Democrats, Finally, Make Good Trouble

Senator Corey Booker of New Jersey often referred to the late Rep. John Lewis throughout his record-breaking speech on the Senate floor. Lewis frequently used the phrase ‘Good Trouble’ when referring to acts of resistance, such as the march on the Edmond Petis Bridge or sit-ins at segregated diners. While Booker’s speech wasn’t something that necessarily put his life in danger, it was a disruption that, if nothing else, stirred the group of sleepy-eyed Democrats that seem to have been hiding during the first several weeks of this Punk’s administration.

As we mentioned yesterday, Booker started his speech Monday evening and continued throughout the day yesterday until he had broken the mark for the longest speech set by the late Strom Thurmond. To some extent, it felt a bit like a stunt, something Booker did just to prove that he could break the record. But throughout the speech, a nation watched. They checked YouTube during coffee and lunch breaks, took sneak looks on Instagram when possible, and were cheering along as he finished last night.

As Booker held the floor, dozens of members of the Congressional Black Caucus flanked the back of the Senate chamber in support, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Maxine Waters. Other CBC members kept close to the floor, including Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, Lisa Blunt Rochester, and Raphael Warnock.

Before Booker surpassed Thurmond’s 68-year-old record, Jeffries said Booker’s speech was “an incredibly powerful moment … because he is fighting to preserve the American way of life and our democracy. And the record was held by Strom Thurmond who was actually defending Jim Crow segregation.”

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., a close friend of Lewis who represented the neighboring district in metropolitan Atlanta, said Booker’s speech was “an act of resistance. The American people want to see us as their representatives do everything we can to resist the encroachment on our liberties and the taking away of benefits,” Johnson said.

Booker “is reminding all of America and his own party, not simply to stand for what we’re against, but to stand up for what we believe in,” said Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an activist who helped lead the 2014 protests against police brutality in Ferguson, Mo. I think he recognized that people are looking for our leaders to have the moral clarity to declare that what’s happening is wrong, and to determine, to do something about it,” she said.

At the same time, over in the House of Representatives, Speaker Mike Johnson was getting his ass handed to him as nine Republicans joined with all of the House Democrats in a critical vote on the way to potentially allowing Representatives to select a proxy to vote on their behalf in some cases.

Central to the whole issue is Flordia Republican Anna Luna. If you’re an avid watcher of C-Span, you’ll often see her sitting on the chamber floor with her newborn. Luna is the one who proposed a rule change that would allow representatives to choose a proxy for twelve weeks after giving birth or after a spouse gives birth. As it stands now, Luna has to be present, in person, with the baby, for every vote or else her vote doesn’t count.

Johnson, for his part, is adamantly against proxy voting of any kind. He fears that making any exception to the rule could lead to broader proxy voting in later Congresses. Johnson tried to box Republicans in by tying the rule change to marquee GOP legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

Oops, that didn’t work. The result was a 206-222 vote against Johnson’s maneuver, with Luna and eight other Republicans breaking ranks with Johnson. The Speaker was so butt hurt over the situation that he cancelled any other votes for the entire week, saying that the next vote would occur next Monday evening. We assume that Johnson then went home and cried to his teddy bear.

The final victory for Democrats came in the Wisconsin election for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court. The race has gotten a lot of attention as Muskrat has been in the state handing out checks for one million dollars to get people there to vote for the Republican candidate.

Susan Crawford’s election to the high court gives liberals a solid majority within a state that often has nail-biting elections. President Punk narrowly took the state last November. Many Democrats view this as a sign that the progressive base of the party hasn’t completely given up on them.

“When Democrats are outperforming or winning, it’s a big psychological boost in a time when Democrats are feeling pretty low,” said John Anzalone, a veteran Democratic pollster. “They’re going to be dealing with the political environment that [Punk] has created, which is not good right now for Republicans,” he added.

But are Democrats outperforming or are Republicans screwing things up? One can make a case that much of this election in Wisconsin was as much one against Muskrat, his checks, and his screw-ups in Washington. Democrats are capitalizing on the frustration that many people are feeling at the moment. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that frustration is sufficient to push the party through the Mid-term elections next fall.

Days like yesterday are good in that they remind us that all is not (yet) lost and that we can still make a difference in how matters are handled in this country. But as we all sit here this morning waiting for Punk’s announcement on tariffs, we should be reminded that one good day is far from winning the race. We need more interruptions in Congress, more wins in special elections, and more blatant, uncompromising push back against Punk and his policies.