I have three things on my mind this morning. The first is the disgraceful display of anti-democratic behavior by the Tennessee GOP. The second is about party switching. The third is the state of North Carolina’s Democratic Party. I’m not sure there’s a common thread, but I’ll know by the time I finish writing.

Yesterday, the all-White Tennessee Republican state house delegation successfully expelled two Black Democrats from the Tennessee legislature. They allowed a third Democrat, a White woman, to keep her seat. It was a very bad look. Republicans are giving authoritarians plenty of propaganda material. China and Russia love these moves almost as much as the GOP. It’s hard to criticize them for being anti-democratic when one party in our country does not tolerate dissent. Republicans will also have to forgive us if we think they’re racists since it sure looks that way to me. 

Look, I’m sure they aren’t over there using the N-word. That’s so 1990s. No, they’re over there talking about how Black people are going to take over their culture through making African American history part of our national story and taking down monuments to the traitors that the GOP considers heroes. It’s so ironic that Republicans like to claim Lincoln while celebrating the institutions of White Supremacy. 

The move in Tennessee clarified the stakes in the divided country today and moved us toward more conflict and division. Those who want to both-sides these issues are enabling those on the wrong the side. Only one side is trying to subvert the will of the people and deny people access to power while protecting their own power from democracy. 

Second, I got notes blasting me for criticizing Tricia Cotham’s switch from Democrat to Republican, saying I wouldn’t criticize Republicans who switched to GOP. I lived through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s when conservative Democrats left the party for the GOP. The South was becoming a two-party region. Most of the Democrats who left were conservatives who joined a party more aligned with their values. The recent spate of Republicans joining the Democrats are rejecting the authoritarianism and anti-democratic tendencies of the current GOP. These people switched parties  for ideological reasons. 

Tricia Cotham has never been a conservative. She’s spent her entire career as a mainstream Democrat espousing Democratic positions and values. If she was mad at the party for their behavior, she could have switched to unaffiliated. She didn’t. She embraced the party whose values she rejected just a few months ago. She didn’t have an epiphany. She had a temper tantrum and pity party. She just wanted somebody to be nice to her. That’s pathetic. 

Finally, I heard a lot people complaining that Cotham’s leaving was an example of the weakness of the North Carolina Democratic Party. There’s always been a bit of whining and criticism of the party. I’ve certainly done my part over the years. But the party in North Carolina is doing pretty well, given the political environment. 

The people who are doing most of the criticizing seem to come from the left, but the problem the party faces is that much of the state is more conservative than the national Democratic brand. I’m sitting here in Brunswick County, the fourth fastest growing county in the nation, or so I was told yesterday. These retirees moving down here aren’t Democrats. They are hardcore Republicans. 

While Democrats have long touted the growing population as an indication that the state was trending blue, these Republicans moving to the coast and mountains are keeping the state a reddish shade of purple. Like the GOP in general, these newcomers don’t care about public schools or public universities. They don’t care too much about the environment or equal pay or inclusion or anything else Democrats support. They care about low taxes and low crime. They bring with them all the prejudices of the working class boomer generation. They are 21st century Archie Bunkers and they vote in droves. 

We just went through a redistricting process that was drawn completely by Republicans with no input at all by Democrats. The 2022 election should be the worst one for Democrats of the decade, except that Republicans will get to redistrict again this year. Midterms are almost always bad for the party out of the White House and yet Democrats still won the only competitive Congressional race in the state. 

Democrats had a bad year in North Carolina, but it was more about timing than anything. The two seats up for Supreme Court were both held by Democrats and they weren’t going to drive the ticket in an environment as nationalized as this one. While the legislature went predicably Republican, Beasley won the moderate voters but couldn’t overcome the GOP advantage in turnout. 

Still, both our governor and attorney general are Democrats. Even Thom Tillis’ pollster admitted that he would likely lost to Cal Cunningham in 2020 if Cunningham had kept his pants zipped. Presidential election cycles still look pretty good for Democrats as long as Democrats resist nominating activists. Elections here won’t be easy for Democrats in my lifetime, but they will be competitive for the foreseeable future. Democrats need to focus on organizing, but they also need candidates who won’t motivate the GOP base. 

Democrats need to continue to fight for a fairer state and nation, but they need to put their emphasis on economic issues. They need to use abortion as a wedge between woman and the GOP. They need tie North Carolina Republicans to the anti-democratic measures pushed by the Trumpist wing of their party. And they need to show support for programs that impact rural areas, fighting opioid addiction, promoting economic development, expanding access to health care, and promoting better public schools. 

To sum up, I believe that the GOP is a racist and authoritarian party because, even if not every member is racist, the party as a whole supports racist actions like the one in Tennessee. I think Tricia Cotham embracing that party shows that she eithers shares those values or has none of her own. I suspect the latter. Finally, the Democratic Party is doing better than many activists claim. It’s a tough state that leans conservative, not progressive. Instead of criticizing the leadership, they should look at what Cooper and Stein have done to beat the odds instead of assuming the odds are in their favor.