Obama gave the GOP the greatest gift of all

[JDPriestly]

116. The point is that Democrats win when they focus on key economic issues that favor working people.

Issues like organizing labor, protecting and creating American jobs, investment in infrastructure and education, health care for all . . . .

But when protecting bankers, leaving unions to their own devices and not really supporting them, entering into trade agreements and protecting imports, privatizing education, neglecting infrastructure and failing to offer a public option for health care are what you focus on, then voters don't see the Democrats as being on their side.

Democrats have focused on social issues like discrimination -- gender equality, racial equality, etc. for the past 50 years. That is good. We need to have gender, race, sexual orientation equality. But discrimination issues focus on the things that separate people and should not separate people while economic issues focus on the things that unite us.

In other words, at this time, Democrats need to more strongly communicate the message that we want everyone to have opportunity and a fair chance. We care about discrimination because we want everyone to be able to do well. We need to be the party that unites and not the party that fragments.

I say this at the great risk of being misunderstood.

But it needs to be said.


Frankly, I think that we Democrats will do better on Tuesday than the pundits expect -- not a whole lot better, but better. I do think that the leadership of the Democratic Party is not presenting the Democratic message effectively. They are doing a bad job of it.

We need to be inclusive in our approach to discussing issues. We care about racial equality, about gay marriage, about public education, about unions because we are and INCLUSIVE party and we want an INCLUSIVE nation and not because we are just a bunch of separate interest groups that are trying to improve their lot at the expense of others.