By Patricia Lee Sharpe
The Trump administration had barely been installed before the fund-raisers were at me again: my punishment for having busted my budget supporting Democratic candidates at both state and national level during the 2016 campaign. (Good news: Kamala Harris is now a senator.)
I am not the only campaign-weary citizen under bombardment from fund raisers, and the other targets I know are all in agreement. Too heavy. Too soon. Wrong message.
And so I am feeling grumpy.
New Faces, Please
Remember, just a few months ago, when leftists as well as rightists were criticizing Hillary Clinton for having no vision? For being uninspiring? For being a worker bee, not a song bird? Yes, I voted for her, but she failed. Twice. Time now for her to concentrate on her memoirs.
And then there’s St. Bernie, the scold-master, with his largely too-vague-to-enact preachments and cadre of righteously uncompromising followers. Bernie has made his mark and I'm grateful, but democracy requires flexibility. It requires—yes!—compromise, not get-out-of-my-way freight trains. Time for him, too, to bow out, although he deserves applause for pushing one item: universal, single-payer health care. Thanks to Republican greed and dissension, something close to it might just fly.
But scolding and moralizing won't do it. What will? Facts delivered empathetically. What's covered. What's not. Who's covered. Who's not. Who gains. Who loses. Hammered home with illustrations. Explicit heart tuggers. Relatable conscience prickers. Real life illustrations, along with reliable, verifiable statistics. CBO: are you there?
Which brings me to another reason for my grumpiness: the negativity of so many of the appeals I’m getting. I’m still waiting for the fund raising organization that gives me an America to work toward. Agreed: Trump and his ilk are a disaster. But where are the solid reasons to vote for better candidates? (The organizational exception here is Emily’s List, which does a superb of explaining why I should consider supporting a given female candidate. Also supplied: a detailed analysis of how much money the opposition is spending to defeat her. I'm not ashamed to say that Emily's List is my Bible for non-national elections.
Pragmatism Wins the Day
About two-thirds of the voters in the U.S. think that Donald Trump is ruining the country and, one way or another, has to go. Given the legal obstacles and political objections to impeachment, refusing him a second term is the better course. Crippling him by weakening (or—sigh!—ending) Republican control of the House and the Senate would be a good prelude to solidly rejecting Trump himself in 2020.
But Democrats will need to unite around pragmatic, enactable goals in order to win over the independents and the unhappy Republicans whose votes will be needed in 2018 and 2020. This isn’t going to happen if Bernie’s base continues to criticize Elizabeth Warren, of all people, for moving toward the center and refusing to make common cause with less militant Democrats.
I, on the other hand, would cite Warren as a policy-oriented Democrat who knows how to legislate. She advocates loudly and clearly for what she believes in. And then she gets a law enacted. Her Consumer Protection Act, for example, is a major accomplishment. People actually understand it, and it works so well that the Trump administration is determined to gut it.
Nailing in Some Planks
So, already, we've identified two planks for a winning Democratic manifesto: universal, affordable health care and solid consumer protection. Most anyone reading this piece can probably augment this agenda with a few more widely appealing, broadly beneficial items. The push back from Republicans will be furious and well-funded, but persistence and clarity will make honest ideas hard to beat, given the Trump debacle.
So get to it, Dems. If you want my money, offer something of substance.
Then, and only then, should you want to bash Trump (and, of course, you do, as do I!), go for it. In C0mmittee. Through the courts. In depth via the media. Sassily on twitter. Attack every lie and half-truth. Call out every shady associate, including his Russia-tainted lawyer. Take down Ivanka, too. She "advises" her President father even as her business (thanks to daddy's position) profits mightily from favors granted by the Chinese government. What's more, she’s demonstrated no concern about the recent disappearance of some Chinese human rights activists. They were investigating labor practices at a factory producing shoes for her brand. Speak up, Ivanka. Until you do, strongly, publicly, no one should buy your shoes.
To Repeat:
There’s plenty to criticize about Republican goals, but fear-mongering alone won't guarantee victory in 2018 or 2020. So, Dems, repair your divisions and, us a program to support and then be militantly Trump-like: Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Note: China has just granted exclusivity to a few more of Ivanka's brands. More grist for emoluments lawyers already bringing suit against Donald Trump?