Rachel Bitecofer's tough-love lesson for Democrats: Time to fight dirty

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Rachel Bitecofer's tough-love lesson for Democrats: Time to fight dirty
Political scientist turned strategist sees a winning strategy: Paint the GOP as murderous, delusional fascists

By PAUL ROSENBERG
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 17, 2024 6:00AM (EST)


(Salon) America’s future — as a multiracial democracy or an ethno-nationalist authoritarian state — is very much on the ballot this year, as a wide range of observers have noted. But you’d be hard-pressed to see that reality reflected in the mainstream media, much less from the mouths of the randomly-selected potential voters interviewed on the ground, the folks who will supposedly determine the outcome in November. It’s a dire situation that political scientist turned election strategist Rachel Bitecofer tackles head-on in her new book, "Hit 'Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game." She describes it as “a battle-tested self-help book for America’s fragile democracy.”

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Bitecofer's most basic point is simple: Democrats as a whole — despite their “reality-based” self-image — have been unable or unwilling “to accept that the American voter is, at best, rough clay,” and to work with it accordingly. On the other hand, she writes, “Republicans have long understood this and have built an electioneering system that shapes the electorate and meets voters where they actually are.” The point of "Hit 'Em Where It Hurts" is to convince Democrats to change their strategic approach while there’s still time to rescue democracy, and to focus relentlessly on the threat posed by Republicans in terms that hit voters where they are.

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In your introduction, you write about the 2022 midterms, how the Democrats beat the midterm effect and how they need to keep doing that to save democracy. But while Democrats won big in places like Michigan, they also lost key Senate races in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere. What's your explanation — first, for what worked?

In the book I lay out where the negative partisanship strategy was so effective in helping to thwart the Republican Party's red wave in 2022, and I walk through the places — Arizona and Michigan — where Democrats leaned heavily into negative partisanship, and defined their opponents as extremists. In the Arizona secretary of state race, in particular, Adrian Fontes ran on a "protect democracy from insurrectionists" theme — his opponent was an actual insurrectionist. In Michigan, it was about the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, from day one, went into her election with the strategy of ‘Let’s make sure voters know Tudor Dixon is an extremist, especially on the issue of abortion." Being able to define the opponents was so critical.

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That leads us into step 2, "Rebrand both parties with F-words." What does that mean, and how should Democrats set about doing it?

So there are two F-words: freedom and fascism. We have to get people talking about fascism. And this idea that we shouldn't use the word "fascism" because people don't know what fascism is? Well, no one knows what socialism is. But when we poll people and ask them, what's the first word that pops into your mind when you hear the word "Democrat," guess what the plurality response is? "Socialist"! It's not a liability when people don't know what it is — it's an asset, because then they define whatever the scary thing is into a customized fear category. .......................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/02/17/rachel-bitecofers-tough-love-lesson-for-democrats-time-to-fight-dirty/