(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Back to Basics for the Democrats [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-11-11  

Kamala Harris ran a beautiful, inspiring, energizing campaign which fell short. I’m not just sad, I’m crushed. The thing I dreaded most, the belief that the worst white man is still considered better than the best black woman, has prevailed. That’s just reality.

I could dwell on it. I could right yet another of the hundreds of essays castigating Democrats for supposed failures of the campaign. I’m not doing that. Instead I take stock in the amazing coalition which fell just short, and the message which could carry us to victory in 2022.

We’re in a populist moment. There’s simply now way around it. In a populist moment there are usually two flavors of populism. One is a demagogic populism which actually favors the wealthy elites by pitting everyone else against each other. It whips up our worst impulses, picks out others to demonize, and thereby hides the fact that it’s a distraction, not a solution.

The other populism is pragmatic, principled, and focused on the actual needs of the people. It’s reasonable to say Democrats tried to deliver on that this year, but did they? Sure, there were a lot of good policies out there. Tuition assistance, housing assistance, a child tax credit...the policies were there, and we shouldn’t abandon them. Polling of policies, scrubbed of party identification, clearly shows Democrats have what the voters want.

What we can add is pragmatic populist language. Language that doesn’t just say “I’m on your side,” it SCREAMS it. Again, NOT a criticism of Harris nor Walz, just a focus on what works going forward. At a time where the entire MSM is focused on the supposedly uncrushable Republican Party, there are good examples of real Liberal, authentic candidates who won in competitive races.

So, it’s time to go back to basics. It’s time to go back to what works. What worked in another time of populists rising? A great place to start is with the Four Freedoms of FDR’s January 6, 1941 speech.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/11/2285456/-Back-to-Basics-for-the-Democrats?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/