July 6, 2022

In This Issue

Intern Op-Ed: We Are Scared But Angry

The Ruling is Roe, but the Crisis is Democracy

Success Coming into New Quarter

On A Positive Note

Upcoming Events

CGB Interns Sound Off: We Are Scared But Angry

by Crimson Goes Blue Interns Anna Sander, Bente Bechtold, Maya Fonkeu, and Silas Conlon 

The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court has challenged all of us. But for young people especially, the decision feels deeply consequential. Not only did Roe protect our right to have an abortion, but it also embodied our entitlement to the free determination of our futures.

We are scared. Without Roe, unplanned pregnancies could mean the end to our educational journeys, the derailment of our career dreams, and heightened vulnerability to life-threatening situations such as abusive relationships and major health complications. We are scared not only for ourselves but also for the marginalized groups who will feel the brunt of this ruling. Those with low incomes, Black and brown individuals, and transgender people face structural prejudice every day; their challenges will only be compounded by this decision. Overturning Roe has disastrous implications for equality in this country.

We are scared, but we are also angry. This anger is not limited to the overruling of Roe but is intensified by it. In our lifetime the conservative movement has sought to limit our rights to safe education by, among other things, expanding access to guns amid an epidemic of school shootings. To artificially preserve their party’s diminishing power, Trump Republicans have gutted voting rights for minority communities. They have relegated pollution decisions to the very corporations responsible for the climate crisis. And, they have threatened same-sex marriage, sexual freedom, and contraception.

If we cannot rely on courts to protect our rights, then we must turn to the legislatures – at the federal and, more importantly, the state level. Electing Democrats is a good start – but it is not enough. We must elect Democrats who have a plan to provide the same protections that Roe offered, such as opening clinics on federal land and boosting federal access to, and awareness of, medication abortions. We also need to elect Democrats who are serious about reining in a rogue Court that is imposing its own political views. In order to have the brighter future we want, we must get serious about addressing the cracks in our democracy.

The Ruling is Roe, but the Crisis is Democracy
                                                                               - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

by Janet Singer

Trump Republicans crashed into the guardrails of democracy and we’re seeing the bloody wreckage now. There was the riveting January 6 Committee hearing featuring testimony by a woman who was in the room where it happened, and the devastating Supreme Court decisions reflecting its increased politicization–erasing the constitutional right to an abortion, narrowing the federal government’s ability to regulate climate-warming pollution, and blocking blue states from limiting the number of concealed weapons in their state.

There is evidence that the Resistance is rising back up and recruiting new members who are pissed off and defiant—the right emotions to help us win the midterms. The Supreme Court decisions are very unpopular with the American electorate, and none more than the ruling in the abortion case. More Americans are calling themselves pro-choice than at any time in the last 25 years, and yet Mike Pence called for a national ban on abortion in all 50 states, and Mitch McConnell stated that it’s a possibility.

All of these political currents are favoring the Democrats. Enthusiasm for voting, particularly among younger voters, has increased. In addition, the polls since the overturning of Roe show Democrats winning in the four Senate seats we must hold (AZ, GA, NH, NV). Questions remain about whether this is a blip in the polls or a shift. Historical trends are clearly against us, but more and more it feels like this is not a year following historical trends. The Party in power is rarely fired up the way Democratic voters are right now.

We can influence whether this becomes a trend, as opposed to a blip, by continuing to emphasize that this election is a choice between us and them and by using our voices to speak about these issues in the most compelling way.

Midterm elections are about enthusiasm and turnout. Democrats turn out when they are angry. So stay angry.

On a Positive Note

By Kathy Goodman and Bente Bechtold, intern

On A Positive Note focuses on how Democrats are working for Americans while Republicans are working for themselves. 

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