Indivisible: Their corrosive beliefs, radical plans, and what conservatives must do to counter them
The pink hats and calls to "Resist!" arose in a stunned response by Clinton supporters following the election of President Trump. Those reactions along with the mostly peaceful marches and videos of crying, screaming young people were memorable. Less obvious was the formation of the new activist group called Indivisible.
According to authors Leah Greenburg and Ezra Levin in their book We are Indivisible, A Blueprint for Democracy After Trump, the nationwide network of organizations began in response to the 2016 election of President Trump when Republicans also took control of the U.S. House and Senate. Here in northern Travis County, the Indivisible group became active in local and state politics by providing activist support for Democrats and antagonizing conservatives. The network takes credit for blocking the Republicans' attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) as well as driving many elected officials into retirement. They also tout success in effectively pushing Democrat elected officials further left by pressuring Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Diane Feinstein, and other key Democrats. They describe the Republican Party as being "taken over by white supremacists, Christians fundamentalists, and corporatists." Like CNN or MSNBC on auto play, they repeat false narratives against Trump including Russian collusion and others as if they were facts. "In fact, his bigoted appeals drew on deep currents of racism, sexism, and xenophobia that powered his rise." The Indivisible network is in every state and every congressional district, and they plan to dismantle what they perceive as an antiquated, broken system. For conservatives to effectively oppose them, we must understand their assertions, their tactics, and their plans. The following analysis is based on the book.
Who They Are
In their words
The book's authors, Greenberg and Levin, were two DC Democrat staffers who created an action list following the 2016 election to fight President Trump and the Republicans in Congress. They took some lessons from the Tea Party movement in how activists were able to use townhall events and grassroots networks to stall and almost defeat Obamacare. (Although they adopted some Tea Party tactics, they condemn the group as racists in typical leftist rhetoric instead of seeing the group as similar in its opposition to unresponsive government.) Their action list was titled "Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda." They used Twitter to share the Google document, and it rapidly spread through retweets by Democrats with national following.
Greenberg and Levin soon connected with former Obama organizer, Julia Fox, to build a national team behind Indivisible. The Obama team from the beginning were famous for community organizing (e.g. Organizing for America). Julia Fox "assembled a field team of volunteers assigned to cover each state and respond to the groups reaching out to us. We created a team of policy wonks who feverishly analyzed the latest news from Congress and turned their findings into activist-ready strategic updates." According to the authors, they also connected with the Soros-founded Open Society Foundation (OSF) and began receiving grants from it. (In typical response they claim that it is anti-Semitic to note that the Soros Foundation and OSF spends billions to fund left-wing groups worldwide.)
The book's first section begins with a scathing analysis of the state of our "democracy" describing it as "buckling" and "rigged." The system is buckling, they say, due to polarization and outdated institutions that have led to dysfunction and gridlock. They assert that the system is rigged by "an unholy alliance between wealthy plutocrats, practitioners of white identify politics, and religious ideologues...and they're systematically rigging the rules to keep themselves in power." (At the time of this writing the Democrats control the U.S. House, Senate, and Presidency which seems contrary to their rigged premise.)
An essay titled "The Perils of Presidentialism" by Juan Jose Linz of Yale provides the basis for the claim of the U.S.'s "unstable model" of the Presidential and Legislative government that either reforms into a parliamentary system or devolves into violent conflict. The book summarizes the leftist narrative that the parties were not ideological at first, but civil rights led to the party switch that created today's ideologically polarized parties. (Republicans refer to the party switch narrative as the Democrat's "Big Lie.") The millennial authors show us what the left's control of academia, media, and entertainment has produced. They bemoan what they see as lack of progress by the government in their lifetime. Clearly underlying is a demand for more government action "to actually respond to the will of the people."
Brief Commentary
The introduction and first section of the book are filled with assertions that sound familiar if you watch CNN or MS-NBC or if you listen to left-wing politicos and Marxists professors. It would take a book to challenge all the narratives stated in the book as fact. It is interesting to note the lack of definition of the principles and functional characteristics of the government they wish to achieve nor how their proposed solutions lead to it. The authors repeatedly describe their desired government merely as "democratic" and "responsive", sounding like a "mobocracy", where two wolves and a sheep vote on what's for dinner. They refer readers to their website (www.savedemocracy.org) which provides no more explanation of their philosophy of government and economics besides "democracy."
Repeated reference to democracy and the people's will implies that they believe a majority of voters agree with their assertions and solutions which is not actually the case, especially when left undefined. Much of the rhetoric is focused on defeating the caricatured Republicans of their minds. Hiding behind their narratives allows them to excuse themselves from debate, discussion, or even exploration of other's views.
Their Tactics
Get Attention and Keep the Pressure On
Typical grassroots efforts focus on petitions, phone calls, letter and emails. Indivisible takes it to the next level by showing up in person and making a scene to increase the personal effect on the elected officials. They pressure Republicans and reluctant Democrats. They publicly celebrate officials that support them. They engage media and prepare a media packet ahead of time to make it easy for the busy journalists to regurgitate their case. They get creative with their demonstrations with clever slogans and stunts. They heavily rely on personal stories to make their case for or against legislation based on emotion.
Coordinate with Interest Groups
Indivisible instructs its members to coordinate with interest groups and let the leaders of the group guide the dialog and actions. Indivisible members are instructed not to add their own ideas or thoughts on a subject. They are to follow the interest group's leaders whether it is immigrant rights, Black Lives Matter, or LGBTQ+.
Make specific, strategic demands for action
As the saying goes, talk is cheap. The activists are instructed to get specific commitments to act from elected politicians. The asks must be specific and measurable, and they must move towards the goal.
Primary but Support Democrats
They plan to recruit and run candidates in every congressional district. They also require candidates to agree to support the Democrat party winner in the primary to avoid losing support for Democrats. They are not going to sit it out if their candidate does not win the primary because they condemn Republicans as the unacceptable enemy.
Their Plans for 2021 and Beyond
The authors acknowledge that constitutional amendments are very difficult, so they limit their plans to changes that can be done legislatively. The book details the following six legislative priorities.
1. Break the gridlock by eliminating the filibuster in the Senate.
2. Democratize the Senate by making DC a state as well as Puerto Rico and other territories if they wish
3. Democratize the House by implementing proportional representation (instead of winner-take-all) and ranked-choice voting.
4. Democratize the courts by packing the Supreme Court with progressives.
5. Democratize voting by allowing non-citizen immigrants to vote, allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to vote, and allowing felons to vote.
6. Democratize the media by regulating platforms to prevent "misinformation" and break up media conglomerates particularly Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting.
They make it clear that they support democracy but not necessarily the Democrat party. They want "nonpartisan and small-d" democracy built on "independent, progressive political power".
The first five items are clearly aimed at rigging the system, as they would say, to give Democrats an unbeatable majority by using their current, slimmest majority to pass the radical changes. Item 6 is censorship to control the narrative in order to shut down debate and dissension, more of what Big Tech is already doing to those who speak contrary to the progressive narrative.
What Conservatives and Republicans Must Do
Challenge the Narratives
At the root of Indivisible are unchallenged narratives. Conservatives must challenge and correct the American narrative as described in the 1776 Commission report (The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission (hillsdale.edu)) to accurately teach U.S. history, the good and the bad, and the underlying principles of its government to counter the 1619 Project. Advocacy against censorship, totalitarian government, and socialism are crucial; however, the effort to shut down dissent in media, schools, businesses, and Big Tech is already clear. Reclaiming scientific dialog and debate, instead of allowing political interests to bias science and research, is equally critical to disrupt their narrative. The Republican Party needs to effectively debunk the Democrats' Big Lie and to assert its accurate history.
Organize, Educate, and Engage
Conservatives must organize and work as an educated and committed force. The authors don't like Heritage, so it must be effective. Heritage Sentinels and similar organizations promote conservative policies and have a political arm to educate, activate, and track results. Texas Public Policy Foundation is an effective organization that focuses on Texas.
Conservatives must match the left's efforts by staying engaged on all major legislation to influence elected officials and public opinion. The media and Big Tech are not favorable to conservatives so conservatives must utilize alternative media and platforms to carry the messages. It would be easy to give up or be complacent, but the opposition is doing neither and have been playing the long game, gradually winning strategic positions in both public and private sectors.
Conservatives must recruit solid candidates to run, but stick with the Republican Party in the General Elections just as the opposition does. Conservatives must get involved at every level starting with local city councils and school boards. That is what the left has been doing. Conservatives must do the same. Third parties are spoilers. Sitting out an election may result in the worse of two evils or a bad situation instead of a half bad one.
Be the party of the American Dream
Republicans have a brand problem, and Indivisible has some valid criticisms of the status quo. Both parties have problems because too many average citizens feel unrepresented. The Tea Party and the MAGA movements on the right and groups like Indivisible on the left share the complaint that the system is not working for everyone due to the power and money concentrated in the "establishment" (a.k.a. "The Swamp"). President Trump showed that traditional American values (faith, family, and freedom) and the desire to live the American Dream of economic opportunity and upward mobility still resonate among every demographic. Republicans have the opportunity to be the party of the middle class and the aspirational American Dream in stark contrast to the left's totalitarian, socialist agenda. Republicans must clearly state their policies and then keep their promises.
