Can Democrats win without Independents?

[wildeyed]

24. Of course not.

But 'independent' represents a large spectrum of political leanings. And I think that people are too hard on Dems about messaging. Our message is harder to sell than the Reps. They use fear and division. Daddy will protect you from "those people" and you won't have to pay taxes! It's a lie, but a lie that people WANT to be true.

And they don't believe in democracy, at their core. I REALLY want every vote to count, even those cast by my political enemies. This is common Democratic Party value. And it puts us a huge disadvantage. They brutally disenfranchise our voters when they have power, but we don't go after theirs nearly as hard when we have the chance.

What I hear you saying is that Dems have to do messaging that appeals to progressives. I don't agree. All politics is local. Plenty of GOP in swing districts said they would not vote to repeal ACA because that was unpopular with their constituents and they would loss their next election if they did that. Dems in conservative areas have to do what they have to do to survive sometimes too.