The Blue Senate Project

Getting rid of Donald Trump is, to put things mildly, an absolute necessity if we want to stop America’s slide into oligarchy; reinvigorate and protect our democracy from gerrymandering, voter suppression, and outright corruption; reform healthcare so that all citizens can receive the care they need; enact sensible gun legislation so we have fewer mass shootings, domestic murders, and preventable suicides; address the wealth and income inequality that hold us back, individually and as a society, from reaching our full potential for growth and innovation; enact a Green New Deal to reinvigorate our economy for the twenty-first century and beyond; redress the social, economic, and structural barriers that keep women, people of color, indigenous Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, legal immigrants, and legitimate asylum seekers from fully thriving; undo the obscenity that is the border crisis, with its concentration camps, armed paramilitary militias, and the increasingly Gestapo-esque Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and, last because most important, reverse, obviate, or at least honestly face the consequences of climate change and the ecological, economic, and political crises it has spawned and will continue to spawn so long as we keep turning a blind eye to it as a society.

If we even want to get started on all of that, getting rid of Donald Trump as President (and, presumably, frog-marching his criminal ass to the nearest Federal penitentiary) is a necessary first step.

Necessary, but not sufficient. Not by a long shot.

Because that laundry list of highest-priority, hair-on-fire action items, each more pressing than the last, are mostly outside the President of the United States’s powers as enumerated in the Constitution. If we mean to accomplish even the bare minimum to ensure the survival of our democracy, life as we know it, and, possibly, the human race, we’ll need Democratic majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

[Those wishing to fume and spout over the perfidy of the Democratic party, most particularly the DNC and the party establishment: I’m sympathetic, more so than it may seem. But they’re what we got, it’s too late to build an alternative effective political organization, and the ones who aren’t with us on the absolute necessity of big structural change can be worked on through phone calls, town halls, and, if necessary, targeted primaries. For now, though, for the 2020 election, they’re our best, only realistic chance to grab the steering wheel, and we’d be fools to think otherwise.]

If you’re reading this, you probably understand that legislation only gets enacted when both House and Senate pass it, the bills are reconciled, and the President signs it. If you didn’t, hopefully now you do. Without all three – House, Senate, and President – our hands are tied for at least two more years.

We don’t have two more years. If you think we do, check your privilege and apologize to your children.

So, there’s a pretty decent chance Democrats will keep the House majority they won in 2020. There’s also a pretty decent chance they’ll take back the White House, barring Republican skullduggery and interference by hostile foreign state actors. I mean, at this point, a lamp with a working light bulb ought to win against Donald Trump, who wasn’t that smart to begin with, is clearly deteriorating, and has a support ceiling of about 40% of the American electorate.

[I’m not saying be complacent w/r/t the POTUS race. I think we all learned that lesson in 2016, and should have learned it in 2000.]

There’s an old saying: two out of three ain’t bad. This time, though, two out of three ain’t enough. If the Obama years taught us anything, they should have taught us that. Ask Merrick Garland. Or the Sandy Hook parents. Or the Dreamers. Or a thousand, million other people.

If the Republicans keep their Senate Majority, even by a single seat, Mitch McConnell, who may be one of history’s greatest villains (along with, possibly, a foreign asset), will do everything he can to block progress on any and all of the above-listed hair-on-fire priorities. And he’ll succeed, because the Senate was made to block big change from happening.

So flipping the Senate blue is another highest-priority, hair-on-fire necessity.

To help that along, I created the Blue Senate Project, which is a very fancy way of saying I set up an ActBlue page where people can donate to any or all of the Democratic challengers running against every Republican Senator running for re-election in 2020. Highlights include Mitch McConnell himself, his number two guy John Cornyn in Texas, Trump lickspittle Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, or perennial Lucy-with-the-football Susan Collins, who loves to concern troll decent humans everywhere and extract meaningless non-concession concessions before falling in line and voting party over country. There’s also vulnerable incumbents like Cory Gardner of Colorado, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, or the seat Pat Roberts is vacating in Kansas.

Donate against any or all of them, a la carte or split evenly. The Blue Senate Project won’t collect your information, nor will it be shared with the eventual candidates unless you opt in. I can guarantee that, because the Blue Senate Project is me, and I’m just a regular guy trying to make a difference however I can. My only brief is what I listed in the first paragraph. All I get out of it is knowing I did what I could to help bring it about.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bluesenateproject

One last note: I’m not, at least in my capacity as BSP, making any primary endorsements, nor will any of the funds collected go to primary candidates. I have – or likely will have – opinions. But BSP is all about making sure Democratic nominees have the resources to run against Republican incumbents. Far as I’m concerned, it’s up to primary voters in the states in question to pick the best, most representative candidate.