General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Democratic Whip James Clyburn: 'Defund the police' cost Democrats seats [View all]LetMyPeopleVote
(146,816 posts)I have been active in voter protection efforts and party operations since 2004 when I went to Florida as part of the Kerry Edwards voter protection team. I have worked in voter protection war rooms in every election thereafter and have worked with a number of candidates. I worked with the DNC/state party on voter id education in 2014 and with the Clinton campaign/DNC on voter protection issues in 2016. I was a 2016 Clinton delegate to the Philadelphia convention. In the real world it takes a ton of work to be elected to be a national delegate. If you ever want to have fun, go be on the state rules committee a couple of times and listen to a panel of lawyers argue over party rules for several hours.
As for this thread, I had three friends who ran for office in 2020 and saw first hand how the GOP used the squad and the "defund the police" slogan to great effect. Running for office takes a ton of commitment, time and money and I admire the good democrats who have the guts to run. One ran for a congressional seat and two ran for state house seats. In all three races, GOP PACs ran ads featuring members of the squad pushing "defund the police" and these ads were effective. The two state house candidates did not have money to respond to these ads and the congressional candidate tried but was running short of funds at the end. Repeatedly on this thread one poster has claimed that any democrat who lost due to the "defund the police" slogan was a bad democrat who deserved to lose. Such claims are offensive coming from posters who have never worked on a campaign. You are free to consider the opinions from persons who have never worked on a campaign to be valid but I do not.
Working on campaigns gives one a far different viewpoint compared to others who have never worked on a campaign in the real world. If you have not yet done so, go volunteer. Walk the block or get out and meet voters. We are already registering voters in Texas for 2022 and I am working on the formation of a statewide organization of Democratic Lawyers. The real world gives one a different prospective on the issues
I am shocked and sadden that some posters believe that the "defund the police" slogan is so important to them that they are happy to attack real democrats who ran and lost in 2020 due to this moronic slogan. I note that the GOP is already running ads using this slogan against 2022 candidates