As the fourth straight narrow special election loss sinks in, it is obvious that we as a party need to go on the offensive. The working class voters, with pre-exiting conditions galore, who voted Republican (again) made a mistake. This is a mistake which may end in tragedy for them, but most working class white voters have made the same mistake for decades. It is as obvious as dog's balls who they should vote for, but who thinks they'll start getting it right in 2018? Perhaps our defensive posture to save the safety net is too dull? Perhaps they don't believe Republicans will pull the trigger on health insurance? Perhaps living in an anti-elite, racist, reality show is just too much fun? Whatever, protecting the safety net, social programs, and health coverage isn't enough to get their votes. We need a forward proposal.
Russia has attacked our democracy. This attack was far worse than terrorism because it is fundamental to who we are. Whether or not Trump will be prosecuted for collusion and/or for anything else, Russia needs to be punished. I propose that we freeze a significant number of Russia’s financial assets--a much greater number of assets than we did in 2014, which was targeted to people close to Putin. I am aware that Corker and Cardin have proposed legislation, but I want to go beyond a watered-down bipartisan effort than Trump will influence. To me, this is a punishment that fits the crime. NATO countries might join us. If Putin isn't forced to pay for his crime, why wouldn't he do it again?
In addition to the satisfaction of meting out a just punishment, there are several political advantages that come out of protecting our country. Trump will be more obviously exposed as a traitor, and will go on an even more epic, self-incriminating twitter-bender. It will likely cost him millions in wealth. Several of his projects may be starved of the laundered Russian money. He’ll be exposed as a poor negotiator. When confronted with our proposal, Republican legislators will try to softly backpedal--it'll become our issue. We get to wave the damn flags this time! And it won't require raising taxes. Some Republicans might like it, and join with us, ruining unity for them.
This proposal gives us something else to run on. It is easy to understand and likely to be popular. Imagine if we had armed any of our special election candidates with this proposal. During the special election debates it would have come up. When their candidates equivocated on freezing assets, our candidate would've turned to them and say, 'sir/ma'am, it sounds like you are sweet on Putin'. Or soft on Russia. Bet we would've won.
PS Yes, there are political benefits to my proposal. But make no mistake, I believe we need to punish Russia for our country. Country First!