Can the party expand the base with a “Go everywhere, talk to everyone” approach on common-ground issues of economic security/fairness/justice?
One reaction to the November 8th disaster (see brooklynbadboy’s article, for example) is that certain states — including Wisconsin — are now demographically out of reach of Democrats and our focus must shift elsewhere. And of course an alternative reaction is that Democrats have become vulnerable to this sort of election result by writing off too many Americans as unreachable.
I favor the approach Bernie demonstrated of holding fast to our principles on women’s/PoC/LGBT/immigrant rights and environmental stewardship while at the same time reaching out to every American who is willing to listen on issues of economic security/fairness/justice. I would hazard to guess that if you picked 10 people at random, and asked them their top-tier concerns, the concern they’d most likely have in common is their family’s economic security. Moreover, if history is any guide, it’s very likely that most people’s economic situation will worsen with Washington under Republican rule. If we make the effort to talk to people, we might reach them. If we don’t, we have no chance to reach them.
Sincere progressive Democrats had better be out there talking to conservative folk about economic security/fairness/justice, or else they’ll only be hearing it from con artists and racists like Trump
The following is from a National Journal article that appeared several months before Bernie entered the race:
[I]t's easy to dwell on [Sanders’s] obvious characterological traits, and whether they will prove off-putting or, in some bizarre way, endearing. But perhaps the most important question is whether Democrats will, or should, give serious consideration to Sanders's central theory: that their party could successfully woo working-class white conservatives. ... By conducting endless town halls and visiting countless farms over the last 40 years, he has built up a level of trust that has allowed residents to shrug off his "socialist" label. "I think what he has the unique ability to do is frame the problem so the common person can understand the problem," says Sanders ally Jim Coots, who runs a health clinic north of Burlington and describes himself as a tea partier.
(my emphasis)
While I fully recognize that there are individuals, at all socioeconomic levels, who are truly unreachable — I think it’s best to avoid making assumptions about places, or people. We shouldn’t take any group of folks’ votes for granted or dismiss other groups of folks as unreachable.
Folks don’t think and act monolithically. For example, even by the lowest estimates Trump won 18% of Latino voters — that’s 2.5 million votes. And if the exit polls are anywhere near accurate, Hillary got over 5 million votes from Evangelical or born-again white Christians (Obama in 2012 got nearly 7 million)
When we keep in mind that people don’t think monolithically, it’s not so surprising that many folks at Liberty University bravely and openly castigated their university’s president, Jerry Falwell, Jr., for supporting a man they called “one of the worst presidential candidates in American history.” This is, of course, the conservative Christian university where Bernie accepted an invitation to speak, because he thought it was worthwhile and important for conservative Christians to hear a progressive Democrat discuss moral imperatives — to hear a progressive Democrat try sincerely to seek common ground with them. (The speech is on Youtube.)
So whether it’s Evangelicals or anyone else willing to listen, I think it behooves us to talk to them. At the very least, it’s an opportunity for folks to see progressive Democrats as real human beings instead of the liberal cartoons painted by talk radio. And the reverse: it cannot hurt for politicians to have opportunities to meet everyday folks, to see them as real people, not just as stereotypes.
Democratic candidates can seek common ground with working-class conservatives on economic security/fairness/justice issues, and at the same time demonstrate zero-tolerance for bigotry
This bears repeating: Bernie’s approach is to hold fast to our principles on women’s/PoC/LGBT/immigrant rights and environmental stewardship while at the same time reaching out to every American who is willing to listen on issues of economic security/fairness/justice. The Liberty University speech and the following short clip where Sanders weaves together social and economic justice — are compelling examples of this approach.