This really seemed obvious to me.

That's right. Politics. Because whether or not you want to deal with politics, politics wants to deal with you.

Dear Senator Begich,

Jim DeMint has announced that he plans to filibuster all Senate business until January, so that the government will shut down until Republicans are back in power.

            This fact should be an enormous gift. Republicans have said, again and again, that they want America to fail during this administration. Republicans have made a record number of filibusters. They have stalled an unprecedented number of appointments.

            Americans hate the partisan poison that has infected this country. Republicans have deliberately created it. The media feeds off it. Pundits are afraid to blame anyone for it (except for Fox News, who create it and then blame Democrats.) Using their own statements, you can prove that Republicans are responsible for stalling the machinery that keeps this country working. In our darkest hour, Republicans put partisanship first, and discarded their countrymen.

            I know you think you know this already, but respectfully, I think that rather than fighting against partisanship, you are playing along with it, or trying to ignore it. That strategy won’t win.

            Republican partisanship is a danger to all Americans. Make no mistake, Republicans do not care if our economy is robust, as much as they care that the powerful stay powerful. They would prefer stagnation to losing their status. A tea partier worries that he might count a Mexican as an equal in the job market. A corporate donor worries that he may have to improve performance to compete with small businesses, rather than just buying competitors. Our economy suffers as corporations manipulate laws to smother their competition.

            You're an Alaskan. We're tougher up here. I urge you to rally your party to grow a spine. If you don't hold Republicans accountable for the poison they inject into the campaign system, if you don't make partisan obstruction a political liability, then it you reward it. If Democrats tolerate this poison, they encourage it, perhaps paralyzing America in the process.

            In 1976, hockey in the NHL was a dirty game, led by the Broad Street Bullies, from Philly. Once the Flyers had some rings on their fingers, teams stocked up on goons, to emulate the Stanley Cup winners. But one team resisted. The Montreal Canadians were fast and talented, and size was not their first priority. They still had enforcers, though. In game two of the 1976 Stanley Cup Semis, Philadelphia’s Gary Doernhorfer raced over the Montreal blue line with the puck, bearing down on the goal. He thought he had enough space to score. Montreal’s Larry Robinson hammered him into the boards so hard the wood broke. That one hit changed hockey forever. Montreal won the Stanley Cup for the next few years, and teams emulated their fast style of play, paving the way for Wayne Gretzky and the early 1980s Islanders. Had Philadelphia won the ‘76 Stanley Cup, the age of skilled, fast hockey might not have emerged, and goons would have ruled. Wayne Gretzky, a skinny 17 year old kid, would have looked dubious, and he might have lacked a team to compliment his playing style. Instead, two decades of the most exciting hockey in history followed, all because when it counted, Robinson hit hard.

            This is that kind of moment. Hit Republicans for their dishonesty, obstruction, and partisanship. If Democrats win using facts and stressing integrity, like Obama did in ’08, facts become the dominate political style for the next decade. Republicans have a vast vulnerability—the truth. Their own dirtiness is their greatest weakness. Hit them hard. Democrats can win this election, win back popular appeal, and use your majority to put America back to work. If you fail to hit while Republicans are still vulnerable, Republicans will stall this country into a mess that no one can fix. In desperate times, we need swift action, not partisan deadlock. Make obstruction a liability.

            I'm asking you to pass this advice to Senators, Congressmen, and the DNC.

            I urge you to lead Democrats to vote bravely--for middle class tax cuts but not wealthy tax cuts, for disclosure laws about campaign finance, to limit the monopoly power of banks and other big business. And I urge you, and all Democrats, to seek victory by shifting American opinion to the left, rather than inching your actions to the right. Every possible fact, from economics to partisanship to corporate recklessness to government corruption, is a fact in your arsenal. Use the facts to promote a culture of results over ideology. Use the truth like a warrior for the American people. You may never get another chance.

   

Thank you for serving our country.

Sincerely,