Pickleball and plastic silverware: What are NC Democrats doing? | Opinion
With Republicans just one vote away from having veto-proof control of the legislature, one of the biggest powers that North Carolina Democrats retain is the power of their messaging.
It’s why you’ll see them introduce legislation addressing issues like redistricting, marriage equality, the minimum wage and marijuana legalization. Those bills are basically dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled General Assembly, but they’re a way for Democrats to establish priorities and differentiate themselves from Republicans on key issues.
But in some cases, it’s also an opportunity for Republicans to mock Democrats for legislation they deem frivolous or absurd. That’s already happening with at least two bills. One of them, House Bill 249, would create a pilot program in Wake County to create diversity in pickleball. Republicans are calling it the “DEI pickleball bill.”
The second bill, House Bill 423, would restrict restaurants from providing single-use foodware, including utensils, napkins, straws and condiments, with takeout and delivery orders unless a customer specifically requests it. It would create a portal for individuals to report violations to the government, and violators would be fined.
Neither of these bills are as big of a deal as Republicans want you to think they are. The pickleball program, for example, would cost a total of $10,112 — a tiny expenditure in the grand scheme of things. And trying to cut down on unnecessary plastics is a noble enough cause, especially when people would still be able to get plasticware with their orders if they request it.
But they also are unforced errors from Democrats. Voters have short attention spans, and they’re going to side with whoever can explain themselves the simplest and the quickest. It takes longer to explain why it matters that people of color are underrepresented in pickleball than it does for Republicans to laugh it off as pickleball DEI. And it’s much easier for Republicans to make a meme out of taking away your silverware than it is for Democrats to explain what the bill actually does.
I’m not a politician, but even I could come up with a quip about Democrats assembling an army of plastic silverware vigilantes to take away the straw that comes with your McDonald’s Diet Coke on Uber Eats. See how easy that was?
The errors feel especially unforced given that neither of these bills have even the slightest chance of passing. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a messaging bill, especially as a member of the minority party. But it also means Democrats have to choose their message carefully, because it’s the only thing they’ve got. Notice how Republicans struggle to come up with similar takedowns of bills guaranteeing fair maps, or raising the minimum wage, or codifying the right to contraception. Those are issues where Democrats hold positions that resonate with the average person. But nobody is talking about those right now, and that’s the problem.
To be clear, legislators can focus on more than one thing at a time. Republicans have said that Democrats are choosing these bills over hurricane relief, while Democrats have said that Republicans are spending too much time criticizing the bills when they should be working on hurricane relief. It’s the kind of strawman argument that’s common on all sides of politics. But these are just two of the dozens of bills that Democrats have introduced this legislative session, and their existence does not preclude Democrats from caring about issues that more seriously impact the everyday lives of people in North Carolina.
Two bills may not seem like such a big deal, but the losing narrative they feed into is part of a larger problem. The Democratic Party, starting at the national level, has a serious messaging problem at a time when a strong message is needed most. That’s driven at least in part by the perception that Democrats have fallen out of step with the average American ideologically. They’ve abandoned kitchen table issues and taken up fights that most people either don’t think about or don’t agree with. Some people wonder if Democrats even understand what those kitchen table issues actually are.
Despite what Republicans might say, Democrats aren’t really hurting anyone but themselves with these bills. But they aren’t exactly helping anyone, either. If Democrats want North Carolinians to believe in them, they’re going to have to do better.
