A HOUSE DIVIDED
A Primer for Democrats on How to Win Elections
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| Governor Doug Ducey and Catherine Mirada The strange bedfellows of Arizona politics when a prominent Democrat endorses a Republican Governor It hardly gets more cynical than this. |
I experienced an episode yesterday that illustrates why the Democratic Party fails and the Republican Part gains votes. It is essential that we as “true Democrats” and “True Progressives” prevent our Democratic Republic from turning into an Oligarchy.
The Arizona gubernatorial race between Doug Ducey, Republican, and Fred Duval, Democrat, ended in a victory for Ducey. One feature that made this race “disturbing” for me was the fact that Catherine Miranda, a Democrat publicly supported a Republican instead of a Democrat.
On Facebook, I had made a point that seems to have “irritated” Miranda. She replied with a comment, “Who are you?”
For me, this sounded rather rude. Granted etiquette on the internet differs from other types, I took this to be a bit impolite. She could have instead replied with a “Thank you for contacting me, can I clarify a point with you?” Instead I was greeted with a stark “Who are you?”
This can easily be taken to mean that you need to know my rank, position and status before engaging in a conversation. Either way, it comes off as highly unprofessional. A political figure is a public figure. Part of the job is knowing how to communicate with people, and how to let them know that your concerns matter.
Miranda supporting Doug Ducey illustrates
perfectly the fear of being on the wrong side of a victory. It also shows a certain lack of spine to being
a true Democrat.
Some time ago I ran into a similar issue within the Democratic Party. I had to “school” a figure on how to treat local active community figures. When I was a writer writing for a LGBT magazine, not one Democrat would even respond directly. However, the one Republican on my list made a point of engaging me in discourse.
I was also treated to a pleasant exchange with another Republican that centered around basic concerns and possible solutions to long time issues such as education, social services, health care, housing and police protection.
I do not want to paint the picture that all Democrats are ill versed on manners. My point is that we as Democrats must be “inclusive” and not so determined to being class conscious or deciding only those with deep wallets merit respect.
The days of the bland
everything to everyone candidate is dead.
If you lack a distinct identity, you will lose an election.
What has harmed the Democratic party time and time again is this inability to connect with working people who are not Wall Street Bankers. Rather than directly deal with people of all backgrounds, the party ends up insulting the very people it so desperately needs.
When Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters as “deplorable,” that was a generalization that did little to encourage a change in voting. I am not here to bash Clinton. She has been active for important causes for years. She was also subject to some very harsh treatment. However, this does illustrate the Democratic Party failing to reach out to those that need the party the most, working people of all kinds.
Another issue that hurts the party at the polls is the inability of party members to stay on task with the pillars of the party. That inability to support fellow Democrats is a HUGE problem.
The Republic Party
has no problem standing behind their platform. Their unity is their
strength.
Miranda supporting Doug Ducey illustrates perfectly the fear of being on the wrong side of a victory. It also shows a certain lack of spine to being a true Democrat. Arizona is clearly a Red State. It has bene for some time. When someone in the party refuses, and even publicly declines the party’s candidate, it has horrible consequences. It certainly did not help DuVal’s candidacy and may have cost him the election.
Democrats who just can’t stand to be part of the party’s platform, usually called, DINO’s, Democrats In Name Only, are of no real use. This last election has made it clear that there is a profound change in the political climate. The days of the candidate, who appears to lack authenticity, a connection with the people and a stated set of beliefs is over. The days of the bland everything to everyone candidate is dead. If you lack a distinct identity, you will lose an election.
Time and time again Democrats go to great efforts to being so banal and scared to say anything controversial least they lose a vote. The Republic Party has no problem standing behind their platform. Their unity is their strength.
It is
realistic to expect each and every Democrat running for office to support EVERY
Democrat running for office. On this,
we MUST have agreement.
Democrats on the other hand, along with some progressives, just can’t get organized without having a falling out and fracturing the party further. The recent Presidential election may be changing this since we are seeing, the ultra-progressives mobilize in mass.
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| Fractured, well intended and sometimes flawed, this is the only political party that consistently supports the working class, which is right now facing the tragedy of programs and policies designed to benefit a few at the expense of the many. |
We must realize that we have to put back “small differences” in order to be a unified party. If the Democratic Party cannot embrace the enthusiastic idealistic powerful youth vote, the ones who are far left of center, and working people, the party faces such divisions that will be ineffective.
The fracturing of the Democratic Party is a huge liability. It can only harm the party further. We can have differences, but we cannot apply a hard line purity test to candidates. It is realistic to expect them to support the “MAIN ISSUES” of the party. It is realistic to expect each and every Democrat running for office to support EVERY Democrat running for office. On this, we MUST have agreement.
The Democratic party cannot afford to be an
airliner with first class seating.
If there is a “class difference” in the Democratic Party, that has to end. Sadly, even amongst the liberal left, there are those who are “backdoor racists.” They are not asking for lynching’s, just the desire to live in expensive housing with those like themselves. They like diversity, as long as it is over there, not in their manicured backyards.
The Democratic party cannot afford to be an airliner with first class seating. We have to be an Egalitarian party that accepts all people and sees all people as worthy of respect. It means overcoming a history of “socially acceptable fragmentation” in order to see a real party that stands for “WE THE PEOPLE.”
The legacy of racism and social economic separatism has been a highly effective tool in preventing Whites, Latinos, Blacks and others to see that their shared interests are not different, but in fact are the same. We have lived in the culture of divisiveness for too long. It has harmed society and created a drug problem, a poverty problem, an education problem and the destruction of the very planet we call home.
Some right wingers, some left wingers and assorted scared people have
benefited from keeping the various races that make up America scared of each
other, hating each other and hoping to kill each other.
We have to work together and see past the constant racial and sexist imagery our culture embraces, and start to see our nation as one collective. America should never be a nation where the motto is “It’s A Dog Eat Dog World.”
Some right wingers, some left wingers and assorted scared people have benefited from keeping the various races that make up America scared of each other, hating each other and hoping to kill each other.
As long as we fight, bicker and hate those within our ranks, our divided
Democratic Party will be a house that has fallen from the many walls that keep
us locked in rooms from which we will never be free.
Abraham Lincoln said that, “A house divided against itself cannot stand." We The People have to be We The People. For too long those with wealth and powerful have seen America as place for enriching themselves at the expense of others. Their power plays have robbed us of power. They have pitted citizen against citizen. They have stopped the very cooperative nature that can solve our problems and create a Nation where everyone is productive, fed and free of the pain of poverty.
We have the resources right now to reduce prison populations, reduce crime, heal the ill, employ the unemployable and create a country where everyone’s child is safe.
For me, the only party that can bring the Privilege, the Poor and those who struggle to succeed is the Democratic Party. This is the party that should welcome all and refuse none. We are the Party of Liberty, Freedom and ultimately Hope. We are the makers of dreams.
As long as we fight, bicker and hate those within our ranks, our divided Democratic Party will be a house that has fallen from the many walls that keep us locked in rooms from which we will never be free.
If you are looking for background on Catherine Miranda, this article will provide some more background.
If you want one perspective on Doug Ducy, this article will provide some details.
Footnote:
I want thank all of those brave,
energetic, idealistic young people who have inspired me and given me the hope
that change is possible. We have to be a solid
consistent force for change so that we can survive. When I see brave people of all colors and
creeds, fighting, risking their lives and serving jail time, it should remind us that
if we do not fight for our freedoms, we will no longer have them.
Should you wish to support my art, or even see it, the link is here.
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