Last week saw Ted Cruz announce for the presidency, today was Rand Paul, and in the next two weeks it is expected that Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton will all make official announcements of their candidacy. Already the race has focused on trivial issues: Walker’s allergy to dogs, Jeb Bush declaring himself a Hispanic voter, or the crazy associates of the fathers of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Not to mention the less than trivial issue of the Clinton email fiasco.
All of which leads many of us to depressingly conclude this will be another campaign fought around personality, character attacks, ultimately leading to a lesser of two evils election. It is a sense that we are lurching towards inertia and will be stuck with these very unpalatable choices in the primary and general election.
This has lead me to think of a different exercise, beyond the horse race. Let’s see how the BMG hive mind approaches this campaign with a new caveat.
Without mentioning any candidates name or positions, what are the issues you want to see discussed? What is the kind of experience an ideal President should have? And how will our movement deal with significant structural hurdles in the form of the Senate, the gerrymandered House, and state legislative bodies? Let’s try and think beyond the next campaign cycle and beyond stale solutions like ‘elect more/better Democrats’ and focus instead on what we need to do to win over the country.
I agree with pollsters on one thing-the vast majority of voters I have engaged with in campaigns across the country view themselves as non partisans, view themselves as a liberal on some things, conservative on others. And above all feel that neither ‘side’ is responsive to their needs or concerns, ‘both’ in the pocket of big business. I am not arguing this impression is factually correct, but beating it will require an intuition beyond simply blaming the other side, no matter how much at fault they are. And we really see this apathy and ignorance increase when it comes to questions of foreign policy, our environmental future, and the role of America in a changing world.
What strategies and tactics can we adopt from the marriage equality movement, the one responsible for the most overwhelmingly successful shifting of public opinion on a single issue in a short amount of time in recent memory? What other strategies can we adopt? How can we make what we say and type here be relevant in the streets and neighborhoods where we will canvass? How can we educate those that are disengaged?
I await some intriguing answers.
SomervilleTom says
At the national level, I’d like the candidates to focus on the extreme and growing income and wealth concentration of America.
The middle class, as it existed during most of the post-war era, is already gone — except as a subject of meaningless platitudes offered by candidates pandering to increasingly meaningless stereotypes.
I’d like to see the campaign talking about how to get wealth out of the offshore bank accounts of the 1% and back into the wallets of the rest of us.
sabutai says
Before anything else, why does it all have to be in mid-May? Competition for headlines? I can see the GOP clown car all declaring, but Hillary can wait for a while, right?
Issues: As somervilletom says, the middle class is shrinking, and with it the economy that depends on a middle class. How can we survive on 1929-era inequality? Also, what is their vision for public education? Do they even have one?
I think as someone not heavily involved, the most successful “tactic” of the gay rights movement is humanization. Immigration paranoia is very low in cities with lots of immigrants. Anti-gay sentiment died when people learned how many people they knew are gay. On this one, we need to get back to voters realizing the people they think they hate — middle class workers, union members, civil servants — are actually decent people.
But until we reinstate civilized norms toward campaign finance, it won’t matter.
fredrichlariccia says
As a middle class worker, union member, civil servant and gay rights activist I want to start by thanking sabutai for acknowledging that some of us are actually decent people! lol 🙂
I have always believed we will win – and more importantly we will deserve to win – if we are able to articulate a dynamic, progressive economic and social justice vision to re-vitalize and expand the middle class.
Compliments to you,James,on the first of many, I’m sure,thought-provoking commentaries. Let the games begin !
Onward to victory through strength and honor !
Fred Rich LaRiccia
Jasiu says
I had a friend say to me last night that the two things that keep him up at night are all of the reports of evidence that climate change is occurring at a rapid pace and the whole quagmire that the Middle East has become. That’s only a sample of one (OK, two including me) but a whole lot else doesn’t matter if significant action isn’t taken on both fronts. I don’t know how deep of a public sentiment there is, but if present and tapped into, it could be part of a winning strategy.
merrimackguy says
Climate change is to today’s voter what “pollution” (stretching from visible air and water and through toxic contamination) was in the past. Eventually everyone wants a solution.
The challenge with it is that we collectively have caused it (so no one to punish or pay for it) and ways to combat it have proven divisive and potentially very expensive. When the voters get a dose of reality they may proven less supportive.
For decades (way before climate change) I have thought that building near coasts should be restricted and that structures destroyed by ocean storms should not be rebuilt. In my mind it was a no-brainer. Unfortunately the exact opposite has happened and with climate change these structures are going to be under continual assault. So net/net I’m not that hopeful we’ll come together on this issue.
The Middle East is beyond a mess and it’s very hard these days to ignore. People are thinking about it, and even if it’s not about the US getting attacked again, no one wants to see all these people (particularly women and children) killed/enslaved/starving, etc etc. The Middle East seems much closer than Africa, especially considering the potential for terrorist attacks in Europe. So I think it will be a big issue in 2016.
thebaker says
Maybe it’s me but I’ve seen survey after survey that lists Climate Change way down the list. It’s about the economy. people worry more about the loss of their job/home not ice in the antarctic.
Jasiu says
Re-read my comment. I did question the how much traction this might have. My points were two: 1) Anecdotally, I hear more people talking about it now. 2) We’d better figure out how to get people concerned.
merrimackguy says
It worries people. I could be wrong though.
thebaker says
Do you have kids?
Mark L. Bail says
sock puppet?
nopolitician says
The economy, and rebuilding America.
I read an interesting article about a startup shoe company that tried to have its shoes made in the USA. After struggling with it for a while, they decided that it was just not possible.
http://www.american-duchess.com/sourcing-policy
They could not find a company in the USA that was capable of making the shoes for them. Their quote was “There are almost no shoe production facilities left in the USA that are willing to make shoes designed by other companies (OEM) in the consignment sizes that we are able to buy, and we did a LOT of looking! ”
They then thought about setting up their own factory, but realized that the component parts are not available in the USA. Their quote: “From an ideal perspective, we would like to use locally sourced materials, but we discovered that there are very few leather suppliers left in the USA, no heel manufacturers, and that alot of factories that are still operational source most of their materials from China and other international sources, before assembling them here.”
It is insane that we have let this happen. If there is any question as to why there are so many people unemployed in this country, this is the #1 reason. We should not pooh-pooh these kinds of jobs because we have unemployed people who are not capable of the high-tech intellectual work that we are only chasing.
We have to get past the “austerity” mentality that has gripped our country for the past 15 years and move into one of growth and success for all. We need to stop focusing on “making money for rich people” and instead focus on a working economy.
jconway says
As a current tutor and possibly a future teacher, it is an issue near and dear to my heart
From sabutai:
I would argue neither party has offered much of one. The leading Democrats have by and large adopted the school choice rhetoric of the 90s era GOP. I do like that De Blasio’s push on expanding universal kindergarten and pre-k seems to poll well nationally and has been adopted by most candidates, but we have to have a concrete and inspiring vision. Excellent point Sabutai.
fenway49 says
had “neglected” education a lot more.
sabutai says
It’s the amount of money that public education diverts its rightful place in the private market that alarms politicians.
jconway says
1) Income Inequality
2) Rebuilding the Middle Class
3) Climate Change
4) Stabilizing the Middle East (and extracting American involvement…)
5) Education
Seems like a solid top five list to me. And I think Sabutai and Fred’s points about turning the right’s demons back into folks neighbors and friends can be a very effective canvassing strategy.
johntmay says
The jobs pay poorly and the economic gains all flow to the top. It’s been like this since the early 1970’s.
FDR said it best
What do the people of America want more than anything else? To my mind, they want two things: work, with all the moral and spiritual values that go with it; and with work, a reasonable measure of security–security for themselves and for their wives and children. Work and security–these are more than words. They are more than facts. They are the spiritual values, the true goal toward which our efforts of reconstruction should lead. These are the values that this program is intended to gain; these are the values we have failed to achieve by the leadership we now have.
Read it all here
dasox1 says
is getting clichĂ©, perhaps? But, issues 1, 2, & 5 set out by jconway are all related in part to jobs and the economy. On the jobs (FDR calls it “work” in JohnTMay’s post), I think the point is, not just any job but jobs that pay a good wage with decent benefits, such that the income can support a family. On the economy, that means—to me—one that works for the working poor and middle-class, not just the wealthy. That all ties in with tax fairness, income inequality, and rebuilding the middle class. No matter which words are used, even with unemployment down substantially, these are still the most important issues to me. Without a strong middle class and vibrant economy, it is hard to improve in other areas. I agree on climate change but the issue just doesn’t get the traction it deserves for reasons that I do not understand.
jconway says
The top 5 in my round up are the issues identified so far by folks in this thread, I am not implying they are the top 5 concerns of the broader electorate. This is about steering the progressive movement towards the top issues and ideas we care about, and once those are identified, determining what’s the most effective strategy for advocating for them. Climate change is not at the top of the list for most voters, but that should change, and we have to be the one’s that address it if our politicians will not.
Charley on the MTA says
Jobs and the economy are things that people feel in their daily lives — they can see if their neighbors are getting jobs; if they’re getting raises, if their employer is doing well, etc.
Climate affects them, but diffusely most of the time. Like foreign policy, climate really depends on media to make people care. The media will cover war; by and large the professional media outlets have done an appallingly poor job at covering climate because it has been politicized: Particularly in an era where paid/subscription-based media has been battered by the internet era, outlets don’t want to alienate half of their readership/viewership for something “abstract”.
Andy Borowitz had a really incisive line a couple of days ago: “Poll: Americans Starting to Worry About Climate Change Now That It Affects Their Lawns”. Actually that’s quite accurate. That’s how this will play out.
But the urge for denial is strong. Chris Christie eg witnessed the destruction of Sandy, and turned around and parroted denialist lines in the face of all evidence to the contrary, right in front of his face.
But I do think it’s changing recently. Obama has done quite good work lately, and the more he takes the lead, it puts denialists like Cruz on the defensive. That’s how you win — playing offense — and I’m shocked Obama hasn’t done more of it since 2009.
Christopher says
…doesn’t stop the media from covering a lot of things, including the aforementioned war.
jconway says
Drive by up rating has it’s faults…
rcmauro says
I was going to post my list but FDR said it better. To paraphrase:
(1) Restoring the value of work and the frayed compact between society and the working person.
(2) A reasonable measure of security for workers, retired workers, and those who depend on them.
Note that these are universalizing values that might go a long way toward winning back the two constituencies where Democratic support is slipping: men and older people.
scott12mass says
I want to see honesty in government. Whether at the local, state or federal level if elected officials are convicted I want to see brutal punishments. If I pay taxes and my fellow citizens are abusing programs provided for them I want restitution. (For the last five years I’ve personally witnessed abuse). If corporations (GM’s ignition scandal) cheat or abuse, make them pay.
We have long passed the time in society where we can assume we are going to have honest dealings in our everyday life. I always try to look for a ray of sunshine like Demonsthenes(?) but realize ethics now needs to be enforced through litigation. I want a politician who will make it his/her goal to clean up the House(+Senate).
Peter Porcupine says
Pledge toi be clean themselves, and not succumb to the corruptiuon around them.
In, but not Of.
jconway says
Definitely doable, definitely bipartisan, and really progress on all the other issues are basically blocked until we can accomplish this. Can’t believe I didn’t think to list it until now.
SomervilleTom says
Agreed.
I have a hard time imagining how to separate this from the income and wealth concentration issue. So long as the 1 or 1/2 percent control so much of the nation’s wealth, they will also control its politics.
An enormous risk associated with naive ways of “getting the money out of politics” is that the result is to raise, rather than lower, the barriers that block the rest of us from participation.
There is a close analog in well-intentioned attempts to “tax the wealthy” by raising the income tax rate of the top brackets. Those who are already wealthy are not affected (since they don’t require “income” and therefore don’t have to pay ANY income tax if they choose). So the actual effect of those high income tax rates is to make it difficult or impossible for the rest of us to join the ranks of the wealthy.