SECTION II: APPLYING THE LESSONS LEARNED — A PRESCRIPTION FOR VICTORY
Here I show how the Democratic Party can apply the strategies described above, yet ethically and with integrity, to successfully engage voters in the “right fight”–not against each other, but together against the abuse of power in our current mess of a democracy.
The objectives are twofold: 1) To reverse the damage done by “culture war” narratives painting Democrats as amoral elites out-of-touch with heartland America; and 2) To unite Americans in the fight for the common good, and against the self-serving forces turning our democracy into a oligarchy.
The Task At Hand—Unite and Conquer
Knowing that a unified America is a strong America, the Republican Party has schemed to divide citizens into contentious cultural tribes (left/right, red/blue, coastal elites/heartland America, urban/rural, whites/non-whites, religious/secular, professional class/working class, immigrants/“real Americans,” etc.) to undermine the power of a cohesive majority so that an elite minority could be served—at the expense of the common good.
It’s been a form of mental/emotional gerrymandering that, along with geographic gerrymandering, has stripped our republic of fair and just representation. Instead of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, America has become a government of, by and for the powerful.
It’s been a devious “divided we fall” strategy with grievous results. Any politician or party that attempts to subvert majority power with divide and conquer tactics is, straight up, in betrayal of American values. Yet, the Democratic Party has never called the Republican Party out on this breach of our democracy. Trump, G.W. Bush, and many other allegedly über-patriotic Republicans of recent decades have masterfully employed this unethical, anti-American scheme to great effect—but will no longer if Democrats see it, understand it, and are inflamed enough to do something about it.
The only antidote to the Republican Party’s polarizing culture war narrative is to rewrite the narrative, pointing to the real conflict we face as a nation and recasting the roles of protagonists and antagonists in the process. This counter-narrative will redraw the lines of alliance and unite Americans in the “right fight”—not against each other, but together against the intentional undermining of our democracy.
In order to do this, The Democratic Party must expose the Republican Party’s abject betrayal of American values, and galvanize Americans to reclaim the power that rightfully belongs to them. Only by uniting Americans can the Democratic Party put an end to Republicans’ divide-and-conquer machinations once and for all. When “united we stand”, we will not fall, and justice for all will be met.
The narrative laid out here is just this—a “unite-and-conquer” path—and its aim couldn’t be any more American or just. Organized rebellion has always been a fundamental principle of our democracy and the greatest expression of American values we have. In fact, it was the radical repudiation of unjust power that prompted the creation of our nation, beginning with the Boston Tea Party and culminating with the American Revolution. Principled action driven by American values was elemental in the 1700’s, and is still so today. But it will take a strong, cohesive party to unify the populace around the mission to recoup our democracy and make America, America again.
In order to unify Americans, the Democratic Party will first have to be unified–collectively clear on their vision and mission. Next, they will have to align with the majority of Americans. Accordingly, the party has to be tuned into the thoughts, feelings and needs of those they’re hoping to serve, as well as be clear on their own principles, values, and positions, and why they hold them. When each half of this equation is relatable to the other, a unifying bond can be formed, translating into successful candidacies.
We’ll use a report, “The Vanishing Center of American Democracy” that analyzes the results of an opinion poll—the 2016 Survey of American Political Culture—to provide valuable insights into the electorate. This survey, commissioned by the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture is based on 1,904 telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of American adults. By revealing the attitudes, concerns and cultural/political values of American citizens, this survey serves as a finger on the pulse of America during the run up to the 2016 election, detecting constituents’ greatest concerns and the divisions in America that led to the unimaginable victory of Donald Trump.
The first statistic worth noting is that the number of self-identified Independents has risen to a high of 42% of the electorate (from 31%, 20 years ago) signifying a lack of connection many voters feel with either party. We saw this manifested in the remarkably strong support of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump who were not established in either party prior to their run. In fact, they both ran on populist messages railing against the establishment—Sanders with a progressive populist message and Trump with a regressive, authoritarian populist message. It was this very anti-establishment outrage and desperation for change that ultimately gave Trump his victory.
Instead of expending energy fighting Republicans, casting critical judgment on Trump supporters, or getting their panties in a twist over every offensive comment coming from Donald Trump, the Democratic Party would be wise to figure out how to engage the 42% of Independents looking for sensible solutions, and the roughly 40% of eligible voters who typically don’t bother to vote because they’ve given up on American politics. They’d also be smart to truly make sense of the Trump victory, to really “get” what was driving both Sanders and Trump supporters in order to better understand them, and ultimately serve them.
This does not mean compromising the party’s values. Rather, it means:
1) Recognizing and addressing the concerns of citizens, or in marketing parlance, their “pain points”
2) Finding the common ground with voters in terms of party values and goals
3) Building a rousing case/narrative that conveys the Democratic Party’s mission while uncovering the Republican Party’s dishonorable quest to usurp our democracy.
We’ll do all of this here, exploring five key strategy points that, if incorporated, will give the Democratic Party the foundation they need to regain political relevance and potency.
The Five-Point Plan For Party Success
The following 5-point strategy, with all the juicy details, is coming soon. Please sign up here to be notified when it is released to the public.
1. Becoming the Party of the People Once Again
2. Handling the Problem of “Identity Politics”
3. A Moral Narrative that Inspires, Unites and Rallies Americans Around a Common Cause
4. Unifying the Party
5. Leading with Moral Brawn
