I'm totally fed up with the way things are going...

[Lonestarblue]

29. Absolutely agree.

Some of these ideas may already be in the works or being done, but I think over the past decade or so, national Democrats focused only on winning federal elections and didn’t do much at the local and state levels to support Democratic candidates. Some of that is changing since I know my own once-moribund state Democratic Party has come alive. A lot of this takes money, of course, but I think we have the money but not a coordinated effort.

Building for the future:
—Many colleges have Young Democrats clubs. Loop them in to local campaigns, and financially support their efforts. Explore starting Young Democrats Clubs in high school.
—Provide speakers for HS and college classes on government. More subtle, but still identifies a Democratic affiliation. Definitely a local initiative.
—There is a national college student government association called the American Student Government Association. What kind of outreach might the DNC do to provide information and resources for student government leaders?
—Hold voter registration drives near or in schools if possible.

Addressing today’s needs:
—Register new voters and provide them with information at the same time that helps address voter restrictions as well as their rights when they go to vote. Some people who are not frequent voters or are new voters may not understand or know their rights.
—Talk to voters and find out what THEIR issues are. Sounds simple, but there’s a reason Hildago County here in Texas, reliably Democratic in the past, voted for Trump in 2020. I don’t know that reason, but I suspect it was his strong anti-immigrant stance. We need to find out why.
—As we’re talking to voters, find out whether they regularly vote and if not what the barriers are to their voting so we can increase turnout. Beto’s listening tour as he traveled to every county in Texas had an impact and came close to a win for him. People deserve to be heard.
—The DNC needs a 50-state plan, and it needs to help craft a consistent message of what Democrats offer. I hope Jaime Harrison is working on one. And in turn state Democratic leaders need to be supported financially in working to create a statewide plan, working with local leaders, for registering voters, making connections with voters, and following up with voters.
—We know some big issues (climate warming, healthcare, good jobs with benefits, drug addiction, homelessness, immigration), but how we talk about them makes a big difference. For example, we need to talk about how to replace the fossil fuel jobs with clean energy jobs rather than just getting rid of fossil fuels. Some do this better than others. And we need to tackle labels head on. Democrats do not stand for socialism, but many people actually don’t even know what socialism is. This is where national messaging can really help local candidates.

Painting a picture for the future:
—What kind of country do parents and grandparents want for their children? One of Reagan’s successes was painting the US as a feel-good shining city on a hill. Democrats rarely seem able to help people envision what the US could be and then identifying what it will take to create that goal.
—We need to identify the challenges facing the nation—internally as well as globally—and then offer ways to address those challenges, whether with better education, more affordable college, job retraining, and so on. We do a lot of this, but are we as effective as we might be?
—And, finally, we need to deal with the right-wing propaganda machine. I confess I have few ideas here because it is so pervasive throughout this country, especially in rural areas. The best idea I can think of is to use communications similar to corporate efforts to keep employees apprised of what is going on. Each major agency within the Biden administration might be tasked with a monthly news blast explaining what it is doing and how it benefits citizens. For example, I get a weekly email from my utility company telling me how my electricity usage has changed from the preceding week—and praising me when I use less electricity! How can we use different communications tools to spread the message since we do not own a propaganda network?

Ideas for thought. Feel free to challenge or add your own!