Illinois Gov. Pritzker has a valuable lesson for Idaho | Opinion

Truth be known, the condition of the republic doesn’t look so hot. Many Independents decided to vote for Trump because he wasn’t Kamala Harris.

They hoped he would turn around the economy, and he would do something about border security. Trump did something about border security all right, but it sure looks like he threw some citizens out of the country that hardly qualify as lawbreakers. As for the economy, his on-and-off-again tariffs are wreaking havoc with the nation’s economy, and he is dismantling the United States Constitution.

Democrats are wringing their hands over how to get things back on track and hold out some hope for the midterms in 2026, and then the big one in 2028. There are valiant efforts out there attracting record-breaking crowds, like those of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC. They drew a historic crowd in Idaho, but both are too far to the left to pick up those Trump voters.

Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech on the Senate floor railing against the injustice and unfairness of the Trump agenda inspired anyone who can see the damage Trump is doing to families across America, and Booker’s planned summer tour will keep the former football tight end gaining yardage, but his politics may also be a bit too far on the left.

It’s all about who can attract significant media coverage as today’s alternative to Trump, and who might be the perfect foil for the Republican candidate in 2028. Unless Trump croaks on the 13th hole of his golf course, he will still be wielding significant influence over the 2028 election, and the Dems’ loyal opposition better learn how to fight fire with fire.

Where does that leave us just over 100 days into Trump’s four-year term? Perhaps Idaho needs to reflect for a moment on how the Land of Lincoln, in this case, President Abraham Lincoln himself, came to Idaho’s rescue. That statue of Lincoln in front of the Capitol is there to remind Idahoans of its beginnings. It was Lincoln in 1862 who created the Idaho territory that would eventually become a state in 1890.

Who knows? Without Lincoln creating an Idaho space separate from neighboring territory, Idahoans today might be Oregonians or Washingtonians, where moderation in government is still alive and well.

From national media reports out of New Hampshire last weekend about a speech Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivered to Democrats searching for a new and courageous voice to counter the chaos of Trump’s first 100 days, it looks like the Land of Lincoln has another contribution to make to American politics. Pritzker was reelected in 2022 by a 12% margin. A businessman, philanthropist and billionaire member of the Hyatt family, he gave New Hampshire Democrats their money’s worth, but he also attracted national media attention as a possible contender for president who offers a glaring contrast to Trump.

Pritzker gave his fellow Democrats a piece of his mind by claiming “do-nothing political types” — Democrats, that is — are ceding power to the Republicans. In the toughest language on the political circuit yet, he attacked politicians “whose simpering timidity served as a kindle for the arsonists.” That dig sure sounds like Wall Street’s favorite Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is over the hill and should cede power to younger senators who have a future in the party. It might also fit Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Witmer, who has been criticized for making nice with Trump recently.

Pritzker saved most of his ire for Trump and Republicans who don’t have the good sense and the courage to stand up to the autocrat. He reminded the crowd of over 800 that Trump’s new crackdown on immigrants caused the arrest and deportation of three children under 8 years old who are citizens. He said it should be easy for Democrats to say, “It’s wrong to snatch a person off the street and ship them to a foreign gulag with no chance to defend themselves in a court of law.”

Trump’s Cabinet was not spared Pritzker’s ire. He described the health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, as “a weird nepo baby who once stashed a dead bear in the back seat of his car”. He called Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “a washed-up Fox TV commentator.”

Republicans reacted hysterically to Pritzker’s call to action for Democrats to take to the streets in mass protest so Republicans “cannot have a moment of peace.” Stephen Miller, one of the most dangerous architects of Trump’s efforts to replace the U.S. Constitution with one-man rule, said the governor’s remarks “could be construed as inciting violence.” They were not, but coming from Miller, who misconstrues the Constitution regularly, such falsehoods are unsurprising.

This is what drives Republican lackeys of Trump, like Idaho’s four members of Congress, crazy. It’s why they refuse to hold town meetings where they would have to explain their blind allegiance to someone Pritzker called a “madman.” Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher, do not want to see large numbers of their constituents show up at the town square or the Capitol lawn to make them out for who they are — cowardly pawns of a president gone rogue in the administration of his office.

Republicans fear any Democratic governor who has the intestinal fortitude to eviscerate Trump’s hollow claims about his first 100 days. And they really get nervous when a successful Democratic governor says, “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have.”

Pritzker is particularly dangerous to Trump and Republicans who fear moderate Republicans, independents and Democrats could reverse the damage done to the republic and return us to a functioning democracy. He is a public official who has proven his executive skills and his electability. Given how often Trump has falsely proclaimed his business acumen, Pritzker has the business experience to match Trump’s, and more.

Pritzker took off the gloves in New Hampshire, showing his genuine concern about the direction of the country and willing to rail against Trump and his agenda, which hits the working class and families hardest. It also hits the MAGA crowd where it hurts, in their seeming inability to understand that the Trump agenda hurts them the most.

I must admit that I have grown weary and fatalistic about the future of our democracy. The loyal opposition to Trump these days needs a shot of adrenaline and a fearless leader to use that adrenaline on Americans who are fed a regular diet of lies and distortions.

The Land of Lincoln has come through once again, just as President Lincoln did for Idaho in 1862. Here we are 173 years later and another Illinoisan, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, has rescued those of us who have deplored a president in the process of defiling the Constitution and destroying the norms of a democracy that guarantee a people’s freedom and independence from strongman rule. Lincoln would be proud.

Pritzker has given all of us permission to speak out and act forthrightly about how Trump’s head-on collision with the Constitution will total what so many Americans have fought and died to preserve.