The Democrats Are Blowing a Big Opportunity Right Now

So for someone like Hochul to say, “I’m tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back,” suggests that Democrats are learning from their nemeses. What’s missing from this fight, though, are national Democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called out Texas Governor Greg Abbott as a “cowardly fake bully”—the equivalent of a sternly worded letter—on CNN earlier this week, but that’s about it. His counterpart in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, expressed solidarity with Texas Democrats but made it clear that they were taking the lead.

There are signs that other generally noncombative Democrats are waking up. On Wednesday afternoon, Barack Obama called the redistricting push a “power grab that undermines our democracy.” He’s right. Even Eric Holder, Obama’s onetime attorney general and the chair of an anti-gerrymandering organization, has come out in support of Democratic states retaliating with their own gerrymandering. But Democrats are still behind the messaging curve, as usual. Trump is openly admitting that he wants Texas to steal five seats so he can continue his fascist rule, without meaningful opposition, through the end of his presidency. And in doing so, he’s made this a national story, even if Democrats are slow to realize it.

This is a story whose salience is worth raising, as it reveals the authoritarian lengths to which the Republican Party will go to amass more power. It has also arrived at a moment where Democrats have little to lose. Congress is out of session. The Epstein saga is merely simmering at the moment, though it will probably boil over again soon. The “big, beautiful bill” and the bleak state of the economy are animating issues but will remain so until the midterm elections. Talking about Texas won’t get it in the way of either story. What it will do is show voters that what’s happening in Texas matters in every state—and very well could help decide the future of American democracy.