How progressives can ( and probably will ) blow the next election

[BainsBane]

32. If the goal is to not start from a place of compromise

Why all the demands to remake the Democratic Party in the image of the GOP? We are told that we must cater to a tiny section of the electorate--a few thousand Republican white men earning over $100k--and purge our party leadership of women and people of color because they hurt our "brand." We are told we must get rid of leaders the GOP dislikes because of their effectiveness. We are told we must abandon values of equal rights because they upset those delicate conservative voters whose lives matter more than the tens of millions of women and people of color who make up the Democratic party.

All change is not good. People said they wanted change and they got Donald Trump. Now we are faced with demands of remaking the party to assuage the fragile egos of men who can't handle seeing women and people of color in positions of authority. We see people who did not vote for our nominee, who show no interest in issues other than as rhetorical obfuscation to seize power they can't gain through consent of the electorate. We see the language of leftism cynically used to promote narrow class interests and to undermine the rights and economic survival of the majority.

All change is not good. Some is morally repugnant.
I'm all for not making compromises. And the compromise I will not make is to acquiesce to the attacks on the civil, reproductive, and voting rights of the majority of Americans because a segment of the white male bourgeoisie is put off by living in a diverse society where they can't skate by on a mere accident of birth.

So if you want change, make it about something that improves the lives of the majority of Americans rather than worsens it. Make it about something other than mendacious claims that demands meant to improve the lives of a few are about "economic equality for all." When the all are treated with contempt, dismissed as a "distraction," and not seen as fit to participate in political decision making, there is no all. 'There is class/gender/race dominance. Make the change about something that is morally just rather than repugnant. Encourage input from all Americans, not just a self-entitled few who are certain that no interest but their own matters. Make it about something other than going back to the party of Jim Crow and back alley abortions. Or don't. But don't expect a Democratic electorate to acquiesce to demands that relegate them to second class citizenship.

Everyone gets one vote. You can vote for whatever candidate you chose, based on issue positions, rhetoric, or who they are--your choice entirely. Everyone else votes as they see best. The outcome of those elections determine the future of the party and the country. The problem we are seeing now is that people who have been unable to win a single election anywhere, even in the deepest blue districts, feel entitled to power they can't achieve through the consent of voters. So they engage in dominance politics--insults, ridicule of rape victims, the poor and vulnerable, and vitriol against anyone who is not of their political tribe. They of course have every right to be exactly what they are, but voters likewise have the right to reject them and their demands. If they want to vote for Trump again, they will. If they want to target the Democratic Party to punish the poor, women, and people of color, they will. And they do so because those are their values. I draw the line at taking on those values. That is a compromise I will not make.