First off, Congratulations! This has been a better week than the corporate media pundits had predicted, and an election week which continues to unfold as votes are still being counted in places where Republicans actively tried to suppress voting; places like Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and other places. States which were largely Democratic Party oriented, which went for Trump in 2016, i.e. Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, elected Democrats again at least in the Statehouses (see here for an admittedly partisan summary). But now comes my not-so-humble advice for Democratic Party officeholders in Congress and Statehouses:
The Democrats have a platform with which the majority of Americans agree. It is time for Democrats to stop acting as if right wingers or libertarians speak for "the heartland" or speak for "the average American." The "average"American now wants (1) at least $12 an hour minimum wage (and let's trumpet studies like this one); (2) Medicare/Medicaid for All; (3) higher taxes on rich people, just start with the 1% if anyone is confused (the average American is not) and corporations; (4) action on climate change such as at least cap and trade and promoting renewable energy; (5) free public college tuition for students attending those colleges; (6) instituting a robust infrastructure program to re-develop our nation, provide prevailing wage/union jobs to tens of millions of young people and yes, even immigrants, "legal" or otherwise, as we will need them once we realize how much work there is to be done, according to the Army Corps of Engineers; and (7) improving the power of unions (people don't know "card check" but we should talk about it, as we are now seeing polling data showing just over 60% of Americans like labor unions).* And a majority of Americans want to be nicer than we are led to believe in corporate media presentations, as a majority of Americans support the DACA young people's quest to be official American citizens, a majority of Americans recognize the LGBT "community" consist of people in "our" families and friends (see here and here), and abortion is not something we should be making completely illegal or to block access (and a clear majority support federal funding for Planned Parenthood). Oh, and sensible gun control (as a gun control advocate just defeated a Republican Congresswoman incumbent in Georgia!).
It is also vital, right now, for the new and re-elected Democratic Party governors and state legislators to put, front and center, electoral reform that makes voting a right, not a privilege, and specifically push for new election laws that promote open primaries, same day registration, and push back against discriminatory voter ID laws. And also to join the National Popular Vote initiative so that once the States which join the compact reaches 270 electoral votes, the number at which the Electoral College elects the president, the compact will mean the States' Electoral College results will go to the national winner. This way, we have reformed what is wrong with the Electoral College system without having to go through an amendment process. The system is malleable and can be therefore be reformed to stop second place presidential candidates from assuming the presidency.
The smart, strategic stance for you who are Democratic Party officeholders is to act boldly on the policies on which you ran, and show people you truly believe in those policies. For those who have been elected or re-elected to Congress, the fact the Senate remains in the hands of corporate fascists and racists, and the fact a traitor on behalf of Russia continues to occupy the White House, and continues to pursue an agenda beloved by fascists and racists, is less important than writing and agitating for legislation the majority of Americans want. It is vital for those who have been handed the megaphone of public office to work to force a change in the discourse on corporate television and radio, meaning it is important to agitate when one cannot legislate. If Democratic Party officeholders don't talk our issues, and get stuck in "outrages of the day" and other corporate cable news media narratives, Democratic Party officeholders are wasting an opportunity to truly help people in our nation. The turnout was high, which means expectations are high, too. Call on your constituents to stand up, show up at and lead rallies dedicated to the issues we Democrats believe in (not, as has happened in the past 30 years, sneaking into town and getting money from rich donors), and remind people we can all make a difference that helps our communities and our nation unite and do well by each other through our governmental policies and actions.
The other day, when Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stated she looked forward to promoting bi-partisanship, she showed us she is still unable to articulate and implement a competent strategy to deal with a Republican Party that promotes white supremacist nationalism and corporate feudalism, and a Republican Party that knows the majority of Americans disagree with their party's platform, which causes the Republicans to enact electoral laws, and close down polling places and places to register to vote, in order to deprive Democratic Party constituencies, mostly the poor and what we still call "minorities," of the right to vote. The Republican Party is in the hands of people who seek capitulation, not compromise. The fact so many more Americans came out to vote in what are usually low-turnout mid-terms tells us many more Americans than ever are concerned about our nation and what sociologists would call "the commonweal."
The divide in our nation is not that "both parties have gone to extremes," as corporate media pundits love to say, and rich people and professional people tell me at gatherings in and out of my workplaces in which I have worked. The divide is really a disconnect between what a majority of Americans want to see and the government officials who somehow get elected and enact policies with which the majority of Americans feel they have no voice--or ability to stop. This week, Democrats have won in many places above what political pundits were saying as the pundits worried about tightening races against Republican officeholders. Now that many Democrats, though still not enough, have been elected, it is time for Democratic Party officeholders and newly elected Democratic Party officeholders to begin to act like they won. Confidence breeds confidence. Transparency and genuineness, and a belief that we can make change, is contagious in a positive way. And making it easier to vote, and pushing for laws to increase the ability of people to form and maintain unions, will increase the power of Democratic Party constituencies, which happen to be a majority of Americans. And following this strategy will give our nation's young people hope, and provide them an opportunity for activism to do well by our communities and our nation. I even look forward to a debate about erasing all higher education debt for every American and agitating to overcome the school-to-prison pipeline and to support changes in our increasingly dominated private prison system (see my blog post on this subject). But, please, Democratic Party officeholders and newly elected officials, be strong, be bold, and be confident--and you will find your constituents will be incentivized to push for you the way they came out to vote for you in these mid-term elections.
* As this New York Magazine article's headline and content shows, the Democratic Party paid a huge price in sitting by and watching private labor unions die.
