A New Year's Resolution for Democrats: Stop Walking Into GOP Traps
A parable:
Somewhere in Florida, someone proposes an idea to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who loves it because he sees how it can be used. It becomes law. From Kindergarten to third grade, Florida teachers and books will not bring up being gay. (Never mind that these teachers and books don’t teach what it is to be straight, either.) The rake is planted just below the tall grass, waiting for an overly “woke” Democrat, looking to be offended to wake people up… and… WHACK! Suddenly Democrats commit to dying on the hill that doesn’t allow teachers to bring up being gay from Kindergarten to third grade… even though it’s impossible to think of a situation where they’d bring up being “straight!”
Dems walked straight into a DeSantis trap, accused of forcing “wokeness” on first graders by “grooming” kids to be gay, and a large bump on the forehead. Had Democrats simply ignored the K-3rd grade issue, no one would’ve heard of it and nothing would’ve changed age-appropriate teaching. But we freaked the fck out, which then encouraged local Florida districts to go further, maybe even through high school. Because it clearly owned the libs, more is better.
As the conservatives get more extreme, burning books and insisting that no public school, including high schools, can mention being gay. Disney and other responsible corporations say, “Hold up!” trying to be sensitive and correct; what WAS a K-3rd grade issue is now one of the central issues in an election. Dems are ubiquitously known as “groomers” on Twitter. And instead of explaining why raising the minimum wage helps all poor and low middle-class, we spend two-thirds of our time insisting we’re not “grooming” kids in school.
Yes, respect for LGBTQ friends is critical to our values, and we should fight. But we must learn to fight those issues on OUR ground, not DeSantis’s.
Anyway.
Republicans win Florida. We died on First Grade Hill. Another hospital in rural Florida shuts down. End of the parable. A couple of ideas are below.
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Email Newsletters get a better format here. It’s probably best to use it. It’s also probably best to start looking for rakes and not aggressively stepping on them. Hitting the pledge button can help you spot the important tightly mowed grass. Our ground.
A professional trapper.
Staunchly conservative voters (the base) have always been the easiest mark in the vote casino. Republican candidates need only show a commercial with a black guy with his pants down near his ass, a pregnant Hispanic teenager in the E.R., two gay men kissing, or a drag show implying it’s a family outing, and, next thing you know, poor rural white people are voting to give Jeff Bezos a tax cut, limit their own access to health care, keep wages down, and allow Halliburton to build a poorly regulated chemical factory two miles down the road, the one that explodes six years later. And, yes - racism accounts for much of this, but much of it is mixed with GOP traps.
The areas listed above are generally where traps are set, racism, immigration, LGBTQ rights, and the catchall. When discussing those critical issues, it’s critical to do so on OUR ground.
In our last issue, I talked about how 2023 could be “the” Democrats’ chance to win majorities long into the future. A critical component of the opportunity will be to avoid getting dragged into what Obama calls the “prison of wokeness,” or the “I am more woke than you,” challenge. We fight aggressively for LGBTQ rights, racism, all of it. But we keep the powder dry for the big ones that we find, and we frame them.
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A guy who is rarely tricked, trapped, or tip-towing in the grass.
Pete Buttigieg is the best I have seen at spotting traps and rearranging them with GOP bait. In a recent interview, he was asked about the “split” in the Democratic party (One vote! Manchin, prior to the election) over maternity leave. The question implied that Democrats failed to deliver maternity leave. Pete didn’t accept the premise that “Democrats came up one vote short.”
He answered with, “Wait, there were 49 GOP Senators that voted against that same bill which would’ve provided maternity leave, so why are you putting this on the Democrats’ failure to deliver one lone vote?”
Beautiful and a lesson. Other Democrats could follow his style.
ON DON’T SAY GAY:
Using that same style. I propose a hypothetical Pete Buttigieg response to the Don’t Say Gay issue: “A law saying you can’t mention being gay in K-3rd grade is no bigger deal than teaching what it means to be straight in K-3rd grade. Now, what’s important is that we give all parents a chance to bring those kids up in a home where maternity leave is law, a living wage is necessary, those same kids attend properly funded schools, and parents live in safe, healthy communities.”
Critically, leave it right there, don’t drift back into the importance of LGBTQ rights. We will fight harder than we ever have for those rights but do it on OUR ground and DeSantis’s Florida law is NOT our ground.
Now Let’s Do Ukraine: *These are hypotheticals based on the way Pete responds, as shown by the real example above.
Fox: Sec. Buttigieg, wouldn’t the United States be better off investing money in transportation in America and not sending it to Ukraine, where it’s not even audited?
Buttigieg: No. It would not because the premise is wrong. First, in the 2023 fiscal agreement, only 3% of the budget goes to Ukraine, and some of that is from already appropriated defense spending. Second, we will have more money to invest in America if we stand up for democracy in Eastern Europe and everywhere else. Democracy cuts down on corruption, which cuts down costs, here and everywhere. Democracy leads to free trade, making the world less expensive. Additionally, the United States doesn’t allow anyone to practice genocide and bomb apartment buildings because it’s morally horrific. That buys the U.S. moral authority around the world, which is nearly priceless.
Money to Ukraine is an investment in the United States that will pay off. The war itself - getting off the topic of money momentarily - is abhorrent and cannot be allowed a foothold in this century. If you want to talk about audits of money sent, I think there’s room for discussion on that (Do NOT FALL FOR THE TRAP OF UNAUDITED MONEY AND DO NOT CONCEDE THAT IT IS A “COST”)
ON THE TOTAL BUDGET AND COST OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Fox: Mr. Secretary, can this country afford to cover Biden’s grand plans for transportation, driving the deficit up…
Buttigieg cuts him off AT THE EXACT POINT THE GUY ON FOX IS WRONG:
Under the Biden plan, the deficit goes down. Unlike the Republicans, who did not pay for their tax cut, they put it on a credit card, and the deficit shot up, especially after COVID.
President Biden fully paid for those projects by increasing taxes on people making over $400,000 and tax breaks for the middle class and poor. The deficit is actually going down.
Building [More] Back Better Saves Money.
Our infrastructure was so far behind other countries that we were essentially paying a “tax” on the costs of getting goods from A to B, and we will save money. Finally, these are good paying jobs, $60/hour jobs, that allow Americans to spend money on vacations and restaurants, and maybe a new car because it’s money spent, not put in investment portfolios. That money is taxed. We will save money on this big package.
CRITICAL RACE THEORY
DANGER, DANGER, DANGER: This is NOT our ground UNTIL it is framed properly.
I can’t define CRT other than at a grad school level, can you? So never address it as CRT. NEVER. And for those who feel like we’re avoiding racism, if we do this, you’re wrong. To a MAGA, “CRT” means teaching kids to hate America and white people.
You MUST get it on to your ground or not even address it.
Ask: “What do you mean by CRT?”
The answer will involve something to do with not teaching American exceptionalism. ALREADY DANGEROUS GROUND, GET BACK, GET BACK
Say: Most of us just want to teach “all” of America’s history, which means overcoming some real problems. If you are opposed to teaching America’s entire story, it sounds like you’re saying that America is only exceptional if a lot is left out. Is that what you’re saying?
Nooowww, you are back onto your ground.
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SO THERE IT IS— A PROPOSED NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR DEMOCRATS. STOP FALLING FOR TRAPS AND REMEMBER, DESANTIS IS THE BEST AT LAYING THEM.
Did I oversimplify things? Absolutely. Is it harder to do than how I’ve laid it out? Much harder. But do I have a point? (Review some of the issues from the last year, yes, I do.)
This commitment should go hand in hand with the last issue that emphasized that Democrats could have a generation-changing year if they stick to a few core issues and let the Republicans hang themselves.
Most New Year’s Resolutions fall apart in a month if that. This one might last because it feels much better and allows one to emphasize what is important to Democrats, not the GOP. And, as I’ve already said, Democrats need only pick a few great core ideas, and they will have a fantastic year.
My hometown, hopefully, looking toward a good year.
Thank you to all who helped us (everyone here) build this site up again in only two months. We have grown 20%. The pledge buttons are available, and in the coming weeks, I will be thinking about which perks to add for anyone who pledges an amount. Any ideas would be extremely welcome.
Meanwhile, anyone with any requests or ideas, please write me below in the comments section. I will get back to you within 12-24 hours, easily.
Anyone who wants to talk about anything is encouraged to use the comment section. I got some valuable advice in the last one, but it should also be a space for readers to comment.
A tropical beach to bring in the new year. It is 76 here today. I cannot complain.