The Message That Wins

I didn't watch any of the Democratic debates this past week, preferring not to be pandered, lied or appealed to in electronic form. I do read the electronic versions of newspapers and periodicals, but I mostly skip the videos. Spare me the TV moments. I want substance. But that's hard to come by these days.

Yes, that Triceratops skull was mine.

So as the President's security helicopters fly over my house (he's in NJ this weekend), I am reminded that he really needs to be defeated in 2020. The problem so far is that the Democrats need to solidify their message so it attracts the widest possible public support. As much as I like what Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are saying about how to narrow the wealth gap and that the ability to pay should not determine whether you are able to get a quality education or health care that cares for your health, I think that their ideas are akin to what many reactionary Republicans were running on in 1980. They appeal to the farther reaches of the party, but will take time before they become popular and palatable ideas for mainstream audiences.

Please do not get me wrong. The ideas that reactionary Republicans were running on beginning in 1980 were noxious, odoriferous, racist, pro-corporate, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, pro-fossil fuel and all of the policies that are now, you got it, mainstream in the party. It took a good long while for many people to come around to the idea that corporate taxes should be slashed and that unions should be deligitimized.

And that's where we are with the most radical of the Democrats' ideas. Perhaps in ten years we will have fully funded college tuition, a health care system where people can get effective care at a low cost, an orderly, humane immigration system, and climate policy that promotes clean energy, but right now I would say that those are aspirational policies, not ones that will get a Democrat elected. The more moderate voters Democrats need to keep or pry away from the GOP are not all in on scrapping the health coverage they get at work or paying significantly higher taxes in return for tuition guarantees, nor do they agree that people should be able to cross the border without penalties.

What I would suggest is that the Democrats start answering every question by questioning the president's actions on the issues because the president's actions are unpopular and so is he. Talk about pollution that will result from burning more oil, his denial of climate change, the tariffs that we (not the Chinese) will be paying for in higher prices, his coddling of dictators, and the extent he and his advisers went to legitimize Russian influence in our democracy. Talk about decency and equality and the rank racism that infects every corner of his administration. Provide a stark contrast.

At this point, I think that Joe Biden is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump. Democrats might be weighing his performance in the two debates, but most other people aren't paying attention yet, so he still has time to refine his message and his performance. If he proves otherwise, I will reassess my position.

Never forget that Donald Trump was elected as a minority candidate by the slimmest of margins, and he's done more to alienate than to unite. Most people do not agree with him.

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