Getty IN THE ARENA Gorsuch Is a Test for Democrats in the Trump Era Will they stand up tall, or let Republicans roll over them once again?

David Brock is founder of Media Matters for America, American Bridge 21st Century and Correct the Record.

Twenty-four years ago, I was at the center of the action as the organized right refused to accept the outcome of the 1992 presidential election. Nominally a journalist for The American Spectator, I was hired as part of a concerted effort to wreck Bill Clinton’s presidency. Our goal was to sink Clinton’s approval ratings for the midterms and subvert progressive governance.

Now Democrats are taking a surprise turn as stalwarts of resistance, and I’m again on the front lines. Only this time, the opposition is about small-d democratic principles, not reflexive partisanship. Democrats are standing up to the Trump administration’s dangerous impulses and wanton malfeasance. But a key test lies ahead: On Monday, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will raise his right hand before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democratic opposition must hold.


Republicans are an excellent opposition force. In 2009, they demonstrated their prowess as the party of ‘no,’ thwarting President Barack Obama at every turn and reaping electoral rewards for it in 2010, a devastating setback to the progressive agenda. The GOP thrives on obstruction, not governing; consider George W. Bush’s epic failures in Iraq or on Wall Street, or the chaos currently unfolding over Trumpcare.

Donald Trump’s election posed the most important test the modern Democratic Party has faced: Could Democrats, shut out of all three branches of government, become an effective opposition party?

Based on history, I had my doubts. Even though the 2000 election was effectively stolen by a politically motivated Supreme Court, Democrats did little to resist Bush’s first-term agenda; too many caved and supported his signature blunder in Iraq. It wasn't until 2005, after John Kerry’s razor-thin loss, that Democrats finally found their mojo, rallying to beat back Social Security privatization.

Personal experience also left me dubious. On the day after the 2016 election, informally representing “Clinton world,” I was asked to meet with a prominent Democratic elected official and encourage them to run for party chair. I was dismayed when this person demurred, saying now was a time for an olive branch, not the kind of partisan attacks that would be expected of a DNC chair.

A few weeks later, while planning a conference on resurgence strategies for progressives, a high-profile Democratic donor told me that it was too soon to resist Trump because we had to wait and see how he would govern. I told him he was wrong and to call me in a month when he realized it. I’m still waiting for my phone to ring.

The left just doesn't have many happy warriors. Liberals believe in government. They’re inclined to do something. The Democratic Party’s DNA predisposes it not to fight, but to cooperate and compromise, in the earnest belief that we really can all get along. And Democrats normally show deference to the office of the president.

In the first days of the Trump administration, the Democrats’ worst instincts were on full display. Congressional Democrats’ naïve talk of working with Trump on infrastructure sickened me. I doubted our party leadership was up to the task at hand. I feared that their natural tendency to appease and accommodate even their sworn political enemies would carry the day.

Well, I was wrong.

Democrats have rightly reached the conclusion that there is no good in Trump—not an ounce of empathy or an unselfish fiber. They see that you can’t negotiate with a tyrant-in-the-making and have decided to show Trump the same level of deference he gave Obama. And, thanks to the groundswell of progressive activism, congressional Democrats know there will be no reward at the polls for enabling Trump.

Unlike the Republicans of 1993 and 2009, the Democrats of 2017 have valid reasons to question Trump’s legitimacy. From the mounting evidence of Russian interference, to FBI Director Comey’s late-stage intervention that experts say cost Hillary the presidency, Trump lacks any mandate, let alone one for radical change. Democrats won the majority of votes cast in November, and here’s the funny thing—contrary to my expectations, they’re acting like it.

Democrats have creatively used the levers at their disposal to oppose Trump and his agenda. The first sign of steeliness came before Trump even took the oath of office, when Rep. John Lewis, a Civil Rights hero, refused to attend the inauguration. Then came a wall of resistance to Trump’s Cabinet nominees; Democrats in the Senate like Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill have grilled nominees, revealing their right-wing zealotry and utter lack of qualifications. Likewise, despite Al Franken’s dogged questioning, Jeff Sessions failed to disclose his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Moving forward, we can’t let up. Democrats must keep working to keep Trump unpopular for the midterms, slow down his nefarious agenda and check his authoritarian instincts. But rather than fabricating scandals like Republicans did with Whitewater or conspiracy theories like “birtherism,” Democrats will keep Trump unpopular by educating voters about his broken promises, flagrant constitutional violations and troubling ties to a hostile foreign power.

Democrats must maintain the discipline and tenacity that has been so surprising these past few months. Denying Neil Gorsuch the Supreme Court seat that Republicans stole from Merrick Garland is the best way yet for Democrats to prove their newfound mettle.