For The GOP, Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose

The idea of letting the folks who stand for banning books, ending women’s choice, targeting the LGBTQ community, and vigorously undermining democracy itself… represent themselves as somehow supporting freedom is just plain political malpractice— and finally the Democratic Party has come to that realization as well. The issue of the Republicans’ abandonment of core American values should be front and center in every Democrat’s campaign. Every Republican should be clobbered constantly with their party’s embrace of authoritarianism, if not fascism.

Earlier today, Ro Khanna shared some important thoughts with me. "We can’t ignore the hypocrisy from extremists across the country who have been so critical of ‘cancel culture’ when in reality they are the ones attacking people like Zooey Zepher in the Montana State Legislature and the Tennessee Three for exercising their right to free speech and peaceful protest"he said. "My grandfather spent years in jail during Gandhi’s Independence Movement and his sacrifice is a reminder of how lucky we are as Americans to have these rights and how important it is to protect them."

Similarly, Louisville Congressman Morgan McGarvey reminded me that "Just this year, voters rejected extreme abortion bans on the ballot in Kansas and my home state of Kentucky. How did Republicans respond? Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead— just look at the abortion ban Gov. Desantis passed through Florida to boost his bid to become the next Republican presidential nominee. They’re also seeking out a new boogeyman, this time targeting trans youth. It’s cruel and flies in the face of the small-government freedom-loving conservatives they claimed to be even 20 years ago. The problem is, these Republican political stunts now have very real consequences. The Trevor Project found that one LGBTQ youth commits suicide every 45 seconds in the US, and nearly half consider attempting suicide— how much higher will these numbers be if Republicans get their way? We have to call them what they are and push back with a progressive agenda that puts people over politics and pushes us forward toward the inclusive promise on which our country was founded.”

This morning, Dan Pfeiffer pointed out that the Biden campaign has decided to do just that— and started the process with his first TV ad, the announcement video, which features “a specific, conspicuous effort to make freedom a progressive value… ‘Freedom— personal freedom— is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred. That’s been the work of my first term— to fight for our democracy. Freedom is more than a value. It’s who we are. That’s been the work of my first term: To protect your rights… But MAGA Republicans are lining up to roll this progress back. We can stop them if we do it together.’”

Pfeiffer reminded his readers that “We all know that the vast majority of Democratic policies are broadly popular, and Republican policies are deeply unpopular. I don’t mean ‘family values.’ I am referring to cultural values like— patriotism, hard work, and freedom, which polls show have traditionally been more associated with the Republican Party. This cultural skepticism is one reason that Democrats struggle to connect with voters who agree with them on the vast majority of issues. This is why we must treat our policies as proof points of our values and not final objectives. They are a way to show voters who we are and what we represent. If Democrats want to build a broad-based, diverse governing coalition, we need to re-appropriate cultural values. The Republican Party’s efforts to define freedom are not new. As Harold Meyerson recently wrote in the American Prospect: ‘Since the coming of the New Deal, if not before, ‘freedom’ has been the favorite battle cry of right-wingers defending big business against governmental regulations and the government’s infrequent creation of non-market social provision. In the mid-1960s, Ronald Reagan termed Medicare (then just a bill before Congress) an attack on freedom. Barry Goldwater said the same about Social Security. Tax cuts for the rich were championed for advancing freedom; the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank attacked for diminishing it.’”

In recent years, the Right contorted themselves into defenders of freedom by complaining about mask and vaccine mandates, and railing about cancel culture and something called “woke-ism.”

…All across the country, Republicans are waging war on personal freedoms. The Supreme Court rescinded the right to access an abortion. Republican politicians restrict what we can say, how we vote, what we can read, what we learn, and who we can love. It is an all-out assault— personified by the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs.

A poll conducted last summer after the Dobbs decision found that two-thirds of Americans think we will lose freedoms over the next ten years.

President Biden is smart to use this moment to make the election about protecting personal freedoms and calling out the Republicans for trying to take them away.

The difference between a campaign and a cause is morally righteous rationale— something that goes beyond electing an individual. Making protecting freedom a central theme of the campaign raises the stakes, connects the dots on the various elements of MAGA extremism, and provides a boost to young voters whose polls show they care the most about the freedoms under attack.

In the long run, Biden could improve the Democratic Party brand and expand the pool of voters willing to give our party a good look.

I spoke with Congressman Mondaire Jones this morning who told me that "Democrats are right to point to the Republican assault on fundamental freedoms like abortion, the right to vote, the right to read books, and the right not to be gunned down in houses of worships, grocery stores, and elementary schools. How dare we cede any linguistic ground to authoritarians masquerading as freedom-lovers? The Biden campaign is right to frame the 2024 election as freedom versus fascism."

One of the two outstanding freshmen progressives from western Pennsylvania, Chris Deluzio, told me today that he hears "some on the far right talk about freedom and act like they own the flag: that’s complete rubbish. Actions speak louder than words, and fighting for freedom means a lot more than just wrapping yourself in the stars and stripes. It means actually funding the VA and veterans services, instead of threatening cuts. It means the freedom to make your own decisions about your healthcare and pregnancy, to be able to love who you love, to walk and live in liberty and safety, to have the right to have a good job, the freedom to unionize, and have a strong and healthy democracy that counts every vote. Freedom doesn’t mean false patriotism; it means fighting for the common good, and for a government that serves all of us, not just the rich and powerful."

Ashley Ehasz is the progressive Democrat running for the Bucks County seat north of Philly on the other side of the state from Chris Deluzio. Earlier today she told me that she “didn’t fly Apache helicopters in combat zones so that extremist Republicans like my opponent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick could make me a second-class citizen in the country I fought to protect. Fitzpatrick, a self-proclaimed ‘moderate’, voted against codifying Roe v. Wade right after the Dobbs decision, and just voted for a bill that educators, parents and advocates have said would undermine local control and increase book bans in our schools. Where is the freedom and moderation in that?”