Democrats need a new attitude to go with that record November fundraising.
Democrats announced a record haul today. With a wary eye on the Big Money bankrolling Republicans, President Obama headlined a half-dozen fundraisers fundraisers for Democrats across the country, helping the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hit that $5.1 million.
Big names and power like Magic Johnson and Marta Kauffman (co-creator of “Friends”) pitched in to help Democrats raise money in Los Angeles, while Tom Campion, the co-founder of the youth-clothing chain Zumiez, and his wife held a fundraiser in Seattle.
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The President will keep up the fund raising effort in the lead up to the 2014 elections.
Democrats must keep control of the Senate if they are to provide any kind of speed bump to the radical GOP-led House agenda of imposing austerity on the vulnerable, dismantling Medicare and taking aim at Social Security, as well as setting historical records removing rights from women and stealing the right to vote from minorities.
However, Democrats are behaving like a party on the defense after months long attacks over the rollout of the President’s healthcare reform law. It would be smart of the party to take a lesson from Democratic Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky, and aggressively defend a law that helps the majority of the people.
ObamaCare is something to be proud of, not run away from. Democrats need to learn to stop reflexively flinching, fearing the bad press from relentless attacks. This is the age of new media and the youth tunes out as media dinosaurs parrot the GOP. The line is thin right now but it can be grabbed.
Some red state Democrats (e.g., Sen. Mary Landrieu) feel they must pretend to hate ObamaCare given the Foxified constituency of their states. And this is indeed a tough hurdle to overcome. But even while they are making an outward run from ObamaCare, they can still reframe the debate and bring home the simple questions. Just use different words. It’s not ObamaCare; it’s keeping corporations in check when they want to take insurance away from your cancer ridden family member.
Democrats must stop insisting on dealing with Foxified voters via policy, when those voters are so easily fooled. Dumb it down, Democrats. Change the words. Go on the attack.
Democrats who are in office currently have access to the media to set their own agenda, and they need to dust off the stale talking points and start hitting home with the simple choices: Do you want to cut off food stamps to your neighbor’s new baby (vote Republican) or do you believe that innocent children should be protected with our tax dollars (vote Democrat)? Would you rather fund WalMart’s profits (vote Republican) or protect the elderly, our troops, our children (vote Democrat)? Etc.
The Republican Party’s radical assault on basic humanity gives the Democrats a golden opportunity to define liberal values for the country. Republicans aren’t paying any attention to this dawning cultural shift, because they still believe they are the party of yesteryear- the party of law and order, the party of fiscal responsibility, the party of keeping us safe, the party of family. They are none of these things anymore and it’s only a matter of time until they run out the clock on an outdated reputation.
Smart Democrats will grab this opportunity and run with it. They will own their policies that appeal to most Americans and go right to the people with it. Bypass the media. Take a cue from Sarah Palin, of all people, and take the narrative by storm via non-traditional media sources.
There is a moral argument to be made for liberal policies, and it’s time the Democratic Party stopped shying away from boldly making it. This is how you motivate the base in an off year election and invite Independents and moderate Republicans to see things in a new light. Insipid fear and backtracking are not inspiring or aspirational.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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