To Beat Barrett, Democrats Need to Talk About More Than Obamacare
Republicans are up to something far more sinister than just another assault on health care.
Through their opening statements at Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings, Republicans invoked a litany of themes in support of their nominee: religious freedom, judicial restraint, separation of powers and more. Democrats, on the other hand, took a much more focused approach. To them, this confirmation battle is about one thing above all else: health care. From the New York Times:
Senate Democrats have settled on their line of attack against Judge Amy Coney Barrett: Her confirmation to the Supreme Court could mean the death of the Affordable Care Act and millions of Americans stripped of their health insurance.
Of course, there’s a ton of evidence to suggest this is a winning strategy. Republicans have spent years trying to jettison the Affordable Care Act, which would leave millions without health care during a deadly pandemic. American voters punished Republicans for these efforts in the 2018 midterms, and just a week after the election, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case that could destroy the landmark legislation once and for all. Armed with public opinion on their side, this lines up as a political slam dunk for Democrats.
But it is not enough. If Democrats are going to achieve the maximum political gain from this opportunity, they are going to need to broaden their message beyond health care and tell the full story of this unprecedented right-wing power grab.
At the outset, it’s worth defining what victory looks like here. Republicans are almost certainly going to be successful in confirming Barrett to the Supreme Court-for all intents and purposes, that is a lost cause. The most Democrats can reasonably hope for over the next few weeks is to build so much energy and anger amongst their base that they benefit politically down the line. From flipping the Senate to building support for court packing and other progressive proposals, Democrats can set the groundwork now for some major political battles ahead.
But focusing solely on the Affordable Care Act, while certainly helpful, is not going to cut it. For one thing, Democrats are taking a serious risk by pinning their opposition to Barrett so heavily on the Affordable Care Act. At this point, it is not at all certain that the Supreme Court will rule to strike down the entirety of the law, and because of the technical nature of the lawsuit, a Democratic Congress could end the case altogether with a simple legislative fix. If either of those things happen, and the Affordable Care Act survives, Democrats would find themselves in the ridiculous position of impliedly supporting Barrett’s confirmation-the Affordable Care Act is okay, so I guess Democrats have no remaining objections.
Instead, Democrats need to tell the broader story of right-wing corruption and hypocrisy that has led us to this moment in the first place. If Republicans are successful, a majority of the Supreme Court will be appointed by a president who lost the popular vote. This majority will imperil not only health care, but climate legislation, gun control measures, labor protections, voting rights and more. Worse yet, President Trump has openly stated his intention to have the Supreme Court “look at the ballots” in the 2020 election. Altogether, it is clear what Republicans are up to: Aware that they are about to lose power, they are rushing through a justice to either re-install President Trump or, if that doesn’t work, impose conservative principles indefinitely against the will of the majority.
That is what Democrats need to be talking about. The truth is, if Republicans are successful, the potential destruction of the Affordable Care Act will be far from the greatest risk the country faces. Barrett’s nomination is not about overturning any particular law. Republicans are up to something far greater and more sinister: entrenching minority right-wing rule for a generation. Democrats ought to start acting like it.
These confirmation hearings present a historic opportunity for Democrats. Republicans-from their reckless refusal to wear masks to their brazenly hypocritical effort to rush Barrett’s confirmation prior to the election-have placed their desperation on display for all to see. By only focusing on one narrow, albeit significant, objection (a potentially fatal blow to the Affordable Care Act) Democrats leave almost everything else on the table. Republicans are literally on record disowning democracy, expressing support for the Supreme Court to intervene in the election and attacking the idea of confirming a new justice in an election year. Republicans know they are taking a political risk but have decided it’s worth it-Democrats need to prove them wrong.
Already, Democratic Senators are running the risk of legitimizing this process. Several leading Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee met with Barrett prior to the hearings, in stark contrast to how Republicans treated Merrick Garland. By casting this fight in the normal terms of why a nominee’s judicial philosophy is bad for the country-and by going even further and narrowing in one case-Democrats are giving Barrett’s nomination far more credit than it deserves. Americans need to see this for what it is: a brazen power grab. Period.
Several monumental political battles lie ahead. In the coming months and years, Democrats will need to fight back efforts to interfere with the 2020 election, address a right-wing, counter-majoritarian court system, and only then, begin to pursue their ambitious policy agenda. If they intend to succeed, they need to begin building the case now. Ignoring the extent of this shameless right-wing power grab isn’t going to be enough.
Originally published at https://packed.substack.com on October 13, 2020.
