Are you pissed off? So are we. The only debate is who to be more pissed at: the Republicans instituting these horrific policies or the Democrats who lack the spine to stand up and fight back. We’re sick of it. So we decided to fix it. The first step is to acknowledge why we’re losing. People don’t believe Democrats can make change, and they’re not wrong. Ask yourself these three questions:
Question 1: What issue is most important to you?
- Immigration
- Insurance
- Police Reform
- Women’s Rights
- Money In Politics
- Housing
- Gun Violence
- My most important issue is___________
Question 2: Have Democrats promised to deliver on the issue that’s most important to you?
- Yes
- No
Question 3: Did the Democrats deliver on their promises?
- Yes
- No
.
No matter how you answered Question 1, your answer to Question 2 was Yes – Democrats promised to deliver on what matters to you, and your answer to Question 3 was No – the Democrats did not actually deliver on that issue. That is effing infuriating. Perhaps the only thing that’s more infuriating than Democrats never delivering is how they act as if simply not being as horrific a human being as Donald Trump is a plan for victory. Fun fact, being a slightly less smelly turd still makes you a turd.
So how do we fix that?
First, we have to recognize that the Democratic Party isn’t coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.
Second, we have to recognize that each of us are better marketers of what Democrats stand for than our party. So we need to:
-Get out there into our community, visibly,
-Actually help our community members, not just talk about how we’d help if we were in power,
-Start encouraging Democrats who actually will fight back, not just say they’ll fight back, to run for office.
Third, we have to knock off the FAFO nonsense. Listen, we get it, it feels good to say “I told you so.” But we have to decide a critical question: Do we want to feel good or do we want to win? Our vote is to win.
Why FAFO doesn’t solve the problem
Picture yourself in the Civil Rights movement in the 60s. Do you think that every white person who grew up during Jim Crow showed up to support the movement as a fully formed anti-racist? Of course not. Do you think Black leaders wanted to scream at them that “We’ve been telling you this was a horrific problem for almost 100 years since slavery ended!” Of course they did. But those Black leaders didn’t scream at them. Why? They knew that the only way you defeat a system of oppression is to get as many people on your side as you can. That means accepting some imperfect allies.
Here’s what that means in a world wrecked by Trump: we have to offer people the dignity to recognize they made a bad choice by either (1) not voting, or (2) supporting Republicans. Then we have to give them the grace to come over to our side. They’re not going to start that conversation with us as fully formed Democrats. They’re not going to hold all the same positions as us. But we also have to recognize that there is a difference between talking to someone who makes us uncomfortable and talking to someone who makes us unsafe.
- Is there room to grow our coalition with a non-voter who thinks their personal vote won’t change anything? We’d say yes.
- Is there room to grow our coalition with Latinos who voted for Trump, but now see how Republicans want to chuck them into Alligator Alcatraz? We’d say yes.
- Is there room to grow our coalition with someone who voted for Trump and lost their job to DOGE and now wants to know if the Democrats are any better? We’d say yes.
- Is there room to grow our coalition with ICE agents, Stephen Miller, or anti-LGBTQ+ bigots? Hell no there’s not!
It takes work…are you in?
If all of that sounds like a lot of work, it is. If it sounds hard, it is. We’re not in the business of selling BS easy short term solutions. That’s why our motto is “Stop Talking. Start Doing.”
It’ll take work, but there’s at least one Democratic organization who’s willing to fight back and to build a strategy to win – the East Hillsborough Democratic Club. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, come check out one of our meetings, or just volunteer right now.
We’re not for everyone (hard stare Do-Nothing-Dems), but we might be perfect for you.
Meetings
All are welcome to attend EHDC meetings. The EHDC generally meets on the second Tuesday of every month, unless otherwise posted. All of our meetings are both on Zoom and in person. You must RSVP through Mobilize to get the zoom information. The link to Mobilize will be in the event on the calendar.
“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.”
-Barbra Gittings