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The year is 2033. After a failed run in 2028, Senator @AOC of NY acceded to the Presidency of the United States in 2032 as part of a wave election that saw Democrats secure supermajorities in both chambers of Congress for the first time in decades. 1/11
The governing majority wastes no time, enacting into law the most ambitious set of progressive legislative priorities since the Affordable Care Act. “This is 15 years in the making, I just hope it isn’t too late”, remarks President AOC, her upbeat tone concealing a dour mood 2/11
But why the grim outlook, upon having just enacted into law the apotheosis of her political career? Well, the first tranche of these bills, legislative incarnations of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, are already facing challenges from GOP lawyers in federal court. 3/11
Some historical context: 24 of the past 32 years have found the WH in GOP control, with the presidency of Barack Obama serving as the sole progressive counterweight to the presidencies of George W. Bush, Donald Trump, and Nikki Haley. 4/11
This unprecedented GOP reign, with a corresponding grip on the Senate, have resulted in the domination of Article III courts by conservative jurists — including the nation’s Supreme Court, whose rightward shift in the late 2010’s was accelerated by Trump’s 2nd term. 5/11
Trump’s narrow re-election in 2020, the consequence of a fractured American Left’s failure to consolidate around former VP Joseph R. Biden, culminated in a 7-2 conservative SCOTUS majority after the successive retirements of liberal justices Ginsburg and Breyer. 6/11
In fact, it is this majority that settled the controversial 2028 Arizona recount in favor of incumbent President Haley vs. challenger Sen. Kamala Harris (see: Haley v. Harris). President Haley would replace justices Alito and Thomas with ideological peers in her second term. 7/11
Back to the present: with a 7-2 conservative majority, key provisions of these landmark bills will likely be struck down by SCOTUS, undermining the policy priorities of the most progressive federal government in US history. A decade after his re-election, Trump looms large. 8/11
We possess the power to thwart such a future. Contrary to the hyperbole of some, there is a clear choice this November. A choice between an imperfect progressive and a revanchist, narcissistic, incompetent. 4 years of Trump have been destructive, 8 years would be calamitous. 9/11
I implore my contemporaries to dispense with the ideological purity tests. The choice before us is short of ideal, but few things are. The struggle continues, but let us not be so myopic as to reject incremental change out of spite because the revolution has been deferred. 10/11
Instead, let us take stock of the opportunity before us, to inspire, to organize, to elect and empower our political allies. The future is ours, but we must first put ourselves in a position to win it. That begins with Trump’s defeat this November. The struggle continues. 11/11
