Last post back I depressingly detailed how the GOP had succeeded in one thing- They’d kept the COVID virus alive and killing. Today I’m gonna detail how we dems can win, COVID be damned! While mostly aimed at a rural audience, these strategies will work for democrats almost everywhere.
We came into this pandemic on the tailwind of 2018 and earlier election victories, with the GOP unable to win a statewide race in Minnesota in over a decade. We did that despite “progressives” gaming our endorsements for governor and AG followed by a “cattle call” filing scene at the SOS counter. We continued our victory streak in 2020, despite Trump wasting too much time here and having to forgo in person conventions and door knocking, which only the campaign staffers who had to make contact quotas missed. But down ballot was a disappointment if not a disaster- In 2018 we swapped congressional seats with no gain and picked up a few suburban state house districts to take back control, in 2020 we lost a congressional seat and made no progress in the legislature.
Conventional (AKA Pre-COVID) wisdom is that 2022 will be a repeat of the 2018 election at the top of the ballot, with the incumbent Constitutional Officers (Gov, LG, SOS, AG, and Auditor) cruising to an easy victory. But 8 months after vaccines became available barely half the country is vaccinated, 150,000 new cases are popping every day, and winter is coming= COVID will be THE issue of the 2022 election! Let us not avoid but embrace this issue- We are the party of science that has taken the high road for public health and safety while the GOP is devolving into a death cult. We must be the voice of hope, fulfilling our role as public health advocates while the GOP peddles bleach, dewormer, and lies. And despite the shrill anti mask and and vaccine protestations of the GOP, playing it safe polls well… So let’s make the GOP wish they’d never tried to make COVID denial an issue!
And did I mention that we’re getting redistricted? Add COVID induced virtual meetings to GOP gerrymandering attempts and our congressional and down ballot candidates will be lucky to know for sure what district they’re running in until the eve of filing. By then the usual “progressives”, Bernie Bros, and single issue “activists” will be in full attack mode, doin’ the GOP’s work for them by attacking our hard working incumbent democratic electeds.
So how do we win on this broken electoral battlefield?
For a start, learn from the lessons of 2020 when all the democratic presidential candidates but Bernie figured out that a dragged out caucus and primary campaign during the growing pandemic was beyond stupid- They figured out that Joe Biden was the strongest candidate and united behind him. From that early wave of the pandemic we learned how to conduct virtual party conventions and streamline the endorsement process. We need to continue that progress by giving our incumbent elected democrats early endorsements so they can get on with defeating the GOP without the distractions of endorsement challenges from the sore losers of last year’s pipeline protests or whatever. So let’s make re-endorsement automatic, except if the 40% of DFL delegates who could block an endorsement petition for reconsideration. While we’re at it, let’s confine the “walking subcaucus” to the Minneapolis DFL for whom it has become a sacred ritual, our party has been busting right through every diversity goal so this anachronism just adds COVID spread opportunities. So as the 2022 election year dawns our Governor and Constitutional Officers can get on with beating the GOP, who won’t have candidates endorsed for months. Downballot where the district lines are subject to redistricting tweaks, we need to give our incumbents and returning candidates provisional endorsements which will become full endorsements after the district lines are finalized. This will give our candidates the boost they need to build recognition and fundraising- I live in rural Minnesota’s Lyon County which is right next to Yellow Medicine and Lac Que Parle counties which all voted for Klobuchar in ’18 and Trump in ’20 and have enough population to be a state house district. But to win like Amy they’ll need early and frequent support and fundraising into six figures, and that requires the “head start” our candidates deserve.
Having finalized our side of the ballot while the GOP is in disarray, we apply everything we learned during the COVID campaign of 2020 and add some new tricks. Doorknocking was a waste of time beyond low turnout off year city primaries and in the age of COVID uninvited doorknockers are a liability- Instead we need to swarm the competitive Klobuchar/Trump districts with signs and block long parade units. CD7, I’m lookin’ at you- Your 4 by 8 trailers and party platform issues signage are cute, but about as effective as the churches who cover their floats with bible verses with a bonus “you’re going to hell” message. Get a tractor, get a pickup, heck, get a big truck and a dirt track race car too- Voting choices are driven by subtle “tribal” messaging, not policy positions. And get a bigger trailer so you can give us old folks a ride AND have room for 2×4 and 4×8 signs! I’ve got a like new 6 by 12 sit-in’ here doin’ nuthin’…
And repeat. Become the party of the center, left, and everywhere in between- an American virtual “governing coalition” party that denies the GOP the center and forces them to cohabit with the vaxxers, militias, and criminals. Do it all and come election ’22 we’ll win supermajorities, and in a late night online filing the GOP will declare bankruptcy and go extinct…
Sassy Democrat 