I was browsing youtube. I do every once in a while, and I found this guy. To be clear, I have not seen every single video that he has put out, so please don't block me if you find something that you disagree with in one of his videos. But I thought it would be beneficial to address some of the stuff he is saying in this video. Again I am not a party insider or candidate for office, but some of the things he addresses are stuff that I have been saying all along. Let's get into it.
First, he addresses the Maryland race. More about how we spent money propping up a less than electable candidate. Is this a good strategy? Well, as he puts it. It's a tactic, not a strategy. I agree with what they did in Maryland because another Larry Hogan-type candidate would be more challenging to beat. I would not use that tactic in a congressional district in a swing state like Colorado or Georgia. Get what I used for those two specific states? I think he makes a good point here. It's a tactic used in a particular race but not an overall strategy.
The second thing he brings up is that the Democratic Party does not think about more than two or three presidential elections at a time. Ben Wikler and Wisconsin Democrats have fixed that issue compared to previous administrations. Before the party officially endorsed Mandela Barnes, we had a full bench of candidates across Wisconsin. Like the 2018 Gubernatorial race, Evers beat Kelda Roys and a couple of others before accepting the nomination.
He also pivots back to his original point. He brings up a good point about Ron DeSantis. Close margins always win Florida gubernatorial races. If you make DeSantis struggle in a re-elect. Primary voters might think twice about giving him victories in the Iowa Caucus or the South Carolina or New Hampshire primaries. Elevating Trump instead of DeSantis would not help us in the long term.
So let's break down what he said before discussing the ground game and election strategy. The Democratic Party is a coalition, not the status quo. Everyone is progressive to some degree. I'm afraid I have to disagree that you must be this progressive. Otherwise, you are on your own. I don't want to see the DNC do to Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema what the Wisconsin Republicans did to Dale Schultz. Liz Cheney and Adam Kizinger are examples where I think the Republicans let the MAGA faction have too much say. The bottom line is if I think I can win an area with a candidate that may only vote with me 70% of the time. I will support that candidate because they represent their constituency, not the party. Let me ask you this. Do you want Kristen Sinema or Kari Lake? Do you like Joe Manchin or Shelly Moore Capito?
His closing argument is two parts. No one runs unopposed. There are two sides to this argument. One is resources. Do I want to spend resources in a race I know my party can't win? However, if it's 60-40 seats, but if I can get it to 57-41, will that help my state-wide candidate? Some state parties have that argument.
The second part is because we are a coalition, not a one-size-fits-all tent. We don't have consistent messaging. Getting everyone on a consistent message is hard, but I will give it a try with another diary. I like that he acknowledged that we are starting to play hardball. An example would be Chuck Schumer with the CHIPS and Manchin bill. He made the Republicans look like total fools with the PACT ACT.
Finally, I want to expand on his last point. Democrats don't have the equivalent of FOX NEWS. We don't have our own Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson promoting our views every night during prime time and getting loads of viewers. More than MSNBC and CNN. The closest thing we ever had was John Stewart. He perfected The Daily Show. I would stay up at night to watch The Daily Show. I think people understated The Daily Show's impact on national politics. We don't have that now. Stephen Colbert is great, but he doesn't always have journalists or politicians on there. John Oliver and Bill Maher are great, but not everyone has HBO MAX, and people don't always go to youtube. We see what John Stewart did in one day with the veteran's bill. Some may disagree with me, and that is fine.