Democrats have spent years crafting a carefully polished narrative about themselves as the reasonable ones, the party that respects norms and plays by the rules even when the other side won't. It's a fantasy they tell themselves, one where they're forever the noble victims of Republican ruthlessness. The problem is, it's never been true.
I couldn’t believe it when Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin tried to claim that Democrats have been the victims of Republican ruthlessness all these years, and that they’re only now just fighting back.
That’s the narrative the party is trying to push with their support of California's Proposition 50, a measure that would empower the state to redraw their already heavily gerrymandered districts to remove even more Republican seats.
Democrats are framing it as retaliation against Republican gerrymandering in Texas and other states. Martin hasn't been shy about his rationale. He's accused Republicans of trying to "manipulate the forthcoming election" through unconstitutional power grabs designed to create unfair advantages. According to Martin, GOP redistricting efforts represent a dire threat to democracy itself.
What Martin conveniently left out is that Democrats have been masters of gerrymandering for years. The recent push by Republicans to redistrict in certain states isn't some unprovoked attack on fair elections. It's actually a direct response to Democrats gaming the system for their own benefit for decades. There are several states where Republicans have a solid share of the vote, but zero seats, but Democrats insist they’re are the victims of gerrymandering, not the perpetrators.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has echoed this narrative, declaring that the political landscape has fundamentally changed and the old rules no longer apply. Translation? Newsom and his party are done pretending they're above the fray. Proposition 50 has become a rallying cry for Democrats across not just California, but across the country to play their never-expiring victim card even though they’ve been the bullies the entire time; they’re just not used to a Republican Party willing to fight back.
ICYMI: Schwarzenegger Drops a Truth Bomb on Jake Tapper on Gerrymandering
I'm exhausted by Democrats pretending they've somehow been the party of capitulation this whole time, the ones who rolled over and let Republicans have their way. The reality is the exact opposite. Democrats are the party that destroys norms whenever it suits their political agenda. Let's not forget how they weaponized the filibuster during George W. Bush's presidency, blocking his judicial nominees at every turn. But the moment Republicans turned that same tactic against Obama, suddenly the filibuster became "anti-democratic" and a "racist relic" of Jim Crow, and they eventually nuked the judicial filibuster for lower-court nominations in 2013.
Fast forward to 2021, and Democrats nearly nuked the legislative filibuster entirely in a desperate bid to pass sweeping election takeover bills. These measures would have shredded state election laws, forced universal mail-in voting, diluted safeguards, and even paved the way to abolish the Electoral College. This is not a political party that hesitates to blow up the system when it serves their interests.
But, according to Martin, Democrats are just now acting like they have a spine. I guess he expects us to believe that Democrats have spent years being pushovers and not the party that has dismantled norms for decades. But make no mistake—Democrats are not the victims of some imagined injustice. They are the architects of chaos, excusing their own shameful tactics—from gutting the filibuster to rewriting election rules and now blocking a clean Continuing Resolution, every excuse they offer is just a mask for their own shameful tactics.
