If We Work Hard and Work Together,

[MineralMan]

the Democratic nominee for President can win next November. If we don't do both things, though, we'll likely lose. Each of us has a favorite candidate, although some probably think nobody completely fits the bill for 2020. It's good to support that favorite during the primary season. We should all do that, I think.

What's not necessarily good is to attack those who support some other candidate. Calling them names or attacking those supporters in other ways really doesn't work toward working together once the primary campaign season is over and we have a nominee. There is an enemy who will most likely be on the ballot next November, but that enemy is none of our Democratic hopefuls.

That enemy is also not the supporters of any of our Democratic primary candidates. That enemy is Donald J. Trump, who surprised almost everyone in 2016. I'm alarmed that we don't seem to recognize that bizarre fact. We're doing some of the same things right now that contributed in small ways to his victory.

I think we should stop doing those things. Really, there should be no "Post Removed" or "Name Removed" lines in the Democratic Primaries forum. That there are is more evidence that we are not working hard or together. We have time, still, to begin doing that. Only one of the candidates supported here will end up as the nominee. Let's not damn that nominee even before he or she is selected.

[empedocles]

1. Two big variable in 2020 are, trump's ability to seriously screw up, and the Dems ability to

seriously screw up.

[MineralMan]

2. It's complicated, to be sure.

To win, we will have to offer voters a satisfactory alternative to Trump. We will need independent voters to join Democrats in voting for the next President. Anyone who says differently is simply wrong. There will, no doubt, be efforts to suppress votes, to manipulate elections, and all the rest. That happened in 2016, and there's no chance it will not happen again.

What that means is that we will have to win with even larger margins than we would in a normal election year. That also means we need larger turnouts and that we attract independent voters to participate in ridding the nation of Donald J. Trump.

It's not going to be easy, and we won't succeed if we fight among ourselves. That much I can guarantee.

As I have said, and will continue to say, we will win only if we can get a massive turnout of people who will vote for the Democrat, especially in swing states, and including in states we lost in 2016. Not an easy thing to do, but we can do it if we are willing to put out the effort.

I hope we do that.

[Thekaspervote]

3. Thank you!! Always the voice of sanity!

[MineralMan]

4. I keep trying.

[empedocles]

5. Turnout is important, but so is 'turnoff'.

Widely quoted still is Nixon's 'Southern Strategy' author Kevin Phillips, much of politics is about 'who hates who'. Quote has been around for a long, long, time - and still works. Especially in these polarized times.

trump of course is easy to hate, however, Dems have some easy, arrogant, _______, targets also.

[abqtommy]

6. My main concern is that nothing is being done to establish a fair and secure vote. Without

that all our work together won't matter a bit.

[MineralMan]

7. Depends where you are, really.

No problems in Minnesota with that. If your state has voting problems, you'll have to fix it in that state, really. The feds aren't going to help right now.

Still, a huge turnout can blow through a lot of meddling. Work on that or work on your state's voting system.

[abqtommy]

8. Thanks, that's good to know.