Our Democracy Hinges on the Midterms

Every other year, it seems we are facing the most critical election in U.S. history.Often a case can be made that they have steadily become more crucial to both the immediate impact on everyday Americans and the long-term impact on generations to come. Part of that relates to accelerating technological advances—combined with the inescapable impacts of climate change and a resurging nuclear threat—which together are bringing this nation and the world around us closer to a post-apocalyptic future. Since decisions made today may be our last chance to prevent calamity, the decision-makers matter more than ever.

As true as this is on a global scale, we face an even clearer and more present danger in the potentially irreversible degradation of our democracy. 

Anti-democratic politicians on the right have been seeking to game the system to their advantage for years by gerrymandering districts to increase their hold on power, creating highly selective ID requirements that are most likely to stop those who would challenge them from being elected, and exploiting constitutional structures like the Electoral College and the Senate that are already geared against majority rule. Added to that in recent years are efforts to ensure the courts rubber-stamp their authoritarian agendas and politicize election administration. This year, among other problematic decisions, the Supreme Court eliminated the Voting Rights Act’s protections against lawmakers drawing maps to dilute the political power of Black and Brown voters, as reported by the Brennan Center.

While things are already bad, they can always get worse. Analysts are increasingly warning that the damage to our institutions is becoming systemic. Writing for the New York Times, Thomas B. Edsall demonstrates that the damage is so “enormous and wide-ranging that it is hard to grasp.” And NPR’s Frank Langfitt concludes from a Brite Line Watch report that America is now halfway between a liberal democracy and a dictatorship. But internal repression and our malignant global impact can be even more ruinous, and we can get closer to a dictatorship if things continue to deteriorate.

What’s special about this midterm election is that it is likely our last chance to prevent enacting some of the most outrageous changes from permanently tilting the playing field. Yes, the odds are already against Democrats; in many cases, they need more votes to win than Republicans do. But winning is still possible. If Republicans maintain or increase their majorities this November, the perceived mandate will make extreme measures like the SAVE America Act passable, and once that happens, retaking our country through the electoral process may no longer be an option.

While writing this, I received an email from Representative Jamie Raskin, co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, in which he agrees that “this year’s midterm elections will be of incalculable significance.” He positively frames the election as a chance to “stop Trump’s assault on our Constitution in its tracks.”

Raskin is right: a decisive win in November could not only prevent more extreme measures from being enacted, but it could also stop some existing efforts from being implemented. What’s more, it could position us to restore democracy to previously strong levels with a new administration in 2029, and pass the sweeping legislation needed to prevent the kind of presidential power grabs we’re seeing on a daily basis today.

We desperately need to strengthen and modernize the Voting Rights Act. We must renew post-Watergate measures of the 1970s when the War Powers Act, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, the Presidential Records Act, and the Ethics in Government Act were passed. And we should go further—abolishing the Electoral College, fairly redrawing congressional districts, reversing Citizens United, and giving people tools to remove a president who is unfit to serve.

When I assert that the midterm elections will decide the fate of our democracy, I don’t mean that we’ll be done with a win. Rather, winning in November is a protective barrier against our country’s possible Handmaid’s Tale future. Winning this election is the path forward to a more representative and democratic future for us all.