Hopefully today marks a turning point in American politics. Of course there have been many in just over 70 days since the Trump government was elected and most of them…not good. Today was different.
I could point to the seemingly endless ways Trump is trying to upend democracy and the rule of law, or the callous and arrogant way he is dealing with [former] allies, or the cutting of foreign aid that saved lives, including the lives of children in poverty stricken nations that rely on American dollars in life and death situations.
Or we could discuss the hundreds of thousands of civil servants who were, and will be, tossed aside on the scrap heap by DOGE, mocked and ridiculed at the maniacal chainsaw wielding, clown show, put on by Trump mega donor and oligarch Elon Musk who just happens to make billions off taxpayer funded, government contracts. The irony is deep and rich indeed.
Just last week we all witnessed incredible and unprecedented security breaches by Trump’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Security Advisor Mike Walz who posted strike plans on commercial app Signal hours before the attack, putting pilots and field agents in grave danger.
Perhaps threats to invade neighbours and sovereign countries, abandon Ukraine and Europe or make Taiwan pay for defence against behemoth China is all in a day’s work for this current US government…constant drama, headlines, fear mongering…all in the short span of just over two months.
But today was different. Today was a turning point when we witnessed voters disregard Maga populist rhetoric and the lure of millions of dollars, to cast their ballot for the candidate who couldn’t be bought and send a powerful message to the oligarchs that democracy is not for sale. In Wisconsin, state Supreme Court judge Susan Crawford won her election against Brad Schimel in a race awash with big money donations that shattered spending records.
This included Elon Musk’s donation amounting to $20 million to Schimel and his attempts to repeat his 2024 election ‘lottery’, a thinly disguised attempt to ‘buy’ a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. Why?
According to the New Yorker Musk’s company Tesla filed an application with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to open four dealerships in the state. The State denied the application due to a law which bars car manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. “A week before Musk first posted about the race, Tesla filed a suit challenging the law.”
Just before the election Musk appeared at a rally for Schimel, appearing in a triangular cheese shaped hat, apparently invincible, sure that his status as the richest man in the world (apparently), meant he could do anything he wanted with impunity. He was attempting the unthinkable, trying to buy a state Supreme Court seat seemingly to influence his own affairs.
However the electorate had other plans. In unprecedented voter turnout, the Liberal leaning judge Susan Crawford won election despite Musk’s money and influence. The voter turnout was so strong, they ran out of ballots at one point.
”Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court,‘’ Crawford said in her victory speech. ‘’And Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price, our courts are not for sale,” judge Crawford said.
Wisconsin, a swing state, also sent a message, loud and clear, to the Trump government which has been surrounded by Musk and big money since election day: hands off our democracy.
It’s the tip of the iceberg of course. Money in politics is the norm regardless of Musk…indeed every country has its oligarchs closely aligned with governing power. Nevertheless today in Wisconsin marked a shift and showed a glimpse of awareness that populism is often the oligarchy revving up the masses only to profit themselves off the people they’ve conned.
Let’s hope this is the start of something big, a groundswell that enlightens and inspires rather than disappoints and deflates. Democracy depends on those willing to vote for it.