Jon Gabriel

Special to The Republic

Hillary Clinton is back, this time denouncing civility.

Talking with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour this week, she defended the unprecedented protests, threats and harassment that roiled the Brett Kavanaugh nomination.

“You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about,” Clinton said. “That’s why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again.”

In other words, sure, we’re acting like toddlers now, but we’ll be grown-ups once we’re in charge.

It’s true that Democrats took a heavy blow when the Senate approved Kavanaugh’s promotion to the high court. For the first time in two generations, the Supreme Court has an originalist majority. These conservatives actually believe that the judiciary is only there to determine if laws are constitutional or not and that it isn’t their place to legislate from the bench.

Why Dems lost the battle on Kavanaugh

Contra Hillary, this wasn’t the result of mass incivility by Republicans or illegal appointments of black-robed reactionaries. Conservatives won this battle through shrewd, long-term planning that goes back decades.

One of the reasons Democrats lost the Kavanaugh battle, however, was their frenzied reaction to the bland jurist with bipartisan appeal and the highest rating from the left-leaning American Bar Association.

Moderate Republicans and independents closely watched the three-ring Senate hearings, mobs of screaming protesters chasing politicians out of restaurants, and ludicrous allegations of drug rings and gang rape. For the most part, they decided, these people are ridiculous.

The current conservative majority on the Supreme Court started back in the 1980s with the creation of The Federalist Society. They built a network of lawyers and judges who actually believed the Constitution meant what it said and, over the years, provided a stable of originalist jurists.

After years of quiet, sober and very hard work, today the group is recommending accomplished, vetted judges to President Trump. So far, a staggering 69 judges have been confirmed by the Senate for the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals and District Courts.

Up next: An assault on the Electoral College?

The Democratic reaction to all this has been hysteria, and not just from the mob banging on the Supreme Court’s bronze doors.

Democratic Socialist candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez insists we must pour some white-out on Article II.

“It is well past time we eliminate the Electoral College,” she said, “a shadow of slavery’s power on America today that undermines our nation as a democratic republic.”

Leading progressive outlets like The New Yorkerand Vox are also wringing their hands over the electoral college, but both agree it’s only part of the problem.

“[T]he Republican Party has relied not just on the quirks of the Electoral College,” John Cassidy wrote in The New Yorker, “but also on another electoral body that was designed to limit majority rule: the U.S. Senate, where the 1.7 million residents of Idaho receive the same number of representatives as the 39.5 million residents of California.”

The Electoral College and the US Senate are not “quirks” – they’ve been the rules of the game for 230 years. Democrats know this. They’ve just decided it’s too tough to play by them.

Why not try to appeal to all voters?

Republicans have and, as a result, hold the White House, both houses of Congress, 33 state governorships, 31 state legislatures and now a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

Instead of dressing up in costumes, interrupting hearings or screaming in Senate elevators, progressives should focus on the boring, difficult work of civilly appealing to American voters in all 50 states.

Perhaps, in a few decades, they’ll finally beat the GOP at this game.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @exjon.

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