Can Democrats win without Independents? [View all]

[kentuck]

Last edited Wed Apr 19, 2017, 06:05 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't think so.

The Democratic Party needs Independent voters as much as Independent voters need Democratic voters in order to win at a national level.

Like-minded voters should vote in a coalition, if it gives them a majority. They should not vote strictly Party lines, in my opinion. That is a recipe for a permanent minority. We are well on our way.

Understanding this is anathema to many Democratic Party voters does not make it less true. Looking at recent losses from school boards to state legislatures to the US Senate and House races should inform us of the necessity at hand. We cannot continue the road we have been on for over a decade.

Democrats, such as Jon Ossoff, in Georgia can win in red states, in my opinion. But, they have to be willing to adapt to the districts that they are running to represent. They must understand that local concerns are more important than national concerns when running for national office. All politics is indeed, local.

Ossoff, from Georgia's 6th District, received 48.1% of the total vote in the special election yesterday. However, that is just enough to lose unless he can reach 50% in a heads-up match-up with the Republican. He must find a way to get 2% more of the vote. He must get more Democrats out to vote, or he must receive more Independent votes, or he must persuade some Republicans to his side? That is the challenge facing the Democratic Party.

The national Democratic Party is very weak on messaging and framing the issues. Candidates should not tie their fortunes to such a losing strategy, in my opinion. Democrats have to adapt to their environments. That does not mean they have to adopt a Republican message but it does mean that they have to be able to communicate with Republicans that are dissatisfied with Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

As for messaging, the first priority of Democrats should be to connect every Republican to Donald Trump. If they say they disagree with Donald Trump the person, but agree with some issues, that means they understand Trump is a liability to their re-election fortunes. If they voted for repeal of Obamacare, without a replacement, or support a huge tax cut for the wealthy, or supported the way Mitch McConnell put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, then they are standing with Donald J. Trump. Democrats need to be much sharper with their messaging, if they wish to take back the House and Senate from the Republicans, the Party that truly sucks at governing.