This is not a government of, by, and for the people. But it can be.
Yesterday, we celebrated the Fourth of July.
The celebration for me — and maybe for you — is about more than independence from Britain.
It is also a celebration about the kind of country our founders created by writing and implementing our Constitution eleven years later.
A constitution that envisioned:
equal justice under law;
equality for all;
checks and balances against the overreach by Congress, the President, or the Courts;
and guarantees of personal rights to protect individual liberty from an overbearing federal government.
In short, government of, by, and for the people.
Throughout our history, we've strived to get closer to this vision.
And I've always felt a deep pride in celebrating that vision and the progress we've made toward it.
But yesterday, I felt instead a deep misgiving. What kind of government are we celebrating now?
We have a House of Representatives deeply damaged by gerrymandering.
We have a Senate unable to deliver solutions to pressing problems, broken by a Senate rule that gives the minority party a veto on legislation (in explicit disregard of the warnings of our nation's founders).
We have an electoral college that has repeatedly delivered the presidency to the loser of the popular vote.
We have billions of dollars of dark money spent on behalf of campaigns that seek to secure government not by and for the people, but by and for the rich and the powerful.
And scariest of all....
We have a Supreme Court that has become an unelected partisan super-legislature with a far right agenda determined to enhance corporate power and crush individual liberty.
Decision after decision after decision that read like the policy platform of the Republican Party.
So if you, like me, felt a little uneasy yesterday, your unease is well justified.
Our constitutional order is under assault and deeply damaged.
I can't give you all the answers, but I can tell you this: a successful election this November is the best opportunity we have to reclaim our nation.
So if you believe in the fundamental ideals of our Constitution...
If you want a Senate that will pass my For the People Act that ends gerrymandering, reduces the power of dark money, and defends the ballot box for all Americans...
If you want a Senate that will pass the Women's Health Protection Act to guarantee nationwide access to abortion, birth control, and safe reproductive health care for all Americans...
If you want a Senate that will finally implement my filibuster reform so the Senate can get to a final debate and vote up or down on policy bills (we were just two votes short)...
If you want a Senate that will boldly accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy so we can save our planet for humanity...
If you want a Senate that will confirm President Biden's nominees and guarantee that Mitch McConnell cannot steal another Supreme Court seat...
Then please donate now and generously to my Blue Wave Project to save the Senate.
And then volunteer to make calls, knock on doors, and drive voter turnout.
We must act with ferocious determination to save our nation.
Onward.
