Every morning while spinning, I watch about an hour and a half’s worth of Morning Joe. These political programs are a great platform that any politician can use to answer questions and at the same time change the narrative in real time. How can we make Democrats appearing on programs like Morning Joe learn how to use the platform not to speak to a few talking heads but to the American poor and middle-class. Progressive Activists must continue to pick up the slack.
Senator Bob Menendez appeared on MSNBC with host Kevin Melvin a few days ago. He spent the entire five or six minutes talking about Russia and Nikki Haley. As I listened, I wondered why he did not segue into speaking directly to Americans with a Progressive message.
The Senator is not alone. Democrats are very good at answering questions asked of them. They are not very good at forcing a narrative irrespective of what the host asks them. It’s no accident that the generic poll has fallen dramatically over the last few weeks. Americans know that Republicans are not ideal. However, many do not have a clue about what it would mean to have Democrats in control. After all, the Republicans have done an excellent job in making the word Liberal a dangerous and scary word and then make Democrats the instantiation of the maligned word.
It is easy to watch all the wins in the Red States where Democrats should not win or watch all the Republicans quitting and believe the Democrats have 2018 in the bag. I am a lot more humble. One of the reasons why in talking to my Right Wing neighbors, I do not feel victorious when I win an argument and the neighbors profess to change almost immediately is that I am always cognizant of the reality that most people revert to form. The only way to mitigate this is to plant seeds very deep so that the roots run deep. Moreover, it is vital that we create a narrative that relates directly to their personal-economies.
Progressive activists in an ad-hoc manner, are doing an excellent job in preaching the Progressive message. Many times from my experience on the ground, we are spending a significant amount of the time preaching to the choir. After all, except for the excellent block walking Swing Left and similar groups, are doing, we may not be reaching many of the communities whose interest we purport to serve.
The concern is that the Democratic Establishment is content in their belief that hanging on is preferable to either making a mistake that Republicans would be fast in capitalizing upon or sanctioning the leftward movement of the party. That is a recipe for defeat. How many teams win when playing prevent defense?
While Democrats start coasting to “victory,” the Republicans, flush in cash, will shortly begin to define each Democratic candidate. That definition will stick if Democrats do not preempt it by doing two things. Republicans are good at what they do. We all know that the truth is not the necessary source material for them. Progressives must define their opponents first so that it is them who are on the defensive. Then, tell poor and middle-class America in a district-specific manner, what is in it for them. It must be clear to them what they expect out of voting for Democrats.
- Democrats will fix the health care issue once and for all with a single-payer Medicare for All system. Americans dread shopping around for health insurance at ever inflated prices and reduced services. Even Conservative George Will agrees that single-payer is unavoidable given the current healthcare fiasco in America.
- Democrats will provide student loan relief. There are several bills in Congress. that partially address the problem. At a minimum, we must treat the student debt like a boat anchor that threatens the economy and the financial well-being of a generation that was screwed by those who selfishly supported state and federal tax cuts that went mostly to the wealthy. While the previous generation went to college on the cheap millennials are asked to help the titans of finance with tax cuts and then pay them undeserved interest rates those tax cuts caused. The federal government should start by buying all outstanding private student loans and refinancing them at the same rate bank borrow from the feds.
- Democrats will provide need-based subsidized child care for anyone who wants to work.
- Democrats will decriminalize marijuana and treat drug use as the disease that it is.
- Democrats will make the criminal justice system live up to the “Justice is Blind” motto.
Those five bullet points expressed in different terms will work in every district in America. It appeals to millennials, people of color, all working class people, parents, and every demographic in between. Most importantly these bullet points afford Americans a path to self-sufficiency It frees them from aberrations in the economy that stunts innovation, the inability to start one’s business, and the dependency and the enslavement to the corporation. One would hope that every Democrat who gets on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, HLN, or any other network would steer every topic to these bullet points.
Republicans will ultimately get defensive and accuse Democrats & Progressives of big government and tax increases. Disregard the complaints and let them know the money was there until the Republicans gave it away. Enlighten Americans about the windfall Republicans gave to their Wall Street benefactors.
Progressive must not wait for Democratic politicians from the old guard to present this case. They must go out to every community and spread the word. They must use their local networks, social networks, and the organizations they frequent to make the case. Progressives and Democrats must be willing to be uncomfortable in regions where they’ve neglected as they grow the party with those our platform serve. They must make the affirmative case for not only voting but voting for Progressives and Democrats.