I'm running out the door for the evening, but I really have been meaning to share this important piece by New York's Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman (the same one who got
Trump to cough up $25 million settlement for the fraud that is Trump University).
The big takeaway from 2016 is that, despite the public supporting many Democratic positions on policy, Republicans are now reaping the benefits of their 30-year organizing strategy, supported by dozens of mega-wealthy donors. As someone who has recruited and fundraised for state candidates, I know that while Democrats have been great at raising money for presidential candidates, Republicans have an overwhelming advantage as you move down-ballot.
Since 2010, Republican candidates at the state level have outraised their Democratic counterparts by more than $700 million, according to data from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. In that same period, the Republican Governors Association outraised its Democratic counterpart by a nearly 2-to-1 margin and, at the state legislative level, Democrats were outraised nearly 3-to-1 before we even take into account independent expenditures, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
And as Republicans have gained control at the state level, they've used their power to enact a massive phalanx of legal voter suppression -- strict voter ID laws, cutbacks in early voting, new registration requirements and other regulations -- aimed at depressing voters in core Democratic constituencies.
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The good news for Democrats is that this problem has a clear solution. The founders actually designed our federalist system to deal with attempts at overreach by the federal government. The provisions they put into place to check the power of a "tyrant" may now be put to their greatest test in American history. To be sure, faced with hegemonic Republican power at the federal level, our representatives in Washington need our support, but we may best have their backs by girding for real action at the state level.
The first line of defense will be Democratic governors, attorneys-general and legislatures. Democratic activists must demand that their Democratic state leaders stand up to federal overreach and protect our most vulnerable residents, including immigrants and racial and religious minorities. Those activists should support Democrats when we do the right thing, and get in our faces when we shirk moral leadership.
Read the rest here.
