Today's events have thrown most of us off our game. There's no shame in that after all of the work we've put in - all the calls, emails, canvassing trips, and donations. We thought we'd wake up to a different America today, and we did, but it wasn't the one we expected.
But we have to look ahead to the future, no matter how dark and uncertain it seems. Last night's loss only underscores just how much work must still be done. We must craft a clearer message and we must have better party leaders to communicate that message. We must fight everywhere all the time, not just in states we think we can win and not just during election years, because the fight is larger than any margin in the Electoral College - it is philosophical. We must embrace our role as the political and moral opposition to the Right Wing agenda, so that when the Neocons' global house of cards collapses - and there's no question that it will - the American people will have a place to turn.
In the immediate aftermath, these things should be on our agenda:
1. Overhaul the Electoral System
The press is trumpeting that this election was extraordinarily "clean" as compared to last time - we must wage a media war to persuade them otherwise. The lynchpin of our argument must be the American people's confidence in the system. Before the election, a large portion of the population said that regardless of the outcome, they would perceive the victor as illegitimate. That feeling still lingers in communities across our country, even with a wider popular vote margin this year. There were problems with e-voting in every single state it was used. Voter suppression, as we've all seen, is alive and well, and funded by the RNC. We must make "reform" our mantra.
Our "to do" list: Electronic voting must have a paper trail. That is battle number one. Number two is federalizing the elections system so that partisan election officials like Ken Blackwell lose their positions of influence over the process and we have a simple, nationwide system of voting. The third battle is the toughest and will be the longest fought: abolishing the monstrosity of the Electoral College and radically reforming voter registration and the election calendar. There should be an "Election week & weekend," not a single day. Registration laws should help people exercise their franchise, not hinder them. And people in Ohio aren't more American than me just because they choose to live in Ohio and I choose to live in California; my vote should be worth as much as one of theirs. We will have ZERO credibility if we do not address this issue.
2. Frame the Debate
We have to hone a clear, concise message that emphasizes the "values" behind our philosophy and exposes the fake "morality" of our opponents. Lakoff has made this argument more effectively than I can, so I'm not going to argue it again here. Besides, you all know what I'm talking about: "Pro-life," "Sanctity of Marriage," "Death Tax," "Big Government," "Liberal." These words have gutted us in the Red States. Dubya is well on his way to discrediting Conservitism with his preemptive war doctrine, his support for the erosion of our civil liberties, and, most importantly, his record deficits. We just need to help him along by re-framing the debate again and again. This means crafting a new message (I like Obama's "No red state, no blue state" speech which ties individual responsibility and secular morality with public responsibility) and sticking to it.
3. Stop Being the Nice Guy
This is going to be the toughie. Let me tell you a little story about the Orange County Fair in Orange County, CA ("The OC" to those with a television). For those that don't know, this is a very red county in a very blue state; this is where fascists such as Bob Dornan and Dana Rohrabacher flourish with the support of comfortable, suburban elites who don't much like minorities unless they're employed cleaning their houses. Well, this summer I went to the Orange County Fair with the hope of finding the Democratic Party's booth and picking up some John Kerry pins and fliers (I normally just go to it to sympathize with the volunteers and remind myself there are more liberals out here than, you know, just me). In any case, when I walked into the exhibition hall I was greeted by a 6'2" cardboard cut-out of President Bush (he wears elevator boots in cardboard cut-outs as well, apparently) and a Republican Party booth bedecked in campaign literature. A half hour later in a corner of the hall by the bathroom, I found a single folding table manned by two elderly women. Behind them was a tattered "Register to Vote" sign. This, I learned, was the Democrat's booth.
"What's going on? Why don't you have some Kerry stuff out?" I asked one of the women.
"The fair officials told us we're not allowed to have anything related to the election. No campaign literature, no buttons. It's against the rules."
"But the Republicans have a cardboard cut-out of the President and a Dick Cheney coloring book for kids? And they're passing out literature like candy!"
"Well, we've complained," she sighed. "Maybe we'll have buttons sometime next week. Maybe not." Then finally, "They told us it was against the rules."
This is exactly what I'm talking about. We have respect for the rules; they don't. We want what's best for the nation; they don't. If every election is decided like a streetfight, we will lose every time because we don't fight dirty. And that's good to an extent. We shouldn't fight dirty. It means so much that we don't and it's one of the "values" we must convey to the American people.
Nevertheless, we must fight. Hard. And never, ever stop. I have to say, I was disappointed in John Kerry today. The media is trumpeting that he "conceded for the good of the country." Well, I disagree with the SCLM and their facile analysis of Kerry's decision, and I disagree with him for making it. I think conceding early is for losers. I think it's better for the country when we count all the votes THEN decide a winner. I think this was one moment when we needed to stand and fight, even if we lost, to protect the integrity of our democracy. Sadly, we didn't. But from now on, we must. And not just for the big stuff like elections, but for every single fucking thing. Including every shitty little booth at shitty county fairs in shitty red counties. No one will ever respect us, let alone vote with us, if we don't.
So, to sum up, we need to change the system, change our vocabulary, and change our mindset. Which brings me back to today. I don't know about you, but this morning I felt like the American people and I had just broken up. We'd tried to make it work for four years (I'd forgiven the rabid nationalism after 9/11 and the blind acceptance of a patently illegal war as brief, out of character emotional excesses), but now it was done. The American people had turned to me and said, in effect, "It's not me; it's you." I felt marginalized in a way I had never felt before. But as the day wore on, I realized these fears only play into the hands of our opponents. They WANT us to feel marginalized. They WANT us to feel small, insignificant, and outnumbered so that we'll behave accordingly. Well, I'm not going to give them that.
This is my country and yours, too, and we've got a fight on our hands to determine its future. Over 55 million people have our back in this battle.
Anyway you look at it, that's a hell of a place to start.