From the Minnesota Reformer:
Watergatey times, 54 years after the break-in
A demonstration outside the White House in support of the impeachment of President Nixon following the watergate revelations. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)
In an amalgamated office hallway in Washington D.C. stands the original Watergate filing cabinet that Nixon operatives attempted to burgle and bug on this day in 1972. When Ken Martin was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee, he had the cabinet brought up from storage and displayed with the front page of the Washington Post from two days later, “GOP Security Aide Among 5 Arrested In Bugging Affair.”
Fifty-four years after that pleasant mid-June night, the country faces many of the same challenges: Wars of choice. Inflation and an oil crisis. Racial and gender discrimination. The Department of Justice employed as the president’s personal vengeance machine. And in many ways, we have regressed from the Nixon era. The Voting Rights Act authored by Minnesota’s U.S. Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey has been effectively gutted. A young woman today has fewer reproductive rights than her mother did in 1973, just months before President Richard Nixon resigned the office of the presidency.
This year, the Democratic Party and its candidates are still finding their unifying thesis. When I visited the Democratic National Committee recently, there were union-printed stickers for “tax billionaires” as part of the party’s partisan voter registration drive. But even as Elon Musk becomes the first trillionaire, not every Democratic leader is on board with stopping data centers, taxing the ultra-wealthy, or other popular ideas.
Nationally, Democrats have flipped 12 state legislative seats in special elections in 2025 and 2026, while the GOP flipped zero. Democrats are up nearly 7 percentage points in generic congressional ballot polling— a 9 point improvement over the 2024 result.
As I have written before, the only way the greater Democratic coalition can be defeated is if we are divided. There are certainly many actors who want to call plays in the arena.
In this era of powerful media and social media, the influence of traditional political parties is perhaps weaker than at any time since the birth of the two-party system more than 200 years ago. Every name is a celebrity unto themselves. We follow U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Facebook, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warrenon Instagram, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on TikTok. Each endorses their own hand-picked candidates in primaries across the country.
Like many Minnesota Democrats, I was anxious heading into the end-of-May state DFL convention in Rochester. All but one endorsement were potentially contested. But despite ideological divides and personal grudges, delegates rallied together behind a ticket of endorsed candidates for every statewide office.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar cleared the field for state auditor by picking former Fergus Falls mayor Ben Schierer as her lieutenant governor. Schierer had been running for state auditor with notable endorsements, but landing on the Klobuchar ticket helped clear a path to endorsement for Zack Filipovich of Duluth. U.S. Rep. Angie Craig dropped out of the endorsement contest for the U.S. Senate after weakening support. By not attending the convention she was not able to be formally nominated. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan was endorsed by acclamation, a voice vote.
By contrast, the GOP has candidates questioning the fidelity of votes at the state convention. There are three leading contenders for the GOP gubernatorial primary, despite the endorsement of Kendall Qualls.
If I had a magic crystal ball, I would not be writing articles and canvassing voters, I would instead be betting on Polymarket or Kalshi and donating the proceeds. While none of us know what the next five months will bring, Democrats do appear to be well-positioned in Minnesota and nationally to earn the votes to make significant gains. Already, there is bipartisan opposition to the War in Iran and Trump’s use of dangerous surveillance like Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It would not be surprising if an incumbent congressman is putting money down against his own reelection in the betting markets.
Across Minnesota, organizers are talking to voters about the issues that are important to their families. Minnesota immigrants are still being deported by the Trump administration as fast as ever. Operation Metro Surge wound down but never really ended, and voters are anxious for the future, for their kids and their neighbors who cannot vote.
At events in Lake City, Onamia, Rochester, Champlin and Fairmont, I see first-hand how everyday DFL volunteers are excited for this election. Before the Fairmont parade, Jeremy Munson — a Republican running for state Senate — stopped by to chide DFL-endorsed candidates Marisa Ulmen and Sonja Dennfor running late. To his surprise, both DFL candidates had attended two parades in one day with a wagon load of volunteers. Even in this Republican stronghold, local volunteers handed out DFL literature and stickers to attendees along the three-mile route.
Despite Nixon’s weaponization of the government against his political opponents, Congress took action, and free, fair elections brought a wave of reforms, pushing back against the “imperial presidency.” The War Powers Resolution was introduced, passed, vetoed, and became law despite Nixon’s veto in 1973. In 1974, Democrats won four seats in the U.S. Senate and 45 seats in Congress. The Presidential Records Act was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. This is why the current president’s allies so desperately want to stop vote by mail and require onerous citizenship tests.
Maybe the events from Watergate will illuminate the future of our next years? History does repeat unconsciously.
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