Vulnerable House Dems to DCCC: You're jeopardizing our reelection

[brooklynite]

Politico

"This is a real f---ing problem."

That’s how one vulnerable House Democrat summarized growing discord between members in battleground districts and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That member and five others POLITICO spoke with in the past week alleged that the Democratic organization whose purpose is to help the party keep the House next year is instead hurting their chances of reelection.

The members were granted anonymity to speak freely about their frustrations with the strategy DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.) has adopted in dozens of competitive districts. Their complaints fall roughly into three categories.

1. Botched messaging
Universally, the members said there’s been too much talk about Donald Trump and not enough focus on pocketbook issues. Terry McAuliffe banged the anti-Trump drum constantly on his way to losing the race for Virginia governor. But at-risk members we spoke with worry that Maloney is still embracing the Trump-as-boogeyman strategy, blasting Republicans as extreme for seeking his blessing or otherwise supporting him.

“This is crazy to me that the DCCC is rolling out a playbook that they know doesn’t work and that they encouraged people in 2018 not to use,” said the member who dropped the f-bomb to describe the situation. The person argued that in 2018, the committee gave the opposite advice — focus relentlessly on pocketbook issues and let Trump’s antics speak for themselves — and Democrats flipped more than 40 seats to take the chamber.

I haven't had DCCC reach out to me, which is troubling, especially since I've known Sean Patrick Maloney since his first House campaign. I and other NY funders have been pondering whether the House is winnable, or whether we should focus our resources on shoring up the Senate and going after Statehouse races.

[elleng]

1. DAMN!

Especially 'I haven't had DCCC reach out to me, which is troubling, especially since I've known Sean Patrick Maloney since his first House campaign.'

[question everything]

2. Facts: Moderates flipped the House in 2018

Fact: We lost many seats in 2020 because the image that the party projected was a shift to the left. While welcomed on these pages it was not around the country. Even Congressman Clyburn blamed these observations, specifically citing the "defund the police."

Fact: one reason Biden became our candidate was that he was not Sanders - who is not even a Democrat - nor Warren. His message was of moderation. Whoever designed the qualifications for participating in the debates ignored the large political map. Not everyone expresses their opinions on social media nor influenced by it which was the driving force for these qualifications.

Fact: we ended up with a slim majority in the House and a V.P. majority in the Senate. Yet many viewed it as a sounding mandate and started on a wide legislation that is not ground in the political reality.

Fact: the left wing of the party held the infrastructure bill hostage which may have helped the loss in VA. It gave an impression that the Democrats are incompetent in governing.

OK, start alerting but you cannot change the facts.

[PTWB]

12. Those look more like 'alternative' facts 🤣

[question everything]

19. Just throwing words with nothing behind them. If this style works for you..

[PTWB]

20. Oh, let me try!

Fact: 9 out of 10 dentists recommend not saying 'fact' before posting an opinion and then expecting people to assume it was, in fact, a fact.

[question everything]

22. Oh kay, let's try. S-l-o-w-l-y. Which facts that I stated are "alternative?"

On second thought, if you cannot detail your disagreement don’t bother.

[PTWB]

23. I'll break it down for you one "fact" (LOL) at a time.

Fact: We lost many seats in 2020 because the image that the party projected was a shift to the left. While welcomed on these pages it was not around the country. Even Congressman Clyburn blamed these observations, specifically citing the "defund the police."

This is your opinion. My opinion is we lost seats because we shifted too far to the right.

Fact: one reason Biden became our candidate was that he was not Sanders - who is not even a Democrat - nor Warren. His message was of moderation. Whoever designed the qualifications for participating in the debates ignored the large political map. Not everyone expresses their opinions on social media nor influenced by it which was the driving force for these qualifications.

This is your opinion. My opinion is that Biden was viewed as the safest choice to nominate to beat Trump based on his extensive experience.

Fact: we ended up with a slim majority in the House and a V.P. majority in the Senate. Yet many viewed it as a sounding mandate and started on a wide legislation that is not ground in the political reality.

This is actually a fact. You've found one!

Fact: the left wing of the party held the infrastructure bill hostage which may have helped the loss in VA. It gave an impression that the Democrats are incompetent in governing.

This is your opinion. My opinion is that the right wing of the party held the BBB hostage which is absolutely responsible for the loss in VA.

See how that works?

[wellst0nev0ter]

14. Fact, 2018 winners hit Trump over and over again on Obamacare

Fact, those same moderates pulled their punches on the goops, and lost on the messaging race.

[question everything]

21. Which messages? Yes, Obamacare was important and all "socialist" claims

were laid to rest in 2010.

[Celerity]

26. opinions are not automatically facts nt

[uponit7771]

3. "1. Botched messaging....." 👈🏾👈🏾👈🏾

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. What would you expect in a "reach out" to you?

That they ask you to get the battleground Democrats to stop suggesting illegal moves like telling an outside group how to spend money? That you reconsider if the House is winnable? - though I genuinely can't tell if that's because you agree with the vulnerable Democrats, or because you think those are the Democrats screwing up.

What is the messaging on pocketbook issues the vulnerable Democrats are asking for?

[brooklynite]

9. I would expect Sean or Lucinda Guinn (executive director) to make a compelling case...

...as to why they hold the majority and hopefully pick up more seats in a generally weak mid-term election, and (to the point of the article) what they message is going to be for the moderate Independents and Republicans we need to retain with the Democratic base voters.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. So you don't think "Trump and his supporters tried to mount a coup" would work?

I think the article's "oh, they said concentrate on pocketbook issues in 2018, why has it changed now?" shows a remarkable ignorance and negligence. Of course things are different now - Trump and Trumpists showed they are fundamentally authoritarian and anti-democratic. The threat to voting rights and abortion rights is real to many potential Democratic voters - to say "forget about that" is just stupid.

Sure, "pocketbook issues" should still be talked about. The BIF is one place to start (there you go, that's more constructive than anything in the article, or that you've suggested in this thread - you can talk to us, too). BBB would be even better, but the fuckers Sinema and Manchin are screwing that up, so there isn't a complete story to sell, yet. In the mean time, pointing out that the Republicans are almost fascists is a pretty important message to get out, and no Democrat should be saying "don't mention it".

[Demsrule86]

27. No I don't think the Coup will help us...local issues and pocket book issues are winning issues...

look at Virginia.

[Blaukraut]

28. The coup won't help us until another one succeeds.

That's reality. People won't react to near misses. Once the autocratic takeover is a reality, that's when people who don't pay attention to politics 24/7 will wake up.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. So Republicans succeed with stirring up bullshit about "Critical Race Theory"

and demonising Black Lives Matter and Antifa, while the Democrats will get no mileage at all from pointing out that the Republicans literally attempted to over throw democracy - led by the psychopath they still slavishly follow, and may well nominate in 2024?

Wait until a coup succeeds, and it's too late. Telling Democrats to keep quiet about is a recipe for the end of democracy.

[Blaukraut]

30. I'm not advocating saying nothing. Just pointing out reality.

People just don't care about what almost happened. Because it DIDN'T happen. (this time). (on edit) losing our democracy is also too much of an abstract for people to wrap their head around in a way that shows them how it affects them on a personal level. What Dems should run on is what Republicans will take away from them that will affect them personally and financially. That's why passing BBB is important. Then Dems can run on that, but not in terms of "look, we gave you a child tax credit" but "that nice child tax credit you are getting now? Guess what? The other guy wants to take that away from you".

Fear of losing things is a big motivator.

[WarGamer]

5. Ive got an example.

Regarding Members of Congress and their Staffs trading stock.

Instead of Pelosi making a less than wonderful comment on the topic, why not play politics?

Pelosi SHOULD have said "We're 100% behind the legislation of AOC, we'll bring it up for a vote"

And then let the GOP be on the record blocking the Bill.

Then next year you can say "GOP supports insider trading"

Instead, the GOP ads will say "DEMS support insider trading"

politics.

[Sogo]

6. Whoever is making the point about focusing too much on Trump

is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!

I've personally had it with all the fundraising emails I get that are all about fearing Trump and the Rs.

DO YOUR JOBS, Democrats, bang the drums about that, and let Trump and his followers sink themselves.

And DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET MANCHIN AND SINEMA in line with passing voting reform!!!!

[WarGamer]

7. +1000 nt

[SunImp]

10. 1+++

[madville]

13. Agreed

Independents (the people who decide many of our elections) don’t want to hear about Trump 24/7, they don’t care. They want to hear how the people currently in charge are going to improve their situation, whether that be affording groceries, childcare, the price of gas, inflation, student loans, etc.

I realize many on the left, Democrats, and some media folks are still obsessed with him and seeing justice, but it doesn’t interest a large portion of voters we have to swing to maintain our majorities.

[leftstreet]

24. +1

[dpibel]

8. A "Dems in Disarray" story from POLITICO????

Who could have possibly seen that coming?

And so solidly sourced: An unstated number of anonymous representatives. "It's a movement, I tell ya! Pretty close to a majority, most likely!"

[crickets]

11. Dems in disarray! -or not?

I read Politico articles when linked, because sometimes they really are well-written, well researched, and well worth reading. Sometimes, the articles might have to be taken with a big grain of salt.

Here's another article about the DCCC's campaign efforts with a decidedly different tone and outlook that addresses many of the same issues laid out in the Politico piece:

https://www.nprillinois.org/2021-11-17/house-democrats-have-a-new-strategy-to-engage-voters-of-color-in-the-midterm-elections

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching a new, multimillion-dollar effort to engage and mobilize voters of color ahead of the midterm elections, including investments in local organizing and a seven-figure research and polling effort.

The plan, the details of which were shared first with NPR, includes an initial $30 million investment to hire local community organizers, launch targeted advertising campaigns aimed at nonwhite communities, as well as building voter protection and education programs. The committee is also working to combat disinformation efforts that are specifically focused on voters of color. [snip]

The announcement is also an indication that party leaders are aware that the broad, racially diverse coalition of voters that elected Democrats must be engaged consistently, and must not be treated as monolithic groups. While Democrats won the White House last year, they lost ground among nonwhite voters without a college education. Biden's campaign faced criticism over mixed results among varied segments of the Latino electorate, missteps that were blamed for setbacks in critical states like Florida and Texas, where a number of key House races will be decided in 2022.[snip]

The committee also plans to target Republican efforts to spread misinformation, as well as to cast all Democratic candidates as far-left. The committee says it will have a particular focus on social media platforms frequently used in communities of color. Voters of color were flooded with disinformation in the days leading up to the November 2020 election, and some Democrats say the party didn't do enough to combat it.

It was tough to choose just four paragraphs, so reading the entire piece is encouraged. Overall take: problems with strategy and messaging acknowledged, problems constructively being addressed early in the campaign cycle. There is no mention at all about tfg.

From the Politico article it sounds like specific candidates have issues with Maloney himself, and that may be, but one article (which seems a bit more like a hit piece than serious news) does not necessarily indicate that candidates as a whole are complaining that the DCCC is completely off track and unhelpful.

Since I haven't received anything from the DCCC recently for comparison - JMO, YMMV.

[andym]

15. There is one winning election message for 2022 and 2024 but it's contingent...

The message is the "Biden economic miracle" when inflation retreats, as it hopefully will by late Spring. The good news is that the economy is already strong, but inflation is riling folks up like it did in the 70's and early 80s. Just like Reagan had little to do with inflation's ending (thank Jimmy Carter for appointing Paul Volcker to the Fed and his very stern medicine), it doesn't matter if Biden's policies themselves were critical, what matters is perception. The "Biden economic miracle" should be a message that could potentially keep the House for the Democratic Party,

[Mary in S. Carolina]

16. I do not think Democrats are in disarray,

but, if I were running for the House, I would be in my district as much as possible going door to door and meeting with my constituents. You don't have to do town halls...just go talk to people (grassroots win elections).

I have only met one representative and he was a major underdog, even considered a joke, he went bar to bar at night to meet the young adults, breakfast cafe to breakfast cafe to meet the older people, daycare to daycare to meet moms. You don't need millions of dollars to do this?? HE WON HUGE

[empedocles]

17. Seems that some Dems just don't get or refuse to acknowledge, the clear lessons of 2018.

[LiberalFighter]

31. The message needs to be specific to the district.

Candidates should know what is needed in their district.