Why Do Democrats Keep Losing When They Have the Best Ideas?
They Need to Fight Like Evangelicals
In the news — another blow to Democrats by Democrats. Manchin has the power in his hands and he keeps using it.
It’s time we admitted two things.
First, progressives have no strategy or plan for moving this country forward. They’re basically a lot of hot air. If they’d been a tenth as organized as the far right, we might have seen one or two victories by now. They don’t have a winning strategy like the evangelicals and never have had.
We’re losing not winning no matter how good the ideas may be.
It’s time to go to the drawing board, progressives. You’re just not organized or united behind a single cause. Not even big issues like climate change or health care seem to mobilize you. Hot disapproval only goes so far. Slamming the Democrats is starting to feel like pointing fingers, you know, the blame game. Study what the evangelicals did over the last decades, DECADES, to finally overturn Roe v Wade, and you’ll have a recipe for winning.
Voting third party isn’t working.
Trust me no Republican ever used that strategy. Unity seems to be the key. Not smart ideas or cures for what ails us. A stupid idea has traction when people unite behind it. Why do you think the oligarchy wants to keep us divided? They know they’re outnumbered. If the masses decided tomorrow to never buy another product from Amazon, for example. we’d force Amazon to either go out of business or change.
If you haven’t figured that out yet, then you deserve to keep losing.
Second, the resistance to change is much bigger than we want to admit. There is almost nothing that the Republicans would support when it comes to climate action, for example. There’s almost nothing they would support when it comes to changing the health care system. Not just those corporate shills in positions of power, but lots and lots and lots of every-day Americans just aren’t interested.
Has our message been weak?
Are we unwilling to admit that the average American doesn’t want to be inconvenienced? Are we so divided that no one is even clear about what we stand for at this point? Why has NOBODY experienced a breakthrough moment? Not even Bernie. If he were president today, Americans would still fight change, Manchin would still stand in the way, and scores of people would draw the line at being inconvenienced.
Ugh! Your ideas are great, but apparently, good ideas aren’t enough.
I know my point of view might rankle some people. Sorry but not sorry. We’re trying the same thing over and over hoping for a different outcome. Hoping for one solid victory. Just one. Anything. Yet, the party of the “uneducated”, as progressives like to call Republicans, is winning. Why not study their strategy? Because we need a win or two or three — now.
A positive step in the right direction would give us so much hope, but instead it’s one blow after another.
The Republicans made guns and abortion their focus. I’m making climate change action and health care my two areas of focus. Give me a win in either area. I’ll be one very happy pragmatist if you succeed.
I’m not asking for the whole ball of wax. Just address one of my two issues and I’ll be thrilled.
Until then, I’m going to continue to focus on preparing my little world for what’s to come — soaring temps, rolling blackouts, more fires, drought, floods, and shortages. Because it’s getting dicey out there or haven’t you noticed.
I’ll do me and you do you.
Maybe, just maybe in the end big business will save the day. Maybe if Mother Nature keeps forcing our hand, out of sheer necessity, innovators will suddenly find a market for a more sustainable future. Maybe because our brains are wired to not act until the wolf is on the door, we’ll pull it together at the last minute because we’ll be forced to adapt and change.
Yeah, that’s where I’ll lay my hopes and dreams, on organic change not political change. Ironic, isn’t it?
Humans aren’t very proactive. All over the world the unrest and uncertainty is palpable, but no one seems able to take our vast accumulated knowledge to move societies into the next phase. We’re stuck, I guess.
We’ll be stuck until the wolf is pawing and clawing on our doors. Then maybe, if it’s not too late, maybe we’ll act.
Teresa is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
