Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the week’s events with Editorial Page editor Tom Moran.
Q. A decade after 20 children were murdered in Sandy Hook, here we are again, with 19 children killed in Texas. A question on the political stalemate we face: Will Republicans at some point pay a price for blocking gun safety measures that have overwhelming public support, like background checks?
Julie: Republicans haven’t paid a price yet for their worship at the altar of the gun lobby because they know that if past is prologue, we will wring our hands until the news cycle moves on to cover the next outrage. The facts are staring us in the face: In 2019, the United States had the most guns per capita of any nation on earth and the most gun deaths of any nation on earth. If the Supreme Court rules that there is a constitutional protection for an 18-year-old – or anyone – to buy assault weapons, we need to change the constitution. Once upon a time, we had a constitutional right to enslave Black people and I hope we all agree that amending the constitution to eradicate that travesty was the right thing to do. As Cardinal Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, said recently, “The Second Amendment did not come down from Sinai.” I, for one, am sick and tired of having the nagging fear in the back of my mind that something may happen to my son when he goes to school or to the movies because our leaders are too feckless to act. I am sure that I am not alone in living like that.
Mike: As former GOP Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, this is not what the founding fathers envisioned. James Madison did not believe he was guaranteeing a mentally unstable teenager the right to buy body armor and high-capacity military weapons with the intent to slaughter 10-year-olds as the price to pay keep the British Army at bay. There must be a way to protect the Second Amendment while protecting school children. This is a colossal failure of adults to protect children, and there is little that could be more shameful in life. Many Republicans (and some Democrats) have taken an absolutist view, simply refusing to act on common-sense reforms to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally unstable. It’s okay to change one’s position here. We did not have nearly as many mass shootings 25 years ago as we have now. Law-abiding gun owners want their kids safe and want guns kept away from those would use them irresponsibly. We can have background checks, a national database of gun sales, a ban on high-capacity weapons, and closing of the gun show loophole without taking away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
Q. Gov. Phil Murphy called out Republican lawmakers by name and urged a vote on their gun proposals, citing Assemblyman John DiMaio on decriminalizing hollow-point bullets, Sen. Ed Durr on allowing high-capacity gun clips, Sen. Mike Doherty on allowing guns in churches, and Assemblyman Ron Dancer on concealed carry. “Let the people of New Jersey see who votes yes,” the governor said. Thoughts?
Julie: New Jersey has among the strongest gun laws in the nation but if the governor feels that more needs to be done, he should stop pounding the lectern and call a special session of the legislature immediately. Just to be clear, Phil Murphy – today – has the power to force a vote on additional gun safety measures. He has the power to call legislators into session every single day this summer until they take that vote. He can skip his summer vacation in Europe and sweat it out in Trenton with the legislature for as long as it takes to get it done. Saying all the right things at a press conference is easy. Leadership is hard.
Mike: Julie’s right that New Jersey has among the toughest gun laws in the country. Let’s not act like we are Texas where their governor has been gleefully rolling back any restrictions. In Texas they will ban books but not bullets. None of the aforementioned proposals by those Republicans is going anywhere in New Jersey right now. New Jersey has actually long been in a reasonable spot where the rights of law-abiding citizens is balanced with public safety.
Q. Donald Trump suffered bruising defeats in Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp won by over 50 points, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won by nearly 20 points, enough to avoid a runoff. Those two blocked Trump’s attempt to overturn the election results, making them the chief targets of what Chris Christie calls Trump’s “personal vendetta tour.” Is Trump losing his grip on the party?
Julie: To be clear, Brian Kemp is not some hero. He has worked overtime to disenfranchise voters in Georgia in order to protect his own political future, just like Trump has tried to do. In some ways, what is happening to the Republican Party today is more frightening than before. I once believed the fever would break if Trump left the scene. Today, it’s clearer than ever that Trumpism will long outlast Trump and I have no idea what it will take to end it.
Mike: Stacey Abrams and Donald Trump have something in common. They both lost Georgia and refuse to accept the results. Such bipartisan agreement is rare today in politics. Let’s celebrate it. Trump’s endorsement is still powerful, but clearly diminishing. Even in states where his candidates are winning tough races, they are getting around one-third of the vote, meaning two-thirds of voters are looking past the endorsement or voting against it. In Georgia, Trump’s candidate for governor lost by 50. 50! It’s hard to lose by 50. I was glad to see Gov. Christie, VP Pence and many others in Georgia campaigning for Kemp. For all the criticism of Kemp, he stood up to Trump in 2020 when it mattered most.
Q. Cook Political Report this week said 10 House races have moved in favor of Republicans, due mostly to independent voters concerned about inflation. “Any Democrat sitting in a single-digit Biden seat (or a Trump seat) is at severe risk,” Cook said. They predict Republicans will pick up between 20 and 35 seats. Does that sound about right to you?
Julie: I’ve long said that New Jersey’s elections last year were the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the nation. Even in a state like ours, with its huge Democratic voter advantage, the governor almost lost and Democrats lost legislative seats across the board. Since then, the economic situation has darkened even further. That is no fault of President Biden, but he is in charge and so that is whom voters will blame.
Mike: That prediction sounds about right. The gains for Republicans may be even higher, like 1994 and 2010. Gerrymandering will limit some losses for Democrats, but the House is as good as gone.
Q. A fresh AP poll find that 1 in 3 Americans believe an effort is underway to replace U.S.-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gain, the replacement theory promoted by Tucker Carlson and embraced by several of the killers in recent mass murderers, including the one in Buffalo. But two-thirds believe diversity makes the country stronger. What do you make of that?
Julie: The only immigrants who have come to this country to advance a political party’s electoral gain are Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, whose network and associated media companies exist to promote ridiculous conspiracy theories and bring them to into the mainstream of the Republican Party. E pluribus unum has been on the Great Seal of the United States since the 18th century. We used to take pride in being a melting pot and a beacon for the tired and poor from other nations. Today, people like Tucker Carlson, who I can assure you really does believe this crazy stuff based on my many discussions with him, are leading viewers down a dangerous path that will cause more violence and division.
Mike: The great replacement theory is a hoax, and it’s simply a new name for an old political blame game. We are a country of immigrants that has too often rejected immigrants throughout our history. The politics of resentment, fear and division were practiced in this country long before Fox News came along. I am hopeful one day we will look for the best in each other, rather than the worst. Perhaps we could realize there’s more that unites us than divides us, that we have more in common than we admit. But empathy and understanding don’t get TV ratings or web clicks. Immediately believing the worst in others is a terrible trait exacerbated by cable TV and social media.
Q. Finally, our own Julie Roginsky has been put on the Kremlin’s enemies list, barred forever from traveling to Russia. For those who don’t know, Julie was born in Russia and came here as a refugee at the age of six. Julie, how do you feel about this?
Julie: I feel honored. The Kremlin already did everything it could to me a long time ago. It made me a stateless refugee and deprived me of my childhood way too soon. It kept me from the grandparents who raised me from birth and tortured two elderly people by separating them from their only child and grandchild for a decade. But it also forced me to learn early on that there are few things in life more important than speaking out against injustice, even if it gets you on the wrong side of powerful people. If I have upset a despot whose mission in life is to reconstitute the Soviet Union by invading foreign countries and oppressing and murdering his own people, I am just fine with it. One day, sooner than he thinks, Putin will be gone, and I will see Russia again. Count on it.
Mike: Within the span of one year, Julie has been honored at the White House and condemned by the Kremlin. I could think of no better summation of an American life of consequence well lived. Hats off to my Star-Ledger sparring partner. Julie is a badass.
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