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The Fight For Democracy And Against Inflation Is The Same Thing- NOT Two Separate Things. [1]

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Date: 2022-10-25

Defend democracy- and everything else.

There’s been a notion all year long that the fight to defend democracy is something that stands apart from everything else- everything else being pocket book issues, or hot button cultural ones.

It makes sense. Technically it is- the mechanics of governance vs. specific policies.

But doing that plays to the GOP’s framing, and thus advantage. They just want to talk about how bad inflation and gas prices are, of course. Naturally they have absolutely no answer to them (in fact they would make them worse). They are just hoping low information voters are merely upset and get in a throw-the-bums-out mood. Which is incredibly easy to do.

Does it need to be explained? Gas and food prices are in everyone’s face: they’re concrete. Most people who are not as informed as all of us here hardly have a notion that democracy is threatened: it’s very abstract.

So, in these last 2 weeks, I suggest playing the game on our terms.

It can be this simple-

The people that can’t be trusted to count your vote can not be trusted to do anything else for you.

They’re going to erase your vote...but they’re going to lower gas prices?

They’re going to upend your state’s election...but they’re going to lower inflation?

They’re going to try and replace state electors…but they’re going to protect your Social Security?

It makes no sense. At least to anyone that isn’t a cult member or a scared white nationalist/ Christian fundamentalist that hates democracy anyhow.

The simplicity works: rather than any in-depth explanation of the why and how of the threat to democracy, just start by clearly stating what the GOP is running on-

- taking away your vote by "challenging" it.

- using a bogus theory to have the state legislatures overturn an election

There is no “both sides” here. Only the GOP is doing this, just as only the GOP is refusing to accept defeats, from Trump on down.

This is pretty much the only thing they’ve been clear on what they plan to do (other than cut funding for Ukraine, hold bogus hearings, and attack abortion rights). So for anyone that is late to the party, start by making it clear that they want to erase your vote, cheat in elections that they don’t win, and undermine democracy.

Then pivot to the next part- if they have to cheat to win, why would they help you with gas prices? Or inflation? Or anything that matters to you?

For anyone- and they exist- that wants to just fixate on inflation and gas prices, ask them how the GOP has the answer for either one if they have to cheat to get into office?

One more time- their plan is so good that they have to suppress the vote, gerrymander, and build cheating into the system to let us have it???

Challenge anyone to have it make sense.

Again, if they want to contest the cheating part, that’s where you get to lay it out for them: they have an entire plan to make it so they can’t lose a presidential election. They’ve explained it and I can explain it too. It’s called “cheating”. You know what plan they don’t have? One for inflation (cutting taxes is not a plan and won’t help). Or gas prices (we’re already drilling more under Trump: that’s not going to work).

The only “plan”, besides cheating in elections, that they have is to hold the debt ceiling hostage unless Social Security and Medicare are cut. That could lead to a default, a real recession, and cuts to your Social Security. Just to keep millionaires and billionaires from paying taxes. How does that sound?

Look, I just spent the weekend canvassing. The people that I could talk to didn’t want to spend a bunch of time talking: ain’t no seminars going on here. This is my 10 second pitch to people-

“The (GOP candidate) is against democracy. Do you know what his plan for inflation and gas prices is? He doesn’t either- he doesn’t have one. Our candidate is for democracy, Social Security, and actually wants to do something for you.”

There is no magic bullet for inflation and gas prices, just responsible stewardship. The people that like authoritarians and don’t like democracy aren’t voting for us anyway.

The people want to “throw the bums out” have to know that, this time, they’d be throwing the bums in. That’s not clear enough.

The people that not only think but need to believe that changing parties will solve inflation and gas prices- because otherwise they feel helpless and impotent- need to know that no “change up” will help but it will hurt actual democracy.

Everyone that is low information, and less, need to know that the GOP is openly threatening democracy.

All of these things are related: they aren’t “separate.” Make it so.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/25/2131072/-The-Fight-For-Democracy-And-Against-Inflation-Is-The-Same-Thing-NOT-Two-Separate-Things

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