Providing Democrats with a long-awaited boost in energy, Tuesday liberal candidate Susan Crawford won a pivotal seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, despite heavy campaign spending by Elon Musk in support of her opponent. At the same time, Senator Cory Booker made Senate history by delivering the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber’s history, in protest of President Trump’s policies.
Alexander Livingston, is a professor of government at Cornell University and studies social movements. He says Booker’s protest is long-awaited “good trouble” within the Democratic Party.
“Booker’s speech was political protest at its best," said Livingston. "Equal parts media stunt and civic education, the speech did something the Democrats have consistently failed to do since the election: steal the spotlight from Trump and disrupt his power to set the terms of media attention. Protests prove effective, not when they change policy, but when they spark further protests.
"Booker’s speech may prove a critical catalyst in activating voters and provoking overly-cautions Democrats in Washington to connect with the raucous grassroots protests against cuts and illegal cuts and deportations we have been seeing across the country. This is the kind of good trouble American democracy needs right now," Livingston said.
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