Passivity- Britt-Ingrid Persson

DEMS and 2024: Mining Our Blindspots for the Gold

As an Independent/Democrat, I offer this post specifically on how we Dems now get to mine our blind spots for the feedback/ learnings that allow us to win and win decisively given we do make a handful of real corrections. It is based on the simple yet extraordinary business tool called a SWOT which analyzes a business, or a party, as to Strengths, Weaknesses (blind spots), Opportunities, and Threats. We focus here on the threats to our winning. The take-a-ways enable us to win again, starting now. They are designed for actions which, when in place, have us be who we are: the majority party.

  1. Recognize that we Dems who are supposedly the elite and the educated are very good with macroeconomics and macro social data which we can marshal to prove our case………we outperformed Trump………. massively on jobs (seven million to one and a half million if you look at only the first 3 years of each Administration), actually incurred less debt, had a higher GDP and stocks did great. Other than real wage growth, which was pre- inflation, we have outperformed Trump. However, 70% of the United States is not college educated, and it is really not till college that you begin to fully respect research and data and macro pictures or really any intellectual methodology.  So, we who are more educated in those processes think that having the information….charts, graphs, statistics…. makes a difference and it is not…. not primary. What makes a difference is how people experience their lives……… like what is on their table and what’s not (and why not), what do they feel and sense about day-to-day living in our country, gut level. So even though we have outperformed Trump, 2016 to 2020, from 2020 to 2024 in all macro big picture stats ( new jobs by 5:1, gdp, stock performance, infrastructure repair, more manufacturing jobs,  except pre-inflation real wage growth) versus ‘16 to ‘20, we did not relate our successes, our impact, down and dirty to the people we needed to. Not just blue-collar people but all people. WE must get out of the office into the field where people are esp. blue collar people who need to be/must be heard f u l y. This getting out of the office is not merely marketing some old familiar message; it is being directly open to new messages and new ways to stand, speak and listen in terms and feelings that working people of all kinds can relate to. Think quite literally whistle stop tours, getting to NASCAR rallies, country and western concerts, hanging out in working class Walmarts, taking in a Baptist church service, speaking at military installations or recruiting offices,……..get where and with the working people build and move our country, our physical lives in goods and services……..get out of the office, and live into the physical , emotional (spiritual)  and r e a l lives of  people………let them realize that we can and do we get who they are and what they are up against …………….. at least 2-4 x month alters everything……..
  2. Going forward we need to steal a page from Trump’s book about what stirs up, provokes,  the physical and emotional energy of voters, the fuel that  people live from day to day and wins elections and we need to do it without resorting to lying (while we simultaneously  draw a sharp contrast to his lies). So we need to be clear and emphatic and accountable on where we stand specifically on each and every issue that matters to voters and why …  WE MUST PROMOTE OUR STRENGTHS SHAMELESSLY……….LIKE HE DOES/DID BUT WITHOUT LYING……..in business terms, marketing, marketing, marketing….marketing create awareness and interest………….selling shapes the interest into opportunity and generates commitment and action……….dt knows this and exploits it to the max, with frequent lying. Example: letting everyone know, putting it in front of people’s faces,  that Trump’s record with the border is fraught with failures…..3 % of “the Wall” is actually new wall, he too had record high apprehensions on the border. and he undermined coercively a bipartisan bill that would have tightened up the border protocols………….we did not make that outrageous betrayal plain and clear. John Kerry allowed these distortions with the “Swift Boats” horseshit in 2004. No more.
  3. Get in action and demand of the DNC et al a clear and deep LEADERSHIP PIPELINE WAY EARLY,  STARTING NOW … AND NEVER NOT. No corporation of consequence operates without a clear CEO pipeline for who is being trained, tested and developed to emerge as the next leader. The DNC……not clear btw who is the leadership of the Dem party, and how transparent, accountable and open to feedback they are…….. We need to identify and bring together who are viable candidates for the next elections as locals. state and federal levels. Harris, Shapiro of Penn, Beshear of Kentucky, Whitmer of Michigan. Wes Moore of Maryland, Josh Stein , Gov of N Carolina. are all good candidates for starters and one could say a ticket of Schapiro in Penn and Whitmer of Michigan is 1/2 way there given the focus needs to be on those 3 northern states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania., WE lost these 3 by 1.3 % and had we won them Harris would have the 270 electoral votes she needed.. FOCUS NOW………..NOW………. ON THOSE 3 STATES PLUS GEORGIA,  NEVADA AND ARIZONA (AND KEEP NH IN).
  4. Back up a bit (or a lot) from insistence on there is a “right” way to relate to gender/sexuality issues and political correctness about sex and gender. Cancel culture lacks compassion and context and transgender rights definitely do matter as all basic human rights do. However, being made an endless front-and-center page matter costs us credibility and votes. Straight traditional  men ( and many of their women) can  wonder why they must deal with what is wrong with being straight, all male, and  traditional like their dads and granddads. Let other organizations be seen as leading the way who can also design standards. The LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association ) said that if the transition is  before puberty , all is workable but after that, it is not as the built-in physical advantages of maleness can skew the competitions unfairly.  Note that there are 10 transgender athletes in 530,000 in collegiate athletics (NCAA, Valley News. 2 7 25). Fairness and respect do matter a n d we need a more nuanced framework than simply political correctness. Let localists debate and decide, at least for now. As to transgender accommodations, build a single person bathroom in schools and buildings where needed … to include and accommodate……… and move on. Let the local communities and organizations deal with this and move on. Insisting on imposing national standards (like Trump is attempting the other way) precipitates drama, push back and resentment. Costs big time.
  5. Integrity and character:  astounding as it may seem, the Trump people do not really give a gnat’s  ass for integrity …….witness the tolerating and fueling of lies everywhere and the pretenses surrounding the Jan. 6 and the election, the lies around covid, (“be over in a month……Clorox may help”) ) etc… The Trumpers…….both the thoughtful and the addicted……… care most about f/u defiance and disruption, 24/7…..what they would call “authenticity….he tells it like it is, god damn it !  While  it works to  true up to integrity as at the heart of everything, we must also realize that we Dems and our leadership allowed 2 very egregious out-of-integrity behaviors in 2023 and 2024: not confronting Joe in 2023 with his his aging and his not honoring his intention to be a 1 term President. That takes away from our assertions that dt lacks integrity which he does massively. Get real: integrity and character buy us very little to nothing with Trumpers (both the thoughtful and the addicted)  and maybe not so much with Independents. We must speak to and from their most important concerns, and challenge the lies powerfully and point blank while not getting consumed in the drama that feeds the Trump addictions….and let people get gut level that we will address their concerns more effectively, more immediately and with a far longer pathway into the future….i.e., we have our eye on their kids and their grandkids too. 
  6. Recognize that internationally we must be able to take risks and play hard ball where  the world is still led by bullies who bluff and bluster and do inflict damage. Dems must be tough internationally as Nixon could be and Reagan as leaders who did accomplish a lot on their watch, flaws and all.  Any tendencies of Dems to be merely do gooders must be left at the door of international relations…..the authoritarians of the world do not respect do gooders……they dismiss, discount and actively undermine “idealistic” intentions and Dems must play hardball in what we stand for, will back up (and have resolved fully 100% that we will back up our words with tough actions)……..and thereby evoke in our competitors and adversaries, wherever they might be, a regard for the viable threat that we are. Reagan’s considerable interpersonal skills went much farther given the threat he posed also.
  7. Register voters: THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL AND ABSOLUTELY IN OUR INTEREST. Organizations like the voterparticipation.org who have registered million votes since 2008….the edge in 2020 btw….they report that  the New American Majority  (NAM) of single women, people of color and votes under thirty-four vote……….over 50% of  the voters……… 70% register Democratic when they register. We have an unbelievable 42,000 000 000 !!! eligible and unregistered voters and not only does this spectatorship  suppress our participatory democracy it also costs us being the most numerous parties by millions of people when we account the non-voting elections. Support registration yourself and through organizations like the DNC or  voteparticipation.org who registered and gotten to the polls more than 6,600,000 voters between 2003-2020, particularly NAM.
  8. The Border……recognize that we must restore order and even a wall may be necessary. Our not respecting our own laws, our own words, is itself an integrity  issue. If we truly and unequivocally lead here, we can win the elections on this issue alone. Being pushed towards the far left by loud, insistent voices of the left/far left, the so-called woke demands, undermines us as party. The role of the far left and the far right is  to be critics, n o t leaders. Say so, publicly. Offer effective, compromise innovations such as:  if one is addressing deportation, what would/could/can work is a 1 year registration period of illegal immigrants who have a solid employment record, no criminal record, and family ties here, to allow illegals to get on a path to citizenship, learn baseline English ( grade school level ) and apply for citizenship (perhaps a green card first). If an illegal chose not to take this pathway, this one-year window, then they would get deported. It demands accountability while being realistic and appropriately compassionate. 
  9. Last take ideas from any quarter: ask, explore and test: could this idea be effective? A trump advisor suggested that we tell Zelensky that if he does not come to the peace table he will lose (be cut back severely)  our supply of our weapons and we concurrently tell Putin that if he does not come to the peace table, then we will flood the Ukraine with weapons. If neither side budges, then we make finer distinctions (i.e., give Ukraine weapons that the Russians do not want them to have while at the same time deny Zelensky’s demand for a wide scope and scale of weapons until he agrees to peace talks without pre-conditions, including the possibility of the pre-war borders being re-shaped). Take any idea and evaluate it to see if it can work and if it comes up valuable, then take it on. Let effectiveness prevail over party authorship or orthodoxy/ideology. 
  10. Social Media: Online messaging is simultaneously a battleground and an echo chamber. People are upset and have curated a personalized audience which agrees with them. Trust in information accuracy has been wounded and conversation is often one-way (despite the benefits of social media allowing for one-to-many conversation). Democrats have an opportunity to learn and educate republican fans but may need to either a) venture into republican sites (X, Truth Social) or b) offer a curious ear in a humble and authentic way. The combination allows for learning and finding the few who may be open to new ideas then engaging them in dialog. At least there’s new information to adjust marketing, at best, some are swayed. Donald Trump’s audience is similar to fans of musicians or actors. They see him as doing right no matter what. They’re into the merch and the lifestyle. Asking fans about the issues while seeking those open to new ideas paves the way for conversation and new possibilities. Similarly, educating dem followers (via social media) on how to have these conversations/investigations with rep friends/family will drop the “us vs them” mindset and move towards understanding with potential for fact-based decisions.
  11. What do you see reader are the key takeaways from an election that in very unfavorable and rushed circumstance we almost won ?(One of the closest in the last one hundred years)


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