The Democratic Party is One of the Two Big Parties, an institution with national scope and organs such as the DCCC and DSCC all the way down to state and local branches. Looking at its finances it seems to have at what are at least eight-figure sums to play with, even during midterm years. Given its size, it seems to me to be bordering on malfeasance that it has never developed anything similar to the Lincoln Project, and that it took almost 3.5 years for an outfit like the LP to emerge. It is further deeply distressing that it is composed of former GOPers who are seemingly the only ones to be able to do Neutral or Negative Democratic messaging effectively. In our haste to embrace what is admittedly a potent weapon against Trumf, we are over-looking the fact that this current development may in fact turn out to be one of the biggest threats to Democrats in the new year.
The scenario envisioned is this: its March or April 2021. Biden and the Transition Team have finally managed to get competent, rational adults in most mid and high level admin positions. Those individuals have finished sweeping up ashes from the burnt paperwork, and have managed to piece together a coherent administrative structure from ravaged office spaces, archives and digital systems, that Trumpco. scorched-earthed on their way out to cover years of heinous lawbreaking. (in violation of various record preservation laws of course.) (“we uhh accidentally deleted it, saved, wiped the backup servers and then shredded the physical copies. Oops.”)
The machinery of Congress and the Federal govt. slowly starts to move down the track of government again. The Senate dusts off the HUNDREDS of bills languishing on the Senate Leader’s desk. It is at that point that along with MODERATE BRAIN TRUST of the Senate and the most scaredy-cat vulnerable Democrats in the house, Members of the Lincoln Project group and their extended political family of never-trumpers and polite-GOPers start to make noises about “bipartisanship, healing, unity”, and that “we can’t afford solutions that are too radical”, and that the “American people just want sensible, moderate legislation”, code words for, keep medicine fully for profit, keep destroying the earth and and maintain the fiscal and monetary status quo for those social classes with assets.
For example, when Congress sets to tackle healthcare, whether that be M4A, or “Improving Obamacare”, knowing the Democrats are going to allow months of public and media debate and input the LP is going to train their laser-like expertise against the Democrats. To moving public opinion just enough, scaring the weakest 4-5 Dem Sens just enough to keep everything nice and pro-status Quo, when we have a chance, perhaps for the first time in decades to really pass good, meaningful, with-teeth progressive legislation on a host of issues. They’ll be able to do this, because they can craft ads designed to appeal to intelligent people and make it seem that they’re neither pro-corporate, or GOPers that hate Dems, or anything, partly because they have earned so much trust and goodwill on the Left and in the Center. Just look at how we lap up each and every one their ads with a rec list diary! Where are OUR ads? Where is our Roosevelt Project, ready to hammer filthy Rethugs into political dust? It is nearly a political law that Democrats suck at messaging, and this is the example that proves the law. We are letting what is essentially the unemployed GOP do our messaging for us. Again, this has its political benefits, but were are not building the experience of the infrastructure to develop messaging discipline we are going to desperately need in 2022 and beyond.
The Democratic Party very much needs to do something to figure our how to message more effectively, and to build the infrastructure that will allow national, state and new candidates do the same. We are going to need to show more discipline if we are to wield what will hopefully be a Trifecta so that we don’t suffer defeats on important issues, or water down legislation where something much more effective could have been passed.
2021: More Feet More Fires