Great question. I'll try to address it briefly here, but I should probably do a longer piece. First, my comments here have been greatly influenced by dozens (hundreds?) of hours of conversation with a friend who has to remain anonymous. So, for July 2025, I expect more of the same from Republicans. There is a chance that the American people will wake up and turn against them, but I can't believe that it didn't happen years ago. So, Democrats need to change. As this friend said, "name one Republican policy that the majority of Americans want." There aren't any. So we "win" on policy. But to win elections, we need to embrace and double down on our values, as I wrote the other day. https://rleonard.substack.com/p/values. Run on these. Don't be shy. Republicans that are our friends, family, and neighbors have values, but party leaders don't. They will do anything for power. Democrats need to admit the ultimate goal is power. Otherwise, policies don't matter. Democrats need to fire all of the beltway consultants and build power from the ground up. Invest in people, and listen, especially to our young people. This is just a start, but I will keep thinking about it, so, thanks for your question. What do you think July 2025 will look like?
Bob, you took me back to those pre-election days. I remember asking that question - what if he won’t leave - during a gathering of smart people over dinner. Silence. One scoffed. Seriously, I said, what happens if he won’t leave? Someone changed the subject.
I had that same experience more than once. I was very surprised no one was interested in publishing it, but I never push back at editors over submissions. I just thank them for the opportunity. But I was so naive. I never anticipated that Trump would or could pull together such a widespread organized effort to overturn the results of the election that involved so many people in powerful positions, and that so many Republicans would be complicit. Actually, I don't believe Trump could have done it. There was someone, perhaps a think-tank we all know, behind the curtain. And, here is a question for you. Why is the January 6 commission ignoring Stephen Miller, who had his hand in everything evil in the administration? Maybe I missed it. But thank you.
I was thinking the same thing about Miller. Maybe they are saving Miller, Meadows et al for last. I was so stressed leading up to the last election….especially as TFG (the former guy) made all these last minute appointments, infecting as many level of government as he could. Were Ernst and Grassley being protected by Oath Keepers on the 6th?
Bob, I just put this in a roundup column from the Iowa Writers' Collaborative. If folks want to sign up to get a weekly round up of our members, they can sign up here: https://iowawriters.substack.com/p/round-up?r=fkojq&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Great question. I'll try to address it briefly here, but I should probably do a longer piece. First, my comments here have been greatly influenced by dozens (hundreds?) of hours of conversation with a friend who has to remain anonymous. So, for July 2025, I expect more of the same from Republicans. There is a chance that the American people will wake up and turn against them, but I can't believe that it didn't happen years ago. So, Democrats need to change. As this friend said, "name one Republican policy that the majority of Americans want." There aren't any. So we "win" on policy. But to win elections, we need to embrace and double down on our values, as I wrote the other day. https://rleonard.substack.com/p/values. Run on these. Don't be shy. Republicans that are our friends, family, and neighbors have values, but party leaders don't. They will do anything for power. Democrats need to admit the ultimate goal is power. Otherwise, policies don't matter. Democrats need to fire all of the beltway consultants and build power from the ground up. Invest in people, and listen, especially to our young people. This is just a start, but I will keep thinking about it, so, thanks for your question. What do you think July 2025 will look like?
Your prescience was remarkable. If you could look to July, 2025, what might you fear to foresee?
Bob, you took me back to those pre-election days. I remember asking that question - what if he won’t leave - during a gathering of smart people over dinner. Silence. One scoffed. Seriously, I said, what happens if he won’t leave? Someone changed the subject.
I had that same experience more than once. I was very surprised no one was interested in publishing it, but I never push back at editors over submissions. I just thank them for the opportunity. But I was so naive. I never anticipated that Trump would or could pull together such a widespread organized effort to overturn the results of the election that involved so many people in powerful positions, and that so many Republicans would be complicit. Actually, I don't believe Trump could have done it. There was someone, perhaps a think-tank we all know, behind the curtain. And, here is a question for you. Why is the January 6 commission ignoring Stephen Miller, who had his hand in everything evil in the administration? Maybe I missed it. But thank you.
I was thinking the same thing about Miller. Maybe they are saving Miller, Meadows et al for last. I was so stressed leading up to the last election….especially as TFG (the former guy) made all these last minute appointments, infecting as many level of government as he could. Were Ernst and Grassley being protected by Oath Keepers on the 6th?
Good question. If Iowa media had correspondents stationed in D.C., I suspect we would know.
What are we doing up at this hour?
I don't know about you, but I heard a raccoon or possum on the roof...