Building a new
Democratic Party:

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The Democratic Party has lost its way.

 

Ro Khanna recently went on Fox News Sunday to shit talk Al Green’s opposition at the State of the Union and say that Democrats should have been standing for Trump, the same guy who was threatening war against Greenland and Panama – in the same speech. The same guy who called Zelenskyy a dictator and screamed at him publicly on TV days earlier.

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Gavin Newsom went on a podcast with Steve Bannon. No really.

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Chuck Schumer is deciding to advance a Republican budget stopgap bill that rubber stamps more gutting of the federal government and social programs.

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Ro and the Democrats that voted in favor of censuring Al Green are *PRECISELY* what’s wrong with the Democratic Party. Just watch his interview – does he sound like we’re sliding into fascism? Can you hear in his voice that the current President tried to overthrow the government four years ago? I can’t. 

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So, do you think Democrats are more likely to win if we bend the knee to fascists? Did Republicans see the light when Biden was drilling more or not leaning into climate policy the rest of the world accepts as obligatory for survival? I’d argue no. Probably not. There is a pattern of the Democratic party beating down the activist arm of its party over and over and over again. And I think we're living through the consequences of that.

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What did the Republicans do to win? Did they go closer to the center or to Democratic proposals? I’ll let you do those mental gymnastics, but I think the answer is nay.

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The Biden administration pushed back on defund the police movement, climate change regulation from the activist wing of the Democratic Party, drilled more than any president in history despite climate pledges from the party, and didn’t give much voice to critics of Israel’s response to the October 7th terrorist attack, especially leading up to the election. Regardless of your thoughts on any of these issues, and I realize there are many positions, they come from the activist wing of our party that turns out voters - especially younger voters.

 

And they had a lot to say leading up to the election, which was shown by the dozens of university sit-ins around the country. Not giving them a voice in the party or debating the issue out loud is something I still think proved decisive in losing states like Michigan and young voters nationwide. The administration never armed Ukraine enough to win the war, only enough to protract it. When harangued by anti-trans ads or statement, Biden and/or Harris would stay quiet on the issue. Biden showed zero daylight between him and Benjamin Netanyahu, widely regarded in the Democrat party to be a fascist autocrat like Trump.

 

Did that help?

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So, here are some tips for the Democratic Party to do a hard reset, and we do have time:

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Democrats have to let the new guard lead

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• The Democrats will never beat Donald Trump if they keep playing to the middle of their party and not letting the younger generation lead. Moderates will not get us out of fascism. They will not activate protestors and boycotts that make corporations feel the pinch of bending the knee to Trump.

• Donald Trump gets voters to turn out because he’s interesting for a lot of people to listen to, funny to a lot of people, and conversational. The old guard of the D’s on the other hand recite the exact same political talking points word-for-word and it resonates with no one except party loyalists and the MSNBC faithful. Phrases like “storm the capital” – nobody talks like that. And if goes above the same people's heads we need to vote.

• Speaking of people that talk robotically, the current democratic opposition leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer gotta go. These leaders are not for this era. They are the reason the party has no leaders rising to the top, because the head of the party has no real voice.
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Democrats need to directly combat social media

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• MAGA has created its own social network. In addition, other countries are directly combating the Democratic party and helping Donald Trump – nobody is helping the Democrats. They need to help themselves by getting some leverage with existing social media, setting up more accounts, and supporting influencers that combat misinformation, and sharing memes WIDELY.

• Democrats and progressive news outlets should lean even more into BlueSky as an alternative to X. Promote it. Don't be posting on X and citing X on your shows.

• If Democrats put the new guard / activists in power, more social influencers would be talking about what the party’s doing instead of what they’re not doing.
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Democrats need to address trans- and non-binary phobia in a way that’s relatable to middle and rural America

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• These attacks are effective, and being silent on them makes them more effective

• Taking a stand for trans- and non-binary rights with these groups isn’t likely to be effective or change minds of voters in red districts – that’s a major cultural shift that will be accomplished over decades and not by political movements, but we can message on this while staying true to our principles and without alienating voters.

• The truth is, any trans or pronoun story MAGA puts out is a distraction. But it’s never labeled as a distraction by the Democratic party out of fear of alienating its voters. We stay quiet and think the story sounds ridiculous, but it’s incredibly effective with the people they are trying to turn out to vote.

• Call out the distractions and redirect: Call out the stats on how few trans- people we have in the country and the unsurmountable issues MAGA isn’t doing anything about, like mass shootings, funding social security, out of control CEO pay that takes away from worker pay. Call out how MAGA likes to bully minorities and prop up status quo majorities like white male executives making atmospheric amounts of money compared to their lowest paid workers. The president only has so much time, and priorities are a matter of choosing what to focus on and what not to focus on. Make a point that MAGA is intentionally not addressing problems to harass a minority of Americans that don’t affect most people’s day-to-day lives. After all, how many people these ads are shown to on Fox actually know a trans person? We don’t have to abandon our principles, but we also don’t have to preach into the abyss when no one’s listening. Call out the distraction.
   

Democrats need to become the party of the working class and ostracize the republicans as the party of out-of-touch oligarchs

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• Call out the oligarchs, their net worth, and their self-enrichment relative to the ‘savings’ they purport to be implementing. Call out their wealth gains relative to inflation and income loss for the rest of us. Put it on visual charts and show it every chance you get, in every TV interview you get, and on your social handles.

• Track executive pay and stock options tied to the lowest paid worker.

• Highlight ‘golden parachute’ contracts that reward executives when they leave companies – most folks are worried about keeping a job, and these folks are getting richer leaving theirs. In addition to executive pay being uncapped, this is another dishonest and immoral practice.

• Democrats need to create and prop up some form of control on executive pay. It would be wildly popular with the working class. And that’s not going to happen unless the new guard is put in leadership positions because the old guard is tied to Wall Street and lobbyists.
   

Democrats need a unified message
 

• Some people are decrying autocracy, some people are calling foul with Ukraine, others on DOGE spending. You saw it in the auction paddles at the State of the Union and on TV. It’s a lot of messages and most voters will retain one, maybe two.

• Come up with a plan that’s future-facing with a focus on what the party is going to do for the country and the individual. If your only message is anti-Trump, you’re not leaving oxygen for what you stand for. 
   

Have more ideas? Comment below or email wtf@whatthefamerica.com