Democrats, Here’s How to Fight Back

Democrats, Here’s How to Fight Back

Democrats don’t even know how to think about fighting back, let alone know how to fight.

A clue: a desire for a “big tent” party is based on values, which suit a world view. It’s not some vacuous, “let everyone in” kind of position. It’s not some rational point of view. The desire is based on a world view, based on values.

I recently listened to Jon Stewart interview clueless DNC chair, Ken Martin. A truly frustrating hour, where Martin hinted at a bunch of values, express a few, but then claimed that it’s easier for Republicans to have values, because they have a consistent ideology, and Democrats don’t. I’m so sick of explaining this. He’s wrong on both sides. Republicans don’t have a consistent ideology, any more than Democrats do, and Democrats are probably more consistent than Republicans. That’s not what’s happening, you unmitigated disaster of a politician.

The actual difference its that Republicans know what they are doing. That’s the entire truth. And what they are doing is breathtakingly simple, and well documented, and also, completely reproducible. The Democrats are simply too arrogant, or too ignorant, or just paid too much by their donors, to adequately replicate what the Republicans are doing. Okay, that last part is just a dig at the biggest objective fact that undermines all Democratic legitimacy. The truth is, even if they think there is some way they can take legalized bribe money legitimately, there would be a world view to allow for that too—and they’d be able to describe it. But they don’t even bother justifying what they actually do. This to me is the clearest indication, that they just don’t know what they are doing.

Let’s start with what they do—they promote specific policies, rationally, and they promote specific candidates, in specific races. All the money they funnel from their donors goes in to one of these 2 causes (and occasionally in to opposing anyone who has actual value, and expresses actual values, like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Zohran Mamdani, because their donors say so.)

Okay, so you want to promote policies, but how specifically? Let’s just do something crazy, and look at the way Republicans do it. First of all—they don’t start there—at all. They understand a concept known as *strategy*. Not just having a goal (win), but specifically how are you going to win? What specific method will you use?

Again, it’s breathtakingly simple—I’ll describe it here, in just a few sentences. That’s how simple it is—the simple thing Democrats seem pathologically incapable of understanding. Republicans sell a world view—a set of values—they do this without tying the effort to any specific policy, or specific election. The method, or the strategy is simple to describe. Change the culture, change the minds of voters by selling them a set of values they’ll use to understand the world, and then the policy will seem obvious. Republicans don’t sell policy. They sell a world view, and then just drift the policy in. I told you it was simple. So simple, that Democrats can’t seem to accept that it works, despite being utterly crushed by this simple strategy for more than half a fucking century.

Democrats, think they are “outside of world views.” 17th Century Enlightenment Reasoning, is a moral world view—do you hear me, Jonathan Haidt? You aren’t “outside” of anything… So Democrats tie everything they do to one specific outcome, usually a policy or a specific election, and they do it after rationally chasing Republican lead data, and they call it clever sounding things like “moving to the center.” So delusional.

Okay, so how do we replicate the very, excruciatingly simple thing the Republicans have been demonstrating works for more than half a century? I mean, I’m repeating myself here, since it’s so frustratingly simple. Have institutions that promote (or—wait for it—propagate) a world view, a set of values, that make it easier to sell your policies. This would work for “centrism” by the way—but it would also work for a genuine kind of progressive, integrating society too. But, it’s hard to justify taking legalized bribes, if you care about any of this stuff. What values—here are a few, but do the damned work, and figure this out—it’s not hard. Empathy, empiricism and reason as righteous, specific definitions of fairness and justice based not flat, but system maintaining notions of wealth distribution, the sanctity of science, loyalty to the spirit of the law, not just the letter, the sanctity of individual expression, not the protection of sacred victim groups, but of individual expression, etc. We have better values, so promote them.

Build 2 of those institutions a year, for 50 years—like the right wing has done—make sure they are funded—and only, and exclusively, to promote a world view, not just win some Senate seat, or pass some half-assed policy that won’t solve anything (like Obamacare—Democrats literally congratulate each other for having “solved healthcare”—you can’t make up this level of incompetence.) That’s what the right wing does—it’s not magic, and it has a demonstrated track record.

Okay, but we don’t have those institutions now—so what do we do. 1st thing, accept that you have a valid values based word view already, and start to figure out what those values are. Arguing without knowing them, just let’s the right wing operatives all over cable news push you around, because they know theirs, and you don’t know yours. If you’ve ever felt like you are arguing against a wall, that’s why—it is like arguing against a wall. They are just hitting you with values statements, and then changing the values, when the argument moves against them. And you just chase. It’s reactive, and yes, stupid. Get smarter.

Another thing—stop pretending they are arguing in good faith with your highly rational statements—they aren’t. Republican/Conservative operatives are there to propagate a world view, and to secondarily, argue in favor of a candidate or policy. They will not meet you half way—ever. Not fucking ever. They are hard line extremists, on a mission. If you want values other than theirs, values based on good faith agreement, on balanced policy, on values that have merit as you define them—if you want a society based on enlightenment reasoning, and not strict father dogma—then you have to understand the game that’s being played, and win it. Otherwise, they’ll just keep pulling and pulling, until you don’t recognize the landscape any longer. Sound familiar?

An example, in non-political terms—think about clowns. Think about high wire balancing acts, and tigers balancing on balls under big tents. Think about trapeze artists flying through the air, being caught by their partners. Now, don’t think of an Elephant. I bet you couldn’t. In fact, I bet you thought of a specific cartoon elephant with big ears. Do you understand? The elephant represents the policy, or the candidate. The circus represents the world view, the features are the values. If I had described the features of a the Serengeti, the sand, the sparse vegetation, the dry air and open skies. Then asked you not to think of an elephant, you would have pictured something entirely different.

Why “Don’t Think of an Elephant”? It’s the title of a book by George Lakoff which explains all this in a lot more detail than I have done here, and it’s main lesson—what I’ve described above, seems often missed, for the simpler lesson. That simpler lesson is useful, but that main point was that they are selling a larger world view, and the elephant invokes that whole world view. Even if I tell you not to think of an Elephant, you still thought of it, which is why it’s so destructive to repeat right-wing talking points, even if you are going to refute them. It’s not good enough. You have to have your own strategy, your own talking points, and your goals in mind. Otherwise, we lose by default. It’s that simple, and we have been losing. Do you hear me, Ken Martin?

How to fight back—understand what we need to do, then act from understanding. We need to sell a political world view—OUR world view, not their horrible one, one which includes notions of empathy, neighborly responsibility, the protection of the vulnerable—all that. Then the policy just seems obvious. We need to sell the Serengeti. If we do that we win. If we keep reactively, ignorantly, chasing the data the Republicans lead, we lose—everything. It’s that simple.