General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: All Hillary Basher's can celebrate today [View all]PatrickforB
(14,570 posts)our voting power. The Republicans put out 'talking points' and stick to those.
Be mindful too, that while many of the things we all variously stand for are quite important, we need to message based on what will attract the most voters. Like healthcare. Social Security. Economic and social justice. Unfair taxation.
While I get that many of us are really tuned in to one or two issues, we have to be mindful that US Senators represent all the people in their states, and members of the US House all the people in their districts, and the president is president of everybody.
Based on your logic, it should quite have been enough in 2016 if we all simply said - Supreme Court! And we did. But that didn't work out too good for us. To win elections at local, state and national levels we really do need good kitchen table talking points. For instance abortion is a wedge issue, packed with passion, but for most people it is a back-burner kind of thing until the decision actually comes down and it is all of a sudden illegal. Same with LGBTQ rights, and particularly trans rights. Most people are generally in favor, true, but may be more worried about other stuff. As to the horrible injustices in law enforcement that grew the BLM movement, and the horrible injustices that spurred the 'me too' movement, same thing. Unless directly affected by some of those issues, as I and members of my family have been, people don't really think about them. Not because they aren't important, either, because they are. I'm not saying that at all.
What I am saying is the Indy family that might decide to come vote in an off year election like this one, they are probably concerned with a) inflation and their depleted purchasing power, b) losing their healthcare if the interest rate hikes bring on a recession, c) finding a way to put their kids through college without burying themselves in a mountain of debt. And please don't shoot the messenger here - this is really true.
For example, I care deeply about access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare for my daughters and granddaughters. I care about gay marriage being upheld. I care a lot about trans rights. I care as deeply about gender equity, and about social justice for everyone. I care a lot about getting rid of the institutional racism. But the thing that touches me every single day, that I worry about every single day is healthcare costs and how I'm getting nickel and dimed to death by corporate profit gouging.