportunities for Democrats and progressives to create a few election-day surprises. Perhaps a lot of them.
It's up to you, as it always has been and (G-d willing) always should be.
Do it.
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