It's not just this or that, it's a whole lot of this and that.
Shaun King wrote an article entitled "The Democratic Party seems to have no earthly idea why it is so damn unpopular" http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-democratic-party-doesn-unpopular-article-1.2993659 He cites a Suffolk University study. I looked at the raw data, but I'd like to know more about the poll. I'm certainly not detecting a pervasive air of "so damn unpopular," but okay, not everyone loves us. I get that.
I understand full well we lost the presidency and both houses of Congress. However, given what we know, I simply can't chalk it up to "too many people don't like us, wah we so totally suck."
Yes, leadership is important. Yes, messaging is important. Yes, smart charismatic candidates are important.
But
So is fighting uphill battles in gerrymandered districts.
So is overcoming voter suppression tactics like oppressive ID laws, longer lines in Dem precincts, and roll purges.
So is having to combat right wing propaganda spreading outright falsehoods.
So is having to cope with a mainstream media that is pathetically soft in calling out the Republicans on their direct responsibility for crappy governance and obstructionism.
The last two being contributing factors to that "unpopularity." I don't doubt we have to work on broader appeal. But that's only going to carry you so far when the game is rigged from the start. Re-branding is not going to be enough. Pointing that out in response to King's article somehow means I am not on board with getting Dems elected in 2018, WTF?
Secretary Clinton won the popular vote. Clearly, we're not that wildly unpopular. But if we don't get in the trenches and take back local and state elected positions, that rigged game is only going to get worse. We need to dig in and go local, and that isn't in 2018. We have plenty of off-year election races we can focus on this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_elections,_2017
Incremental gains will make a difference. Look what the GOP has done in 40 years. Every race and every year matters.
