This is a new series: Why You MUST Vote Blue in November (no matter who that candidate may be.)
Okay, so the title is a big long, it’s a work in progress.
What’s the first reason?
The Rules Committee.
In State legislatures and DC alike, the majority party has the majority of members on most Committees.
This is bad for us right now on all committees, but it’s especially bad on the US House Rules Committee.
Even though Republicans have the slimmest of majorities, the Rules Committee has 4 Democrats and 9 Republicans.
Now, these are some of our BEST Democrats. We’ve got Rep Jim McGovern (MA-02), Rep Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Rep Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) and Rep Joe Neguse (CO-02).
I can’t overstate how incredible these four are, but they are only four people. They can only do so much when the nine Republicans vote against them every single time.
But it’s just one committee that is this uneven, it can’t matter that much, right?
Well, The Rules Committee is the most important committee in the entire House.
Every single bill has to go through this committee, as they decide what rules the bill will be voted on under. How much debate there will be, what the process of adding amendments will be, and more.
The Rules Committee is so powerful that in many cases they can amend all or most of a bill, and even deem it passed under certain circumstances.
This committee is the biggest reason that the minority have very little power in the House and one of the clearest examples of why it doesn’t matter how centrist a Democrat is, as long as they caucus with the Democrats.
A centrist Dem is still a Dem and with the majority we control all committees, including this one. Without it, we don’t.
It’s really that simple.
So when the question is, should you vote for a Democrat who is relatively conservative, not fill in that bubble on your ballot, or vote for a third party candidate who can’t win, the answer is you vote for the conservative Democrat.
They are still a warm body in the Democratic Caucus. Which, at the end of the day, is always 100% better than the most moderate Republican because of the majority.
And, the best way to make sure that conservative Democrat’s vote doesn’t matter, is making sure we have enough Democrats in the House that a few voting the wrong way doesn’t matter.
Henry Cuellar is better than a Republican, so are Marie Perez-Glusenkamp (who has to be one of the top 2 in WA’s jungle primary) and Don Davis. Every single time.
We need those nine seats on the Rules Committee.
And if this doesn’t convince you, don’t worry, this is just the first reason. Hopefully, after hearing enough of them you’ll start to get it.
The majority is more important than the perfect Democrat. Remember that.
