Democrats, Do As GOP Does, Embrace Your Base

Poor Democrats. Always the tortured souls of the American political landscape. They always have this innate ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Sanctimony and pretentious principled stands often contribute to their complex.


Also, the lack of a killer instinct to win also adds to their seemingly reoccurring problems. The desire to win is omnipresent, but they always get in their own way.


The current Democratic Party emboldens these issues and stigmas. Here we are in 2018 and Democrats are still litigating the 2016 election. They are wringing their hands and scratching their temples as to how they lost the presidential election to the most unpopular uncouth candidate to ever run for the office.


To help sleep at night they comfort themselves with valid reasons albeit not the reason that allowed the others to factor into the election. While the GOP candidate was the most unpopular nominee to ever run, the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, was a close second. Yes, YES, Russian interference likely had a hand in the election because of all the misinformation they were spreading. And, of course, the tendency of a large swath of the electorate to vet nothing and never employ critical curiosity and thinking helped that misinformation campaign. Ughhhhh. Anyway...Also, besides from Clinton being unpopular, she ran a shitty ass campaign. She, Robbie Mook (campaign manager) and John Podesta were so convinced the American people would never vote for a nominee who spouted racist tropes, demeaned Gold Star families, disparaged an entire religion and called an entire group of people "rapist and murderers (except for the ones he *assumed* were good people) that they unforgivably abdicated the job of campaigning. Clinton literally not one time visited any of the three states that made up a 77,000 vote difference that cost her the electoral college.


With all of these things being said and true it is not what truly cost her the election. What cost Clinton the easy win she should have had along with partially being responsible for the Dems losing over 1000 federal and state elected seats during the Barack Obama presidency is the reluctance, if not refusal, of the party to embrace its base.


If the 2016 Democratic primaries did nothing else, it illuminated exactly where the base of the party is. Bernie Sanders tapped into the left populist movement he has purveying for years and that more and more party voters had been moving towards after Obama's first election. Honestly, the shift likely began happening after the 2000 elections.


Sanders, as a 74 year old man, energized young people. It was similar to what Obama did in 2008 and Bill Clinton in 1992. Sanders spoke to what young voters believed in. But, as it turned out, he reached older voters as well.


It became apparent that a large contingency of the party supported what Bernie was proposing even if some them weren't supporting him over Clinton. Bernie gave her a fight. It could be said he dominated in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. As we know Bernie didn't win the nomination. I'm not going to go into the particulars of that.


But, his policies did win. He forced Hillary to the left but it was obvious she didn't embrace or believe in them. Consequently, along with other reasons, a segment of Sanders supporters didn't support her. The base as a whole did not energetically campaign for Clinton. The diehard "I'm with her" Clinton supporters rallied around her but because the rest of the base was unenthusiastic they tended to shun and side-eye what was actually the majority of the base. They were so concerned with electing the first female president they neglected to acknowledge the issues that resonated with Democratic base voters.


Now, here we are two years later and the party leadership along with the neoliberal wing of the party still aren't getting it. No, that's letting them off the hook. They just don't care or are so entrenched in their own bullshit they're not seeing what is clearly in front of them.


I like Chuck Schumer but he and Nancy Pelosi are doing the party a huge disservice with their leadership. Frankly, their leadership sucks! They refuse to listen to the base instead catering to the donor class. They are stuck in this inane doctrine of appealing to centrists and "working" with the Republicans.


Lawd Jesusssssss! You all still haven't learned the lesson Obama finally painfully learned? The GOP is NEVER going to work with you! Neva, evah, evah, EVAH!


The GOP gets it. They understand where their base is. Sure, many of the elected officials find some of the rhetoric and core beliefs distasteful but they realize if they want to win elections they have to cozy up to the Republican base. And, those who cannot stomach it such as Paul Ryan, Bob Corker and Jeff Flake are leaving. But, the RNC recognizes who their base is and has conformed its platform to the base while trying to appeal to moderates, I guess. Regardless of what you might or might not think about Republican values embracing their base has worked for them.


Democrats need to take the cue and do the same. Look, the base of the party is no longer neoliberals and centrists. The base is largely comprised of left leaning classic liberals, Progressives, Justice Democrats and Democratic Socialists. The party has moved left. It's not far left like Republicans claim but the base is no longer tolerant of center left Democrats who seem more beholden to their donors and big money than they do their voters.


Now, I recently said on Facebook that the party needs to unify and support candidates of all stripes. Some districts and states require a more moderate candidate to run. Winning needs to be the priority because an agenda cannot be implemented if elections aren't being won. I stand by those comments. It is just common sense.


However, as a whole the party has to move away from corporatism if they want win and get back into power. I understand that folks like Schumer and Pelosi sorta cringe at the rise of progressiveness and Democratic Socialism. I, also, understand they love power. But, what they, the centrists and the Clinton wing of the party must come to grips with is their ideology no longer aligns with the base. They better realize that continuing to ignore and alienate the base is not a winning strategy. In fact, it will drive people out of the party. It already has.


The old guard lives in the present as if it's 1993. It simply isn't. The country has changed. It is obviously more polarized.


They shun the left wing of the party because they don't want to be called "socialists" by Republicans. First of all, grow a spine. Who gives a shit what Republicans say?! For the love of God fight back! Second, the GOP are going to call you socialists, Marxists and Communists regardless.


Let's be real here, a'right. Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein (warning: someone will be triggered) Obama were all left of center to centrist Democrats. They were. All of them have some progressive beliefs but their core approach politically is centrists. Republicans called of three of them Marxists, Socialists and Communists.


So, Dems, stop letting the ignorant erroneous propaganda of the right dictate your approach. The right likes to strawman. How about embracing what the party is and actually employing the big tent mantra you claim to possess? Stop being disingenuous and explain what progressivism is.


Fact is the majority of Americans support many of the main tenants of the Progressive platform. Over 60% of voters support single payor healthcare. Ninety percent of Americans support sensible gun control. The vast majority of Americans support an increase in minimum wage/living wage. Almost 60% believe in justice/prison reform. Nearly 65% of voters support legalizing marijuana. A majority of Americans support getting big money out of politics.


So, this really shouldn't be hard for Democrats. Endear yourselves to policies proposed by Justice Democrats and supported by the American people. This is not rocket science.


The midterm elections are 100 days away. Most people believe a blue wave is coming. I'm skeptical. Democrats have a long history of choking. Considering where the majority of the country stands on the key issues and the daily shitshow out of the White House the midterms should be an easy layup.


But, Dem leadership, that will be up to you. Will you continue to be petty and myopic or will you fully support the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's of the party? 2020 is fast approaching. I'm not saying Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris is the guaranteed answer to defeating the Great Pumpkin of Mar-A-Lago. But, I am certain Hillary Clinton or Tim Kaine or that ilk will result in a certain loss.


I supported Hillary in 2016. I won't apologize for that necessarily. But, I will admit I was wrong about why I chose her over Bernie. I supported with my intellect what Hillary was proposing, but my heart was closer with Bernie's vision. I erroneously thought Bernie had no chance of winning. I saw the polls showing him trouncing that orange dude, but I just didn't believe people would vote for someone the GOP was calling a socialist. I was wrong.


Democrats, don't be wrong again in 2018 and 2020. Our democracy literally hinges on you getting it right.  

No Facts, No Logic (The Frustrations Of Current Political Debate)

Generally speaking I am a shy person. I am not one who is high on confrontation. However, if the topic is a passion of mine I will debate it. Despite my shyness I actually love debate. I think discourse is healthy and educational. I am always wanting to learn. Regardless of the topic I am usually ready to have a spirited open discussion.

But, while I love debating, I hate arguing. Arguments rarely, if ever, solve anything. They are almost always fruitless, vain exercises. When people are arguing instead of discussing they inherently cease listening to the other person because they only concern themselves with getting their point across. Arguments intrinsically cause people to be more concerned with "winning" the argument than coherently having their point heard and concisely conveying their position or belief.

In this current political and social climate I find more people who want to argue rather than debate or discuss. The general discourse landscape is littered with tension, narrow-mindedness and a desire for confrontation.

This especially true regarding political discourse. So many people are in their "tribes" and "bubbles" that they sincerely believe their views are infallible. These people all but isolate themselves inside their little world where they are "good" and anyone outside of the bubble is bad. They literally surround themselves the best they can with like minded people never challenging themselves with different opinions. If they work or have to socialize with the "others" they keep their communications with them as cursory as possible because they see them as the "enemy".

Then, there is the role social media plays. It is astounding the number of people who will get on Twitter and Facebook saying things about and to people they would never have the guts to say in person. And, if they did, they would immediately be ready to play the victim.

But, a huge swath of people will post political things saying they are all about frank fair discussion. However, the second someone replies with an opposing viewpoint the claws come out. All of the talk of fair frank discussion gets tossed in favor of arguing. As I can personally attest there is rarely civil discourse; it quickly devolves into name calling, demonizing and straw manning.

What I have found maddeningly frustrating is, whether it is online or in person, people are so woefully uninformed. They will argue conflating information, if not just getting it wrong all together. They began regurgitating things they've "heard" but never vetted. They will say they "read" some erroneous information but suddenly can't cite where they read it. And, everything they say they say it as if it is fact. Then, if you debunk what they say they call it "fake news" and you a liar.

I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with something I say. We can debate it and be productive. Maybe I will see something from a new view. Perhaps, I have information wrong and they can show me where I erred.

Open, honest, frank intelligent debate is apart of the fabric of our democracy. It is essential if we desire to keep it healthy. Discourse keeps us intellectually honest.

But, in this current climate people are not concerned with civil discourse. They are even less concerned with being logical and factual. Folks only want to be right and "own" you. I do not even know what that means. I have been told that numerous times by people on Twitter after they made some half-assed fallacy filled "point" that I countered and debunked with facts. I guess because they called me a "stupid libtard" or "ignorant munkey" or "another dumb nigger" or "a faggot ass pussie" they owned me. All actual things that have been said. I always respond with something to the effect, "You didn't 'own' me. But, Darwinism certainly owns you. And, I might be another dumb nigger but at least I can spell. We're done here."

This is the type of discourse we way too often have. Our society is is filled with people who are willfully proudly ignorant. They have absolutely no intellectual curiosity. They have not a drop of desire to be well read so they can coherently express their viewpoints. Instead they insulate themselves into their own bubble where they're only receiving some information or they are not accurately absorbing the it or they are succinctly only be told what they want to hear. Then they head to Twitter, Facebook or in person looking for a fight. Inciting a political debate so they can " own" someone only to show themselves as being shallow uninformed provocateurs. What is often worse is when the person they decide to banter with is equally as shallow and uniformed.

The base of the problem is folks don't listen to one another. As I said earlier instead of exchanging ideas and viewpoints people argue. They wallow in narcissism, willful ignorance and this pervasive need for victimhood. Winning and being made to feel they are right is much more important than expressing a particular stance where someone can see where they are coming from or coming to an understanding.

I know, perhaps more than anything, what depresses me is when people aren't listening. I am not really interested in "converting" anyone. Just listen to me, understand where I am coming from and show me and my opinion the respect it deserves as I do you. Or at least try my absolute best to do.

Name calling, demonizing, demeaning and belittling is not getting us anywhere and it never will. Isolation is not either. We solve problems and fix the ills by talking rationally and intelligently. It is certainly going to become heated and raw at times, but that doesn't mean it has to devolve into juvenile pettiness. Listen to each other. Empathize. Learn. And, be informed. Having a trusted news source is fine but watch, read and listen to multiple sources including ones who align differently from you and employ critical thinking.

We have a huge divide in this country. It is mainly because of ignorance refusal to listen. It's also because of this inexplicable need to have an enemy. We are all Americans. We aren't each others' enemy.

Honestly, this is a subject deserving of a book or at least a lengthy thesis. So much can be expanded upon and explored. But, I wanted to write this to get this off my chest.

*Please feel free to comment. I don't censor. I welcome all commentary even if it is critical.