Reply #18: many on the grass roots are passionate about various issues as well [View All]

[hfojvt]

But there's no reason, in theory, that those issues should matter. Since the bottom 95% are clearly the vast majority, then it seems logical that there would be a pro-worker party that is pro abortion and a pro-worker party that is anti-choice. Instead we seem to see the opposite, an anti-worker party that is pro-abortion and an anti-worker party that is anti-choice.

But money does become an issue. Trying to reach 300,000 voters and to cover 14,000 square miles that comprises my district, is going to require a fair amount of money.

But again, the working class has a fair amount of money. The Democratic candidate in my district got 66,000 votes. If 50% of those voters had donated a mere $10, she could have mounted a much stronger campaign. Is $330,000 enough to win against an incumbent who has $1 million and also is in a Republican district? Definitely not. But imagine what could be done with legwork. If 1 out of 100 would volunteer, again that would be a much stronger campaign. 660 volunteers. Are you kidding me?

Of course, that is something a candidate always tries for and usually does not get - hundreds of donors and hundreds of volunteers, but my point is that these battles are winnable if enough people care. If the ants get together they can overwhelm the grasshoppers.

As for a new party, that seems like a hollow dream. Imagine a green party. First they need a candidate, then that candidate needs donors and volunteers. If he/she is a decent candidate who can win a majority in the district, then why can't they win the Democratic Primary? If they cannot win a Primary, then how are they gonna win in the General election against a much better funded Republican?

Secondly, how is a new party supposed to create a network of volunteers? The Democratic Party already has a structure of County Chairs and precinct people. If Kansas is any indication, that structure is often very short of people, especially active ones, but it has more than nothing. A new party is going to have to build such a structure from scratch. Which is a crazy amount of work. It is much easier to just win the Democratic Primary and then comandeer the structure (and help make it stronger) of the Democratic Party.

It is true, of course, that such a rebel may find themselves working against that machine in the primary and also against a better funded opponent, but, if you cannot defeat that person and that machine in the primary, then what hope do you have in the general?