From Steve Schmidt

[Lonestarblue]

45. I think there are some things Democrats can do, but they require great leadership.

And nome will be quick to change minds.

1. Recognize the influencers supporting Republicans. Mayor Pete did this by appearing on Fox and essentially driving their claims into the ground. We need more of that.
2. Use social media better. Republicans have used Facebook to spread all kinds of misinformation. I’m not suggesting that Democrats spread misinformation, but Facebook is a platform reaching millions of people and it should not be ignored. In addition, Democrats need to use the social media of young people to start educating and influencing them. The Democratic digital game needs to improve.
3. Focus on Democratic messaging and work with aligned groups when their messaging is damaging. I’m thinking of the “Defund the Police” slogan that I believe cost us some down-ballot and state races.
4. Produce and share curriculum materials on civic participation and effective government. This is an old tactic that corporations have long used to push a message in schools of free enterprise and capitalism. The materials should come from an organization that is nonpartisan but covers the many topics no longer taught in school since few states offer civics classes anymore. Lessons on how to recognize media bias would also be helpful.
5. Encourage older Democrats in Congress to retire. I’m thinking specifically of Diane Feinstein here. She should never have run again and needs to leave now. I just read an article in the New Yorker about how she is mentally losing it. Her replacement would be a Democrat. There are others who should consider retiring. We need more young people to be learning the ropes. Democrats have kept their pattern of using only seniority to determine committee leaders, while Republicans rotate. Using seniority encourages those who reach a cushy role as a committee chairman to stay there instead of retiring when they should.
6. Work to establish Young Democrats organizations in states that do not have them—or call them Young Progressives groups. The group of young people who formed after the massacre at Margery Stoneman Douglas showed that even teens can be effective at organizing and mobilizing to get more voters registered.
7. Borrow from the Republican playbook and start recruiting people to run for every race in every election. Democrats have gotten better at this, but we need strong national leadership to help the state parties work on this—and money. As younger candidates learn the ropes by running for local offices, they’ll be better prepared to run for state and federal offices.
8. Find ways to get our economic message across. Democrats actually do better on the economy, but Republicans have claimed that ground for years and no one seriously disputes them. The level of economic understanding in this country is abysmal and Democrats could help enlighten people.

I’m sure there are many more good ideas out there, but many of these are things a strong leader of the DNC could accomplish.