Democrats: Unify, Simplify and Defy

My fellow Democrats – I offer you a mantra.  You can win with it.  You can’t help but lose without it. 

Unify, Simplify, and Defy.

And here’s why:

     UNIFY:

Just look at the GOP.  Their leader came to power after having insulted all his GOP rivals, not to mention immigrants, prominent women, and a revered prisoner of war.  He has also been accused of abandoning traditional party principles, like free trade.  And yet, his approval rating within the party is approaching 90%.  From the elites down to the rank-and-file, Republicans are circling the wagons.

By contrast, the Democrats are circling the drain.  More precisely, they’re chasing their tails by waging nasty battles with one another.   In 2016, it was Bernie vs. the DNC.  Today, it’s the progressives versus the moderates.  Consider the example of my own beloved Montgomery County, Maryland – home of roughly 1.1 million people, and easily one of the nation’s most affluent counties.  Here, one Democratic member of the County Council is running for County Executive as an Independent, taking on the Democratic Party’s nominee (with whom she also serves on the County Council).   The race figures to be a bloody one, pitting the “pro-business” moderate, fueled by a big-money advertising campaign, against the “pro-labor” liberal, fueled by a ground-game of canvassing activists.   But while those activists are waging this Democrat vs. Democrat war, they will NOT be taking on the incumbent Republican Governor who is up for re-election, or the incumbent Republican Congresswoman across the river in Virginia. 

In short, one party is playing chess. The other is playing hari-kari. 

       SIMPLIFY:

Parties need a simple message.  The GOP came to power with a message of gutting Obamacare and putting America first.  You might not agree with the message, but at least you can understand it. 

The Democrats?  We have 12-point plans enunciated by self-proclaimed policy wonks.  Michael Dukakis, the quintessential Democratic Presidential nominee, illustrated the problem perfectly when he (a) couldn’t get the least bit emotional when asked if he would change his stance on the death penalty if his wife were “raped and murdered” and then (b) declared that his election would be about “competence, not ideology.”  He was right.  Any candidate who acts in a way that regular people can’t relate to is flat out incompetent.  And any candidate who can’t enunciate a clear vision of how they’re going to make life better for the working class or the middle class is also incompetent.  

Democrats seem to take pride in how woodenly their candidates communicate, choosing instead to take pride in how well they would govern once elected.   Their leaders frequently begin a response to questions by saying “Well, in my plan, I ...”  The hell with your “plan.”  Speak from the gut.  Say it plainly.  Talk like every election is a change election unless you personally are the incumbent.   And whatever you do, keep it simple.  Otherwise, in the game of campaigning, you are incompetent.

      DEFY

Syria crosses Obama’s Red Line of no chemical weapons.  And what does Obama do?    Bupkis.

More than ten months before Obama’s term would end, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to allow Obama’s Supreme Court nominee even a hearing.  And what does Obama do?  Pretty much bupkis.

The Russians intervene in our Presidential election against Obama’s would-be successor.  And what does Obama do?  Once again, bupkis. 

I guess he really did take to heart his wife’s statement that “When they go low, we go high.”   The people at the Democratic Convention actually cheered that line.  We’re the “turn the other cheek” party.  We’re the “two wrongs don’t make a right” party.  We’re the “good little boys and girls” party.   Meanwhile, the Republicans dominate the White House, the Supreme Court, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the State Houses.     

Please remind me of how Democrats benefit from refusing to defy their opponents?   The last time I checked, there is no prize for Miss Congeniality in politics.  There are only winners and losers.  

Winners fight back. 

So there you have the mantra: Unify, Simplify and Defy.   Pass it on.