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[H2O Man]

I recently attended a training for grass roots organizing with the Democratic Party chairpersons of towns from four counties. The presenters were a state university professor and a retired high school teacher, both of whom have been activists within the party since their involvement in the 1972 Nixon vs McGovern election. Group members included activists who had participated in the 1968 presidential election, to those who have come of age in time to vote for Obama in 2008.

It was nice that I was invited, despite being the only person there who was not a chairperson. I always appreciate the opportunity to learn new things. Thus, during the day-long program, which involved a lot of group participation, I only spoke once. And although I didn't learn any new methods or tactics, it allowed me the chance to listen closely to other people's opinions.

The most interesting topic involved the on-going divide between some sub-groups within the Democratic Party. Most of those who spoke about this considered it to be rooted in the tensions that came to the surface in 2016. Being old, I know that in each presidential election that we have lost since 1968, there were similar divides; more, each one we've won has been when most party members put differences behind them, and unite in common cause.

In 1968, Nixon won a close election over VP Hubert Humphrey. Now, Humphrey had not entered a single primary. There had been a serious division between the Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy camps up until June. Those entrenched divisions, plus resentment towards Humphrey, allowed Nixon to win. Curiously, exit polls showed that a significant number of people who supported RFK in the primaries ended up voting for George Wallace; this disproves the theory that RFK's support was limited to yound adults and minorities.

In 1972, in large part due to the series of felonies known collectively as “Watergate,” Nixon defeated George McGovern. In this instance, the majority of the Democratic Party's “establishment” not only failed to support their nominee, they actually voted for Nixon.

In 1980, there were deep divisions, even within the party's establishment. The result was Reagan beat President Carter. In 1984, Reagan defeated Carter's former VP, Walter Mondale, in what amounted to a re-match.

On July 4, 1988, I was in the Boston park when Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis met with Jesse Jackson. In many ways, the two represented the same sub-groups that the two candidates in the 2016 primary had. Dukakis failed to bridge the divide; Bush the Elder became the last republican to win a first term with majorities in both the popular vote and electoral college.

In 2000, the USSC selected Bush the Dunce after Al Gore had won a close election. Mythology holds that “Nader voters” elected Bush. The accurate history can be found in Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s “Journals: 1952 – 2000” (Penguin; 2007). Gore's VP selection had disgusted too many of the establishment people, who thought that Bush couldn't do much harm in four years.

In the elections that the Democratic Party won, Carter, Clinton, and Obama were able to united enough sub-groups within the party (and get the support of numerous non-party voters) to win the popular vote and, more importantly, the electoral college.

If we limit our thinking to 2016 to the present, we risk getting a subjective view. One must step outside of the picture frame to view it properly, Rubin used to tell me. I suspect that if we look at 1968 to present, we can see a clear pattern. United, we win; divided, we lose. That's clearer than the face in the tree from the old “Weekly Readers” we read in school.

Now, this isn't only important in presidential elections. All of us at the meeting were residents of upstate New York. Though we are generally outnumbered by both republicans and independent voters, it's true that this is a safe state in presidential elections. It is, for us, more important in the context of how we can compete in local and state elections. That is how we build the foundation.

We do not have the luxury of holding tight to petty grudges. We need to work on building our foundation for 2018. That means working on coalition-building within the various sub-groups that make up the party. No single group – or individual -- is greater than the whole. Alone, w3e are like individual fingers that our enemy can easily break; united, we form a powerful fist capable of protecting all of our interests.

Peace,
H2O Man