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Showing posts with label Jon Ossoff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jon Ossoff. Show all posts

Monday, June 19, 2017

The Democrats Action Plan

The special election for Tom Price's old seat in Georgia is set for tomorrow and the race is in a dead heat. Jon Ossoff holds a small lead in the poll averages but it's well within the margin of error. The advantage is still held by Republicans because historically they turn out to vote in special elections and Democrats don't. Hell, Democrats don't turn out in any election except presidential ones. So, how do we get them to turn out?

Here's a step by step action plan that will help the Democrats take back both federal and state houses as well as the presidency.

Step 1

Identify all obstacles to voting (including apathy) and work to remove them so more people vote. This would include getting more people registered and jumping through whatever hoops Republicans have put out there to prevent folks from voting.

Step 2

Identify the counties that flipped from Obama to Trump. Oh wait. Here they are. As a side note, take a look at the counties that flipped from Romney to Clinton. Why did this happen?

Step 3.

Find local people in these counties that are willing to work to galvanize voters and turn them out every single election year. The goal should be to get two times the number of voters that the GOP has. National Democratic operatives should stay away from these counties and let the local people do the work since they know the area.

Step 4

Within the ranks of these local people, pull the best and the brightest to run for office themselves. This should include everything from dog catcher all the way to House Representative. Again, there should be no carpet bagging and national folks should stay away. Donations, of course, are fine but that national groups should be acting merely in a support capacity. Delegate, delegate, delegate!

Step 5

Candidates and campaign workers should spend a great deal of time visiting with local voters asking them questions and listening to their concerns. As a teacher, my most effective lessons are the ones where the students have the most input in what and how they are taught. Counties are a small enough pool that there should be consensus on many issues. Identify those voters that flipped from Obama to Trump and pay extra attention to them. Use this information to develop a strong, populist platform that appeals to many different voters.

Step 6

Tell the truth. For example, let the people know in rural Wisconsin that their jobs aren't coming back and they need to retrain for the 21st century. They might get mad but the response could be that you are telling it like it is. At least they will respect that.

If they can carry these steps out in even an average fashion, they will win many elections.

The Ossoff-Mandel special election bothers me because so many national groups are involved. That's why I think the Democrats are at a disadvantage here. If they win, I'll be surprised.

Yet maybe, this is true.