Mitch McConnell's democracy-crushing smirk is why just getting rid of Trump isn't enough

It's pointless to ask "why" about Mitch McConnell. The only question that matters going into 2020 is "how" -- How can McConnell be stopped? In the long term, his rise and his unholy reign pose hard questions about the very nature of American democracy and its foundation whether the constitutional checks and balances of a Senate that gives citizens in Wyoming so much more power than their fellow Americans in California makes sense in today's world.

But McConnell's assault on democracy can also be stopped in the short run. For starters, the Senate majority leader is up for reelection in 2020, and even if you don't live or vote in Kentucky, any American can donate or volunteer to help his election opponents. But even if that falls short, Democrats can end McConnell's reign as leader and make sure he's not thwarting the replacements for aging Supreme Court justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer with a net gain of three or four Senate seats.

For anyone who cares about keeping liberty alive, beating McConnell next year is every bit as important as beating Trump. That's why it's so frustrating that the elites of the Democratic Party don't seem to get it. Rather than making a reclamation of the Senate the national moral crusade that it needs to be, the allure of the Trumpian reality show has sucked the top tier of potential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Julian Castro of Texas, Steve Bullock of Montana and Stacey Abrams of Georgia into the presidential race or related pursuits. Vanity and shortsightedness could leave a President Warren or Harris or Biden one vote short in 2021 of the progress that their voters demanded.

The only good news is that the 2020 general election is still 16 months away plenty of time for the Democrats and concerned voters to shift gears, make the Senate a priority, keep liberty alive ... and wipe the smirk off Mitch McConnell's face.

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