Where Do We Go Now?

The Sting of the Democratic Loss Has Many Wondering What to Do Next?

I’ve been thinking about that line a lot this past week: “Where do we go now?”

I’m not a Democrat, but I’m very much anti-Trump. So for the past 8 years, I’ve been leaning a little blue and this loss is sad but not wholly unexpected. Nonetheless, there is an aimlessness now about what to do about it; where do we go from here?

It kind of started with the utter shock and disbelief among many liberals. They were caught totally unprepared for this outcome. They kind of thought they had it in the bag and were high on their own hopium. The last two elections were extremely close, this one was going to be too.¹ As results started coming in though, it was becoming pretty apparent, even early on, that we were seeing a 2016 redux. And it wasn’t just the Electoral College this time (an excuse they’ve loved to throw around as the source of all their angst), it was an across the board collapse. I mean, Joy Reid and a host of young Gen Zers are trying to put the blame on Gen X, but just look at this:

And this:

That’s as throrough an across the board ass kicking as i can remember, and it wasn’t just Gen X. Get that notion out of your heads right now. It was everyone and everywhere. Trump won with a bigger margin than any Republican candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988. This loss doesn’t feel like that though, it has more the feel of the Kerry loss in 2004, when everyone kind of felt disappointed but shrugged and said “not suprised.”²

To be sure, that election felt wrong too; back at the time liberals leveled fingers at the W. Bush administration labeling them as Fascists and Authoritarians too. Dick Cheney was seen as an “existential threat to democracy” and was going to negate future elections just like Hitler did with the Reichstag too.³ The war in Iraq was an abomination from the get go, but Kerry was an imperfect candidate running against a strong national incumbent riding high since 9/11. The national undercurrents were just too much for any candidate to break.⁴ Kerry was going to lose; everyone knew it years before it happened. It was still shocking to see by how much. The rest of the world back then felt at the time pretty much what they felt Wednesday morning this time as well.

But coming out of that, there was also a come to Jesus moment within the party too. The liberal utopias that many aspire to are not the real world we all inhabit. If you want to win elections, you have to get off of those clouds and get into reality. Those massive societal changes many want immediately often come with equal and opposite backlashes. Societal change takes time and doesn’t happen all at once. You need to meet voters where they are now, not what you think they are or pummel them with facts saying they should be more gracious for their situations. For many, that is what liberal activists were telling them and they didn’t like it, and voted flat out against it.

So what do we need to consider as we turn the corner here? Here are my thoughts on how Democrats can rebuild a winning coalition.

1. Before we get into this list, there is already some liberal fretting about whether a woman could EVER get elected in the United States. There is a belief setting in that it is just an inherantly sexist country and it’ll never happen. I beg to differ. I don’t think Hillary won because she was a generationally divisive personality; either you loved her or hated her, and that goes back to the ‘90s. Harris’s loss had nothing to do with the fact she was a woman. In fact, she ran one of the best campaigns in memory and given the circumstances she came in under, that says a lot. The seeds of this loss were set two years ago when inflation peaked; no more, no less. Its part of a global trend. America would be fine with a female President; for instnce, had Nikki Haley won the GOP nomination, she likely would have won this year. But timing and the opportunity matters. I would suggest that liberals stop looking at it as pushing for the “First woman” to be the President and just start referring to a woman as being “The best person” for the job.

2. Many liberals are already taking this as an excuse to bash America. To them it’s a racist, sexist, misogynist, trans-phobe, fascist, corporatist hell-hole that frankly exposed it’s true colors., Yeah- no. Don’t take that bait. I can think of nothing more counterproductive than saying something like that. Most people are proud of their country, or want to be proud of it. It makes mistakes from time to time and we all disagree, but it is unlike every other country on the planet, it’s held together by an idea instead of a nationality. Anyone (and yes, I mean ANYONE) has the opportunity to succeed. For far too long liberals have clung to a cultural pessimism, centered on identity politics, that many are averse to. It’s time to get away from that, and offer a more optimistic view of the country.

3. It’s readily apparrent that Democrats very much have a male voter problem. As Professor Scott Galloway noted in his post election comments, you could go to the Harris-Walz website and see policies for women, for LGBTQIA, for old, for young, for every demographic under the sun, but you didn’t see anything about men, and in particular young men. This is wholly out of proportion to their size of the voting electorate; men make up just under half of all voters. If you can’t find a way to appeal to them, you’re already starting in a huge hole. For starters, liberals have to stop depicting men as the enemy or that men are automatically a Republican by default.

4. Democrats, remove yourself from social media and get out into the world. This one was a no brainer for me, but you’d be amazed how many people didn’t realize Threads was an echo chamber until after the election.⁵ Seriously. Ugh, where to begin. Instead of social media, get into clubs, help out with charities, get out into the community. Interact with as many different politically diverse people as you can; families, church goers, go to a local high school basketball game, go to a library or fair. Far too many liberals cling to their feeds and snark back and forth and cast down everyone who doesn’t conform to their worldview. That’s how silos are formed. Interact. Respect and appreciate others’ worldviews and learn to compromise a little on your own, instead of hate posting uncompromising rant garbage online.

5. Appeal to people who didn’t go to college. Over 2/3 of voters do not have a college degree. They work hard jobs, they often have tough lives. Also liberals have a tendency to condescend and look down on them. They don’t appreciate the work they do or the lives they lead. Military families for instance are scuttled around the world from deployment to deployment, they often make family sacrifices that most outside that sphere don’t notice. They chose to serve the country, and to earn funding for college through the GI Bill. What were the lasting images of the Biden Administration for these families? The Afghanistan pullout, and fights over the names of military bases. What did liberal college graduates who didn’t make that sacrifice get? Student loan forgiveness. And I want to be even more direct, so there can be no mistake here; there is a realignment happening in America centered largely on education level. Coastal elites and college graduates are comprising more of the Democratic Party, but they make only about 1/3 of the electorate. It is very easy for them to condescend, and be smug toward the other 2/3. Their elitism comes across as arrogant and off putting, like they genuinely think they are better than those that work hard for a living. If educated liberals are unable or unwilling to talk forthrightly with others about what non-college educated voters want and need, they are never going to win a majority.

6. Stop ridiculing religion. Liberal disdain for religion is palpable. I get it. A lot of it has to do with a reaction to the evangelicals and the manner in which they follow the GOP. The hypocrisy of megachurches, the disgusting nature of covering up molestation, the false sense of moral authority. Yes, I completely understand. I’m not much of a believer myself. You know what else though? Every county in America pretty much has three things; a county administrative building, a school and a church. The church is a source of community and also a means of helping people; they do indeed help people in poverty and get resources where they can. They are locally aware of many people who can help when in need. To many, they are a vital and personal part of their lives. The more that is mocked, disdained, and ridiculed, the less inroads you can make on other issues where your interests align.

7. Compete everywhere. Look, the manner in which the Democratic Party focuses solely on the bare minimum they need to win is exhausting. Instead of only focusing on racking up percentages in NY and CA (please note, Schumer and Pelosi represent those two areas, and have catered to winning them at the expense of elsewhere), focus on messages and campaigns that have resonance more broadly across America. Right now, it’s hard to make an argument in many places because Democrats have completely abandoned any pretense of appealing to those voters. Guess what, when county after county racks up 95% GOP votes, it adds up. That is what happened in WI, MI and PA and the whole reason Dems got blindsided. They shouldnt have been; they stuck to liberal strongholds in large metro centers and cities with colleges in swing states. How about going to or funding races in the Dakotas? Or Iowa? Or Ohio? or Kansas? ALL of these have Democratic organizations starved of funding or interest from the national party. Put some fucking effort into it is what I’m saying. Don’t cede the battlefield. Instead of trying to win over voters in the Acela Corridor, ask yourself “How does this play in Peoria?” Recenter what the average voter is away from what the average Democrat is.

8. Lastly, I’m going to reiterate this; get away from identity politics. When you go there, you’ve already lost. Everything you say after that will be disregarded. Prejudicial attitudes toward anyone, as part of any group, has that impact. For years it’s been tolerated within liberal circles because they fashion themselves the minority and therefore receive a pass. Guess what, it doesn’t get one and turns everyone off.

I know you feel down right now, and that this seems, unsolicited. But trust me it gets better. For starters, let’s go back to 2004 a second. Despite losing, Kerry’s campaign was the first real start to organizing against the Iraq War. Liberals found one another and found areas of common ground with others who had reservations. Then the incompetence of the W Administration was laid front and center as the war got worse and Hurricane Katrina proved catastrophic. Democrats had serious discussions about the direction they wanted to go. They had probably the greatest collection of political talent run for President in 2008. The winner was a person with an odd name, unknown 5 years earlier, who was articulate personable and had the luxury of being the only one on stage who hadn’t voted for the Iraq War resolution. He campaigned in the primaries everywhere, racking up wins in Nebraska, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, and other placed Democrats seldom competed, and fought to a tie in the large Super Tuesday states against the presumed frontrunner. At that point, he was on a glide path to the nomination and the White House.

So the change that we need may happen sooner than you think. Buck up little troopers.

PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner

When Guns n Roses were working on “Sweet Child of Mine” in the studio, they had much of the record put together, but didn’t know how to end it. They had the opening riff, the verses, the chorus and the guitar solo down, but had no idea what to do coming out of the solo. So they played it through what they had and when they got to that part, Izzy Stradlin kept playing his part over and over and Axl Rose started ad libbing, “Where do we go, where do we go now, where do we go?” The producer encouraged them to keep going and the others joined in and for lack of anything better to come up with, they recorded it and that’s how we got the odd lyrics and outro at the end of that song.

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

If Trump were to serve a full term, he will end his term as the oldest President in American history. That Biden stepped aside during his campaign after concerns about his age seems pretty ironic given that.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

A lot can happen in four years.

PurpleAmerica Bonus Video

Talking about the election of 2004, it gives me the opportunity to post one of my all time favorite online videos, something that genuinely defined the election and describes it for future generations. After watching it here, I have to admit, not much has changed since 2004.

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? MAKE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE!!!

Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. To be fair, it’s something I neglected as well.

2. That is, everyone but the liberal activists who’ve insulted just about every group possible over the past four years and are now crying about how the entire world is against them and that still in denial over the reality they live in.

3. Sound familiar?

4. And judging by some of the current results and numbers coming out, Harris did about as well as anyone could have. Her average loss among the swing states saw a Trump increase of about only 1.5 pts. However, across every other state, that Trump increase was about 6.5. Where she campaigned hard, she did about as well as anyone could have, it was just factors this year that worked against her.

5. As if they never realized the whole reason Threads took off was because Elon Musk made Twitter a radioactively right wing site.