Happy new year, everyone.
Tough one on Nov. 8thth, eh?
I hope to be back more regularly after a longer-than-required break. We have some improving/redirection to do, for sure. Here are my 3 things that I think we can do to improve as a Party and as a community/site here at Daily Kos.
FOR THE PARTY
- Get back to the blue-collar roots.
There should be no question that we should win, handily, the union and blue-collar vote in the country, in every state outside of the South. That didn’t happen in the Rust Belt this year. The unions endorsed, but the white workers went Trump.
Why? Lukewarm at best on trade, while being really loud and strong on people/issues that tweak the WWC: immigration, reigning in the military, college welfare, etc. The Party, personified by the Clintons, is not strong enough as an entity to overcome malaise amongst key voter bases, and the racial minority voters did not come out as strong as they needed to in order to overcome white votes 85% + against Clinton.
Do we forget about racial issues, immigration, or trade? Absolutely not….or we risk cutting our nose off to spite our face. It’s about taking the temperature in the country, in each key state…and tweaking the message based on each and not doing anything elsewhere to cast doubt.
2. Continue to embrace youth.
Not just college kids…kids who will be voters in the next election, and kids that don’t want to go to college. If you’re going to push student loan forgiveness or ‘free college’, there better be a deal for everyone in that age group, not just uni students.
This also means getting the younger politicians and organizers into top spots within the Party and candidacies as soon as they’re ready. None of this ‘seniority’ stuff…meritocracy. Best woman (or man) gets the spots. Relationships matter, so meritocracy can be based on fundraising and connections, two items that younger leaders may struggle with…but the donors should keep an eye on who can really win and lead for awhile, not just who has been there for awhile.
3. Be more inclusive to proven leaders.
Instead of fighting them in elections or begrudgingly accepting them into the nomination races late, find a way to pull them into the Party. Leaders like Sanders, Sawant should be in the Party; big tent! That will take both compromise on their parts, and compromise/embracement on ours…but it’s the right way to truly be a big tent (and effectively so) in this electoral environment.
FOR DAILY KOS/THE COMMUNITY
- Let it go.
Don’t rehash the primary. Diaries like ‘Van Jones thinks the Clintons are done’ and ‘who Hillary ignored’ aren’t helpful, nor are constant reminders of a popular vote that doesn’t matter or anklebiter ‘democrats’ who spent most of the primary bashing everyone and everything but Republicans. Positively move forward.
2. Start working on integrating activist organizations.
You don’t have to change the format of the site, but I think we should see official accounts and groups of unions, groups like PPP and MoveOn, etc. Turn Daily Kos into a hub of left-of-center politics and advocacy, not just about the regular user accounts here. More roots mean a better foundation and flow of sustaining waters.
And cut out the deadwood, especially the diseased that only stir it up. If they’re not here to help, they’re here to hurt.
3. Revise the 3rd-party advocacy rule and support proportional representation.
Don’t get excited: I still think writing diaries or comments trying to pull people AWAY from the Democratic Party and its candidates should be flaggable, and certainly if they are advocating Repukes. What I DO mean is two-fold:
A. Allow personal advocacy of non-Dem candidates (left and independent parties)
If someone says ‘I’m voting for Jill Stein’, don’t just flag and dismiss them. Engage them, ask them why, have a polite debate. If they’re a regular stirrer who has no taste for compromise and isn’t part of the team and never was, then it’s trolling, not genuine, and flag away.
B. Advocate for electoral reform that makes 3rd parties more viable nationally.
Right now on a national level, there are two viable choices: Republican and Democratic. Institutions federally, at the state level, and in the media hold the 2-party system together. What we do need is a big push for proportional representation. Proportional makes it easier for 3rd parties to be successful at the state and national level. 3rd parties will keep the populace engaged, not faced with an either/or decision when it comes to federal elections. The major national parties will be forced into more of an identity, a ‘why vote for us’ instead of ‘vote for us instead of them.’ Finally, the Democratic party can win by building alliances, instead of succumbing to a rabid half-base of the other party that turned out in the right places at the right time.
I could write several more diaries on point B. above, and am happy to discuss further in the comments.
That’s my take. Lots of details and discussion points, but I think this is the right away forward. Let’s pull an upset in the midterms and take it from there.
Happy new year.