Finding Light in Darkness

Democracy May Lose the Midterms, But It Will Ultimately Prevail

Welcome to the Civic Way journal, our quick take on the relevance of breaking news to America’s future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.

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“Someday, this all will be yours.”

As the 2022 mid-terms draw near, the opinion polls offer little comfort to Democrats. Unless something dramatic occurs, the Republicans will overwhelm the Democrats this November. While the Democrats will keep the Presidency (for two more years), the Republicans could regain the House and Senate.

And these won’t be Republicans of old. They will be fanatical, wrathful and merciless. After sidelining Team Normal—leaders of conscience like Romney, Collins, Cheney, Baker and Hogan—they will use every means at their disposal to destroy reputations, institutions and programs. They will have scarce interest in the art of compromise or nuances of governing.

If the ten Benghazi hearings seemed a bit much (especially given their high cost and feeble findings), you ain’t seen nothing yet. Endless Hunter Biden investigations. Noisy hearings regurgitating 2020 election lies and conspiracy theories. Exhaustive grandstanding and evidence-free impeachment hearings.

And, most disturbing, they will abuse their power to ensure they never lose it. Contort election processes (in the name of election integrity) to minimize competition. Empower the legislatures they control to overturn elections that don’t go their way. Convert elected offices they don’t control to appointed positions they do control.

Where will it end? Who knows? Ransacking the rule of law? Destroying checks and balances? Shrinking government so it can be drowned in a bathtub? Eviscerating the Constitution? Slashing freedoms? After 2022, whether our elections become a charade or a memory, the US could very well become an oversized Hungary—a Democracy In Name Only (DINO).

For now, America has two major political parties. One unable to use power to govern and protect democracy. The other all too willing to seize power by forsaking government and democracy. Where there was once broad common ground staked on democratic principles, there is only fierce combat for survival. After 2024, only one may remain.

As our nation’s ills become epidemic, we seem utterly helpless to cure them. Instead of confronting real problems together, we squabble over trivialities. Instead of addressing existential threats to the future, we remain immobilized by old grievances. Without big changes, America may find it much, much harder to survive the next crisis.

Before 2021, political apathy—shirking the work of citizenship—was merely lazy. Now, after months of blatant lying about the 2020 election and an unprecedented assault on American democracy, it is careless, if not downright selfish. Like winning the lottery, squandering your winnings on frivolities and leaving your children a Chick-fil-A gift card.

So, here we are, on the precipice of losing what prior generations gave their lives to protect—our democracy. And, in the bargain, we may lose—at least temporarily—the one system that could harness the US’ vast resources for good, not just for America, but the world.

For those of us who hope to preserve American democracy, what should we do?

First, we should fight the good fight—to preserve our democracy, to ensure enlightened governance, to serve the public interest. Thinking for ourselves. Voting. Supporting candidates who share our principles. Challenging those who don’t. Holding politicians accountable. Putting the country before party.  

Second, we should prepare for losing that fight. Listen to extremists. Grasp the chilling implications of their words. If they conflate their agenda with God’s plan, and their radical aims with God’s will, how can they be wrong? If Democrats and RINOs resist their agenda (God’s will), how could God possibly allow such infidels to win? If every lost election has been rigged, doesn’t God demand that such elections be overturned?

In states like Florida and Texas, extremist leaders show us what American authoritarianism might look like. The fusion of religion and politics. The censorship of books. The arming of public schools. The proliferation of guns and open carry laws. The harassment of minorities. Legislative retribution against “woke” corporations. Tax giveaways for those who get in line. The wholesale abandonment of the common good. Sham elections. More radicals on parade.

It is vital that we imagine the worst-case scenario for the next two elections, and we must do so for at least two reasons. To better appreciate what is at stake in today’s fight. And to better understand the mess that the next generation will have to undo. We cannot preserve democracy without imagining an America without it.

Third, we must build a bold blueprint for saving America. Not a blueprint constrained by political feasibility or watered down by fears of political eccentricities—like federalism, the filibuster and the Electoral College—that may perish. Rather, a blueprint with the best de novo ideas for fixing the problems that threaten our future. In short, a roadmap for saving—and reinventing—America.

How should we develop this blueprint? By growing a vast network of future leaders who revere America. By gathering (crowdsourcing) bold new ideas for a better America. By using online forums to debate and integrate those ideas into an actionable plan. By continually improving that plan.

How could this approach possibly work? In today’s bitter, polarized political environment, small incremental change seems to be the only path forward. Is bold change really possible?

Yes. Even if American authoritarianism takes root, it will ultimately fail. Autocrats, surrounded by sycophants, will govern badly (when they govern at all). They will protect the few at the expense of the many. Beholden to their benefactors, they will neglect the problems that most jeopardize our future. They will succumb to the maxim that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

When autocratic government fails (and it will), the opportunity for historic change will reveal itself. A new generation of leaders will rise up against autocratic self-dealing and ineptitude. They will know that they did not create this mess. That they didn’t try to deny reality, “make America great again” or overturn fair elections. That they merely inherited the mess.

How can the next generation of leaders clean up the mess? How can they prepare for the challenges they will face? By building an Ark of ideas for solving America’s biggest problems—a blueprint for saving America. Not mere slogans, but thoughtful solutions. To ensure success, that effort must begin now.

Regardless of what happens in 2022 and 2024, there is hope for America’s future. It springs from those of us who remember more civil times, who abhor the angry tribalism, who long for civic dialogue and common-sense solutions.

Ultimately, though, our hope necessarily resides with the next generation. That it will find common cause in unifying America, solving intractable problems and restoring the American Idea.

Let’s help them prepare for the daunting challenge that lies ahead.