Here I go, jumping off into the deep end again. Ever since November 8th, Democrats have been wringing hands and gnashing teeth, casting blame and wailing about our supposed inability for the next four years to fight the behemoth that is Trump and the GOP. I’m sorry, but I’m calling bullshit. We’re looking at this as a traditional linear battle, and the numbers don’t look good. When you can’t win a frontal assault, go guerrilla. There are ways to do it.
The beautiful thing is that the ways I’m talking about don’t really cost any money, no outside financing required, just some time and hard work. The secret was uncovered by Mother Jones in a recent ARTICLE about a fascinating document that they found. It's an actual public document, available to anyone online, and it was written by a bunch of former Democratic congressional staffers who had studied the tactics of their, and our longtime foe, the Tea Party. While the Tea Party on its face was what most people unfortunately took as an almost comical farce, what they also were was amazingly effective.
Those ex staffers took an honest, deep dive into the tactics that made the Tea Party successful. And while there were multiple things that would be an anathema to any Democrat, there were also several universal things that the Tea Party discovered and used to great effect that could be used for any political purpose. Their completed document can be viewed HERE. It’s something like 23 pages long, but quite a bit of that is logistical and informative in nature, things like how to set up a grassroots movement locally. The part that snagged my eye, and captured my imagination was in the first couple of pages, I couldn’t get the the pertinent section to copy/paste cleanly, so I’ll capsulize here.
First of all, realize how your member of Congress works mentally. Most of us have three members of Congress, two Senators, and one Representative. And all of them are monolithic in their thinking. Reelection, reelection, and reelection. That’s all they think about. Use that against them, make them think that they may face some pressure from home as to what they are doing.
Step One; Townhalls
Most members of Congress hold regularly scheduled “townhalls”, where they show up and brag about what a wonderful job they’re doing, and to listen to constituents. Stand up and make your feelings known on issues, and press your MoC for an answer or solution. Hold his feet to the fire. There are other constituents there who may want an answer to that too. If he sidesteps or doesn’t answer, spread the word by every means available to you to make sure the rest of the district knows he’s “out of touch”.
Step Two; Non-townhall Events
Every MoC loves holding public events back home to cut ribbons and kiss babies and stuff. Those are “photo ops”. Show up and hold his feet to the fire some more. Ask him about racism, Social Security, marriage equality, whatever will get the crowd thinking. This can lead to confusion and uncertainty, which may create a reaction that makes him or her look bad at home. No politician wants to look bad in front of the home crowd.
Step Three: District Office Sit ins and Meetings
All MoC have district offices, and believe it or not, they actually go there when they’re at home to check in and deal with local matters. You should be able to get their schedule of attendance from the district office staff. Show up! Demand a meeting with them. If you see them, make your feelings known, and demand answers. Remember, they don’t know who you are, they have no idea how much reach or influence you may have over others in the district. If they refuse to meet with you, take to social media and broadcast that to the world, that your MoC is imperious and unwilling to listen to constituents concerns. If you know anybody in the local media, say a reporter, talk to them. Who knows, you might even end up on local television, and think how kewl that would be.
Step Four: Coordinated Calls
This one is the cheapest, and has the best potential to get the attention of a MoC. Get a group together who are passionate about an issue, say Social Security or the ACA. The more the better. At an opportune moment, avalanche your MoC with a barrage of phone calls about the issue. If they get enough phone calls speaking in unison on an issue, especially without a dissenting response, it may make them worry about a revolt “at home” over this issue, and force them to reconsider.
See what I mean? All of these are simple tactics, honorable and non controversial, after all, you’re just presenting your opinion to your MoC as a constituent. And it isn’t partisan, if you live in a district with a Democratic MoC, you can use this to hold their feet to the fire to toe the line. If you live in a district with a Republican MoC, you can do the same thing, let them know that the people of the district are watching them and what they do. As Anderson Cooper likes to say, “Keeping them honest”.
The key here is organization. The more kindred souls you can get to engage in any or all of these activities, the more effective they will be. MoC like to feel that they’re loved, there’s nothing quite like the threat that they may be deposed to make them listen up. And the simple fact of the matter is that the majority of Americans are too lazy or complacent to take the time and trouble to make their opinions known directly to their MoC. In that kind of a vacuum, a strong, concerted response to an issue can get the MoC thinking that where there is smoke, there may be fire at home. Damn their principles and ideology, their number one concern is getting reelected.
You want to know how to to fight Trump for the next four years? This is how. In Democratic districts we need to remind our MoC’s to hold the fort, and stay the main. In GOP districts, they’re content with their majority and control, they’re not going to talk directly to their MoC. A strong, concerted negative response to an issue might well give a MoC pause to think about the political damage it may cause him or herself at home.They don’t know how you vote, but they have to worry that you do vote. And that’s dangerous to them.
And the most beautiful part is that it doesn’t just work for national congressional politics, it works just as well at the state and local level. We can use the exact same tactics at the state level. Let state legislators know what we think, and that their phony-baloney jobs might not be as secure as they think.
This is the groundwork. But it doesn’t have to take generations to bring to fruition, it’s organic. This can have an impact on the 2018 midterms, as well as any state elections that are being held that year. This is the way that we can not only resist Trump, but resist the GOP controlled system itself. Burrow from within, and let the structure crumble. Let’s not waste it.