Getting Smart on Wedge Issues

How to keep the GOP from distracting and dividing us

By Martha Merson

Republicans, says Washington Post columnist Matt Bai, have perfected “a pretty good schtick” for putting Democrats in awkward positions on cultural issues. Given this skill, every cultural issue becomes a “wedge issue.”

In 2023-2024 the GOP playbook called for picking on trans kids. In 2022 Critical Race Theory was the boogeyman. In both cases, Republicans claimed Democrats were advocating an extreme position. And the wedges were driven deeper.

Yes, of course Democrats make room for academics who use critical race theory to look at structural racism. And of course, Democrats would rather see trans children get medical care than plot their suicides. But to avoid throwing allies under the bus, Democrats have chosen a defensive posture. The back and forth continues, allowing Republican wedge issues to distract attention from real problems that affect much of the electorate on a daily basis.

So how can we in the grassroots rapidly recognize wedge issues? How can we swiftly challenge the terms of disagreement?

Fighting off this kind of play/attack takes a certain kind of nerve. For example, recently elected Delaware Representative Sarah McBride, the first trans woman in the House, didn’t respond with emotion to the controversy over her bathroom rights. Nor did she attempt to correct, clarify, or reason. “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” McBride said. “I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.”

Bill Clinton was another politician skilled in managing wedge issues. LA Times columnist Jonah Goldberg recently wrote about Clinton’s skill in co-opting Republicans’ talking points. Clinton could suss out issues like welfare reform and affirmative action. Then before Republicans could go divisive, he endorsed reforms that satisfied moderates and independents. Goldberg notes, “His base hated it as much as the GOP base did, but neither had any place to go.”

The Republican Party has enjoyed success through discipline that keeps their members united. But at the state level, at least, coalitions for abortion rights and affordable health care have drawn together Republicans and Democrats. What other issues can fracture Republicans’ unity?

You might think plans to raise the minimum wage could turn low-income wage earners against corporatists. Perhaps attempts to tighten or eliminate big money in politics will draw together voters from the two major parties.

Susan Wagner, advocate for grassroots groups, says, “If sowing arguments based on wedge issues works, we should take a page from the GOP playbook and use it. We have to be focused and continue to drill down on so-called wedge issues. Abortion, IVF, and birth control certainly fit into that category because a significant number of Republicans do see the value of reproductive health and freedom.”

In an age of disinformation, wedge issues have morphed into Believable Fiction, i.e. hard to ignore lies repeated by the right-wing media machine. These lies both distract and divide. Critical Race Theory and gender affirming care were never going to affect most youth in public schools, yet both have been a big distraction from the right-wing’s efforts to undermine public education and schoolteachers in particular.

So how can grassroots activists combat deliberate attempts to distract and divide those committed to democracy?

We in the grassroots are creative. We can generate a number of strategies to address this problem. Caring about wedge issue does not mean you will necessarily take them to the most extreme position. For starters:

• Don't take the bait. These stories are not that interesting. Can we turn away, turn off, tune out and make it clear we are doing so?

• Co-opt the issue. If reason and co-optation can win the day, we should cleverly accept the premise and hold to our policy beliefs.

• Get savvier in identifying and using wedge issues to seed division among Republicans.

• Involve allies to engage in media campaigns to amplify the potential wedge issues.

• Become a media watcher, tuning in to stations and conversations that might alert us to wedge issues in their infancy.