As I have said repeatedly, the 2020 election will be the most crucial for the life of our country since the fateful election of 1860. We are up against the most corrupt, criminal, anti-American administration in U.S. history. This administration is supported by religious fanatics determined to impose a theocracy on the rest of us, white supremacists determined to maintain their position, and all those whose minds have been twisted by the sick, mendacious outpourings of the Right Wing media machine. Obviously, there is strong overlap in these groups. This Right Wing push for absolute power is supported by dark money billionaires who seek to manipulate the political system for their own benefit. The Democratic Party’s leaders, its voters, the independents who lean our way, and the fed-up, old fashioned Republicans who can be persuaded to vote with us without agreeing completely with us, are all that stands between America and the dark, authoritarian future the Right Wing radicals are pushing us toward.
So where do we start?
1. A Positive Program for America
The Democrats are right on every issue, both as a matter of policy and in a moral and ethical sense. The following positions seem to be widely accepted both in the party and in much of the nation in general:
We are for universal health care. The exact form of it can be worked out, but rather than mandatory Medicare, an opportunity to buy into it through a public option may be the best route.
We are for a transition to 100% renewable energy as soon as is practicable. We will rejoin the Paris Agreement immediately. We will renew America’s neglected national parks. We will vigorously enforce the environmental laws. We will restore the independence of the EPA.
We are for equal rights and the equal protection of the law for every American, of any description.
We are against gerrymandering, vote suppression, and all measures designed to make it harder to vote.
We are for the Dreamers (DACA). We are opposed to the idiotic hate wall that the “president” has proposed. We are for a path to citizenship for those who came here without documentation. We are for the reform of the ICE. We will give priority to catching and expelling criminals who are here illegally. We will NEVER cage up children as if they were zoo animals. We will welcome lawful refugees.
We are for a tax system that will help reduce the gaping inequities in American life. We are for an economy that provides opportunities for all, and which will help ease the transition into greater and greater levels of automation. We will eliminate the disastrous Trump tariffs. (And on a personal level, I would hope we would advocate regulated capitalism and the de-rigging of markets.)
We are for defending the social safety net, namely Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs which have benefited tens of millions of Americans and which are vitally necessary.
We are for sweeping reforms which will root out the pervasive corruption in American society (corruption so richly exemplified by the current “president”). We will vigorously prosecute “white collar crime”.
We are for the right of women to control their reproductive health. We are for comprehensive sex education and universal access to effective birth control for all people of fertile age, measures which will reduce the number of abortions significantly. We will stop trying to impose useless “abstinence only” policy both here and around the world.
We are for the legalization of marijuana. (On a personal level, I would like to see every imprisoned non-violent drug offender in America paroled immediately.)
We are for the appointment of highly qualified judges to the Federal bench. No member of the Federalist Society need apply. If we decide to expand the court system, it must be done in such a manner that political influences are minimized.
We are for universal background checks for gun ownership. We recognize that gun ownership in rural areas is a necessity. We are for the regulation of semi-automatic weapons.
We are for upgrading the nation’s infrastructure, including high speed internet access in every community.
We are against a senseless war with Iran. We will rejoin the nuclear accord with that country. We will complete the withdrawal from Afghanistan. We will support Israel, but reject any alliance with religious extremists in that country. We will not support the barbaric Saudi war in Yemen.
We will stand up for American ideals in foreign policy, rejecting authoritarians and embracing our traditional allies. We will maintain the NATO alliance. We will support South Korea’s independence and security, and stop giving the despotic Kim regime the international prestige it desires.
We will restore honor, honesty, and dignity to the office of the presidency.
And then...
2. A Devastating Critique of Trump and His Republican Enablers
Here on DKos we all understand what a catastrophe Trump’s presidency has been. But we must put our objections into a short, punchy form that the average American will listen to. We don’t need to bury people in statistics. We just need to speak simply and plainly. (In thinking about the format of this, I was reminded of the list of grievances that comprises the bulk of The Declaration of Independence. Trump is George III in this scenario.) Our attacks on Trump must be aimed at one objective:
We must make the 2020 election a referendum on Trump.
So...here goes:
He has lied to the American people again and again and again, more than any president in the nation’s history. And no, Mexico still isn’t paying for his wall.
His administration is the most corrupt in American history. He has used the office of president to enrich himself, his family, and his cronies, in direct violation of the Constitution. Many of those he has appointed to office are corrupt as well.
He has a long history of being associated with organized crime, both American and Russian. He has committed crimes repeatedly. He is a tax cheat. He is a money launderer for the Russian mob. His nickname should be Mafia Don.
He has locked up children in dog cages and separated kids from their parents. He doesn’t even know where all of the kids are!
He has shown utter disrespect for the rights of women, and his personal moral conduct is a disgrace.
He has deliberately tried to stir up racial and ethnic hatred, tearing the country apart in the process. He is supported by violent hate groups. He bases his campaigns solely on lies, hate, and fear. It’s all he has. It’s all the Republican Party has.
He is hell-bent on privatizing Medicare and gutting Social Security.
His administration is filled with chaos and disorder. Trump is the most incompetent person who has ever been president. He is lazy and ignores most of his responsibilities. He Tweets, golfs, and watches TV more than he “works”—and you pay the bill!
He has ignored and worsened the climate crisis that threatens the whole world. His policies are trashing the environment here in America.
He almost completely ignored Puerto Rico when it was hit by a hurricane that left 3,000 dead. His response was too little, too late.
His education secretary has attacked the public school system and tried to make it tougher to pay off student loan debt.
He is attempting to strip health care from tens of millions of Americans. He is attacking the most vulnerable among us.
He embraces dictators and pushes our traditional allies away. He is completely under Putin’s control in foreign policy.
He accepted the help of foreign powers when he ran for president, especially Russia and Saudi Arabia.
He is a draft dodger who has attacked heroic veterans. He couldn’t even be bothered to go to Arlington on Veterans Day 2018. After all, it was raining.
He has taken credit for economic progress he had nothing to with. His tariffs have inflicted terrible damage on our nation’s farms and have raised consumer prices. His tax scam—the only “achievement” he has—shoveled money into the pockets of the rich—including Trump himself—and gave you the crumbs. And your tax break is scheduled to disappear. Trump gets to keep his. [If there is a recession at the time the campaign is heating up, we can wrap that around Trump. Hope there isn’t one, but I think there might be.]
He shut down the government for no good reason, costing us billions. His “National Emergency” was a farce.
He seems to want another war in the MidEast, this time with Iran. That would be a disaster.
He’s a terrible negotiator. He’s a terrible businessman. He drove all his businesses into the ground and ripped people off doing it. He isn’t a self-made man. He inherited his money and was propped up by his daddy again and again. And he’s not worth anything near what he says he is—just another one of his lies.
Every day, he seems to find a new way to embarrass our country and pull everyone down into the gutter with him. And the Republican Party has gone along with EVERYTHING, ALL OF IT. Trump IS the Republican Party. Mitch McConnell, the rest of the Republicans in Congress, and the Republicans in the states have supported every illegal, corrupt, dishonest, stupid thing Trump has done. ALL OF THEM NEED TO BE THROWN OUT!
[Your suggestions for more items in this section are particularly welcome.]
3. A Program of ACTION That Needs to Be Going NOW
Andrew Gillum has the right idea, setting a goal of registering 1,000,000 new voters in Florida. In my mind, GOTV is the sacred tool that leads to victory, as we saw in 2018. I have already begun a program I call One Hundred Million for America. This is what I propose:
1. Setting a goal of contacting 100 million voters face-to-face to help us boost the Democratic vote from 65 million in 2016 to at least 85 million in 2020. This goal is laid out here.
2. Identifying our target groups. These groups are laid out here.
3. Registering people to vote and working with local progressive groups to do so. The specifics are laid out here.
4. Encouraging every Democratic activist to get 10 people registered to vote. This idea is laid out here.
5. Getting the money machine going in earnest, as it already appears to be. The Republicans are planning to allocate $1 billion to help Trump. I propose that we raise at least $5 billion for 2020, both through ActBlue and local fundraisers. Three billion for destroying Trump and Pence, two billion for seizing the Senate and enlarging our House majority. It IS doable. If 15 to 20 million contributors are willing to give $20 a month, it can be done easily. I say we go for it. Start getting pledges from people. I personally advocate an ActBlue page that would collect money for whomever the eventual presidential nominee is, just as we collected millions of dollars to support whomever is going to throw Susan Collins out in Maine.
6. We need top-flight IT people to help fight the cyber war you KNOW that’s coming against us. Russian bots are already swarming the Internet. But this time, we’re gonna turn the tables on them.
7. We need people to wage war on social media. We need to hold Zuckerberg’s feet to the fire on Facebook and kill off those phony memes on Facebook. Twitter can be of some use, I guess, Instagram much less so. But we need a VERY strong social media presence. Organizing teams of people for GOTV via social media seems like a good idea to me.
8. Look at Adopt a Dem for Congress, from Loyal Kossack Mopshell, right here.
9. Heed this advice from Loyal Kossack ArcticStones:
Avoid toxic labels for Democratic candidates and our policies.
In particular, stop calling ourselves Socialists when none of our candidates are – and absolutely none of the policies we’re proposing are remotely Socialist. This term is not only inaccurate, it is toxic to about 80 percent of American voters.
(Our voters are not just those Kossacks who view the term positively, and imbue it with different meaning from that of many Americans, historians and political scientists. And – No! – your are not going to “educate” voters to suddenly see the term in the light that you might. Far more accurate is Social Democratic, which refers to the success of Scandinavia.)
Language matters! Embracing inaccurate and toxic language is the fastest way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
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And some ideas I’ve laid out before:
An attempt to penetrate the AM radio world with a progressive message. We’ve been beaten on the air for too long. Right wing liars and frauds dominate AM radio air. It’s time to change that.
A DETAILED program for winning Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona while retaining our 2016 states. I get almost physically ill when someone says we need to give up on Ohio or Florida. Sheer lunacy. I will be calling on Kossacks who know those states to offer their strategies for bringing them into the Democratic fold in 2020. (And if someone has ideas about Iowa, Texas, and Montana, those would be welcome, too.)
WHO ARE THE KOSSACK EXPERTS ON THESE STATES? LET’S HEAR FROM YOU, FOLKS!
An ALL OUT effort to unseat Mitch McConnell. Let’s make that SOB feel the heat—big time. He’s the most dangerous member of Congress. He can be beaten, I know it!
AND FINALLY...EVERY UNSUCCESSFUL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR THE NOMINATION MUST WORK AND CAMPAIGN ALL OUT FOR THE NOMINEE.
EVERY DEMOCRAT, INDEPENDENT, AND DISILLUSIONED REPUBLICAN MUST VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE, EVEN IF THAT PERSON WAS THEIR LAST CHOICE!
I cannot emphasize too strongly how important it is for us to win. It is the difference between America surviving and America failing. You often hear the cliche that “this election is the most important of our lifetime.” But there’s one difference now:
This time it’s true.
I love all y’all and I hope to hear from you.