It's not as if the Republican voters out in the red states actually agree with all of their party's policies. Time and time again, many Democratic positions are supported by people who otherwise rail against Obama. And I think I have a clue about why they vote like they do, and how to change some minds.
My work brings me into contact with many small business people in rural areas. I like working with them -- they are straightforward, usually self-taught, honest and capable. But some of them spend too much time listening to Faux News. They assume that whatever President Obama says is dishonest, and that his positions are wrong. And they don't trust politicians in general, so the "small government" message resonates -- if you can't trust them, why give them more power?
But it's not a matter of that proverbial left-right scale that the DLC types keep trying to balance. Indeed triangulation backfires with them. You might be surprised which Democrats, then, play better out there.
I was discussing a regulatory topic on a trade group mailing list. One member of that list in particular has a bad habit of using any excuse he can to attack Obama or Democrats in general. Yes, he lives in an area that has a strong Republican tradition, but not entirely out of play either. So out of the blue he throws in a crack about Lois Lerner, assuming that the IRS "scandal" story really was true. Then he goes after unions, and then the EPA. I'm trying to do business with other members of this group so I'm not interested in sounding there like I do here! Let's stick to the subject... but he can't.
But then I decide to engage him just a little, and it gets interesting. We're small business folk, I point out how the Bush administration was bad for the small players in our industry, and he agrees that "big companies want us dead". He says he's not being partisan but "anti-crooked". He think politicians on both side are destroying the economy. He lumps "liberals" and "socialists" and "communists" together and says they always destroy the economy. Then a while later he throws in a dig about government intervention in healthcare. And I take the bait, but this time by throwing him a curve.
No, I don't prefer Obamacare, I tell him. I prefer English-style medical coverage. And I support Bernie Sanders.
I am expecting him to set flame=high. But then he surprises me: He's a fan of Bernie Sanders too! Not of socialism, but he appreciates that Bernie has integrity. He has principles.
And now the picture is making sense. The crazies on the right aren't winning because everyone agrees with their crazy. But their crazy at least sounds sincere. At least you know where they stand. How many Democrats who aren't in safe seats act the same way?
Maybe that's why I like working with these people. They are honest, and value honesty above all else.
That's what scares me the most about Hillary. She isn't disliked for her positions. She's distrusted. She's just so obviously trying to please everyone at once by being a namby-pamby centrist. And people are asking Sen. Warren to run against her because not only do they agree with her, but they sense real honesty. Same with Bernie Sanders, though some think he's just a bit on the old side. Sometimes people talk about populism, but that is a vague concept; the politicians who are called populist are often just those who work harder to connect to voters, rather than to big donors.
Where are the Democratic firebrands of yore? Besides Sen. Warren, who do we have who projects sincerity? Rep. Grayson comes to mind, but he's not quite ready to run for the top slot. I'm not sure if Joe Biden's supposed gaffes are taken as honesty or just gaffes, though. (He'd make a good VP again.) I'm not just looking for presidential candidates, either. We could take back the House and Senate if we changed our playbook and focused less on not offending anyone with meaningful positions on anything and concentrated instead on taking stands. Because voters would rather vote for straightforward honesty than for focus-group fine-tuned party platforms. And they can tell the difference.