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Even if the Democrats win today, America has already lost - unless Democrats fight back better [1]

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Date: 2022-11-08

The “experts” and armchair analysts have poured over the polls, early voting stats, and turnout trends today. They have concluded the Democrats will squeak it out, or they will hold onto the Senate and lose the House, or there will be a red wave.

It is safe to say that no one knows. The only certain thing is Joe Biden will still be President tomorrow. But whatever the result, the next two years will be ugly. Far uglier than the last two years of Obama’s first term and the first two years of Biden’s administration.

If the GOP does win big, they will pass no laws benefiting the average American. Fortunately, Biden will veto any reactionary legislation, such as a national abortion ban. However, with control of the House — and with it the power of the purse, the GOP could refuse to pay for anything. And shut down the government.

If the GOP wins the Senate, there will be no more Biden judges. And wherever the GOP has control there will be investigative committees looking behind every door and calling witnesses until no government official will have the time to do their job.

The better result — duh! — would be if the Democrats preserve the status quo. However, now that the GOP has learned that election denial is a winning issue with the base, the furor over the 2020 result will seem like the teddy bear’s picnic compared to what is next. The rabid pack of fact-deniers — who will all be back on Twitter, slinging shite, free from parental control now that social media’s antisocial, anarchist, drunk uncle owns the sandbox - will lose their minds in spit-flecked rage

No matter what happens at the national level, if GOP election deniers win races for Governor and Secretary of State, especially in swing states, the Democrats can remove them from the winnable column. These fascists will ban absentee ballots and early voting; they will strip big cities of polling places; they will usher in new Jim Crow laws but without overt racism. And the Supreme Court will let most of the anti-democracy measures stand.

And they will rig the 2024 election — legally.

Schools in these states will no longer teach the three Rs. They will spout conservative propaganda, religious fundamentalism, racism, misogyny, and homophobia. And the MAGA youth will sit there and learn to hate.

What can the Democrats do? Vote at every future opportunity. Adopt Republican tactics and vote for everything from school boards, to local judges, to city officials. The GOP can make it almost impossible for some constituents to cast a ballot. But they cannot stop everyone from voting.

The Democrats won in 2020 with a margin of 7 million. So the votes are there, even with the GOP’s attempt to wall off the ballot box. Especially, when you consider that 1 in 3 American adults, 78 million, did not vote. As voting rates are generally lower among minorities, the poor, and the young — demographics that tend to favor Democrats — there is potentially a huge upside for liberals. If they can grasp it

However, and this is perhaps the Democrats' biggest blind spot, minorities are no longer the lock for the left they once were. Conservative Latinos, in particular, are giving the Republicans a closer look. Democrats have plenty of minorities in their ranks, but they have a reputation for taking the minority vote for granted.

MAGAs are lost forever — but not every Republican is a MAGA. And some right-leaning independents are persuadable. The Democrats will not win many over. But elections are often decided by small margins — it could make a difference. Especially, if Democrats can make their message resonate with more voters. Do not misunderstand, Democrats do not have to change their policies — they are good policies. They need to explain them more convincingly. The Democrats have little opportunity to pick up many of them. But to stand a chance, they need to get their message out there better.

For instance, they need to tell the voter how fighting climate change is a job generator. Some people think the science is bunk — and they have not listened to the facts so far and they will not start now. However, they understand paychecks. The Democrats should sell alternate energy as the source of high-paying, middle-class jobs - much as the automobile industry was before.

The most numerous non-voting liberals are the young. Conservatives are a minority on college campuses, but they organize well — look at College Republicans and Turning Point USA. Their enthusiasm seems greater. I do not know if they are more likely to vote than liberal students, but it would not surprise me.

Democrats must find an answer to the GOP’s winning message on parental rights vis-a-vis schools. It was the issue that won Glenn Youngkin the governorship in Virginia. I do not know what it is - but the Democrats better find someone who does.

They also need to learn to attack. The GOP has a genius for short messages that become memes. Here is a party that has stripped women of choice, disenfranchised entire communities, scorned athletes protesting racial injustice, and institutionalized generational poverty. And yet they are seen as the party of individual rights, voting integrity, free speech, and opportunity. Why can’t the Democrats figure out how to hang that horseshit around conservative necks?

Conservatives have warned their base for 14 years that Obama, the Democrats, and Biden are coming to take their guns and Bibles. And no legal gun owner has had a gun confiscated and no Bible-thumper has had to find anything else to thump. Yet the GOP continues to terrify its base that the gun and Bible grabs will begin any day now.

I respect the hell out of Nancy Pelosi. She has been a ground-breaking politician for years. She is a consummate behind-the-scenes operator who has ruled her caucus with an iron fist. But she has been the face of the Democratic House since 2006. It is time for a change. And is school-marm Chuck Schumer, peering over his cheaters, the best marketing choice for the Democrats in the Senate?

I want the Democrats to win, so I only offer criticism because I care. And if anyone has a better idea, I would love to hear it.



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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/8/2134619/-Even-if-the-Democrats-win-today-America-has-already-lost-unless-Democrats-fight-back-better

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