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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Megan Romer

No, ‘playing dead’ is the last thing Democrats should be doing

Nancy Pelosi makes a grimace in front of a US flag
‘What does that mean for you? It’s time for you to get organized.’ Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

In a recent New York Times Op-Ed, Democratic super-consultant James Carville boldly called for “the most radical thing [Democrats] can do” – nothing at all. Standing over the putrefying carcass of three-day-old road kill, thinking we don’t notice the fur sticking to the bumper of his F-150, this man is pointing at the rotting heap and screaming “Don’t move!”

His argument is simple and incredibly dangerous: give the Republicans enough rope to hang themselves and they will do it. Their inability to govern, he argues, is self-evident and when they shut down enough social programs, people will notice and Democrats can swoop in and save the day.

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