November 8, 2022, is election day.
Now, in politics anything can go wrong in a year – even in one race, let alone a thousand races. Let’s ask another question, though, Let’s ask what could go right for Democrats over the next year.
As most things that go right politically are done right by a political actor, I’m going to divide this into: <1> things where dKos readers as simple citizens can participate in making them happen, [Posted today.] <2> things which Democratic campaigns can do later, and <3> things which we have to just hope Republicans get wrong.
- Where we help. <1a> The general contrasts. Democrats are about governing; Republicans are about dividing people. Democrats try to persuade; Republicans threaten. Democrats fight Covid-19 (and climate change); Republicans surrender to them.
1b> Negatives. Some people think of negative campaigning as a task for the campaign of the opponent. Ideally, it isn’t. If you live in the district, you are entitled to your opinion of the incumbent; When something happens in government share that opinion: “People I talk to think that we need pre-kindergarten in this state. Middleclass children benefit, and many children from poor families have no other chance to break the cycle of poverty. Polls show that the majority of the state agrees with us. Senator Smith voted against that, though. Instead of listening to our state, he takes orders from Mitch McConnell.”
(The components of BBB are more popular than the bill itself. So, the incumbent didn’t vote against the bill; he voted against one popular component. Which component? You choose, taking account of your own interests and what’s particularly popular in your area.)
There are 2 kinds of Republicans in Congress, those who will vote against BBB and those who will vote against BBB and have already voted against the bipartisan bill. I don’t propose giving the 13 a pass, but you probably should wait until the bad vote to attack them. If you live in the district of one of the 200, OTOH, this is a great time for the first LTE attacking him.
1c> Congressional positives. A slight majority of Americans, and – I would guess – a much larger majority of dKos readers, live in districts with a Democratic representative. If your D rep. voted yes, this might be a good time to send a public praise outlining what we are getting with the bill – and with his vote.
1d> OTOH, this might be the time to note that Biden accomplished in his first year what TFG promised for 4 years but was unable to accomplish. Or something like: “Are the Democrats in array? I’ve been reading for months now that the Democrats were in disarray because they couldn’t bring their two infrastructure bills to a vote. Well, they passed the first one with a comfortable margin and bipartisan support. What is the antonym for “disarray”?
1e> Gov. and some local. I don’t want to impose my opinions on you, especially on local issues, but I can’t avoid thinking that Covid-19 is a winning issue for Democrats practically everywhere. One datapoint is that in early August, when mandates were rare and only by private employers, 70% of voting-age Americans were vaccinated. That’s a national figure, but it’s one hell of a lot more than Biden’s share. Anywhere you have a Republican governor (or state government) with a worse record than the national one, that is a talking point; Anywhere you have a Democratic governor (or state government) with a better record than the national one, that is a talking point. When you have split government, that probably calls for comparison with another particular state.
I’ve sometimes written this as though a LTE were the only response. While they probably are most effective, posts on social media and on the response areas of broadcast media are also available. Take your choice, but get the word out.