It’s a sign of the times, I guess, that the elections of 2018 seem to be in the distant past. It was only months ago that Democrats took back the U.S. House of Representatives, flipping 40 seats and bringing in the most diverse House the nation has ever seen.
And yet, here we are, having come out of the longest government shutdown in American history, followed by an absurd, dangerous and likely illegal declaration of a national emergency so a petulant president can (he thinks) override the will of Congress and build a wall only his base may want.
Meanwhile, thousands more immigrant children have been “discovered” to be in detention centers, separated from their families. And meanwhile, we’ve learned that 2018 was the fourth-hottest year ever, and that all five of the hottest years were in this decade, as the president and fellow Republicans continue to deny the facts about climate change. And meanwhile, of course, Democratic presidential hopefuls are stepping forward almost daily to announce their candidacies and fuel useless speculation about who will eventually emerge as the nominee. And, of course, Trump and his party are already on the attack. Is it any wonder that we could almost forget what we the people accomplished last November?
Make no mistake, though: The power balance has in fact shifted. One house of Congress is no longer controlled by Republicans. That means that Democrats now chair — and set the agendas of — all the House committees, including our own western Massachusetts congressmen, Jim McGovern at the Rules Committee and Richard Neal at the Ways and Means Committee. They can and will investigate the administration’s doings, compel testimony from Trump appointees, approve or disapprove legislation and funding, and, yes, maybe even bring articles of impeachment against the president if needed. Trump no longer has an enabler as speaker of the House.
So yes, those of us who set a goal of taking back the House won an important victory.
I was an early volunteer with one of the organizations that worked to bring about that victory: Swing Left, which in January 2017 launched as a brand-new group focused sharply on the objective of taking back the House. Our local group, Swing Left Pioneer Valley, came together that March and began connecting with progressives in nearby swing districts in New York and New Hampshire. In January 2018 we held a fundraiser that collected over $16,000 for the eventual nominees in two of those districts. That April, building on the work we and others had done, more than a dozen local organizations joined forces as the Take Back the House Coalition and coordinated volunteers for phone banking, postcard writing and door-to-door canvassing in New York’s Congressional District 19 and New Hampshire’s District 2. In November, both candidates won.
The balance has changed, yet the country remains at great risk with a volatile, vindictive wannabe autocrat at the White House and a Republican-controlled Senate seemingly willing to stand by him no matter what. It’s clear that the only way back is to defeat the Republicans at all levels of government, as they have clearly abrogated their responsibility to actually govern.
The national Swing Left organization has stepped up to this challenge by putting forward a strategy to, in their words, take back all the Houses: Defend the Democratic House of Representatives. Flip the Senate. Take back the White House. And flip state houses in key states. That strategy begins now, with two early goals: (1) registering voters in 11 states that are likely to determine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, setting the stage for overturning Republican gerrymandering after the 2020 census, and (2) fundraising now to support the eventual senatorial nominees in flippable states as well as the eventual presidential nominee. Swing Left Pioneer Valley is committed to supporting both of these goals, while also preparing to defend hard-won House seats in New York, Maine and elsewhere.
This is an ambitious agenda, but in 2017, just days after Trump’s inauguration, so was the goal of taking back the House. There’s even more to be done if the nation is going to become the just, equitable and responsible society that it can be. Real change has to happen on climate, economic inequality, civil rights and civil liberties, racism and other forms of discrimination, and many other issues. None can happen with an extreme right-wing Republican party in control of any branch of government. I welcome a time when true conservatives — ones who respect the Constitution and the rights it guarantees — can offer real alternatives to liberal solutions, not by denying the problems or siding with the purveyors of hate, but by participating in a vigorous, respectful debate about what’s best for the country. Defeating extremists and the Republicans who tacitly or explicitly support them is the first step.
Swing Left’s strategy specifically focuses on organizing toward November 2020. There will be plenty of debate and organizing around primaries for the presidency, some Senate and House races, and state contests and ballot measures. While important, there are other groups besides Swing Left that are taking on those matters. We are not endorsing primary candidates but are fundraising and working to register voters so that Democratic nominees at every level have the best chance of winning next year. There are a number of other groups that will be working on primary campaigns, and we respect their efforts while we keep our focus on the general election.
If this strategy appeals to you, if you want to begin working now for a seismic shift in 2020, we invite you to join us. Experience, or lack of it, is no barrier — most of the folks who joined our group two years ago had no prior experience working on campaigns, and we still won. Volunteer, donate, spread the word — nothing you do is too little, and anything you do will help. Together we can make real change happen.
Michael Dover, a Leverett resident, is a retired environmental scientist who worked in academia, government and the private sector. He is a co-founder of Swing Left Pioneer Valley. He has lived in the Pioneer Valley since 1994.