Check list for future victory

[Ken Burch]

1)Massive voter registration/reregistration/voter id acquisition efforts in all states with voter suppression laws;

2)Nominee rallies in all states where the lead of either nominee or either party is 9% or less as of October 1st(or rallies with leading Dems and Dem-associated figures in congressional years), including states where we are on the good side of that narrow lead

3)The same in all states where the margin is 5% of less as of October 15th, with first priority on states where our lead has narrowed;

4)Mass deployment and mass redeployment of volunteers to states with narrowing Dem leads as the situation warrants.

5)Unity platforms and unity fall campaigns, in which the nominee and runner-up campaigns and supporters are treated with parity of esteem and the supporters of all candidates are validated for the work they did;

6)Nineties-style "rapid response" teams to immediately bat-down GOP attacks and smears in press briefings, instant ads and social media;

7)Ad campaigns and social media efforts mainly focused on what we are FOR and what we will DO, rather than on attacks on the other nominee or the other party;

8)Appeals to voters we could win but have not as yet won solely on positive grounds(including a willingness to listen) rather than on "stop THEM!" grounds;

9)Massive increased funds for GOTV in all states where pre-election polls show narrowing leads for our ticket;

10)Recruitment of as many drivers as possible to get people to the DMV, to the Secretary of State's offices, to wherever the hell else they need to be taken to make sure they are registered, and then to get them to the polls.

All achievable...all positive...all things we can unite behind.

Add your suggestions below.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Get Fux News off of TV.

[Ken Burch]

2. That would clearly help...but I was focusing on things WE have some control over.

What do you think of the list I included in the OP?

[BigmanPigman]

3. I have been interested in the approach Indivisible (and other dem groups) are taking.

They are starting at the grass roots level NOW and they are very realistic and serious and are pacing themselves. There are many groups in my city already (called Meet Ups) and over 2,300 across the US. Your list seems like an excellent approach and will work too. The thing is we need to get dems out there and active. The Freedom Caucus/Tea Party was out in force knocking on doors, and in a heartbeat if necessary. Dems need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

[Ken Burch]

4. I've actually signed up with them recently.

And I agree with your emphasis on getting out there now to do the work.

[Gothmog]

5. Have you been to a meeting yet?

Several groups are participating in some nationwide events on promoting health care for all.

[Ken Burch]

7. They haven't announced one.

And I never needed to join Indivisible to be in "the real world".

There are plenty of people with the views I hold here in reality.

I'd have joined months earlier if you hadn't endlessly badgered me and acted as though Indivisible was the only thing worth doing. It's never appropriate to talk to people like that.

[NastyRiffraff]

19. So you delayed joining Indivisibles because

Gothmog "badgered" you on a message board? Silly old me; I thought I'd heard it all.

[Ken Burch]

20. It was none of his business whether I joined that group or not, and I've been active in other ways

Indivisible is a great group...but it's not the ONLY valid anti-Trump organization.

And the way he talked to me about is a horrible way to recruit people.

I did it in spite of him.

BTW, I seriously doubt that, at Invisible meetings, contrary to Gothmog's assumptions they tell you to give up working for or even supporting anything progressive. They put you on short-term projects; they don't demand that you give up your dreams.

[NastyRiffraff]

28. Oh good grief, Ken

Give it a rest, okay. Nobody has claimed that Indivisible is the "ONLY valid anti-Trump organization."

You joined Indivisible to spite someone on a MESSAGE BOARD? Or was it that you delayed joining? Ye gods.

I never saw Gothmog or anyone else claiming that Indivisible tells you to give up working or supporting "anything progressive." Indivisible is a liberal (or progressive, if you must) group. Why would they do that? Or "demand that you give up your dreams(tm)"

I'm tired of you plus I'm going to eat some crabs.

[Ken Burch]

29. Enjoy your crabs.

If you don't want to read what I post, put me on "ignore".

[Gothmog]

6. Again, in the real world many of these items are being done already

Recently I attended and paid for lunch for a training session conducted by the state party for persons interested in running. It was an all day affair that was very interesting. Ken's items 1, 4, 6, 7 and 9 are done by all campaigns to the extent that funds permit. Item 9 requires money and every campaign will devote whatever funds that they have to GOTV. One of the biggest topics in this training session was fund raising which I am not surprised to see omitted by Ken. Money is key in all races even local races. You can not do items 1, 4,6,7 and 9 without money. For most races, fund raising takes up a great deal of time in the real world.

At the first meeting of the local Indivisible group, it was fun explaining how voter registration works. In Texas you have to be approved in each county and have to undergo a training course. I am a deputy voter registrar in two counties. Every campaign tries to register voters in the real world and block walkers always have either a DVR with them or voter registration forms to leave with households.

Emily's list and most state parties have very good training courses for potential candidates. I would rely on these courses if someone wants to run for office in the real world. These courses are taught by people who live in the real world and understand how politics works

[Ken Burch]

8. There's no reason for you to be saying I don't live in the real world.

It's not "unreal" simply to hold views to your left.

And polls show that the majority of Americans support single-payer and most of the other things I support...does the majority of the country not live in "the real world"?

[Gothmog]

9. And yet every Sanders backed candidate running on this platform loses

Why are you not wanting to deal with real issues such as fundraising?

The Texas State Democratic Party is hosting a web training class on how to run. Many of your concepts will not be covered because in the real world fundraising and other issues are more important

[Ken Burch]

11. I simply hadn't mentioned it yet.

Both 2016 campaigns had effective fundraising mechanisms(high-donor and low-donor), and both should be embraced by the party.

Money isn't the ONLY thing that matters, though.

We had more money in the fall than Trump did, and we lost in the Electoral College. We lost in a fall campaign that said almost nothing in the ads and on social media about issues other than choice, that emphasized attacking the other candidate as a sleaze even when we knew all of those ads were failures.

That's why I emphasized the need to run FOR, not just against. The fall campaign proves we can never win the White House by focusing primarily on going negative on the other ticket. The results validate that observations in the real world.

Why are you so fixated on trying to drive me off this board? I have no diabolical powers of persuasion. I'm not going to cause anything horrible to happen. I'm simply one person posting here now and then. Yet you stalk me and belittle me personally, and I see you do that to everyone else here who is even minutely to your left.

It's not as though DU and the Democratic Party would be better if nobody to your left ever said anything. And it's not as though you are the ONLY one who works in real, pragmatic politics. Most of us do.

This is a discussion board. The point of discussions is to express DIFFERENT views, and to debate those views on the merits.

There would be no reason for DU to exist if everybody here agreed with everything you said...or everything I said...or everything anybody else said.

There is no good reason for you to be spending this much time trying to silence dissent. It serves no purpose and it does nothing to help the party.

[Gothmog]

15. Hi NurseJackie

I am going back to reading trial briefs and talking to candidates about the possible effects of the redistricting case.

[NurseJackie]

16. You're one of the smartest people I know, Gothmog, and I'm glad...

... to know that we have people like you who focus attention on serious matters.

[Ken Burch]

17. No one ever needs to be personally disparaging to disagree with another person's ideas.

Throughout 2016, I called out people I agreed with for that.

IT's enough to address the ideas people put out on the merits. Nobody needs to do anything other than that to make whatever point they are trying to make.

Gothmog uses personal derision(including the false accusation that people to his left don't "live in the real world" and have never been involved in real practical politics) against almost everyone whose views he opposes. He has no good reason to do that. Nor does anyone else.

You and Gothmog represent nearly the most conservative viewpoints on DU. And you have the right to do that. The only thing that I object to is either of you acting like you are entitled to look down on and berate people for not sharing your outlook.

Why do you feel the need to do that?

Why isn't it enough to argue against views the two of you disagree with on the level of ideas? Why is it ever necessary to get personal about it?

It's not as though either of you are mistreated or abused here.

The worst that can be said is that the rest of us don't defer to either of you.

And there's no reason we should.

Neither of you are inherently superior to anyone else here.

[NurseJackie]

18. LOL

[Ken Burch]

22. Again, an admission you had no argument.

You've never had any reason to be angered or offended by anything I've posted.

All I am is a person who respectfully disagrees with you.

You have no claim to greater superiority or effectiveness.

If you had, you'd have mentioned it.

[Gothmog]

14. You do realize that small dollar fundraising of the type used by Sanders need his e-mail list

In the real world all fundraising is small dollar fundraising except that there is no magical mailing list involved. I note that Sanders is not sharing his mailing list and so your suggestion does not work in the real world. Again, the Texas Democratic Party and the Emily's List training spend a great deal of time on fundraising. Your suggestions are meaningless and not useful in the real world unless there are funds to support these suggestions.

Ken-you are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to my opinion. Your posts speak for themselves and it is clear that the real world is very different from the concepts in your proposals. I like living in the real world. If I showed your list of concepts to a candidate or to a trainer from the State Party, they would laugh. You have some amusing theories or concepts that based on my experience would not work in the real world.

Everyone tries to register voters as part of their campaign and tries to spend as much as possible on GOTV. However both of these activities are dependent on funding and fund raising. Most candidates spend a significant portion of their time fundraising. I am being hit up by two different candidates for fundraisers in the fall.

You are welcome to advance your concepts but do not expect people who live in the real world to agree with these concepts. Based on my experience, it is obvious that these concepts will not work in the real world and the results of recent races and primaries support my opinion. I found your checklist in the OP to be very amusing. I know that you really believe that if we remake the Democratic party into the image of a failed candidate and adopt the failed platform of that candidate, everything will magically change. That is not how things work in the real world. I am not trying to be mean but I am also not going to ignore the facts.

Have fun with your proposals. Seriously see if you can find a candidate to follow your concepts.

Back it the real world, I have had fun afternoon reading trial briefs this afternoon for the Texas redistricting case. Trial starts on Monday and I have been having fun summarizing the briefs for some party types and a couple of candidates. A good friend is going to be a witness and I may go to San Antonio to see what happens. Another good friend is running in the state house district that is in dispute and a good ruling could make her race far more competitive. I testified at a couple of redistricting hearings on that district and I would love to see what happens. Unfortunately if the court rules correctly another friend will find herself not living in the district she wants to run in. The real world can be complicated

[Ken Burch]

30. OK...so work out some agreement to get the mailing list.

I've never been against the party having access to it.

[Gothmog]

33. You do know that sanders is not going to share this list with anyone

This has been discussed in the real world

[Ken Burch]

36. I don't know that that is unchangeable.

And you have no reason to keep claiming I don't live in the real world.

There is nothing I've ever posted here that could possibly be threatening enough to this party to justify your fixation with trying to discredit me on a personal level.

I couldn't possibly be that much of a menace.

You are owed respect. I am owed respect.

Everyone on this board is owed respect.

That's how human beings treat each other.

[Gothmog]

38. Again, do you really think that Sanders will change in mind?

That is so cute and adorable.

[Ken Burch]

21. All of them did just as well as Ossoff, and all of them were running in unwinnable seats.

Perriello was standing in a state where the Democratic Party is far to the right of where it is in most other states.

Winning those congressional seats was never a realistic objective, and dismissive centrists who ran "I ain't no damn liberal" campaigns wouldn't have done any better.

[Gothmog]

23. Actually, Clinton out polled Ossoff in the GA district.

Hillary Clinton out performed Ossoff in the Georgia district. She lost by 1.2% while Ossoff lost by over 3%. Your platform failed in Montana which is a mainly white state where the Republican candidate assaulted a reporter.

[Ken Burch]

24. And Clinton ran to Ossoff's left.

Ossoff was a centrist, not a progressive(I'd have campaigned hard for him if I lived there and I donated to his campaign).

In each of those cases, our congressional candidate lost by 20 points or so in '16. In each case, the candidate we nominated this time did dramatically better.

Those weren't winnable seats, based on where the candidates had to start from(the landslide losses in each district in '16 by the congressional candidate).

All of the candidates overperformed.

BTW, the Democratic base had issues with one presidential candidate as a person in '16. It's not as though the base is actually more conservative than that candidate. They wanted more emphasis on choice and the fight against bigotry-they weren't against a greater emphasis on economic justice as a set of issues. Most of those voters are working class.

[Gothmog]

25. And yet on numerous threads you accused Clinton of not running on the platform

Which version of reality are you supporting now? Your claim that Clinton did not run on the party platform is not consistent with the above post.

As for your claims about the Democratic base, I find your claims to be amusing and sad. Sanders supporters were targeted with negative news stories and fake news by the Russians and it appears that you and the idiots on JPR fell for these attacks. You do know that Pizzagate is not real and the Clinton was not in poor health. Sanders supporters were specifically targeted by the Russians and it appears that these efforts were successful.

Ken, please get out into the real world. Stop reading JPR and other similar sites.

[Ken Burch]

31. Even on the basis of what she said in the fall, Clinton ran to the left of Ossoff.

I never read JPR and have nothing to do with it.

Why on Earth are you talking about Pizzagate? Or anything related to Clinton's health?

I never believed it was real OR that she was sick. And I never posted anything here that remotely suggested that I did.

And I have no use for Putin. If I did, I wouldn't have attended the Pussy Riot concert here in Olympia earlier this spring.

[Gothmog]

34. Denial is not just a river in Africa

I am so enjoying the humor contained in your posts. Your platform of suggestions are so sad that they are funny.

Please get out into the real world and work on a real campaign. This means getting to know the candidate and helping to plan the strategy. The real world is a very different place and your proposals would not work. Go see if you can find a campaign that will listen to your proposals. I am now working with two different candidates on their campaigns.

[meow2u3]

10. Recruitment of as many drivers as possible

to bring voters to the polls.

-

[Ken Burch]

12. Good one.

I'll add that up there.

[crazycatlady]

39. In my experience

(8 year campaign staffer) more people volunteer to drive people to the polls than people who actually need rides. Even in the strictest voting laws states, being elderly is a reason enough to get an absentee ballot.

Campaigns are better off having those drivers help with GOTV.

[MineralMan]

26. Excellent. Your local Democratic Party organization is awaiting

your call to volunteer to do one or more of those things in your own area. Which ones will you choose when you call. Such programs are already being used, but there aren't enough volunteers to do them all as well as they should be done.

I congratulate you on your willingness to participate.

[Joe941]

27. 0)have Bernie as the candidate!

[Demsrule86]

35. Nope...new candidates...fresh ideas.

[Ken Burch]

37. Not on my list.

In fact, I've started several threads saying he SHOULDN'T run.

I don't think anybody who ran in 2016(with the possible exception of O'Malley)should run again.

[JustAnotherGen]

32. 11 and 12

11. Watch NJ and VA in 2017
12. Do everything they do even if it means throwing out 1 through 10.