I don’t mean to be triumphalist by any means, but many republicans tried to make trans and gays and school boards the basis for the mid terms and fell on their face even in a very good environment for them re- Biden’s unpopularity and inflation.
I think Griswold poisons the well significantly for a lot of people that were willing to vote for Bush twice while Rove conspired to put constitutional amendments against gay marriage across the country, but in the context of women’s abortions rights being threatened viscerally, playing these games with people’s lives is taken a bit more seriously.
We cannot overlook the very cynical people that are trying to cause a freak out about books and gays etc. like Chris Rufo, libsoftiktok, et. al. And the threat that they pose. It should be directly confronted. But it hasn’t been a winner and I don’t think it will be.
Most people don’t think shouting down a school board meeting over young adult fiction or calling teachers groomers is respectable adult behavior. So while the stakes are high, it is important to not see these people as a big monster looming. They are in fact small, and pathetic people that have thus far been able to dig a grave for themselves.
When Kansas votes overwhelmingly to maintain a right to abortion and they can’t move things, they will keep trying increasingly undemocratic means to achieve their ends. For moderates and “liberals” these process questions will continue to build the coalition necessary to defeat the fascists, but they will never go away completely.
The left will never build any power approaching these people until there is an affirmative and positive vision put forth and that is the only worry that is real and we should have.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump both represent a spectacle made in the flesh of the rotting American empire, smiling and senile, angry and cornered. We can hold off a bit longer with these lies to comfort ourselves, but waves are coming. How we choose to respond in those times will be the true choice and the waves are not far off.
Starting to make preparations for the real fight would be better than getting too distracted by these weirdos.