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It takes 2 wings to fly . [1]

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Date: 2022-09-19

As we all know this is a very progressive website . Sometimes this gives me trouble as I am definitely on the right end of the democrats coalition . I do acknowledge that in a 2 party system the winning coalition has to be very broad . And yes this makes some members of our coalition seem out of touch or standing for things , that most people on Daily Kos would be very opposed to . There is so much to admire about the progressive wing of the Democrat party , it’s zeal for racial justice , it’s stand to protect the rights of women and the environment and so much more but , it has to be done without losing sight of the focus of this site , more and better democrats . That’s the way I understand it . Many groups of people in the millions have these sort of problems . In the Jewish community , it’s reformed and orthodox who have many disagreements on the direction of Judaism and old and new relationships , it’s just the way it’s been and always will be .

I move to Nevada a long long time ago . This state was very solidly red . In 3 + decades here we have turned this state completely blue . 2 senators a governor and every congressional seat except 1 . Here we did not appeal to the progressives in the state , we assumed they were going to vote for us and we did target more centrist voters . That’s the way Harry Reid did it and that’s the way Shelley Berkeley did it and that’s the way governor Sisolak did it .

Some issues in Nevada would piss off the more progressives in our party but it is a state with the highest % of gun ownership in the country . Nobody attacks guns in Nevada because it’s suicide . I believe Shelley Berkeley lost her senate bid after many terms in the house by allowing Dean Heller to label her as anti gun .

People also come to and retire in Nevada because the state has Zero % state taxes . Yes people have 8000 sq foot mansions here and their yearly tax bills are 6 k . Could they afford more ? Sure . Could we have more programs that benefit the poor if we increased taxes ? Sure . But here in Nevada it’s suicide .

The constant talk of censoring and boycotting everyone who disagrees with the complete progressive line is not a winner here . When I push back a little , I am usually stripped of privileges for a short period or if it’s in a comment it’s completely ignored .

My other big pet peeve is the constant dumping on people like Joe Manchin . We are looking at it the wrong way . I see whatever we get out of Joe Manchin it’s better than the alternative . There is an argument to be made , that he represents a state Trump won by 40 and he should vote for everything Trump would approve of , and he doesn’t do that . You do realize if you don’t support Joe Manchin you are going to get a replacement that makes Ted Cruz seem like a left winger .

Anyway midterms are coming and it is my opinion that for the next few months we need to focus on building the broadest coalition possible , we can argue about what do after we achieve big victories but I see several things that we do that are big vote losses , especially with swing voters and mostly women .

I have seen election data that’s way different over the years than what’s available for public consumption . Having worked to elect democrats for so many years I have seen the way winning campaigns are launched .

Here are a few tips that after years and years I know to be sound . It doesn’t have to be permanent but for the few weeks left until the midterms let’s avoid making certain mistakes .

1. let’s not have any talk about boycotting or censoring anything . Every day there is a diary here on why this or that person should be censored . Not only is it a loser politically , it will certainly come back to bite us . There will be a majority leader in the senate , in the house and yes we will have future Republican presidents . None of the 2 parties is going anywhere . We don’t want radical right wingers deciding what needs to be labeled misinformation , and even with Covid , we got so much wrong .

If you have a PHD in virology and you work as the head of a department at Yale , you have earned the right to be heard . Are there crackpots on line ? Sure , but we can see for ourselves if 90% of PHD’s in virology think a vaccine is good and 10% of them think it’s bad , they have a right to be heard .

The next big mistake is calling anyone Hitler . If people are not being thrown into concentration camps , and killed with Zyklon B it’s offensive , and it’s even more offensive when we call Jews Hitler or Nazis , yet everyday someone is called Hitler . Stop it . Full stop . You want to hate Ivanka Trump or Steven Miller ? Great . Call them Hitler because they may favor a lower annual immigration number or a more favorable view on rich immigrants who can start a business or create 100 jobs , it’s a difference of opinion , it’s not Nazism .

Anyone in favor of these types of statements , may make you feel better but it won’t gain 1 vote . Anyone impressed by calling Jewish people Nazis , well let’s say , they are not voting for a Republican millionaire .

While many elections are about getting the base out , all elections are local in midterms and to win a senate seat , there are lots of opportunities to speak to the progressive wing and use proper language without alienating swing voters .

( yes they exist )

like it or not white suburban women are subject to the widest possible swings . If suburban women feel safe and the economy is good , they have the ability to swing almost as far left as any progressive . But they are also wealthy and want to protect their interests so , if crime spikes badly or the economy goes to shit , they can vote like libertarians or even right wingers .

So diaries on defund the police are also suicide . On the left we label certain words , and then they can’t be used by our opponents . Jewish kids of my generation when to Zionist summer camps in the Catskills and many of us stayed in Kibbutzes in Israel that were advertised as Zionist . Without having a diary on Zionism we made that word toxic and right wingers don’t use it .

Anything with defund the police , even if it’s meant to reallocate resources or decriminalizing certain offenses or having more social workers , fine , say that . There are 2 parties we win some we lose some , we lost defund the police , let’s stop it .

Finally and this is the toughest , Trump talk . It’s a loser . I speak to democrats here in Nevada , weeks go by where a phone call to D offices have anything to do with Trump . Personally , I think if we ignore Trump there is great capacity for the Gop to implode . No not permanently , but it could be a few cycle meltdown .

Imagine if Trump is forced to be ineligible because of something Mitch McConnell does or doesn’t do ? Do you think these Trump fanatics are going to line up and vote for some bureaucrat like Mike Pence or Paul Ryan ?

What if Trump runs wins by a ton and they make a rule at the convention that delegates even on the first ballot are not bound ? Do you think if Trump wins all the primaries and they fuck Him at the convention , they can win ? Of course not . What if Trump wins by a landslide but falls a few delegates short ? Same thing .

So that’s it , I love reading the thoughtful energetic diaries of the great progressive writers here , even if I don’t agree with everything all the time . But for over 3 decades I’ve helped elect democrats and I can assure you , we need to tone it down , stop the ,

Trump Trump Trump bullshit , and the Hitler bullshit , the defund the police bullshit and address the issues that affect democrats to the far left of the coalition and the far right of the coalition .

That’s my 2 cents and I’m sure I’ll be taken to the shed yet again , after all I only learned front the best Harry Reid and other Nevada democrats that I have had the privilege to help elect and even spend a lot of quality time with . Stick to getting people ID’s , getting them registered , appealing to issues for all democrats and after we have big wins , then we can spend some of our political capital to get things that we want , which leads to some erosion of support and then you repeat , it’s politics 101. Now if it’s a state like NY and the politicians are not progressive enough , launch primaries , but in swing states that we need to win , we can’t afford the mistakes , we can’t alienate suburban women with defund the police insanity or we can’t insult 80,000 Jews in Las Vegas by calling other Jews Hitler .



Have at it , I’ll answer if the replies start mounting .usually they are ignored with the Ok old man , keep helping to elect democrats where you are but you know nothing and keep your mouth shut . Don’t worry I was young once and it doesn’t really matter to me .

Getting democrats elected , that’s in my wheelhouse and it’s a reminder we need 2 wings to fly .

ps

forgive the punctuation and the spacing , IPhone diaries are probably a bad way to do this .



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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/19/2123919/-It-takes-2-wings-to-fly

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