Let Democrats Be Democrats Again!
Let Democrats Be Democrats Again!
Don't Be Nervous, Be A Smartie--Stand Up For The Democratic Party!
Harry Truman said, “in a race between a Republican and a Republican, the Republican will win every time.” At least, that’s what I thought he said.
I’ve used that quote for decades, in my work for Democratic candidates running in tough primaries, to make the point that voters get cheated when Democrats run away from what makes them Democrats.
But it turns out that’s shorthand for what Truman actually said, in a speech at the National Convention Banquet of the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) in May, 1952.1
I've seen it happen time after time. When the Democratic candidate allows himself to be put on the defensive and starts apologizing for the New Deal and the fair Deal, and says he really doesn't believe in them, he is sure to lose. The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign.
My spin on this sentiment was a slogan I first created for a U.S. Senate candidate running an underfunded, progressive challenge to a millionaire businessman who’d been chosen by the Democratic Governor and state party chairman. That wasn’t the kind of Democrat that could really help New York, and so our brochures headlined, “Mark Green: The Democrat We Need.” He won the primary but lost the general election to Republican Senator Al D’Amato.
That wasn’t the last time I’ve used that slogan. It’s a good one. And today, standing up for what the late Sen. Paul Wellstone called “ the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party” has never looked better. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz conducted a master class in Democratic values at their convention, and they’re continuing this introduction on the campaign trail.
But I worry about Democratic candidates who are running as if they’re a little afraid of the Democratic Party. I live in one of the New York districts that helped Republicans win their (slim) majority, and the Democrat running here seems to be focusing on winning Republican votes, in a district that has been redrawn to include more Democrats than it had two years ago. His TV ads cite his support for term limits, an issue that no one is talking about, and he’s highlighting his refusal to take contributions from corporate PACs, unlike his Republican opponent.
But campaign finance reform is not now, nor has it ever been, a winning electoral issue. Back in 1986, it didn’t work for Mark Green—a former “Nader’s Raider”—and it’s never been top of mind for voters. If they think politics itself is corrupt, more evidence of corruption doesn’t strengthen the case for Democrats enough to win.
I’m still confident that Kamala Harris will win the election. As my family and friends are tired of hearing me say, I’ve never believed that Trump would win the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, and now it looks like we can add North Carolina to that list. (Thank you, Mark Robinson!). And despite what the New York Times says, things are still looking good in Arizona (partly because abortion is on the ballot—watch this ad!) and also Nevada. Georgia is still a reach.
Remember, no poll can accurately predict who’s going to actually vote in the election.
pulls this from the Times story in “Who’s Actually Going To Vote?”“In the flood of election polls you’ll see over the next few weeks, most polling groups will include responses from ‘likely voters.’ And often from nobody else,” the New York Times reports.
“In theory, these poll numbers should yield more accurate results, since the people who actually vote are the ones who dictate the outcome on Election Day. But creating a precise picture of who will vote in November is a complicated endeavor.”
“After all, how exactly can a pollster know who is ‘likely’ to vote, and who therefore will be the focus of their results? There’s no one right answer, and every polling firm has its own strategy.”
And
recommends, as I suggested in my proposed messaging for my Congressional candidate, expanding the Senate map:
Republicans were able to win control of the House in part because of how well their candidates did in New York, and by and large they’ve behaved more moderate than MAGA in office.
I don’t think my congressional candidate is guilty of being a “Republican in Democratic clothing,” but I wish he would shift from de-emphasizing partisanship to an argument like this:
“Right now, party control of the House of Representatives is down to four seats. What if it was one seat? What if it was this seat?
We need to break turnout records and bring more Democrats to the polls. If Kamala Harris wins the White House, and Democrats win back the House and add to their majority in the Senate, we can pass climate protection, gun safety laws, abortion rights, voting rights and even crack down on the corrupting influence of money in politics.
That’s why we need Democrats—including right here in upstate New York.”
Speaking of ADA, when a certain reader of this newsletter and talented graphic designer and I opened a left-leaning propaganda factory in Washington D.C.’s Dupont Circle, our first paying gig was this invitation:
