The long road ahead.

Hold the Champaign. That circumstance should make us pause even a millisecond to bemoan the departure of Jeff Sessions tells you how dark the times. Beyond all else, he is probably the person most responsible for crafting and executing an unwelcoming, meanspirited and xenophobic immigration policy that goes against the very fabric of what American greatness is really all about. As the birthright child of then recent Hitler Refugees — they were just weeks off the boat when my non-citizen mother gave birth to me — I feel a combination of both deep anger and sorrow. Exit right Mr. Sessions, that’s always where you’ve been from early segregationist days to your very last moment as AG. Hold the Champaign, I’m not happy. Far from it.

In the final days, a re-engaged Barack Obama gave positive message campaign speeches (where we have been) that stood in sharp relief against Trump’s seemingly unhinged, but definitely calculated, fear mongering (where we are). That some of the candidates for whom Obama spoke lost was disappointing but ultimately unsurprising. We’re a nation torn apart and angry with a purposefully lying despicable president who stirs that pot, so far successfully. Young voter turnout increased this Midterm. That is encouraging, but will they stay the course for the long haul ahead? Change politics is a marathon, rebuilding takes patience. We Americans still seek instant gratification, so it’s likely to be a counter culture steep climb for a generation bent to getting forward fast. They and we will have to overcome substantial headwinds. Anyone who has observed a construction site knows it’s far easier/faster to tear down than to build and in the last two years the administration has been in relentless systematic tear down mode.

Democrats have been generally less strategic and tactical than Republicans — think local elections leading to redistricting and Mitch McConnell’s deft court changing maneuvers. For sure, there are basic values that must guide us, some that simply can never be compromised. But we must carefully choose our fights, weigh both the odds of winning and the cost of losing. Some of these will be excruciatingly painful choices in which timing can be a really important, even determinative, go/no go factor. Picking an extremely difficult hard choice example, and much as it hurts to say so, I believe the last-minute attempt to derail Kavanaugh was a huge mistake. The wrong was real, the arguments were strong, the nominee’s seemingly disqualifying temperament was exposed, but Republicans had the votes. The Garland maneuver three years earlier made clear they were never going to turn against him, most especially in an election year. If you really thought (and still think) Susan Collins, dream on. And, for Democrats as tacticians, let’s not forget the importance of timing. In the end, the eleventh hour futile losing effort energized Republicans, perhaps even costing some key contests. What may have been done for the right reasons — exposing yet another unaddressed outrage against women — turned out to be a trap leading to a self-inflicted wound. Admittedly, I can’t blame last Tuesday’s limited results (the Senate was probably never really in play) on what happened at the hearing, but poll numbers and especially the contracting enthusiasm gap in its wake give some substance to the argument.

Getting new leadership in the recaptured House is needed but more complicated. The trio running things there are good but aging and they’ve hung on to power without building successors and making room for them. That said, Nancy Pelosi is a pro who deserves considerable credit for raising funds and keeping candidates and the party’s messaging focused in this past election. She is also a tactician who knows how to hold her caucus together which is probably why she’ll prevail. One would hope that second and third spots would change hands sooner than later. As a New Yorker for most of my adult life I know Chuck Schumer well, a man who we always joked never met a microphone he didn’t love. Given the GOP’s majority, not much can be expected of or from Democrats in that body. Think again the Kavanaugh vote. A change in leadership there seems less risky and in fact presents a great opportunity. One thinks of Sherrod Brown who just won an impressive reelection in Ohio, someone as articulate as Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and, perhaps most of all, Patty Murray of The State of Washington, already in the leadership. Finding new leaders in Senate of course is complicated by the fact that some of its best and brightest there are looking at White House runs which means that they are unlikely to contend or be considered at this moment.

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