On a recent weeknight, I got home from work after a long day as a member of Portland’s City Council. At 28, I’m one of the youngest councilors in Portland’s history. I came from grassroots organizing, anti-hunger policy work, and I’m the first city councilor to have experienced homelessness. I am also the only immigrant currently serving.
Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take
Between everything happening at the federal and local level, it was a hard week. I put on my sweats, kissed my cat, turned on the fairy lights, and laid on the couch to doomscroll (as is my tradition). That’s when I saw a video from Attorney Martinez, an immigration attorney who has more than 2 million followers on TikTok, about the Laken Riley Act. The bill would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to detain and deport undocumented immigrants accused of a crime before they’ve had a trial.
Out of curiosity I looked up how my representatives voted. I assumed, as most did, that I shouldn’t even have to check: The one Republican representing Oregon would vote in favor and all the Democrats would vote no. Right? Wrong!
A junior Democrat, Janelle Bynum, whose seat we had worked tirelessly to flip from red to blue, had voted in favor of the bill that would strip undocumented immigrants of due process and increase racial profiling.
My jaw dropped.
In response I made a TikTok informing Oregonians about how their newly elected Democrat had failed immigrants. That video went viral.
TikTok content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Seemingly countless comments flooded in from constituents who’d been unaware of Bynum’s vote. Some of these people said they had written letters for her campaign and knocked on doors to get out the vote. They did everything “good Democrats” are supposed to do, only to end up with a representative who voted similarly to her Republican predecessor.
From Janelle Bynum to John Fetterman, Democrats are suffering from an identity crisis. Too many members of our party are guided only by feckless centrism and an allegiance to norms and bipartisanship that cannot withstand the rise of fascism in the United States.
In response to my video, I received an influx of praise from Oregonians, grateful to anyone for speaking out. I also received backlash from well-connected party insiders and politicians, displeased that I wasn’t “holding the party line.”
To the old guard, “holding the line” means massaging the egos of powerful people within your party, even when they vote to harm vulnerable communities. These politicos finger wag at young leftists, and insist our leaders allow us to sacrifice certain communities to keep their seats, even as our institutions crumble before us.
With fascism on the rise, Democrats need a new vision for holding the line.
1. Decorum is dead
Say goodbye to decorum as usual. Democrats are accustomed to doing things by the book, legally and performatively. For fear of coming off as too hardline or unreasonable, the party capitulates to the status quo even as the status quo hurtles us toward authoritarianism. An unelected billionaire performed what many of us understood to be a Nazi salute on the world’s highest stage. The veneer of civility has been stripped away. Republicans aren’t following the rules; they’re wielding raw power to overwhelm any obstacle in their way — and Democrats need to match them in approach.
2. Wield every tool
Democrats love following rules. So let’s encourage the party to use them to their advantage! This is the time to wield every parliamentary tool possible. Just a single “no” vote can hamstring the Senate’s fast-track approval process. Grind the Senate to a halt with quorum calls. Block unanimous consent. Filibuster till you fall asleep standing up. The right-wing agenda is intended to inflict harm; Democrats need to do everything they can to slow it down.
3. Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct
Senators, pause your book talks. Cancel dinner plans. You were elected to serve your country and the stakes are as high as they get.
