I'm not going to overreact to the election results. Let's face it: Republicans were favored to win the Senate (they did); Trump was favored to win the election (he did); and the House was viewed as a coin flip (we're still not sure what the exact numbers are, but the margin, either way, will be quite narrow). Having said that, the Republican Party will likely control the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office, at least for 2 years. It's times like these pundits will overreact and suggest the party on the short-end will need to undergo a drastic transformation, if they ever want to aspire to garner control, in any capacity, again.
Okay, hold up there, Sparky. Let's settle this thing down. There are only two major political parties in the United States. Until a 3rd one comes into existence, voters will continue to go back and forth between Republicans and Democrats. Remember when Biden beat Trump in 2020 and Democrats exceeded even their wildest of expectations in the 2022 midterms? What did I hear? "What with the Republican Party do to ever recover?" Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've heard that exaggerative tone following elections. Even if Democrats don't make any significant changes, I can guarantee you they will, some day, win back the majorities in the House, Senate, and be back in the White House.
If I were a strategist for the Democratic Party, however, I would try to improve in the following areas in the future:
1) Go Rural - I have been shouting this from the haystacks for as long as I can remember. Republicans tend to dominate rural communities. Look at Georgia and North Carolina this past election. Trump won rural counties 80-20, 75-25. No, individually these counties can't hold a candle to the Atlanta- nor Raleigh-metro areas. BUT when you combine dozens of these counties, they not only hold a candle to the large metro areas, they essentially burn said vote to the ground by overtaking it. Democrats dominate urban areas. Suburbia tends to go back and forth between the two parties. Where Democrats struggle is in rural America. They don't even need to win a majority there. Cut the Republicans' led from 80-20 to 65-35 and they'd be incredibly difficult to beat. If farmers actually heard Democrats' plans, odds are they'd warm up to them. In my opinion, it's strategically stupid to completely ignore rural voters. Continue to do that and they're going to continue to overwhelmingly vote Republican, and I can't say I'd blame them.
2) Inclusivity - Sometimes Democrats receive criticism for being too inclusive. That's both true and false. While it's true Democrats tend to be a big-tent party, in trying to appeal to a significant number of demographics, they also tend to limit their outreach by focusing on each demographic individually, as opposed to an overarching theme. This can result in turning away some demographics/voters, as opposed to bringing them all (and more) together. Two words: Barack Obama. He was the master of inclusivity. Democratic leaders of today need to take note of what he managed to do in 2008 and 2012. Obama, the first Black president in this country's history, did not separate demographics based on what each wanted/needed; he brought all demographics together, to say, "This is what we all deserve, regardless of age, sex, race, etc." You never heard Obama say, "Vote for me! I'd be the first Black president, which would be kind of cool! You owe me!" Nope, he never did that. No matter how many times Republican leaders tried to separate him from the rest of us - implying he wasn't a "real" American, he never took the racist bait. He made everyone feel like we were together, part of a special movement, a special moment in this country's history. We need to get back to that.
3) Fellas, We Hear You - This overlaps with #2, but I felt this needed special attention. Democrats are losing male voters. Now, granted, I think many of the reasons for this are rather silly - like "cancel-culture," "not allowed to be a real man," etc., BUT no matter how silly we may find the objections, the fact of the matter is many men - young men, in particular - feel left out of the Democratic Party, so they've opted to vote Republican. Women are attending college at higher rates than men, and manual-labor jobs seem to be becoming progressively more scarce by the day. Democrats need to do a better job of reaching out to this demographic; listening; telling them they understand; and trying to find ways to provide greater opportunities for those not college-educated.
4) Stop Being Too Nice - This could help with #3 as well, but Democrats, it's okay to not always be the nice one in the room. I'm not saying to be a complete a$$hole, but it's perfectly okay to act and be tough at times. You don't believe in an open-border policy. Stop allowing Republicans to convince the public you are. Take a stand. Be front and center in the immigration debate. It's the Republican Party, not you, who has continually rejected, or at least minimally postponed immigration reform proposals over the years.
5) The Shock Factor - I've been just as guilty of this, but most people don't want to be fed numbers. They want empathy, raw emotion. Did you see the GOP ads during this past election cycle? They were full of nonstop malarkey, yes, but they were effective. I'm not saying to lie ad nauseam, but play the game better; feed into people's emotions; and don't shy away on portraying what the Republican Party has become. At no time did I see an ad play in Ohio, which showed what Republicans did on January 6th of 2021. At no time did I see how impactful their anti-gun reform measures have been. Be shocking. Be controversial. Get into people's heads and hearts. Play the fear card.
6) More Empathy - One of the greatest missteps by Democrats this past election season was when they continually praised President Biden's economic accomplishments, all while people's wallets were still hurting. Two things can be true at once: 1) Biden's economy was much stronger than had been anticipated, and was great compared to 4 years prior, and 2) Many people were still living paycheck to paycheck. Voters don't care how many jobs were added in the past 3.5 years, if living day to day is costing them significantly more than it did a few years ago. It's fine to point out some of your accomplishments, but do so in measure, and in a way that relates to your audience. For example, if you're in a poor, rural community, which was greatly hurt during COVID, try to talk to them about some new job opportunities/education opportunities which you helped open up for people like themselves. Instill in them hope for a better tomorrow, as opposed to just trying to convince them of a better today. Listen, learn, and then talk. Don't talk, and then tell people to listen and learn.
7) Be On the Offensive/Fact-Check - Voters are fed disinformation hourly. It's literally impossible to effectively counteract all of it, so don't try to do the impossible. What I've found to be the most effective strategy is to be the one on the offensive, and fact-checking along the way. If the opponent is consistently responding to your points, it's often times difficult for them to make points of their own. Trust me, always being on the defensive is never a winning strategy. Just think about it like football. If your team is always playing defense, how in the hell are you going to win the game?
8) Road Trips - States change. People change. People in states change. Like I mentioned with the rural voters in point #1, how can we ever expect to turn a red state blue, if we don't make an effort to visit; listen to the people's concerns; and tell them about our vision for the future? Remember when Missouri was concerned the tipping-point state? Remember when Colorado was deemed a purple state? Things change. Expand your electoral map by making an effort to travel to areas you haven't been to in decades, if ever. With my apologies to Robert Frost, in politics, the road less traveled is a road lost.
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