Group-think has destroyed the GOP. President Trump is a strict enforcer. Try to get a Republican to say aloud that Trump lost in 2020.
I don't want group-think to destroy Democrats. They can evolve, if they dare.
On March 28 I suggested areas where Democrats need to wake up and change directions. It is OK. It is necessary. After all, Democrats have so screwed up their brand that Americans actually voted for Donald Trump -- a felonious, narcissistic, grifting autocrat -- rather than vote for a standard-issue Democrat. Kamala Harris' problem isn't that she is a woman or dark-skinned. It is that she voiced policies that Americans rejected.
What changes???
-- It is OK for Democrats to say that transgender male-to-female people are just fine, live and let live, but that they should not compete in athletics against biological women. The principle is fair competition. People understand that performance-enhancing drugs destroy fair competition. People value fairness. The position isn't anti-trans. It protects trans people.
-- It is OK for Democrats to insist that immigrants come here legally. It is OK to say aloud that immigrant scofflaws should go home, which requires ICE to do its job, but do it while respecting good police practices. Come up with a formula of who can stay and who must leave. There will be lines drawn, and some will be in and some will be out; that is inevitable. The country is waiting for someone to do this. Come up with something, then having done it, then defend and enforce those criteria. People want to know there is enforced order.
-- It is OK for Democrats to say that fossil fuels are transitioning out over the next decades, but that we still need them now, because we have millions of Americans who own a gasoline-engined car and they need to get to work. Cars bought today will run for 200,000 more miles. When the country has inexpensive and plentiful green energy, then Americans will happily switch to it, and junk those cars, and that is what Democrats should encourage. But don't bash the fuel that people buy every week. It is hypocritical and bad politics.
-- It is OK to recognize that Americans dislike race-based preferences in everything: college admissions, hiring, promotions, and voting. Yes, voting, too. The MLK formulation that people should be judged by character, not skin color, is better principle, better policy, and better politics. Carving out congressional and state "black districts" probably made sense 50 years ago, but now is creating a backlash bigger than its purpose of encouraging fair representation. It is a form of race-based segregation -- done, Democrats think, for a good cause -- but fuels the anti-DEI feelings, even among Black, Hispanic, and Asian voters. The goal was to help Black people elect one of "theirs." That isn't working in the big picture on race in America. Race-based carve-outs have reversed the public consensus that made the civil rights revolution of the 1950s and 1960s possible. Gerrymandering on race turns out to be as destructive to democracy as is the extreme gerrymandering we are seeing done now in the mid-cycle districting happening now. Wouldn't it be nice if there were both Black and White candidates who competed for votes of people from the other race? Maybe mixed-race districts are a good thing, not a bad thing.
-- It is OK for Democrats to criticize members of their own party. Joe Biden had no business running for reelection. Say so. The DNC subverted democracy by forbidding a competitive 2024 primary contest. It was stupid and wrong. Say so. Kamala Harris spoke in vague generalities, which made her look afraid of leading. Say so. Chuck Schumer (yes, yet another college classmate) is weak and blind to the geriatric look of the party. He needs to get out of the way of the next generation. Say so. It is not disloyal to Democrats to tell the simple truth, the truth that nearly every Democrat secretly believes. Seriously, is there anyone who thinks Chuck Schumer is an inspiring leader?
Democrats hate to admit it, but they could learn something from Donald Trump. I am not saying Trump is good; he is bad, very bad He is a dishonest autocratic sociopath. He is dangerous. But he constantly gets judged to be more honest than Democrats because he appears to speak his mind, let the chips fall where they may. What he says is often vile and disgusting, but he says it. People like his frankness and confuse it with honesty.
My suggestions are not vile, disgusting ideas. A Democrat can say them proudly, voicing both good policy and popular policy. But they are politically incorrect to Democratic orthodoxy. The issues I mention were "Republican talking points" because, in fact, Republicans identified areas in which Democratic orthodoxy is contrary to what even most Democrats think.
My suggestion is to stop defending the indefensible. Its OK for parties to evolve.
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5 comments:
I played sports through high school. In both wrestling and boxing, they have weight classes, so that a 200 pounder does not compete against a 120 pounder. They also have weight classes in martial arts (Karate). It's all about "fairness". So, what makes it fair when a male who thinks that he's a female competes against a real female? How fair is that? When I was young, I could beat every female in the Rogue Valley in any sport. How fair is that for the females?
Well, I guess you agree with me, but with an angry aggrieved tone. Smile more. Be happy.
Amen to all Peter’s points.
The evidence of what you’re pointing out is I’m agreeing with Tucker Carlson!
From your lips to God’s ears (or at least to Schumer’s and Pelosi’s and Jeffries’, etc).
But the left wing of the party would probably cancel you instead of taking your good advice.
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