If Democrats possessed a magical genie and were granted three wishes, the donkeys would want the 2016 presidential election result never to materialize, all Republicans to relocate to Texas, and D.C. to become the 51st state. Indeed, D.C. statehood has been the goal for Democrats for years since it would allot the party more guaranteed legislative power on Capitol Hill, since it is overwhelmingly blue. In the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden received 92% of the vote in the nation’s capital. With a trifecta of power, is it inevitable that the District of Columbia will be granted statehood? Unlikely, reports Liberty Nation’s James Fite. But that does not mean the Democrats are out of options, nor would they concede defeat on something that would offer two seats in the Senate and five in the House. Well, they’d better call Saul.
Paging Saul Alinsky
Saul Alinsky, a prominent community activist and political theorist for the left, published a seminal book in 1971 titled Rules for Radicals. It was essentially a guide on how to manage a movement for change, serving as a blueprint for future community organizers that achieves economic, political, legal, and social power by any means necessary. Since then, leftists have exploited communist-oriented Alinsky’s teachings for their benefit, highlighted in LN’s 12-part series in 2018. But how can Democrats employ these rules to attain the key objective of D.C. statehood?
Of the dozen rules listed in the book, numbers five, eight, and 13 would make the most sense and likely be utilized:
- Rule No. 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.”
- Rule No. 8: “Keep the pressure on.”
- Rule No. 13: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
Rules for Radicals – D.C. Statehood Edition
Why do Republicans deny 700,000 residents representation in Congress? Why would the GOP reject constitutional rights for Americans living in D.C.? Why does the right only care about conservative-leaning Wyoming over D.C.? Indeed, ridiculing and demonizing opponents of statehood for D.C. are likely the most effective strategies, especially in today’s toxic political landscape. Democrats can argue that Republicans are preventing hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens access to democracy, which is factually incorrect since Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress is in charge of the seat of government, in a “district not exceeding ten Miles square.” Plus, America is a republic.
Despite the legislation being dead on arrival, the Democrats are living up to Alinsky’s recommendation of keeping the pressure and never letting up. As author Leo Tolstoy wrote: “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” In other words, the left is embracing the idea of “slow and steady wins the race.” Liberals might not attain statehood today, tomorrow, or next year, but they are influencing public opinion. A September 2020 survey from Data for Progress and YouGov Blue found that 43% of respondents supported D.C. statehood, up from 35% in the previous year. Put simply, it is an inevitability.
The post-2016 political arena is painted like this: If former President Donald Trump supports or opposes an idea, the left will take the opposite position. Trump is against D.C. becoming a state, telling the New York Post in May 2020:
“DC will never be a state. You mean District of Columbia, a state? Why? So we can have two more Democratic — Democrat senators and five more congressmen? No, thank you. That’ll never happen.”
Should leftists launch a blitzkrieg for more Democrats in both chambers of Congress, all they need to do is “pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” In this case, Trumpify opposition to statehood, and if someone stands against statehood, call him or her a MAGA lover. Anything that is attached to Trump, leftists will mobilize to do whatever they can to fight it. The former president could say he loves oxygen, and Democrats would walk around wearing shopping bags over their heads.
The Long Con
It is no secret that many prominent figures in the Democratic Party are Alinsky bobby-soxxers. The socialist movement has placed him on a pedestal, looking to his suggestions on how to successfully advance a cause du jour or win a political campaign. Alinsky was an interesting person, and his appearance on Firing Line with William F. Buckley was an enjoyable experience. Since his death half a century ago, Alinsky’s tactics have been efficacious and there is no doubt that his methods will be exploited for a broad array of progressive goodies, including D.C. statehood. The only pesky little document that would stand in the left’s way would be the U.S. Constitution.
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