Eugene Robinson on midterms: no defeatism and infighting allowed

[MBS]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-have-it-too-good-to-shoot-themselves-in-the-foot/2018/05/17/a80d1d0c-5a0a-11e8-858f-12becb4d6067_story.html?utm_term=.3394f45414b6

If political power were won by hand-wringing and anguished introspection, the Democratic Party would rule the galaxy. The hum of obsessive and counterproductive worry is rising: President Trump’s approval has crept up from abysmal to merely awful! Candidates from the party’s progressive wing have won some House primaries! Republicans have not, in every single case, chosen candidates who are unelectable! The Russia investigation is a year old, and still nobody has been frog-marched out of the West Wing in chains! And Trump is still president! Get a grip, people. Try to focus. The November election is too important, and the political terrain too advantageous, for Democrats to waste time on their customary defeatism.

The Trump administration is dangerous, wrongheaded and inept, both domestically and abroad. Its corruption is staggering. Its corrosion of democratic norms is tragic. And it should be clear by now that the Republican-led Congress will do nothing to restrain a mercurial president who sets the nation’s agenda by what he “learns” from watching hours and hours of “Fox & Friends.”
If Democrats were in control of the House or the Senate, they could fulfill the responsibilities that Congress is given by the Constitution. They could conduct oversight. They could investigate, with subpoena power. They could protect special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and allow him to follow evidence wherever it leads. So, yes, this midterm election is important. The Senate will be tough to flip, because of which seats are up this year, but Democrats can definitely take the House — if they stay confident, think clearly and listen to the constituents whose votes they seek.

In varying proportions, midterm elections are always both national and local affairs. This year’s promise to be more national than usual, because of Trump, and that gives Democratic candidates a tremendous advantage. . . The ethical lapses, violations and outright outrages by Trump administration officials make this the swampiest presidency since Warren Harding’s. Trump’s economic policies punish the poor, the working class and all of our grandchildren so that the wealthy can have nicer vacations and bigger yachts. His initiatives on immigration, the environment and a host of other issues seek to defy the national consensus.

Midterm elections are also part local. There are 435 House contests, and obviously no cookie-cutter candidate or campaign will suit all of them. Democrats should worry less about whether a given primary candidate is progressive or centrist and more about whether he or she can connect with voters in that particular district. Period.. .

[Cary]

1. I feel betrayed by some friends for simply trying to advocate exactly this

VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

Eugene and Joy are my two favorites.

[DownriverDem]

4. Don't you question

who those folks really are?

[Cary]

8. No.

These particular friends aren't trolls. They have their own agenda and became willing for some reason to throw me under the bus because I am not 100% with them.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. Cary.. not sure if I follow....you agree with the Dems

First strategy? Or not? And you felt betrayed by friends who felt the opposite?

[Cary]

13. I am all about Democrats first

I don't want to whip up the conflict I'm referring to. I want us to coalesce and defeat evil. Sorry if that's cryptic but likenInsaid I don't want to whip up anything.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. Of course, I understand now. Yes, agree, not a time

to quibble for sure !

[Cary]

23. The fact is it was never a time to quibble.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

30. Totally agree. It's hard when you win to capture

your opponents supporters. You just have to hope the opponent is magnanimous enough and big picture enough to make it happen. Or - you can be like the repukes - and support a person who humiliated you to the nth degree and called you a weakling or said your dad killed Kennedy. However unbelievable their actions were - you have to give them credit for unifying.

[andytheteacher]

35. Win first, squabble second

Win elections first, fight each other about ideas once we have large majorities.

[Honeycombe8]

2. I agree. It's all about winning, winning, winning.

#1 is no Republican winning. #2 is a "D" winning, but a second goal is a left-leaning Independent winning, if no "D" is running or can win (there are some areas where no one with a "D" by the name can win).

Here in Louisiana there were recently local & state elections in much of the state. Anywhere I saw where someone other than a Republican was running, that other person won. It was often a "D." But sometimes it was an Independent. Even incumbent "R" candidates lost. It is critical that the "R" candidates lose. It's a shame that in some areas, ONLY an "R" was running.

Dems need to put a candidate forward everywhere. And then win. The winds are with the Dems.

[DownriverDem]

5. Question independents

They will align with the Dems or repubs. Be sure you know who they really are. It's a D all the way for me.

[Honeycombe8]

6. The Dem Party knows who's who and where they stand. They did this in Alaska....

They actually backed some Independents, provided resources & such. Because no one with a "D" by his/her name had a chance of winning and/or there were no legitimate D candidates to run. The Indies won. Those were state offices. For the first time in decades, non-Republicans filled those offices. And they're left-leaning Indies.

The Dem Party won't back an I against a D, of course. I would take a cue from the Dem Party. If the Dem Party doesn't like an Independent, that probably means he's right-leaning.

[mwooldri]

15. I'm good with tactical voting.

In the UK some Labour Party candidates will encourage a vote for the Lib Dem candidate if it is clear that they will deny a Conservative win, Conservatives will encourage a Lib Dems vote if it will deny a Labour win. The Lib Dems will generally work more with Labour, Green and other left of centre parties to shut out a Conservative win.

So if it is clear that a left of centre independent candidate can win where the Democratic Party candidate is a no-hopers lost cause it would be a good idea to shut out the Republican candidate.

However if the Democratic Party has a good chance to win... then sorry indy candidate, you're on your own.

[SCantiGOP]

20. In SC, I have voted several times in the Repub primary

because there were no races in the Dem primary. I live in one of the most conservative counties in the state.
When Mark "Appalachian Trail" Sanford ran for re-election as Gov I took my 12 year old daughter to vote with me. When I requested the GOP ballot she blurted out, "But Dad, we're Democrats." I said Yes, but I am not going to miss the chance to vote against Mark Sanford.
The two people running the precinct both laughed. A guy behind me said, "I'm going to vote straight party republican just so I don't have to directly vote for him."

[MBS]

22. Out of the mouths of babes. . .

[Tarc]

3. Yep. Support the hell out of your preferred primary candidate

Then support the winner of that in the general, that's all we need. No bitter betty peel-offs.

[luc mont]

14. Exactly!

No Bros, No Busters. Just Democrats and pragmatists! THIS IS OUR FUTURE, not Disney World!

[DownriverDem]

7. Politically Naive

I question any so call left leaner who does not grasp what the Congressional Elections in November are all about. If you listen to the Norman Goldman radio show, (I stream it on WCPT Chicago Progressive Talk Radio.) you know what this term means. It's not really the midterms. It's all about changing Congress. Who are these politically naive left leaners? Why are they so blind to how our electoral process works? Why do they seem hell bent on hurting the Dems and letting the repubs continue to destroy us? Haven't they suffered enough?

[JustAnotherGen]

16. you are much more polite

Than me - I drive right past "politically naive left leaners" and I go:

Straight to ignorant.

[BlueWI]

25. Some folks can't resist scapegoating.

Not even on a thread that is calling us out for infighting.

What I am going to do is canvas my neighbors and try to improve turnout, even among the naive and ignorant left, as you put it. I hope that others do the same.

[JustAnotherGen]

31. Well I'm running for committee

In a bright red dot in a blue state in one of the wealthiest counties in America.

The Trumpsters here drive $60K pick up trucks, Porches, and Ferraris.

It's not scapegoating - it's being hip deep in activism, going to my congress critters local office weekly, maintaining a Democratic Assembly seat, flipping the other blue, getting two Democratics on our town council, getting Murphy over the finish line - and seeing things as they are.

I have the benefit of a 2017 election cycle in my pocket.

We know PRECISELY what we are dealing with in the NJ 7th district. We've seen apolitical people Rise Up.

If you are in a very blue NOT Gerrymandered District - Kudos to you.

We are gerrymandered into hell.

Wasting time on ignorant bigots is just that here.

It's the recently mobilized and those who went from saying "there's no difference between the two parties" to "I've never seen such a stark difference' who will bring two more Democratic Council People and Tom Malinowski over the finish line.

We don't take Jack shit from Trumpsters here and we aren't going to beg them to be decent human beings.

We bring them to heel.

[BlueWI]

32. Thanks for your activism and all the best with the campaigns.

I'm not very familiar with New Jersey either politically or culturally, but it seems fascinating from a distance. I have been reading some material lately on the rise of Trump, and the New Jersey connections are a tangled web of collusion and odd bedfellows. Beyond that, between the impressions I have from Cory Booker, Amiri Baraka, and Assata Shakur, Bruce Springsteen, the Sopranos, and Chris Christie, I am sure there's a lot that I am missing that makes it all fit together and make sense.

Wisconsin is the very definition of a purple state. I am in a gerrymanded blue island within a larger red sea in northwestern Wisconsin. It is also predominantly white, although being in a college town, it's more diverse than the surrounding area by quite a bit, and culturally, this area is trending towards an earnest effort at including more voices in governance, at least locally. We have a progressive city council after April's election and a betting person's chance to elect a Democrat to the statehouse. We need every single voter on our side to show up for midterms, and the statewide Republicans just endorsed a proposal in their convention to not allow college students to vote from their college residence, only from their hometown. This proposal may not stand up in court, but I am sure they want to rush it to a vote in a desperate bid to hold onto power. So the stakes are high here, and it's on!!

[JustAnotherGen]

33. Pile on!

Over and over and over again. The worst that could happen? You guys could lose. But you are trying and that's what matters!

Yeah I'm in horse country. Once you leave the opening images of the Sopranos - It's a lot of linked Revolutionary War towns with rolling hills and farms in between. We are 4500 in my borough and I'm one of the few non white faces.

These folks are pissed out here. They have time (if that makes sense) to focus on the racism, sexism, kleptocracy . . .

The no saying abortion thing is going to work out very well for Malinowski.

[Honeycombe8]

9. And people need to encourage others to register and vote.

I've had people in my family who liked Democratic Party positions, benefited from some programs, but were totally uninterested in politics, and as far as I know, never voted.

One is deceased, but I just recently encouraged one to be sure and vote in the mid-terms in November, and to vote Democratic...and I told her why (she has fallen on hard times...fired from job...and will be relying on Obamacare or Medicaid for medical care, neither of which would be there if not for the Democratic Party). I'm sure she thought I was lecturing (again), and she didn't respond, but maybe I sowed a seed there. Maybe she will vote.

If they aren't registered, they may need certified copies of birth certificates, which takes time to get. It's time for people to start doing whatever they have to do to get registered.

[Nitram]

11. Hear, hear!

May all DUers take notice. Loyalty tests and purism will cost us the majority.

[Left-over]

12. "We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Frank

Benjamin Franklin

[appalachiablue]

36. In this call for UNITY, Benj. Franklin knew very well the fate that he,

TJ, GW and other patriots faced after signing the Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776. If the American war for independence did not achieve victory, the execution of these American leaders for treason at the gallows in London was certain.

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-did-ben-franklin-mean-when-he-said-we-must-121495

https://www.americanheritage.com/content/benjamin-franklin%E2%80%99s-years-london

[mopinko]

17. take heart eugene. the women are coming.

[marble falls]

18. Sadly it might be too late.

[SCantiGOP]

21. Never too late

Was it too late when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

[BlueWI]

24. Very sensible and timely OP.

We all could learn something from it.

[Duppers]

26. +100

[Bok_Tukalo]

27. That is panic

There is no Blue Wave. It is now a fight.

[Dawson Leery]

29. This is not panic.

We did the same thing in 2006 and it worked well.

[underthematrix]

28. I have only one goal to turn the US House, US Senate,

Gov mansions, state houses, local government BLUE.

There are OPs here that piss me off. So I write a reply, read it over and over again, think about my ONLY goal then delete it.

[Oneironaut]

34. The biggest problem in our country is horrible voting attendance.

Trump would not have won if even 65% of the country voted. None of this matters if people can’t be arsed to go and vote.

[appalachiablue]

37. Wise words calling for unity and strength, by Eugene Robinson, Pulitzer prize

winning journalist and Washington Post columnist.