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REFLECTION:
I always get in trouble for thinking aloud, so why stop now?
Aside from the spectacular success and game changing effect of mail-in ballots, the DNC, DCCC, DLCC and the DSCC all seem to spend as much time and effort running the same money raising political...
I always get in trouble for thinking aloud, so why stop now?
Aside from the spectacular success and game changing effect of mail-in ballots, the DNC, DCCC, DLCC and the DSCC all seem to spend as much time and effort running the same money raising political...
...campaigns and strategies as 25 years ago. And they all seem to spend way too much time relying on polls and fundraising from their offices as opposed to getting out in the field with the grassroots organizer who actually know what's going on. It seems kind of hubristic.
Why?
Why?
Mail-in voting is to be the most creative thing accomplished since the passage of the Motor Voter Act of 1993. Some states are ahead of the game and have been doing it for years.
So what's the excuse in other states that are dominated by democratic legislatures and governors?
So what's the excuse in other states that are dominated by democratic legislatures and governors?
The DNC writ large seem to be more reactive to the GOP than forward-thinking and creative regarding GOTV, incubating young leadership, public education on the need vote, how to vote, and what to look for with voting processes to overcome voter suppression,...
...restoring voting rights for ex-offenders, universal automactic voter registration for all citizens upon the age of 18, publicly campaigning to communicate the importance of reinstituting the voting rights act and voting security measures already passed by the House,...
...promoting education on why the election of people who nominate and confirm judges is every bit important as the issues that eventually come before those judges, the differences between elected judges in the state, and appointed judges at the federal level, and...
...and as we see from this election, emphasis on why state legislature, governors, state judges, and congressional races are as equally important to the success of the presidency as electing a good presidential candidate himself.
None of that seems unreasonable. On the contrary, if the party expects to have longevity, it looks essential. Because of republican attempts to have state legislatures, governors and state courts intervene in or overturn the will of the people, the need is pressing.
Georgia and Arizona have been teetering on the edge for years, yet the DNC acted like children at the waters edge at the beach. As soon as the waves got too close to their toes the run back into the sand.
Despite the DNC's apparent lack of commitment over the years - decades - it took @staceyabrams and her grassroots teams as well as the grassroots in Arizona to show how it's done.
When will the DNC (and the Congressional groups mentioned above) as an entity, do a real root cause analysis on themselves, be honest, figure out what they're doing wrong, accept that change is needed - and actually do something substantive about it?
It seems the DNC has gotten lazy, and is perhaps relying on changes in demography with growing numbers of minorities and young people to accomplish for democrats what the party ought to be doing in terms or real work.
Waiting on the numbers to grow won't cut it because that won't ensure that people will vote for you just because they have in the past. And young people will be reluctant because your past provides no incentive to do so going forward. So that approach is intellectually dishonest.
The GOP may be shrinking in real number because the membership is getting older, but at over 71,000,000 votes, they still have enough appeal to attract tremendous numbers of people to turn out. Why? With the party's animus towards democracy that's a serious a threatening issue.
They have no ideas. They have no real plans or policies. And without pretense, they could care less about good governance or the benefit of the people. But they're organized, have long range strategies for what they want to accomplish, and they have the discipline to get it done.
I really don't want to hear about progressive versus liberal versus centrist spats, because that's not the issue. That's a fake argument that ignores fundamental, root cause issues. And, I really don't care how good any particular candidate is on any issue or set of issues.
No matter how good or bad those factions' and coalition members' ideas are, their politics and political strategies are equally bad and wanting.
And no single candidate can change a party. Regardless of the differences, if the party isn't pulling in the same direction with strategies - and just important, the ability to change directions when problems to winning arise, the entire idea of party is pointless.
Good ideas are meaningless if you have no plan for how to reach people and grow the number of people willing to actively come out and vote for you in the long run.
The issue is not about ideology, policy or governance. It's about learning how to win, to perpetually learn and remake ourselves into the future, and about making people -the voters and constituents - feel like it's worth it to support the cause now and in the future.
The critical Georgia runoffs make all of the thoughts above more relevant and important that ever. We look forward to a win if we throw our support behind Stacey and the people on the ground there. But all the issues above are still there and we must have the guts to face them.
After the Georgia, we have less than two years to begin to fix it and get it right.
