MyDD :: How we got where we are

How we got where we are

by Mandoliniment, Mon May 26, 2008 at 07:26:23 PM EST

The recurring meme of "Obama doesn't do well in rural regions except in red states" has me thinking... It's almost as if folks don't think Democrats in red states should get a say in the primary, since they're unlikely to deliver their states in the general.

This, I think, is exactly the wrong strategy.

In fact, if we are to remake the electoral map, and create a true, lasting reallignment, it will come by embracing and supporting the Democratic establishments, weak as they may currently be, rather than by abandoning them again and writing off those states.

This is the power of the 50 state strategy. Not that we'll win the whole rocky mountain west this election, but that if we continue to invest in party infrastructure in those places, we can make them competetive, elect better state and local representation, and build the party.

So any time I hear someone dismiss votes in, say, South Dakota, or Kansas, or Kentucky becuase we won't win it in the primary, I think that that is a self-fufulling prophesy.

Let's keep building a 50-state party.

Tags: GE strategy (all tags)

Permalink :: 14 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: How we got where we are (none / 0)

Yep. We have to keep in mind that "the map" is not static. CA and VT were once reliably Republican, GA and AL were reliably Democratic.

We care about politics because we know politics matters for people's lives and opportunities.

by politicsmatters on Mon May 26, 2008 at 07:28:31 PM EST

Re: How we got where we are (none / 0)

it's about the EC not individual votes

by zerosumgame on Mon May 26, 2008 at 07:33:07 PM EST

Re: How we got where we are (none / 0)

True, but facing a Republican with fundraising problems, I'd LOVE to see him have to waste time and money on Indiana (for example).

No way. No how. No McCain.

by freedom78 on Mon May 26, 2008 at 07:35:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How we got where we are (none / 0)

Who would have guessed that the NRCC would spend half its cash on hand on three special elections in red districts, and lose all three?? And that money is gone now, in a way calculated to discourage donors.

by Wee Mama on Mon May 26, 2008 at 09:29:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How we got where we are (2.00 / 1)

Of course it is. But the reason we have a hard time winning the "red" states is because we've abandoned them as a party. The only time they get any say is in the primaries, and now people are saying they shouldn't get that, either.

If we want to make "red" states competitive, it'll take investing in, and valuing, the Democratic establishment in those places.

I use the rocky mountain west as an example because it is an area that is well within our grasp if we invest there. Imagine a Democratic party that is competitive in the south AND the west. That's a map-changer. And it's possible.

John McCain

by Mandoliniment on Mon May 26, 2008 at 07:46:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How we got where we are (none / 0)

Thank you Mandoliniment. Thank you very much.

We were talking about that here. If you were making advertising for national elections it seems like looking at what the Democrat voter in rural Alabama has in common with the Democrat voter in rural Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin could mean crafting a national message that unifies the country rather than dividing it.

There are things that we in the South have in common with folks in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Losing manufacturing to other parts of the world for instance. When I began reading of lost manufacturing jobs in Michigan and Ohio it really seemed familiar because of lost manufacturing jobs here in my state. It is devistating to the community at large when that happens. When I heard a news program about enviromental concerns in the Great Lakes region of the country? I could easily relate the discussion to the environmental problems here in our state waters. When they talk about water negotiations and the "water wars" in the West? Boy did I pay attention as we are in our state involved in our own "water wars". When the Governors as a group began to complain of "No Child Left Behind" or the plea to the Feds to decentralize the rules on Medicaid they found that they had a whole lot in common.

It really hit home in the 2004 primaries as I began to read newspapers from the Mid West. It sounded just like the news in our newspapers. Many of the same issues. Many of the same concerns. And yet we in the South are treated as some kind of separate species. Sometimes it seems if the national parties think of us as being from a whole 'nother planet.

Thank you Mandoliniment for this diary. To me a 50 state strategy means recognizing what we have incommon as Americans. Then it means building nationwide colitions to work together nationally for solutions to our problems. It doesn't mean fracturing our country into small demographics and then pitting each of these demgraphics against each other. We have alot more incommon that we have different.

There is alot of work to be done. We need each other.

by 12 dogs and a blog on Mon May 26, 2008 at 11:03:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: How we got where we are (none / 0)

Why are some many people upset about campaigning and working in all 50 states? Please, could someone explain to me why this is such a bad thing????

Capitalization is the difference between "I had to help my uncle Jack off a horse..." and "I had to help my uncle jack off a horse..."

by igottheblues on Mon May 26, 2008 at 08:33:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

sorry i couldnt resist.... (none / 0)

does that include WV and KT?

"Me Fail English? That's Unpossible." Ralph Wiggum

by canadian gal on Mon May 26, 2008 at 09:19:38 PM EST

The diarist mentioned (none / 0)

Kentucky.

The American people; they were for the war before they were against it.

by nrafter530 on Tue May 27, 2008 at 06:44:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What's the point... (none / 0)

when the ohter half of the party isn't listening.

by nikkid on Mon May 26, 2008 at 10:43:26 PM EST

Re: What's the point... (none / 0)

You try to find the folks who do listen. They are out there.

Mandoliniment is one of those folks who listened to me. Instead of jumping on me as "one of those racists rednecks from the South", he chatted to me as some one who loved dogs and the out of doors. I really appreciated that. I didn't feel that I had to be on the defensive. And guess what? Here I am later wishing him a Happy Birthday? Asking how his dog is? But more importantly? I'm here asking what his opinion is of the issues. I'm especially interested in his opinion on the environment and water issues. I'm hoping what he's learning in college about the it will help me to understand what is going on in the water debate in our own state.

There are real folks on the otherside of the computer. That's the great thing about a grass roots movement on the internet. It's supposed to be about regular folk's solving problems not career politicians trying to spin. It's about what you find out worked to clean up a river in Wisconsin and wheither or not it will work in Alabama. What new teaching methods worked in your school system and will it work in mine? We can do that here on the internet. You aren't a nameless entity on the otherside of the computer screen. You are a person. A Democrat.

What's working for you?
How can we use it here to work for us?

Sometimes it seems like life here on the boards is just one big fight. To some folks it is. There are others who've been saying from the get go,"You're going to need the other half of the Democratic party. These are Democrats,people, not your enemy."

wow. My son just read over my shoulder and said, " A house divided will fall." You know he's right. :(

by 12 dogs and a blog on Mon May 26, 2008 at 11:28:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What's the point... (none / 0)

that's okay with me...cuz I HATE OBAMA - I'm not voting for him.

by nikkid on Tue May 27, 2008 at 12:16:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What's the point... (none / 0)

Hugs to you nikkid, hugs to you. Hope that you had a good weekend and holiday.

by 12 dogs and a blog on Tue May 27, 2008 at 12:51:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

ok with me (none / 0)

I HATE Clinton...I'm not voting for HER.

The American people; they were for the war before they were against it.

by nrafter530 on Tue May 27, 2008 at 06:45:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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