Failing the First Rule of Politics

Before changing political norms, the first thing you should always do is ask, "What will happen if this is turned on me?" Invoking the nuclear option in the Senate should have warned the Democrats. They were too anxious to pack the courts with Obama appointees so they eliminated the filibuster for judicial appointments except for the Supreme Court. In response, the Republicans didn't give aththa second thought to applying the same standard to the Supreme Court.

Now Democratic leaders and others are openly calling for confrontations with members of the Trump administration where ever they are. WaPo blogger Jennifer Rubin declared that Sarah Huckabee Sanders deserves a "life sentence" of being harassed publicly. The original excuse was that "tearing children from their parents is so extreme that it requires an extreme response". That is no longer the case. A woman posted a video of herself reading a statement to Scott Pruit, head of the EPA, calling on him to resign. In he video it was apparent that he'd already finished his meal so he left rather than start a fight. She called him a coward for not responding to her. There have been other similar incidents.

Rather than calling for more violence, Democratic leaders should be looking at the long-term damages their policy of confrontation will cause. First is will this set the tone from now on? Hillary Clinton admitted that her policies would put "a lot of coal miners out of work". Will miners and other people displaced by a future administration be justified in confronting the EPA administrator? I'm only throwing this out as a single example of possible outrage.

This is where the Democrats are showing their shortsightedness. Just as the nuclear option was used against them so can confrontation.

There is also a problem with perceptions. One reason the Democrats are pushing this strategy it to fire up the base. It makes them feel that they are accomplishing something. But the image of activists confronting administrators may not be popular among the general electorate. It may repel independents and motivate Republicans. But calling off these confrontations will demoralize the base.

Democrats have forgotten Saul Alinsky's 4th rule and Republicans haven't: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." They keep adopting strategies as if they are the only ones who can use them. They assumed that eliminating the filibuster would never be turned back on them. They assume that, after harassing Republicans, they will never be harassed. With a Supreme Court vacancy, they are assuming that they can change the rules to stall for time and that it will never be used against them.

And they keep acting like they are in charge and will always be. They tell themselves that their cause is just and the Republicans are evil so co-existence is no longer an option. They are sure that somehow President Trump will be removed from office, if not by impeachment then by the 2020 election. They still haven't learned that their dominance is not preordained. They were sure of their permanent Democratic majority in 2008 only to lose Congress in the 2010 and 2014 elections. They were positive they'd keep the White House in 2016. And they act as if they haven't lost state elections all across the country. They need to relearn how to coexist with the Republicans and stop acting like spoiled children.