I could go without the screeds against The Left, but this is actually a fine post. I actually agree with most of your points here. Let's go bit-by-bit on this:
* I actually agree with you on this one. For all my pearl-clutching about how Democrats have a lot of nominal power but little actual power, the same thing applied in 2008. Even putting Nelson aside, where do the other 59 votes come from? The ND Senators? Mark Pryor, who was as conservative as Manchin? Hell, once Byrd died, you had Manchin, who didn't even vote to codify now! I don't put a lot of blame onto Obama here - 2009 was a different time. Even if Snowe voted to codify too, at least one more Senator was defecting.
* Same here. Again - we have to change the Hyde Amendment to do that. The rest seem tough, but workable. But we need the 52 votes to change the filibuster first.
* I wouldn't necessarily call this stupid - more out of our hands than anything else. If the native government want to open one up, great. We should support them in any way we can. If not, then on to the next solution. You also haven't touched the issue of non-natives coming onto the reservation and telling natives what to do. It just seems weirdly paternalistic and wrong to me.
* Just gonna pack these next two points together. Again, I believe we should be using the bully pulpit - not necessarily with Manchin, but with the Court itself. The bill will fail - full stop. But even so much as campaigning to pack the court because of overreach does damage to the integrity of the court as an institution.
If a Supreme Court nominee's spouse funded a BLM protest that turned violent, we'd never hear the end of it, and the GOP would file for impeachment. If a Democrat perjured themselves for campaign votes, we would never hear the end of it. FDR ended the Lochner era with the bully pulpit, and the threat to pack the Court. The abolitionist movement ended the Taney era by keeping the pressure on him and portraying him as a political hack that abandoned his job.
Voting is noble, but we can't go "well shucks, just vote harder for us and give us money and we can change it". We need to keep pressure on the other side, and attack the legitimacy and integrity of the Court publicly. We need to fear-monger about how Republicans have their eyes on gay peoples' rights to exist. Now is not the time for lily-livered civility or kumbaya. We need action, and we need to speak truth to power.
* I'd like to propose another to you - what can Jessica Cisneros do? Not someone like me, who has a pro-choice option but is choosing to vote third-party because of other important issues. I'm talking about the average red-state Democrat, or someone in their district who's anti-codification. Beto, God bless his soul, is not going to win. Henry Cuellar is not going to codify Roe. The people have spoken, and they want Cuellar. Voting is great and all that, but what can she do to help the cause now aside from organizing?
This is where direct action comes in. Donation to charities, volunteering, persuasion, organizing - there are ways to fight for the cause outside of voting. This is a better way for someone in Texas to do something in the now, while they build the infrastructure to win later.
The Democratic Party also needs to reckon with itself and re-jigger its priorities. Right now, its top priority is protecting the machine. Full stop. Not codifying Roe, not big structural change, not even keeping the economic order. Nancy Pelosi isn't a galaxy-brained chessmaster who's secretly pro-life. She just cares more about the Democratic machine than the cause, and supported Cuellar because he is a part of that machine.
The fact of the matter is that we need a new type of leadership. Not just younger leadership - totally new leadership in ideology. Not necessarily someone who openly wants to defund the police and defends the use of "birthing people" or "people who give birth". Just someone who will put policy over party. Someone who will drain the swamp. Someone who will leave a candidate who doesn't support the agenda out to dry to send a message.
Voting for Democrats is no longer enough. We need to vote for better Democrats, up and down the ballot. Your vote is the strongest muscle you have. Use it for yourself and candidates who support you, not their clique.
This is an excellent argument all around my man. But may I suggest that you take your own advice and drop is voting third party crap? Support progressives in the primaries, but every progressive's third party vote is a vote for a Republican
