tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1437688200491675121.post2162456470692440899..comments2024-03-28T13:00:58.408-07:00Comments on Up Close, with Peter Sage: To win an election, turn out your base.Up Close: Road to the White Househttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03590477200706751934noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1437688200491675121.post-41407482341260881652017-07-31T02:14:02.486-07:002017-07-31T02:14:02.486-07:00I agree with the two comments above. They are well...I agree with the two comments above. They are well thought out. But I would add that Mark O Hatfield, while really good on peace issues, was a conservationist's nightmare. I went back to Washington DC in 1979 to lobby for Oregon Wilderness, but watched Hatfield push thru the Senate Energy and Natural resources committee his version of Wilderness that would release everything else not in the bill to logging. Fortunately it did not happen! I watched him bend the rules and do other devious things while the committee met. Not so moderate. Diane Newell Meyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08648685827786375047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1437688200491675121.post-17798131713539916542017-07-30T15:31:54.223-07:002017-07-30T15:31:54.223-07:00Energizing and playing to the base is always impor...Energizing and playing to the base is always important in political races. That should be campaigning 101. I would argue that in the era of social media and a world of knowledge and facts at our fingertips, we do that more efficiently and prolifically than any time in history. So much that we lounge chair campaign managers are now down to dissecting the issues and candidates with skills and data that would have astounded and amaze the professionals of 30 years ago. <br /><br />In this past election, 2016 voter turnout was larger than 2012. the presidential candidate of the left received more votes than any previous candidate in history short of Obama. Morethan two-thirds of voters cast ballots in Massachusetts, Oregon, Maryland and Virginia. Most active voters on the left can quote health care and climate legislation chapter and verse. There is a lot working for us. Infighting aside, the choir for the most part, is on board. I'm not so sure that voter frustration is a real issue. <br /><br />The goal now should be to get the potential and non-voter to the polls. Nearly half of eligible voters don't vote in this country. 13% of those that don't vote are not interested, 17% are too busy, 14% have disabilities and illness issues, 12% don't like the options, the rest are combinations of access. People with money and privilege vote, less so the poor. These are the people we need to appeal to. Most of these problems are easy to over come.... mail in voting to start, automatic registration with a drivers license. We need to make voting appeal to millennials. We are not including them in the resistance movement and not addressing their issues. They are the ones that will save the world. Find electable candidates, being on the right side of the issues is not enough. They need to appeal to the majority of voters not just those in our little bubbles. We have a census coming up in 2020. This make the 2018 election about building a base for the future. If we do not show up to vote in 2018 there will be no change for the Left's base. <br />Greg Frederick https://www.blogger.com/profile/09101765761136306634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1437688200491675121.post-80921198646133643132017-07-30T13:13:18.065-07:002017-07-30T13:13:18.065-07:00I agree that energizing the base expands a new mid... I agree that energizing the base expands a new middle. Previously you wrote about political "branding" (style). Connect the dots. We live in a visual as well as an audio and written communication culture. Branding to the left on each of those three legs is necessary. So, what does our energized base want to seeand hear about that might represent their interest? Same ol, same old? What is fresh and unique and knowledgable concerning what our base is energized about? Where's the person who's a talented speaker who's served a career advancing the public good, who knows the complexities of Social Security, Medicaid, Snap, assisted living, as well as the plight of the disabled and otherwise challenged? <br /> Its not a time for the same ol, same old. You are on to something Peter, Lead the way.---jim sims<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07759655617729645688noreply@blogger.com