I find it incredibly challenging to accept what is happening in Washington right now.
The Democrats have laid out a clear, fact-driven account of the president’s obstruction. Experts have testified that his actions unequivocally constitute impeachable offenses. Facts continue to come out by the day implicating that Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately put the national security of our country at risk to damage his political rival and secure his re-election.
Yet, here we are, acquitting a man that nobody is even trying to defend on the merits of his actions.
If the Republican party had a functioning moral compass, the president and his corrupt band would have had their keys revoked long ago. Instead, they have stepped up their efforts to gaslight the public, doubling down on lies and ratcheting up their feigned indignation, with the expectation that this will be enough to sow chaos, inflame cynicism, and embolden their followers.
This is the new normal. For Republicans in power, the ends justify any means as long as it keeps them there. And the long, stubborn tentacles of money in politics, voter suppression, and gerrymandered districts help ensure that they will remain unchecked.
This is not the America we learned about in grade school. It is not the America I teach my children about, even as I am shaken by what is unfolding.
I still believe in something better, where a shared commitment to truth guides decisions, not blind loyalty to someone who threatens to put a defector’s head “on a pike.” I believe in a democratic America where leaders are held accountable for their actions.
We couldn’t stop the partisan Senate from acquitting Donald Trump. But we can remember that our democracy does not begin or end with the presidency – and there are real, concrete actions we can take right now to make progress at other levels of government and safeguard against federal chaos.
In fact, with so much focus on the White House, the time has never been better for us to be focused on an equally important and sorely overlooked power center: state legislatures.
Right now, policies are advancing in parallel on two planes. Federally, just last week, the Trump administration indicated it is planning to gut social security, and the Supreme Court ruled that the government can legally exclude immigrants from coming to the United States if they are poor.
But in Virginia, a state that the Sister District community helped turn blue last year, the ERA was just ratified. The legislature is also advancing legislation to make election day a holiday, expand access to absentee ballots, and enable same-day voter registration.
When Democrats won big in 2008 with Obama’s election, and the Republicans felt they had no leverage in the federal government, they turned their attention to the states. They smartly invested in state legislative races and amassed enough power to lay the foundation for electoral and policy victories for the next decade. Now, Democrats must do the same thing.
2020 is a presidential election year, but it is also the last chance for Democrats to win power in the states before the redistricting process begins in 2021, which will determine voting district maps for the next decade. With the federal government and judiciary under the grasp of radical right-wing ideologues, the states are the only place where we will be able to advance progressive policies that lift up all people, not just the privileged few.
Working in strategic states in 2020 will allow us to get out the vote not just for these terribly important state legislative races, but also for the congressional and presidential races. There is no better place to invest your time and resources right now.
As you watch the impeachment circus play out, don’t be defeated – get to work. Turn your attention to state races, where everything is up for grabs in November. None of us can get Trump out of office by ourselves, but together we can mitigate his policies by bolstering ourselves from the ground up.
There are many injustices in our country that have taken decades to reverse course. This is another time where we must work tirelessly and through setbacks, and have faith that one day, we will prevail.
