Paging Barack Obama
All jaws are on the floor.
I’m writing from the front porch of the family seat in South Central Texas, aka Aunt Sally’s house.
I’m here for a few days visiting my dad’s branch of the family. My older brother and I make an annual pilgrimage to this town of 3700 people to catch up with Sally, our late father’s last living sibling. Several of our cousins live here as well.
In between conversations with my family, I’m trying to figure out how to save democracy.
The dismantling of our nation’s government is interfering with my vacation.
There are plenty of people in Texas who can’t stand Trump. I’m amongst several of them.
Last night after dinner, I glanced down at the phone, and for the 34th time this week I gasped. A cousin seated on my left saw my face and said,
“Don’t tell me. Don’t tell me.” Then she put her hands over her ears.
She looked up after a moment, put her hands down, turned to me and said,
“Okay. Tell me.”
“I just got a news alert,” I said. “He’s just offered all federal employees eight months of severance pay if they resign immediately, with the implication if they don’t, they might not have a job anyway.”
Really, what can you say to that news? My jaw dropped first, then her jaw dropped. All jaws are on the floor.
You might think I’m not qualified to save our democracy, and you’re right.
But Donald Trump is president. If he can break democracy, surely I am equally capable of fixing it. It’s not like there are standards anymore.
And if I know anything at all about the fix, it’s this: Democrats must start doing things differently. The status quo will not do.
A few judges are stepping in and halting his most outrageous actions, but it’s like patching a dam with putty. It only buys us a little time. The dam is going to break.
It’s hard to know where to start.
This is not an accident. We’ve been bombarded by the Trump blitzkrieg all week, and everyone I know is reeling.
That’s because we’re living through a coup.
This isn’t supposed to be Donald Trump’s government. But we’re outright fools if we think otherwise. He’s done a fantastic job assaulting the American public. In just over a week, he’s thrown so many constitutional crises at us, we’re in shock.
Offering federal employees eight months pay in exchange for their resignation is the proverbial kitchen sink, thrown straight at us.
What happens in a restaurant if the dishwasher doesn’t show up? What happens on a construction site when the project manager disappears? What if the entire corps de ballet is gone, and only soloists are left?
Imagine your workplace. Whether you work in an office, restaurant, hospital, ballet or construction company, ask yourself a question.
What would happen if ten percent of your fellow employees didn’t show up? What about thirty percent? Or fifty?
With that many people out, little can be done. If enough government workers take the offer, our entire government will be in a state of chaos.
What an excellent time for martial law.
At this critical moment in our nation’s history, what’s happening across the aisle?
We’ve got a vacuum of leadership when we need it most.
Hakeem Jeffries is the Minority Whip and leader of House Democrats. Chuck Schumer is the Democratic Leader of the Senate. Until recently, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita, seemed in charge of every Democrat on Capitol Hill.
Although she’s not technically the leader of the progressive caucus, in New York we look to AOC, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Kamala Harris tragically just lost the election.
Then there’s the Bernie Sanders contingent. And we can’t forget Elizabeth Warren.
You can see our problem.
We’ve got old-timers, old-schoolers, and various progressives. This does not a consensus make.
If you’re a Democrat, you’re used to it. Republicans have been light years ahead of us in the unity department. Until he stepped down as the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell seemed firmly in charge of Republicans.
File under What Strange Times: McConnell was one of three Republicans to vote against confirming Pete Hegseth, joining Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.
Despite their efforts, we have a Fox News host in charge of our Department of Defense, and Kash Patel is slated to turn the FBI into the Agency of Trump Vendettas.
Now is not the time for Democrats to defend our favorite political personalities. We need someone who can pull us all together.
Quickly.
There’s a conundrum, and there is a solution.
Members of the Republican Party no longer represent their constituents. They represent Trump. This is known as an opportunity.
Yes, Democrats, we have an opportunity. Sadly, we have no leader.
Trump is a leader. You don’t have to like it for it to be true. Nobody needs to tell me how awful he is. But newsflash—likability is not a requirement of leadership.
A case in point is Vladamir Putin. Like Trump, he’s a terrible man responsible for a large portion of suffering on earth. But you can’t argue he and Trump are weak.
People are afraid to cross Trump, and by people, I mean members of his own party.
Democrats do not want someone like Trump to lead the party. We don’t want a strongman.
What we need is The Smart Person. We need an intellectual leader of our party to perform two tasks.
Task One: Break down what’s happening for all Americans, not just Democrats.
Task Two: Run an aggressive public relations campaign.
Our leader publicly identifies himself as the spokesperson for the Democratic Party. Democratic leaders confirm this.
He holds regular press conferences, repeating certain points again and again. And the Democratic Party—every damned one of us—stand with him.
The press conferences have a formula and go like this:
This is what Donald Trump said today. This is what he means instead. We invite Americans to watch closely: are we predicting what Trump is doing, and is at odds with what he says?
He is lying to you, America.
Examples might include,
“Have you noticed your grocery bill has gone up? This is because undocumented workers are too afraid of ICE to show up at work, and they’re a major part of the agricultural work force.”
“Donald Trump told you tariffs are paid for by other nations. Have you noticed the following products have gone up in cost? That’s because Trump placed tariffs against the country who manufactures the product. Donald Trump lied to you, and now it’s costing you money.”
“This is what Donald Trump said: inspector generals are fired all the time. This is the truth: there are laws preventing a president from firing inspector generals at will. He is lying, America.”
If we hold news conferences frequently, if we are united in opposition to Trump, if we keep pointing out the lies in plain sight while his government proves our point—people may begin to understand what’s happening and look to Democrats to lead us out.
It’s called having a voice.
And if the tide turns against him, Republicans will have no choice but to outfit this clown car with brakes. Their constituents will demand it.
Repetition, repetition, repetition. Consistency in messaging. If you think I’m wrong, ask yourself how many times you heard Hunter Biden’s laptop in the last four years. This irritating, oft-repeated phrase helped elect Donald Trump.
Now. Who will be the intellectual leader of the Democratic Party? Who will be our Smart Person?
We are going to borrow a page from the Brits. Our spokesperson is a figurehead—like the late Queen.
He must know Washington but have no skin in the political game. He can advise and warn our leaders but remain out of the fray of political ambition.
He must be respected by both Republicans and Democrats on The Hill.
Our intellectual leader must have charisma. Star power.
We need Barack Obama.
Yes, Obama.
The Affordable Care Act isn’t perfect, and Obama isn’t either. Our relentless demand for perfection in our leaders is lethal in the political arena. It’s killing us.
But over 49 million people have enrolled in the ACA since 2014. To get it passed, Obama had to negotiate with GOP leaders. It remains the last significant act our politicians gave the American people.
Obama. Got. It. Done.
Oh, and another thing. He really gets under Trump’s skin.
After the week we’ve had, if you were to ask me if I lived in a democracy or autocracy, I wouldn’t be able to answer. We can’t just stand here hoping it’s going to work out.
I understand there’s slim chance of this working. But unless there’s a unified opposition to Trump, he will own the nation.
Paging Barack Obama. We could really use a hand.
Oh my god, Elizabeth, when I opened the computer this morning and saw your essay and Obama’s picture I thought, Thank God! He’s come to our defense! You certainly have the right idea. I can’t ignore what’s happening while at the same time I don’t want to hear the news. Especially the honest news I get from PBS. (Please let me know how Sally is doing.)
Great writing as usual. I agree with you except the resistance isn’t coming from the Obama’s or elected Dems. They haven’t done anything to prevent this mess, in fact, they helped facilitate it. There are people like yourself everywhere speaking out about the truth and dangerous times we are in. They tend to be progressive independents. One visit to TikTok (even after the shutdown) you’ll hear of resistance with people willing to fight. Count me in.