Senate Republicans see a Supreme Court confirmation vote before Election Day as a big political boost that could help them retain their majority in November.
The GOP senators hope it could have the same kind of impact as the 2018 battle over Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which they believe helped their party knock off four Democratic incumbents during a midterm cycle when the party lost the House.
“Very honestly, we think the Democrats are in the wrong spot on this particular issue,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who attended the meeting. Continue reading.
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos holds a press conference at the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison on Dec. 4. Vos has been a key figure in Republican efforts to restrict the power of Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers during the lame duck session. Credit: Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Republican legislators in Wisconsin and Michigan have reignited Democratic energy since the midterms in two narrow Trump states.
Republican efforts to weaken incoming Democratic governors in Michigan and Wisconsin have reignited the grass-roots fervor that flipped both states in November, turning the typically sleepy post-election period into a key organizing moment ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Liberal groups in both states are organizing demonstrations filling the capitols in both states to oppose GOP legislators stripping power from the governor’s offices before new Democratic governors take their posts. Local chapters of Indivisible, the national “resistance” group founded after President Donald Trump’s 2016 win, reactivated their members weeks after the election to protest the legislation, while MoveOn.org has texted members in key Wisconsin state Senate districts urging them to contact Republican politicians to complain. And Wisconsin Gov.-elect Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Democratic Party have raked in money with online fundraising appeals highlighting the fight over the past two weeks.
The burst of activity comes as most political groups and activists around the country enjoy a hibernation period after November victories. But liberal leaders in Wisconsin noted that the renewed energy could carry Democrats into important off-year elections in 2019 — and set the stage for efforts to win both states in the 2020 presidential election, after Trump picked off both longtime Democratic states two years ago.
Editorials across the nation are calling for Republicans to stop their lame-duck madness and to respect the rules of democracy. In rushed last-minute sessions — sometimes at night — Republicans have pushed through legislation that only promotes their own interests instead of those whom they were elected to serve. Editorial boards agree the people of Wisconsin and Michigan deserve leaders who will work together to solve problems and create opportunities, not more of the same political games. Read for yourself:
MLive: “Michigan’s legislators need to immediately stop pushing these types of bills through a lame duck session and allow those Michigan voters are sending to office have a voice. And Gov. Rick Snyder needs to do the right thing and not sign these into law.”
Lansing State Journal: “This behavior is unacceptable. Regardless of where people stand on issues, bullying through controversial legislation in a lame duck session is not the appropriate way to legislate.”
