Punch Drunk Gov

“With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight and make the American people miss us.” James Carville in the NYT (Gift Article): The Best Thing Democrats Can Do in This Moment. I’m seeing a lot of anger at this piece on my socials. And I get it. But it’s worth watching the growing protests across the country, the challenges the GOP might have passing a budget with no Dem support, and the reactions of the markets and increasingly unconfident consumers. Even Bitcoin is down to where it was right after the election. And some shareholders are pushing back against the DEI obsession. People wanted cheap eggs, not this.
Carville concludes his argument with a shoutout to the strategy deployed by Muhammad Ali: “Facing George Foreman, who was rolling off 37 knockouts and 40 wins, Ali deployed the famous rope-a-dope strategy, retreating to the ropes of the ring, evading punches right and left, absorbing small jabs, until Foreman’s battery was depleted — and in Round 8 deployed a decisive knockout blow.” It pays to remember, though, that even for Ali, taking too many punches had longterm deleterious effect. Instead of playing dead, I think it would be wise to dramatically narrow the scope of the counter-attacks to Carville’s former focus: It’s the economy, stupid. Aim everything at that one issue. The DOGE firings: A billionaire is cutting your benefits. USAID: A billioniare is starving kids and endangering allies. The budget fight: Tax cuts for billionaires will steal school lunch money from your kids. Turn the overwhelming onslaught of everything into one thing. If Democrats can’t find a winning message to counter the images of an unhinged billionaire with a chainsaw dancing on the grave of the American safety net, then this really is over.