Crockett, though, is deep in the fight when we speak. Her main worry isn’t the potential impact to her own political power, but something much more expansive. The Texas fight, in her mind, is yet another canary in the coal mine that indicates how much we are sliding toward authoritarianism.
“I’m concerned about the people that I serve,” she says. “I’m concerned about them not having the representation that they’re entitled to, the representation they thought they were getting. I’m concerned about that. I’m concerned about the number of people…who deserve better, who did nothing wrong, to be shitted on.”
But while the Texas Democrats’ fight was ultimately unsuccessful in changing the outcome of the redistricting, they were victorious in another, powerful way. As a New York Times op-ed put it, “They lost, but they lost loudly.” Their fight became a cause celebre for the left, with powerful Democratic governors like California’s Gavin Newsom and Illinois’ JB Pritzker joining the cause and many cheering them on.
It was exactly the type of move that many Democratic constituents have been pleading with their elected officials to make, often to no avail. Crockett shares their frustrations.
“Democrats are still not equipped for the fight that has come to our doorsteps,” she says of her colleagues in Congress. “We still want to believe in the rule of law. We still want to believe that there are rules to be playing by. But with every passing day, [Trump]’s breaking new rules, breaking new laws, breaking new norms, all in the name of power.”
She’s not sure what else it will take to demonstrate to her colleagues that playing by the rules is no longer an option.
“I think it’s very clear that regardless of how much lipstick you put on these ugly pigs of bills that he’s passing, they still will just be pigs and [Republicans] know it and they don’t want to be held accountable,” she says. “They’re cheating. And I don’t know that Democrats are really ready to go toe to toe with a bunch of scumbag cheaters.”
I ask her the question that so many on social media are perpetually screaming when it comes to this issue—why? Why do so many Democratic representatives insist on sticking with decorum, finger-wagging instead of, as Crockett puts it, focusing on the burning house?
It’s pretty simple, she thinks. For whatever reason, a lot of her peers aren’t ready to meet the moment. When it comes to actually looking the threat in the eyes, they hesitate. They continue to believe that if they are role models for what a “good” politician looks like, Republicans will fall in line.
“They are not recognizing that [Republicans] couldn’t care less,” she says. “That the Republicans have decided that their model is a 34-count convicted felon who is and has been held liable for sexual abuse.”
She adds: “That’s crazy. It’s insane. So I mean, anybody that tries to act like we’ve got to do our jobs, and that looks like just sitting here, is truly delusional.”
