“With Donald Trump struggling in the polls, Democrats now are eagerly contemplating the possibility that the November presidential election could deliver the party unified control of the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives for the first time since 2009. But that excitement is tempered by the recognition that under any scenario, Republicans will almost certainly still control enough Senate seats to block most of the Democrats’ ambitious agenda through sustained filibusters” Ron Brownstein writes in The Atlantic.
“That prospect raises alarms among advocates for a broad range of causes, including climate change and immigration reform. But after this spring’s nationwide outpouring of protest following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, many Democrats believe that if the party wins unified control, issues of racial inequity and civil rights may create the greatest pressure yet to eliminate the filibuster. That pressure will only grow if, as many voices are already urging, Democrats brand some or all of their voting-rights agenda as a tribute to the civil-rights pioneer and longtime Representative John Lewis, who died on Friday.”