Hello my fellow citizens of the US of A. Last night’s electoral slaughter has left many of you dazed and confused. I remember that feeling. In 2014, no one could figure out why our state stuck with the bitterly unpopular Sam Brownback. There were other issues at hand, though, and in the end, Democratic messaging and strategy didn’t get there. Join the club. You’re in the boat that we were in, 2 years ago. It’s a rough one. But I have a few good words for you. Last night, in an election with a big push for Rs, Kansas Democratic party members had their best night since 1976, winning 13 seats, a net gain of 12 on the night. We picked up a senate seat along with it.
Should we have done better? Yes, and I wish we had. But, compared nationally, it is hard to feel bad about a lot of pickups when the nation is stuck.
Over the last few years, working far more inside the Democratic operation, I’ve learned a few things. I’d like to share them, just for your consideration. On Saturday, in my Nuts & Bolts, I’ll talk about campaign assessments.
Talking to rural and small town voters mattered.
Three of Kansas Democratic wins were west of US-81, an area that Sam Brownback had mocked Democratic party members for not even trying to win. With victories in Hays, Hutchinson, and Newton, that stigma is broken.
One of the things we learned nationally this year is that rural voters have a high turnout propensity. In a statewide vote, their vote is just as good as a vote in a city or large community. The fact is, we haven’t done enough to address their issues in a head-on way. That’s on us.
We also learned that Democrats moved. Unhappy with Scott Walker, several left Wisconsin, and other Democratic members left Michigan. Our nation is sorting itself out into heavily liberal and heavily Republican territories.
But even in red states, there can and should be real growth. Now, for the first time in eight years, Democratic party members have more than 40 in the Kansas House. Enough to put up real resistance.
There is too much money, poorly run, in the Democratic machine.
This year I had the pleasure/displeasure of working alongside several US House races. What I learned from that is that too many of the DCCC professionals sent wanted to use methods and target goals that really didn’t match with the district they were in. There is a clear tendency to utilize what I can a “rinse, wash, repeat”… what worked in one area was assigned to anywhere else, and sometimes the marketplace didn’t match.
Worse, it often seemed, at least in two races, the primary goal was partly to win, and partly to sell a lot of print work, by capturing the business of printing cards, mail, shirts or generating revenue for friendly print houses. DCCC advisers would get focused on who 3rd party vendors were and they those service providers managed to make pretty good money. Good deal for them, mixed deal for the candidate. For the record: I did quite a bit of print this year. I .. did not make good money. But, I’m putting that out there just for the sake of disclosure. We have to create and put faith in local resources without managing them from remote. This means rebuilding those resources.
Ok, you’re like Kansas. What Next?
Fight. Fight hard. Fight as hard as you possibly can. Find the issues you care about and advocate for them. Continue to bring attention to them. We have to realize this is a long-term effort that involves continuous, long term work. In the campaigns that prevailed in Kansas, and those that came close, there was a real, longterm effort to talk head on, to get people involved.
The option you don’t have is quitting. It simply isn’t an option. You either fight to make things better or you roll over and die.
No, This Isn’t Bernie Voters Fault. Bernie also would not have prevailed.
Today, I’ve seen several bitter posts blaming Bernie voters. Stop. It isn’t their fault. In many cases, the states were tipped by larger turnout of rural voters. That isn’t on Bernie people. Despite what Bernie supporters tell you, though, I don’t think with this demographic turnout he would have prevailed. I’ve spent the morning looking at state house races across the country, and the rural races that came in big for Trump also came in big for Republican state house candidates. The voters who showed up in those areas? They were conservatives. They didn’t vote for outsiders, they voted for long standing incumbent Republicans.
Last night, as I sat in a room with 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants discussing the impact of the election, as kids on DACA wept for where they go, I realized again that we have to continue the effort. This morning, I walked into a McDonalds to have the person in front of me yell when Trump got on the screen “Serves them right for not standing during the national anthem”, referencing a piece of mail that showed Kansas Democratic party members photoshopped into a Kapernick jersey standing on the flag.
What Needs to be fixed?
I laid out this case for Kansas and Missouri, and I will lay it out for the nation.. we need a continuous, constant commitment to try and get better. We need a DNC that gets serious about a different way to address a map where Democratic voters are moving, rapidly, to be among friends in friendly states and abandoning electoral areas.
This is a work that will take time and commitment.
Final Thoughts
As I watched the Kansas numbers come in last night, a part of me wanted to celebrate. Kansas retained our court judges, despite a hard fight. Democratic party members picked up seats. We handled our business. But as I watched the nation I realized something. And I will say this out loud:
Moderate Republicans and Republicans own Trump. Not the DNC, not Hillary. He is a Republican. He is their standard bearer. Moderates and middle-of-the-road Republicans nationwide knew who he was and they said nothing.
In a text message from a Missouri consultant, I received this note: “I never thought this would happen, it’s a nightmare..” A Kansas consultant relayed: “What just happened.” When I pressured the Missouri consultant why their moderate Republican candidates didn’t denounce Trump, they told me point blank: “We couldn't, we would probably lose if we did that.. we needed those Republican votes.” And there it was. Republicans put their political futures ahead of the country. A grenade was thrown into the room and rather than jump on it to save us, they pretended it wasn’t a grenade, hoping it would be a dud. It wasn’t. And now we all suffer. There are times you need to put your country over your party. That didn’t happen.
Now, Trump supporters get to realize that he can’t build a wall. That his thoughts of jailing Hillary won’t happen. Trump won’t bring back manufacturing jobs, which mostly became automated thanks to robots.
But if Democratic members want to turn this around, we have to work harder than we have ever worked before. America, I’ve been there. I’ve lived it. I’ve seen it first hand in Kansas. Now it’s your turn. Fight. Fight hard. It’s the least you can do.