Pennsylvania lesson for Democrats: Get angry at Trump & GOP, not your own candidates

[babylonsister]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/03/14/pennsylvania-special-election-democrats-stay-angry-trump-embrace-your-own-jason-sattler-column/422760002/

Pennsylvania lesson for Democrats: Get angry at Trump & GOP, not your own candidates
Jason Sattler, Opinion columnist
Published 8:11 a.m. ET March 14, 2018 | Updated 3:21 p.m. ET March 14, 2018


snip//

When Democrats focus their rage at Trump into amassing donations and motivating volunteers and then run against the actual Republican they’re facing, they’ve been winning, even seats they shouldn’t win. That worked in Virginia, Alabama and now in the Rust Belt. And it’s a formula that could be the tidal force behind a blue wave in November.

snip//

If Republicans kept their House and Senate majorities, it would vindicate their focus on obstructing investigations into the Trump administration instead of digging into what is already the most felony-ridden presidential campaign in living memory, and the first president who refuses to divest from business interests that continue to occupy at least a quarter of his time.

If Democrats believe the more fevered warnings they’ve been making — that Trump is a historic threat to democracy, that the GOP Congress is more interested in obstructing justice for him than investigating him, that two more years of this will fry what’s left of our nerve endings — the upcoming elections aren’t just elections. They are a national emergency: the only possible way to put a keen eye on corruption, the Census and foreign intrusion in our elections.

That isn’t to say Democrats shouldn’t make demands on their candidates and run competitive primaries. There are more than 110 GOP-held districts that are more Democratic than Pennsylvania’s 18th. Few nominees will triangulate to the degree Lamb has. But in a historic crisis such as what we face now, differences of opinion shouldn’t be read as differences of principle. And true anger needs to end up focusing on defeating Republicans whenever there’s a chance to defeat Republicans.

Then, when some semblance of checks and balances is restored and the House begins actual oversight of the Trump administration, Democrats can turn to battling out what agenda they will run on in 2020.

The special election Tuesday was an anomaly in several ways. A Republican congressman resigned after urging his mistress to have an abortion. Lamb avoided a tough primary as party insiders selected him and his uninspired opponent. And the seat will not likely even exist next year.

But if Democrats take what they’ve learned here, anything is possible.

[Demsrule86]

1. This is how we win...the only way we win. Great post.

[Freddie]

2. Use Paul Ryan as the "bogeyman" in ads

Like they use Nancy Pelosi.
"He's a Paul Ryan Republican, determined to take away the SS and Medicare that YOU earned."

[NewJeffCT]

4. Yes

and, we can hit them with things like "FACTS" in these ads - Didn't the Trump/Ryan Tax Scam make big cuts to Medicare and Medicaid?

[mcar]

3. K&R!

[peggysue2]

5. Yes, Yes & Yes!

Then, when some semblance of checks and balances is restored and the House begins actual oversight of the Trump administration, Democrats can turn to battling out what agenda they will run on in 2020.


Once we have a handle on the Trumpster and his cabal, we can go back to the cat yowling over policy issues, agendas and . . .whatever. But right now, we have a job to do, a job that's just as important, if not more important than Mueller's on-going investigation--ensure that Dems win in November, everywhere. Lamb's win Tuesday night was a glorious morale boost. But we have a lot more red fish to fry before we sleep and/or resume howling, kvetching or designating new whipping boys from our own ranks.

And Jason Sattler is sadly correct. This is a national emergency, a 4-alarm blaze. We need to concentrate on tamping down that fire with big wins in November, then extinguish the flames altogether. Before they consume us all.