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Defenders of Democracy: Your Country Needs You [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-02-01

Connections Not Consultants

Our country is not divided by liberal & conservative, Democrat & Republican, or rural and urban. There are only two groups: those who will stand up for the Constitution & Rule of Law and the pawns of the oligarchs caught in the cult of Trump. I will stand with the former. — ShireSteve

Less despair more organization - two years to readjust the checks and balances.

This statement mirrors the statements of Stephen Douglas and U.S. Grant as the secession crisis unfolded. Douglas having lost the presidential election to Lincoln, then tried to rally the country to preserve the Union. The political parties have moved from issues over taxes, regulations, and healthcare to an existential moment. Trump and his cohort of oligarchs are trying to destroy the government of the United States. They are undermining all the essential principles of our democratic republic to institute the rule of the autocrats. When Project 2025 was revealed, it was not popular. The Trump campaign suppressed and denied any connection to it. Now in office it is the blueprint the agents of oligarchy are following.

Most of the advice to Democrats is nonsense. Often people who are consultants, pundits, or somehow considered political experts spout off because it is required. They are calling the play by play of a game that ended a decade ago. Biden couldn’t overcome age and being Biden. He looked too old for another term. Nothing could overcome people’s aversion to old people. Biden was never a smooth talker who inspired young voters. His gaffs and being a long-time politician turned voters off. Trump is a strange phenomenon; he is like The Mule in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. The books, not the impressive but nothing like the books, Apple streaming series. All the psychohistory of Hari Seldon undone by a mutant. Narcissistic buffoons are not supposed to appeal to people. The anti-incumbent narrative was built into many minds when Harris took over. Fox News may have paid out a settlement but still influences voters. I consider Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, other radio podcast talkers rather fringe. They however take the attention of many. Many people’s time is filled with bigoted and ill-informed commentaries, hour after hour, day after day. Trump’s appeal is he hates the same people his base does. They know he tells it like it is, even when he rambles incoherently.

Trump is on the brink of autocracy — Oligarchy bows down & exploits

After such a traumatic and upsetting loss as occurred with Trump’s election, many tales of woe and predictions of doom will be spun. The inaccuracy of the tales of woe is when they are directed at the Democratic Party. Darts thrown at a poster of Democrats. Our asses stuck to the wall by the sticky crud of despair. People critique and advise the Democratic Party like it is a real thing. A movie is a thing it has a beginning, fabrics of plot woven together, there is a soundtrack, a climax and an ending, followed by credits. The Democratic Party is many things, but not one thing. Possibly it once was a definable entity but not now. There is not the active involvement in the party as there once was. Precinct captains and county chairs forming state parties are not the formal structures they once were. Patronage is not as widespread and consuming as at other times in our history. Trump and cronies want to change that giving jobs to avid loyalists not the technically competent. The party is a fundraising operation. It also consists of independent contractors; the individual candidates who must organize every election. The Democratic Party is less an established organization and more a set of ad hoc committees. This makes for an ineffective movement, not a highly evolved organism.

We need to remember Democratic policies are popular; Republican polices are not. More eligible people did not vote than voted for either candidate. Harris got more votes than Trump in 2020. Trump got fewer votes in 2024, than Biden in 2020. The electoral college making only a few states count depresses turnout in other states. It allows a billionaire to direct resources to where it counts. Our system does not represent the people. California two senators represent nearly forty million voters. Wyoming two senators represent about five hundred thousand. When the pundit class say progressive democrats turn off rural voters, they are simply wrong. It is all in framing, marketing, and style of rhetoric. Many in rural America, who are members of MAGA, want improved and more healthcare. The brainwashed think ending Obamacare would give them more access at lower cost. They believe many things that are not true. The layers of misinformation and prejudice are thicker than the Earth’s crust. What is true, is loud voices of people not like them turn them off. Yes, many voters are bigoted, haters of exotic looking people. Rural voters fear change, afraid of the different. Inspiring voters is the key to election wins. The forces of the oligarchs fully understand their job is to discourage people, to confuse truth by flinging cow dung.

Our modern Democratic party is no more than a telemarketing scam. We raise vast sums of money and yet we lose. We are not connecting with people. Consultants think if they concoct the best messaging they will win the voters. They do not live among the voters. They do not know how to invite anyone over for coffee. We do not connect with the voters where they are. Geography is important it wins congressional races and the electoral college. We need a platform for the Democratic Party. One of social interaction directly communicating with voters by the congressional district and county where they reside. We need to build a forum to allow new young candidates to get petitions signed to be on ballots. Good young candidates will boost overall performance. If we have an effective communication platform, Democrats will win more elections spending far less money. Younger non-millionaire candidates will be competitive. A new DNC chair needs to undertake building a social political network based around local connections. There are many willing volunteers running Democratic supporting social media groups, incorporate them into an integrated network.

We need to think of building connections, not hiring consultants and creating messaging. An organization of two-way communication would build a dominant Democratic Party for decades. Many Red Districts will turn Blue if we could build coalition with the moderate Republican voter. They are dismayed by the excesses of Trumpism. They worry about the disregard of the MAGA party.for the constitution and our statutes. Peeling a few, five to ten percent, in many districts would change the landscape. Marketing and messaging will not get them to vote for Democrats, but connection and communication on the local level will. Our electoral map would be dominated by Blue and Purple with hardcore pockets of Red. MAGA remaining a permanent minority of about 35 % on a national basis.

Democracy Needs You - Demand a new structure of participation.

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