'Introduce their a$$ to the basement’: Red state Dem plugs tough new approach

Clay Wirestone, Kansas Reflector
17 February
Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, questions Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, R-Ottawa, during an April 2024 debate in the House.

The words speak for many, not just in the cities and towns and rural communities of Kansas, but across the nation.

“What is wrong with the Democratic party of which I am a member? Where do I begin. I’ve said since my arrival in Topeka that the party doesn’t know how to fight.”

These words come from an extraordinary open letter by Wichita Rep. Ford Carr, a forceful presence in Topeka. Carr was in the headlines last month after his heated dispute with Wichita City Councilman Brandon Johnson at a Topeka pub. Carr subsequently left his role as ranking Democrat on two committees. The letter offers his version of recent events and challenges the party to take a more aggressive stance.

To hear Carr tell it, he didn’t want to be on those committees anyway.

“I sought this separation weeks ago for myriad reasons including my party’s brand of vapid party leadership that I could no longer stomach.”

I’m not interested in litigating Democrat-on-Democrat disputes. I’ve been around enough politics in my life to know that tempers and emotions run high in the halls of power, and each person with a set of eyes and ears experiences the same events differently. I enjoyed my pre-session interview with House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard and cannot begin to imagine his challenges.

Yet the core of Carr’s message has little to do with such conflicts.

It’s about what Democratic politicians — and anyone with progressive or centrist or mildly conservative values — need to do in a moment of governmental crisis. It’s about how to react to a government that has become so untethered from the wishes of the people that it actively serves to harm the health, wealth and institutions of citizens.

“It is apparent that the presidential election did not work out as we Democrats had planned, but what of our local and state elections? Our party not only failed to eliminate the super majority but in fact watched Republicans pad that majority. I believe that when you get hit, you should hit back twice as hard. At this point, my philosophy should be clear on more than one level. The optics of hitting back may not be the most pleasant, but someone, somewhere in this party must summon the courage to do more, risk more, and fight harder than we have. We must stand our ground rather than weakly wagging our fingers and declaring, ‘shame on you.’ ”

Those opposed to extremism desperately want a voice. They want someone to step up and embody their outrage. At the state level, they want someone to shout about school vouchers and civil rights and tax cuts for the rich. At the federal level, they want someone to bellow from atop a car that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are strip mining the federal government and dynamiting civil service.

And yes, they know that Democrats don’t have their hands on the levers of power. But that’s the point. If you don’t have formal political power, you have to turn to rhetoric and persuasion. You have to speak up, speak loudly and speak often.

Vermont Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders gets it. I was skeptical of Sanders a decade ago. I lived and worked in New Hampshire and sat through an editorial board meeting with the man. Sanders made a fervent case but hadn’t quite crafted a compelling national message.

He has now. Regardless of ideology, he shows exactly the spirit that Carr writes about.

Lawmakers can be blunt and outspoken without crossing the line into regrettable rhetoric. They can fight with words, not fists.

This pugnacious approach serves two main purposes. First, it gives an outlet to discontented voters. Much as the Tea Party movement mobilized discouraged Republicans in the wake of Barack Obama’s election in 2008, robust messaging would allow progressives a way to rediscover their bonds and nascent political power.

Second, such speech attracts new voters. Any political coalition must look to grow and expand. If Democrats and progressives were guilty of one main sin over the past two decades, it would be instituting a series of purity tests — pushing folks to use certain vocabulary and adopt certain positions with little explanation. An inclusive new approach would allow the party to chart a new course with new supporters. Especially those who voted for Trump to lower the cost of living, not enact a purge against Black people.

No, aggression doesn’t play well with everyone. Given the relative popularity of some of Trump’s recent moves, I can understand that Democratic leaders in Topeka and D.C. might want to keep their power dry. We have years to go.

But let others with different approaches try them out. What do Democrats, progressives, centrists or sane Republicans have to lose? At this point, all those opposed to Trump and MAGA-fied state government should welcome a bevy of approaches.

“This is the disconnect my party has in this state and nationwide. Our constituents want us to fight harder.

“My passion for my constituents and my love for the communities that I represent won’t allow me to cower. The time to ‘go high when they go low,’ has passed.

“When they go low, introduce their a$ to the basement. Our constituents deserve nothing less.”

Carr wants to fight.

Maybe, right here and right now, that’s not a bad idea.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

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