No, I wasn’t happy about yesterday’s results. Obviously, since I am a Democratic firebrand, defeat never sits easy with me. But I’ve never been one to stay on the ground when I get knocked down. I fight back. So here are some practical suggestions.
1. Stop Being a Defeatist
If you’re one of those people who are freaking out and throwing up your hands and saying that all is lost for 2022, I have a simple request:
Either start helping the rest of us or sit down and be quiet.
The negative energy generated by defeatists leads to self-fulfilling prophecies. It kills GOTV enthusiasm. It dampens fund raising. It weakens our message. It makes us look like losers. SO KNOCK IT OFF. We can actually hold our ground in 2022, and I have some ideas (below) to share on that, but first some of y’all need to STOP SURRENDERING A YEAR EARLY.
2. Get a Unified Message and Blast It Out
I hate the Republican Party with the heat of a thousand suns, but those bastards are damned good about settling on a handful of DAMNED, STINKING, DESPICABLE LIES and pushing them with vicious relentlessness. Yes, I know they have their own depraved disinformation system, but we are not without resources. We need a UNIFIED message, and our people need to be out there EVERY DAY pushing it. There is no possible reason the Republicans lead us in the generic issues polls, by double digits in some categories, other than the flood of Republican lies that too often go unanswered. GET ON THE TEAM AND GET THE MESSAGE OUT. Rachel Bitecofer is doing vital work here.
We need to relentlessly attack Bullshit Mountain, aka the Fox-Newsmax-OAN-talk radio machine.
Oh, by the way...THE AVERAGE AMERICAN IS NOT ON TWITTER. Our effort must be much broader.
And along those lines…
3. President Biden Needs to Talk to the American People
President Biden needs to communicate directly to the people. Toward that end, I favor buying a half hour on every major broadcast and cable news channel for him to lay out:
A. His MANY accomplishments
B. What his proposals mean and how they will benefit the ordinary people.
C. The REAL reasons the key elements of his program have been stalled—namely REPUBLICAN obstruction.
D. A call for action, urging the American people to pressure their elected Congress members to vote for his program.
Why buy the time? That way the Republicans don’t get a rebuttal to push their bullshit. Oh, and speaking of bullshit…
4. Confront this “Critical Race Theory” bullshit RIGHT NOW. Not next year. NOW.
One of the reasons I bailed on the Republicans so many years ago was their increasingly ugly racial hatred appeals. They’re masters at it, while blathering that any accusations of racism directed against them are outrageous. Point out the TRUTH:
A. That CRT is generally taught on the graduate level. No, your first-grader is not being “indoctrinated” to hate white people.
B. That 99% of the people who say they are opposed to it have no idea what it is, but by god they’re against it.
C. That this is simply another iteration of the Right wingers shouting the N-word in a disguised form.
5. DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE TRAITORS THAT TRIED TO OVERTHROW OUR GOVERNMENT.
No more letting Right-wing scumbags ignore subpoenas. No more lack of consequences. Democrats all over America are looking to the Administration to enforce the law. We need to press this issue HARD. If it looks like Trump will get away with starting an insurrection, the effects on our morale would be disastrous.
6. The 2022 Campaign Starts TODAY.
This diary is me renewing my war on the Radical Right’s effort to strangle our democratic republic. It is me starting my personal effort to WIN in 2022. It means we keep contributing whatever money we can. It means we keep communicating our TRUTHS, loudly and clearly. It means the patient work of gathering voter information and organizing on the precinct level in every precinct in America. Above all, it means GOING ON OFFENSE AND MAKING THE 2022 ELECTION A REFERENDUM ON THE RADICAL RIGHT’S ASSAULT ON OUR FREEDOM AND OUR NATION. GO NEGATIVE BIG TIME. PULL NO PUNCHES. KEEP THE RIGHT WINGERS BACK ON THEIR HEELS.
So…
no more whining and crying that we’re doomed.
LET’S GET TO WORK TODAY. And let me paraphrase Harry Truman: We’re going to win this election and make these Republicans like it.