Pierce: A Few Words About What Happened in Kansas

[mcar]

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a54461/kansas-special-election/

...These districts are open because, in all three cases, the incumbent congresscritters were chosen for Cabinet positions in the current administration. (The Kansas district belonged to Mike Pompeo, who's now running the CIA, which must be gangs of fun at this point.) There is only one way for the Democratic Party to avoid benefitting from Tuesday night's surprising win against the spread, and that's to cram the result into the tedious template of the 2016 Democratic primaries. Thompson ran as an unapologetic Bernie Sanders liberal. That is a good thing. The formal Democratic apparatus largely left the work to various independent groups (the Daily Kos community was particularly active), so, naturally, as soon as the results came in, we heard the same tiresome establishment-vs.-revolution squabbling that made the last presidential campaign such a joy to be around...

Is this never going to stop? Is this weird dynamic in which the actual leaders—Bernie, Tom Perez, and Keith Ellison—all get along, but their supporters insist on an endless food fight, ever going to run out of steam? Are we never going to be rid of that dismal, stumbling exercise in petulant score-settling and mock populist posturing? Some people have a vested interest in keeping the campaign—and the attendant grudge-holding—alive. In a few cases, the interest is pecuniary...

What happened in Kansas should be an occasion for unalloyed celebration. There are good arguments to be made that had the Democratic National Committee come tromping into that district with both feet, it would have done more harm than good. Leaving things to local activists, augmented by boots on the phone from all around the country, was a very sensible strategy. And it almost worked in a district so ridiculously conservative that one of the Koch brothers actually lives there. The impulse within some progressives to skunk up the garden party is a wonder to behold. Truly, it is.

[tazkcmo]

1. I agree. n/t

[JHan]

2. Second piece where he urges people to stop the bullshit... it will fall on deaf ears.

[elleng]

3. the actual leadersBernie, Tom Perez, and Keith Ellison all get along!

[MuseRider]

4. I think money from the national

party apparatus might have put him over the top. It is sad that they, and our very own state Dems did little to nothing to help him get his name out there. He stood for his issues, he never shied away from them. He was unapologetic about it. He stood for everything we want our Dems to stand for and he had the best outcome so far in a lot of years. You be who you are and do not let the others define you, get to it right away out front and put it on your website so people can see it and meet the opposition head on without fear or cowering. He did that and look what it almost got him.

He was an unapologetic Bernie Sanders liberal. I heard him say it. I heard him say it was Bernie who got him inspired to run. This is a freaking solid red district, as you read above Charles Koch even lives in it and it was against a known, already in office (state treasurer, that must have been boring since there is no money here) politician. Who says liberals cannot win? I heard dems screaming about how he was going to lose once he said out loud (can you believe he said it out loud?) that he was pro choice. We could have won if we had just gone with the anti abortion guy. Well, maybe I do not know it is pretty bad down there. Remember Dr.Tiller live and practiced in Wichita.

I do not know anything except I am sick and tired of the usual establishment button down nose up all weenied up so you never really know where they stand politician as my only damned choice. This needs to be said and learned. When your state is bad enough that even people who have never said the word Democrat aloud in polite company votes for you then you take it and learn from it. If we don't, if we put up a wishy washy again we will lose. Thompson worked HARD for this. The cocktail party route is not going to cut it anymore no matter how much you love rubbing shoulders with the party heads.

Before I go, yes I know he did not win. YES I KNOW HE DID NOT WIN. After the way so many have talked to us over the years, said horrible nasty things I do not want to hear it. This is the result of years of beating our heads against the wall. Do you have any idea how hard this is those of you in your blue states? Those of my friends who worked on this campaign took it on themselves and they have a better outcome than our party has created in a long time. Sebelius was hardly a lefty, Thompson was.

[mcar]

5. From the post

Is this never going to stop? Is this weird dynamic in which the actual leaders—Bernie, Tom Perez, and Keith Ellison—all get along, but their supporters insist on an endless food fight, ever going to run out of steam? Are we never going to be rid of that dismal, stumbling exercise in petulant score-settling and mock populist posturing?

[MuseRider]

8. Not certain

but if you were implying that I was doing that I have to say I was really not trying to do that. This was not score settling but an example of how to run a campaign here. It has been a very long time since I could even tell you what most of the Dems were going to do since I am not sure they even knew, it depended on what would cause the least confrontation. This is how we win.

I did not intend to score settle, just make the point that here in my state (and I believe everywhere) we need to be known for who and what we are. Nobody votes for wishy washy and likes it.

Whatever.

[dmr]

18. I didn't take it that way, and agree with all you said.

I think the other poster did too, cuz I agree with the words you wrote that was re-posted.

[LiberalLovinLug]

20. Well I read your first post as supporting that quote from mcar

And I wish DU admin would stick that quote on their front page or in their rules.

Its so true, while Sanders is working with top Democrats who are now, finally, open to a more progressive platform that Bernie proved we can win with if they work together, others, some in here, who are not elected continue a pointless smear campaign and divisive rhetoric for gawd knows what reason. Not a rational or mature one. The "stumbling exercise in petulant score-settling" does have to stop at some point.

[MuseRider]

29. If the Democratic party

in Kansas can take Bernie to heart we are golden. It was pretty stodgy, at least I felt it certainly was. When the state party leader insults most of the people in your state in a very snotty way out loud and printable then you have to stop and think that maybe something is wrong here. I don't know if this works in all places but it works here, I felt it and saw it working here.

We can work together without excluding all the people who differ from us. No scores here to be settled, it worked. Not completely but damn that is some big change for us. This is what you build on, everyone has to rethink their priorities and get together.

[stevepal]

10. I agree with all that is said about Thompson. I voted for him and was pulling for him BUT

it is my opinion that the most serious obstacle to Dems getting elected in KS is the voter suppression and the voting machines. Beth Clarkson, a statistician at Wichita State, was so concerned about the voting machines that she organized her own exit polling in the last election to check how the computer vote would compare with the exit polling data. Her conclusion? Here's the title of her article about the results of her exit polling: Our elections are rigged. What are we going to do about it?

The data were compelling. Nobody can know who is pulling the strings, whether it's ES&S or any of a number of others down the line on the way to the actual counting of the vote by the machine in response to the programs inserted into the machines both before, during, and after the actual vote. What can be known is what Clarkson found: the results were not possible given the results of the exit polling.

We just as well get used to it. WE DO NOT HAVE A DEMOCRACY. To make up all these spurious reasons that somebody lost w/o taking into acct the voting machines is just not being honest. Thompson was as good a candidate as there could have been for the post. There was a great amount of help by a lot of people. I don't know that he actually won, but I KNOW that he did considerably better than the voting machines indicated he did. Unless the vote can be verified and in cases where the totals are in doubt have a recount, you can't have a fair election. Just not possible.

[MuseRider]

16. I agree.

Do you know much about the new machines they were using in some parts of Wichita? A 2 step process. I guess you vote on the computer and it puts out a paper ballot you can check then that ballot is scanned and they keep the paper in case there is a hand count. Still you have to have and SOS that will allow a hand count.

It astonishes me that we have made no traction with this issue. Of course it shouldn't but it does.

[barbtries]

17. Congratulations MuseRider

it is a little like horseshoes when you come close in an area you were never supposed to get within 20 points.

[MuseRider]

28. Thanks

I am so proud of my friends who worked really hard to make this happen. It will get better here hopefully. I guess people just had to hurt really badly and worry for their children before they breached the rock solid trust of the party they grew up in. I will never understand having that much faith in a political structure. If you don't watch and ask you can be sure you will eventually get taken.

[barbtries]

30. that's actually been a real epiphany for me,

ever since last November. there are people, quite a few of them, who are republican FIRST - before human, American, man, woman, parent...they are republican.

i will never understand it. i am a pretty hard core democrat, but get me a viable party on the left side of the democratic party and i am there. in the meantime i am a democrat as i have been all of my life.

[BadgerMom]

6. Hear, hear!

[longship]

7. Very good, Charlie!!! R&K nt

[azureblue]

9. I'll tell you what happened in Kansas

The GOP messed with the vote count just enough to get their boy in under the wire. The count should be contested all the way to the Supreme court. Why does the Democratic party stand by and let this crap happen?

[Ligyron]

11. Indeed

[NoMoreRepugs]

12. That is the BIG question that is NEVER answered

[Honeycombe8]

19. Shhhhh. You're not supposed to say such things.

Not necessarily here, but in certain places on the internets.

[murielm99]

13. I agree that it was for the best that the DNC largely

left the work to the independent groups and local activists. It was better that they did not come in and create resentment. I am not sure that an infusion of money would have helped in this very conservative district.

Our state Democrats in Illinois have a very disciplined organization. However, I have seen Madigan's people come in to districts and take over, with an infusion of cash and helpers. They only do this if they think there is a chance of a victory. Many times, they shove the local workers aside. Some of the local workers have been loyal Democrats for years, dedicated activists. Some of them end up angry and hurt enough that they stop working for the local organizations. After all, they are giving up a great deal of time and very few people are getting paid for their efforts. They deserve some respect.

If the right people come from the Illinois state party, they can merge and work together to help the candidate. The same can be said of the DNC.

In Rock Island County, which went blue in a sea of rural red in the last general election, the established Democrats are trying to work with the grassroots. They held a joint event. There was a meal and speakers. Four or five grassroots organizations were there with the local party leaders.


Both sides have to give some ground and agree to work together. And please remember: respect! The new grassroots activists need to listen and learn. The established activists need to welcome the new people, or they will quit in disgust before the next election cycle.

Some years ago, I went to a regional Democratic dinner. It was an informal dinner. I walked past two people sitting together. One was all decked out in Hillary gear, shirt, hat, bandanna, buttons. Her dinner partner was dressed similarly, but he was dressed up in Obama gear. They were laughing, talking, and enjoying each other's company. Let's hope we can see that type of camaraderie and cooperation in our party over the next few years.

[Alpeduez21]

14. Why should we get along with the DNC?

Why shouldn't the DNC get along with us? It's all well and good to say the leaders get along. WHERE THE HELL WERE THEY DURING THIS ELECTION?

Donald J. Trump recorded a message to get out the vote. What did Sanders, Perez, or Ellison record while being so buddy buddy with each other. Not a damn thing. Where was help to fill out a fifty state strategy?

On what basis is the theory that DNC help would've hurt the election built? I call BS on that. I am not angry with the new leadership of the DNC. I am angry at what The Muse referenced. A wishy washy party with no backbone but at least it showed its two faces.

[KPN]

15. Wasn't Bernie there?

[Nevernose]

26. Bernie endorsed

And his Our Revolution organization did a lot of online stuff, fundraising and info.

I don't think he went there in person, though.

[MuseRider]

31. He was here for Washington Days.

The last weekend in February I think. He spent some time with him before the rally and was introduced by Thompson. He spoke about him and endorsed him.

[Nevernose]

33. I'm pleasantly corrected!

Thank you

[Demsrule86]

27. Welcome to DU...we love posters who like to complain about Democrats really.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

21. Is it better to stress the candidate than the party in these cases?

This effort by Thompson was owing to his fights for the little guy, energy, engagement and qualifications.

Plus he's a Vet. And there is an outreach program for Vets to run that Pete Buttigieg is part of. Others who won in November as well. They know how to be actively fighting. This is a fight.

[mcar]

22. It may be

Another poster said if the DNC got involved, the GOP would have made it a race about Pelosi and "Washington" liberals.

[William769]

23. Thanks mcar.

[mcar]

24. Great to see you, Bill!

[William769]

25. Same here.

[DinahMoeHum]

32. The progs won't be happy until there is a REAL victory. . .

. . .such as Jon Ossoff (GA) or Rob Quist (MT) winning their races.

[Paladin]

34. Charlie speaks for me on this. Enough of the snarling bullshit.

I'm an old man, I'm a life-long Democrat, and I want my country back before I die.