Tennessee: A Blue State with a Red Scourge Problem
"If you don't know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter which path you take."
-Lewis Carroll
Recent polling reveals that the fine people of Tennessee love the Democratic Party platform. The June 2021 Vanderbilt poll shows that a strong majority of Tennesseans prefer Democratic Party positions on many issues, including support for infrastructure upgrades and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. It seems, regardless of party affiliation, Tennesseans want better roads and bridges, better internet, and clean water – I know I do. The data also indicates that Tennesseans favor increased spending on childcare and child credits for low-income families. These popular Democratic policies were voted against by every single elected Republican, including Chuck Fleischmann, Marsha Blackburn, and Bill Hagerty.
Democratic ideals and policies are not just ascending in popularity in Tennessee, but across the country. A May 2021 Data for Progress poll found that most U.S. voters want to keep climate and clean energy investments in the American Jobs Plan. A June 2021 Monmouth poll shows a majority of Americans would vote for "a plan to expand access to healthcare and childcare, and provide paid leave and college tuition support," and that 68% of Americans - including 96% of Democrats, 63% of independents, and 41% of Republicans - say they endorse President Biden's proposed infrastructure plan. And a June 2021 NAVIGATOR poll shows broad bipartisan support for the For the People Act.
Americans also prefer Democratic Party economic priorities, according to a wide range of national surveys. As recently as 2019, a Politico/Morning Consult survey showed that support for raising taxes was widespread, with 76% of registered voters wanting the wealthiest to pay more. A 2020 Money magazine article proclaimed: "Most Americans want the rich to pay higher taxes, according to every poll everywhere." In early June 2021, CNBC reported that "more than half — 60% — of individuals worth $1 million or more support a wealth tax on people worth $10 million or more, according to CNBC's latest survey of millionaires. And almost half (48%) support increasing the capital gains tax." A June 10, 2021, national poll commissioned by Americans for Tax Fairness found that 69% of voters support raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and 58% of voters prefer funding Biden's economic plan by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations. It is hard to believe that having everyone pay their fair share, including the wealthy, is a partisan position, but here we are.
It is simple, people want better roads and bridges. They want faster internet and better transportation resources. They want clean water, energy-efficient housing, and common-sense climate change mitigation. They want support for aging and disabled Americans. They want their children's schools to be repaired, upgraded, and fulfilling the promise that education can play in improving all our lives. And they think corporations and the wealthy are not paying their fair share.
To paraphrase the oft-quoted Cheshire Cat: it doesn’t matter what road you take if you don’t know where you’re heading. But if you, like most Americans, want to head toward a future with clean water, better schools, fair elections, a robust economy, a healthcare system that works, then your road is obvious: vote Democratic. If you want a government that works for you, for your family and children, and a better tomorrow, vote Democratic. If better-paying jobs and the path to a more equitable future is what you want, vote Democratic. If you want an America that sets the global agenda and is the partner all countries want to work with, then vote Democratic. Otherwise, the road you choose will be to an unresponsive, finger-pointing bunch of conspiracy theorists who believe in little more than protecting their power - the road we are currently on here in Tennessee.
It is time to demand better from our representatives. We have become numb to their dumb catchphrases and anti-factual talking points. For example, did you know Congressional Republicans recently voted to defund the police – twice.* Closer to home, both Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) voted against forming a bipartisan committee to thoroughly investigate the storming of the Capitol. They both voted against the phenomenally successful American Rescue Plan.† One gets the sense they would vote against saying the Pledge of Allegiance if President Biden proposed it. Like all Republicans, they stand for nothing – nothing except for dividing this country up along imaginary, fever-dreamed lines in the sand; lines drawn to spark the fire of hatred and division so aptly fanned by the morally corrupt and politically obtuse echo chambers of "conservative media."
Indeed, their inability to negotiate in good faith is because they live in an alternative reality with alternative facts, where idiotic QAnon conspiracies inform policy positions, where Italian satellites beam vote-changing rays to steal elections, and where fighting against a gender-neutral Mr. Potato Head is a hill worth dying on. Republicans are not just out of touch with the policies real Americans want, they are out of touch with reality. Their voter-fraud lies, their culture-war mentality, their blind allegiance to dictatorial leadership, and their opposition to social justice, anti-fascism, and common-sense economics are a scourge on this great country. And until Republicans can unequivocally say, without reservation or hesitation, that Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential election fair and square, they should be disqualified from holding any public office.
Tennessee's Red Scourge must end. Let us have the 2022 Blue Wave wash us clean of the nonsense, hatred, and disappointment perpetrated by the current cadre of elected Republicans. They have had their chance and they have failed to rise to the challenge. It is now time for real leaders to stand up and represent the real Tennessee, the Tennessee that broadly supports the ACA, that benefitted from the American Rescue Plan, that will again benefit from the Democrats' Infrastructure Bill, and recognizes the need for federal legislation to protect our voting systems and elections. Only Democrats can deliver on all of that. Let's get to work.
*Every Republican voted against the 1) American Rescue Plan which provided significant money for state and local governments to hire back laid-off police officers (who were laid-off because of drained coffers due to Trump's mishandling of the pandemic). And every Republican voted against the 2) $1.9 billion Capitol Hill security supplemental spending bill to ameliorate the serious Capitol Police staff and equipment shortage. Don't worry, Democrats passed both of these. #FactsMatter
†Have you seen our billboard between Marlow and Oak Ridge city limits on Oak Ridge Turnpike? View it on our Facebook page here.