I haven’t been able to think through the implications of the upcoming repeal of Roe; maybe it is not even my place to. I want to point out that today, Speaker Pelosi appeared in Texas for incumbent Henry Cuellar (TX–28), who is literally the last anti-abortion Democrat in the House. (He also had his home raided by the FBI, which appears to be looking into his financial relationship with Azerbaijan.) He is in a primary run-off against a progressive young woman, Jessica Cisneros. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders endorsed her.

Pelosi has been the most effective Speaker in memory in terms of holding her caucus together, but this seems tone deaf. The theory is that, with Democrats having done very badly in the Rio Grande districts in 2020, Cuellar has a much better chance of retaining the seat. Is it worth it, for the cost to the image of the party?

You have to admire the Republicans’ commitment to team play and the long game, as enforced primarily by Mitch McConnell and the oligarchs who back him. While Dems cheer the bend of the arc of history, he worked incrementally over decades to orchestrate the takeover of the government to bend it back.

Democrats seem more interested in not losing too badly. Keep the filibuster, so that we can mitigate damage after the Republicans win. (This even supposes a number of Republicans would still support the filibuster when it works to their disadvantage, which is far from certain.) Instead, Democrats celebrate individual performances in a losing cause. You can see this today in the persons enraged at the suggestion cancer-ridden RBG should have retired early in the Obama Administration. Ginsburg’s rhetoric will sound so good in Blue State textbooks, but her last public statement, released post mortem, was a wheedling, feckless request that her successor be nominated by the winner of the impending presidential election. Of course, once they finished laughing, the Republicans did no such thing.