Looking at the results of the Georgia special election at 5:30am this morning I was not surprised but I was a little disappointed. It would have been simply wonderful to read about an Ossoff victory early in the morning.
So what now? At first I was down, now a few hours later I realized that we made HUGE progress and forced the mighty GOP to spend, spend and spend until it hurt to prevent a blue win in a deep red district. Now I am elated! Ossoff (a first time candidate) got 48.1% of the vote the last Democrat got around 36% of the vote so the total movement toward sour side and away from the GOP and Trump was huge. The GOP should have been able to keep that seat by nominating a pig with a red tie, instead they had to fight.
The DNC stood by and did nothing about the race in Kansas and waited on the sidelines for far too long in Georgia. They stuck to their tried and true (and loosing) strategy of breaking the country into red, blue and swing districts, decided that GA 06 was deep blue and forgot all about it. Thanks to Daily Kos and thousands of small donors we woke them up. There are many reasons why the “We are going to lose so let’s let the other side win” is a losing strategy. Here are my thoughts.
1. The Democratic Base is fired up, thousands of donors ponied up $1, $10, $4 … and raised $8.3 million, that’s people power! We humble Democrats can’t write $5 million checks like the odious Adelson, but there are lots of us and we vote. I am going to give a few $ to every Democratic candidate that runs in a House or Senate special election. The Democratic Party needs to take advantage of this and lead, and if they can’t lead they should get the hell out of the way.
2. Failing to compete is failing to get our message out and allowing people like Trump, McConnell and Ryan to control the dialog. Our message, our policy has to be heard to be effective. Or to quote Edmund Burke “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” It is simply inexcusable for the DNC to take a backseat in these elections and allow the triumph of evil. The race in Montana is probably more winnable than either Kansas or Georgia, the DNC must show up!
3. Failing to compete is telling Democrats in red or purple seats that they don’t count. They would love to see a Democrat take a red seat, imagine how much it would animate them for 2018. Getting a call from the DNC in Washington to help the DNC win races South Carolina does not mean much when you are a Democrat living in Kansas.
4. Failing to compete in red states is telling the population of that state that they don’t count and that the Democratic Party is the party of the elite coastal states. A narrative that the GOP eagerly reinforces while simultaneously plotting to take away the same people’s healthcare to give the 1% in the coastal states a tax break. Why is the DNC not fighting this?
5. Failing to compete ensures the other side will win, win and win.
I am going to write to the DNC, both my Senators and my House representative (all Dems) to tell them to show up in Kansas. Please dot he same and keep up the fight, it is too important for all of us to just sit on the sidelines.
Final note: President Twitler saw what was happening in GA 06 and lent his voice (via robocalls) and thumbs to this race, there is a good chance he will do the same in Montana and South Carolina. He will at a minimum help to fire the Democratic base in those races and sooner or later there will be nasty tweet that might even help Quist or Parnell the DNC has got to be onboard. Winning even one red seat away from the GOP in 2017 will make many GOP donors think twice before writing checks in 2018 and will put a huge anchor around Trump’s program.