It’s surreal waking up and feeling mildly hopeful about politics for a change. I slept really badly last night — I think I was too revved up from watching the election results. A few thoughts:
a) I hate that we had to gerrymander California more, but it really seemed like the only option for fighting back. We may have to do more of it (though I think I saw yesterday that Kansas had dropped its plan to redistrict.)
Gerrymandering is one of the worst curses of American politics, and if we ever get to a point when we can get rid of all of it, and have neutral independent fair districts drawn across the country, that will do more to ensure democracy survives here than anything else I can think of.
Can we all get behind that? One person, one vote. Equal weight. Free and actually fair elections.
b) This is what the No Kings protests were for — talking to people, getting them motivated, getting them learning about candidates and issues, knocking on doors, voting and getting their neighbors to vote.
Voter turnout was tremendously high in New York and elsewhere, and I think you can trace a direct line from the growing protests to voter turnout. I mean, you can also draw a direct line from Trump’s actions to voter turnout, but the protests helped shape and define our response, and helped keep Americans from just giving in to despair. This fight isn’t over yet.
Now we have to continue to grow this energy as we head towards the mid-terms. That’s our first real chance to take our country back onto a sane path. When’s the next protest? I want to mark my calendar.
c) I think the policy change I’m most excited about right now is Mamdani’s plan to bring universal childcare to New York City. Years ago, when my kids were little, I researched childcare options, and found (to my surprise) that state daycares were actually giving better results in terms of child safety and health than having grandparents watch the kids.
And of course, in this economy, it’s increasingly difficult to have one parent stay home with the children — most American families need both parents to work. But often the majority of the second parents’ income is sucked up into childcare costs. There’s so much potential for families, especially women — who often take a major career hit if they decide to stay home for a few years with small children — to improve their lives with universal childcare.
Cost: The estimated annual cost for universal childcare in New York City is around $12 billion — that’s a lot, but the city can afford it, and not having it costs the city more in lost revenue and workforce participation. This is a case where investing funds should pay off big, in the not-so-long term.
Mamdani’s proposal suggests starting with expanding options for 2-year-olds, who are often in private programs. Step by step. Let’s go!
Please consider this an open thread for discussion of yesterday’s results! Per usual, the standard rules apply on my wall — argue the ideas as much as you want, no personal attacks. I’ll add that random drive-by MAGA-type comments that look like bots will probably just be deleted as I get a chance, so don’t feel like you need to respond to any of those.