Running for public office is an incredibly draining undertaking that is fundamental to our democracy. Running for public office is not, however, the same as staring down fire hoses at a civil rights protest or storming the beaches of Nazi-occupied France.
Someone really, really needs to tell that to Kim Schrier, the progressive who just secured the Democratic nomination in Washington state’s 8th Congressional District.
That’s because that pediatrician-turned-candidate thinks that becoming a politician is somehow heroic. She said as much in March when she compared her attempt to win election with the protesters who marched in the civil rights movement and the soldiers who fought to liberate Europe during World War II.
During a podcast hosted by the far-left group Washington State Indivisible, Schrier said she thinks “of this as one of those moments in history.”
“I think back to the questions we ask our own parents, like I ask my parents: What were you doing during the civil rights movement?” Schrier said.
“And I imagine things like what would I have done in World War II?” she continued, “I would always like to think that I would be on the right side of history and that I would be bold enough to stand up and do the right thing, and brave enough.”
“So, I know my son Sam will ask me one day: ‘Hey Mom, what did you do after Trump got elected?’ And this is my answer to him,” Schrier concluded.
Making the leap from pediatrics to politics is difficult, to be sure. Believing in one’s convictions enough to put together a campaign is also admirable. But while no one should ridicule Schrier for wanting to leave behind a better world for her son, everyone should mock her for thinking of herself in terms reserved for the greatest generation.
It has become fashionable to compare Trump to some kind of tyrant. This isn’t just unfortunate. This is ill-informed. The president will leave the White House in either 2020 or 2024. He will not occupy the office for life and doesn’t represent an existential threat to democracy. Anyone who believes the opposite is either small-minded or an opportunist.
Schrier may be the latter. Her district is a top pick-up opportunity for Democrats after Hillary Clinton won it during the general election. Alarmism, not the fact that Trump has been checked and balanced repeatedly by our Constitution, plays well there.
Schrier is running against Republican Dino Rossi in the race to succeed Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican.
