Policy expert reveals MAGA 'endgame': A 'full-frontal assault' on democracy

08 February 2024

A long list of Democrats — as well as Never Trump conservatives like The Bulwark's Charlie Sykes, the Washington Post's Max Boot and former GOP strategist Tim Miller — have been warning that if Donald Trump wins the 2024 GOP presidential primary and defeats Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden in the general election, he will carry out a decidedly authoritarian agenda. And Trump, they warn, will be better able to do it than before because he will make a point of installing an army of unquestioning loyalists in the United States' federal government.

But history professor/author Nancy MacLean, in an article published by The New Republic on February 8, argues that Democrats need to do a lot more than bash Trump in their defense of U.S. democracy. They also need to show voters that the "radical right" in general is a threat to democratic values.

"Lurking behind the full-frontal assault by Donald Trump and his enablers lies a more far-reaching threat," MacLean warns. "If the Republicans gain control of both Houses of Congress, expect a state-authorized constitutional convention to eviscerate core rights and protections most Americans hold dear. Imagine living in a country without Social Security, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, the right to organize a union, civil rights enforcement, and clean air and water protections — let alone action to stop climate collapse."

According to the historian, Democrats should be "alerting every voter to what is in store for them if the radical right succeeds in its endgame to enchain American democracy."

MacLean notes that Mark Meckler, leader of the Convention of States project, has said that his goal is to "reverse 115 years of progressivism."

"That's big talk, 115 years," MacLean comments. "Think it can't be done? Although the convention push has been all but ignored by the commentariat and national Democratic leaders, it has powerhouse backing. The Koch network and other dark-money donors are generously funding it. The corporation-underwritten American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has supplied 'model legislation' and training to Republican state legislators. Endorsers include Mark Meadows, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Sean Hannity, and many more."

MacLean adds that "the only way to permanently entrench minority rule by plutocrats and theocrats" is to "encase it in a dramatically altered Constitution."

"But this is madness, you will say," MacLean writes. "These reactionaries could never get away with rewriting the Constitution! Except they could…. For the American people to realize how much is at stake will require vast and to-the-point popular education."

Read Nancy MacLean's full New Republic article at this link.

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