AT LONG LAST!!!

[Samrob]

Thanks to what happened in TN with ousting 3 Dems, people all over the country might pay more attention to voting in state and local elections and running candidates against ALL GOP candidates!

For decades I have seemed to be (at least to myself) a lone voice crying in the wilderness about the importance of voting in state and local elections AND getting Dems to run for office against GOP candidates at all levels. I was here years ago under other ID wailing about the 2010-2016 elections not putting more effort into state and local elections IN RED STATES especially. Dozens of letters to the DNC and and later the HRC campaigns to put more radio ads and print ads in those areas, to hold more town hall meetings in deep red areas to combat what I saw as the complete hold of FOX and Limbaugh over those areas. Literally suspended from DU for screaming at Dems to put as much effort into state and local elections as in the "new revolution" and fighting each other as to what Dem was more or who was less a corporate friend. We have wasted so much time, energy, and resources fighting each other while the GOP was garnering the MESSAGE to voters out in the red lands.

Sure the voters in those areas vote against their own interests. They do so primarily because the only messages they hear are the one brought to them over RW controlled media. They do not hear or see the messages of our candidates put out over the MSM. Small town hall meetings and radio ads EXPLAINING major issues in simple, truth messages focused on the local interests and needs of communities all across the nation would cost less and yield more voters than we think. It's almost too late now because we have lost decades of messaging to these communities. Just listen to the ignorant statements made by Trumpers being interviewed after one of his rallies. It really makes me shudder to think about it.

TN has lit a spark, that if fueled by the right messaging by the right people (GEN-Z) hopefully will bring the change we want to see.

GO GEN-Z!!!

[betsuni]

1. Why are you blaming Democrats? Do they have unlimited funding? "Corporate friend"? What?

[Samrob]

7. Funding is not the problem. We need to do a better job of where to spend. nt

[Hope22]

10. I disagree.

In Ohio people do not have the funds to run as a Democrat in light of the fact that the gerrymandering which we have been trying to correct for years pretty much predicts defeat. People can’t afford to go into debt for this. In my area the current election ballot has no candidates on it due to the fact that all R’s are running unopposed!😳. When Vance ran for senate this last cycle the dark money and lies filled the TV screens. The national Democratic voices were no where to be seen. We had a chance with Tim Ryan but big money killed it. The national democratic system needs to take every chance to fill the seats with Dems, not sit out the ones they deem hopeless.
As a Democrat I only have so much money to donate to campaigns. Candidates from cross the country fill my inbox with requests for donations. There is only so much money….it is a problem.

[wnylib]

17. I'm in a similar situation in the blue state of NY.

My Congressional district is strongly Republican. Within the district there are cities and towns with Democratic mayors, but the rural areas outside of cities and in small villages are very red. My county used to have Democratic commissioners and a Dem sheriff but now they are all Republican. The state assembly representative and state senator are Republican.

The only election in the above mentioned offices that is affected by gerrymandering is the US Congressional representative. The rest are offices that we can address through local activism that does not need to cost a fortune to change people's views locally. Letters to the editor, meeting together with like minded people to show up at school board meetings, city council meetings, and meetings of county officials can all influence local views. When a local or state issue develops, we can hold protests outside of the local official's office, whether it is a city council member, state representative, or US representative. We can monitor and publicize the votes of elected representatives, both local and national. Publicizing them can be done through social media, mailed flyers, and protests. The publicizing of the votes of officials must include what the issue was, how they voted, and how the results of the vote affect the people being represented by the elected official.

It is not necessary to spend large amounts of money to change the attitudes of people locally. Local activism can make a difference.

[Hope22]

21. Letters to the editor can get your house shot at or your kids.

Calling Senators and Reps is a thing of the past. In the days of the Iraq war debacle I could call every senator in a morning and talk to a person on the phone. That won’t happen today. Mostly machines and beeps full. Town hall meetings with senators and reps have disappeared. Nothing, crickets even when I call to find out a schedule there is absolutely nothing planned. Emails carefully written will result in form emails sent back to my inbox filled with a garbage message. The system is broken.

I have spent a fair amount of time protesting on the street. We had biweekly peace vigils in our town to try and wake the people up. This went on for five years. We wrote letters and took bus loads to DC. All of this still depends on the press actually covering the demonstrations. If people don’t see it…it didn’t happen.

Small demonstrations do nothing. Most people do not even know they happened. What we are seeing now in TN are some of the most promising sizable gatherings which is promising. Everyone who participated in those demonstrations took their lives into their own hands. I feel like the gun whacks could decide on any moment to do some very serious killing. The fact that things have been peaceful I am thankful for. My bag is packed for a peaceful national march. A march for equality color, gender, all bodies all abilities! Even a peaceful march in every state capital. Shut down business as usual. It’s gonna take a real movement to get body autonomy for all genders and military guns out of the hands of unfit people.

Everything you say can and is being done. Our country is hemorrhaging from the inside. Joining the League of Women Voters is a great place to start. It’s not just for ‘Women’ anymore.

Take care and stay safe out there.

[IronLionZion]

2. A lot of politics is local

I have local politicians show up and talk directly with people and not just during election years. They are quite responsive to constituents. If not, we would vote them out in favor of someone else. We have tons of candidates. Since we are dark blue, the real election is the Democratic primary.

It may vary by region. But some places have great local politicians.

[gab13by13]

3. Meh, the Magats will just do a better job

of gerrymandering them out. The GOP Magats are doing damage in the states while we talk about MTG and MF45.

The Magats are building their autocracy from the state level up, not from the federal level.

[Trueblue Texan]

4. sounds like you've given up...

...that sure isn't how you win. You've got to at least get in the game and recruit others to stand with you if you want to win. The OP is correct, so much energy is wasted here with DUers fighting each other instead of sharing strategies and ideas to recruit others to support their efforts. We have a lot of energy, but limited time to address the issues that are killing Democracy. We should use both wisely.

[Samrob]

6. NO! TN gives me renewed hope. nt

[Samrob]

8. I believe you made my point for me. State and local is the key. nt

[treestar]

13. Exactly, giving MTG and TFG the

attention they want.

Or thinking AOC will do it all.

While the right energetically runs for real offices. The lower ones that affect people day to day. The state legislatures, that now can elect idiots since hardly anyone pays attention.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Democracy is so inconvenient for bullies. . . . nt

[mopinko]

9. folks need to be willing to lose.

of all the campaigns i’ve been on, there have been 3 losers, 1 twice. in only the 3rd did we think we had a prayer.
we lost 2 generals, 60-40. the 3rd was a primary we lost by 102 votes, and the winner lost a general we probably could have won.
it took 3 more cycles, but the district DID flip.
and tho the other dist, in wis, is still red, in the supreme court election, it was all blue.

nobody wants to lose, but if no one is willing to lose, we never gain ground.

[Tetrachloride]

11. Aside from being DU, i don't know what the Politicos do on a day by day basis

[treestar]

12. Spot on

We have got to get over thinking having the Presidency is all there is to it.

The dull but crucial local elections are important too. Complaining about gerrymandering yet letting the right have the state houses.

The right knew this. They ran for school board, local council, dog catcher. We debate about who should run for President.

[stopdiggin]

14. completely agree that local and state

are desperately important. But, also think there are real problems in determining who represents 'electability' - and in a core of disaffected and disenchanted within the party. You can talk 'message' (and spending) all you want to - but if you still have someone sneering 'corporate democrat', at someone who is invested in bringing jobs to an area ....

To put a finer point on it - if you find/found Hillary and Joe Biden 'disappointing' and distasteful - I'm not sure you can (or conversely, should) be elected in small town Ohio. or Kentucky.

[The Jungle 1]

16. Every time I hear Gen-Z I smile.

I sure hope they have become addicted to voting.

[Magoo48]

20. Yes, big hopes for the Zoomers. They have a lot riding on activism and voting.

[allegorical oracle]

18. Heard yesterday that in FL's last election, sixty percent of Repug legislators ran unopposed. I

attribute much of that to the toxic political climate -- in some areas of the state, drumpsters (formerly Tea Partiers) will make the Dem challenger's life miserable. Their intimidation strategy has worked.

[Hope22]

22. It's not cheap to run.

My neighbor ran for school board of a village school district. It cost her over 5k. She lost. Not many people can afford that. Even this little race got nasty. Scratch the surface and some very unbalanced people pop up. What she went through was definitely not worth it. Ohio is the same as FL. There were no Dems on the ballot in my local community for the coming primary which means that the R’s will cling to the seats. She’s the middle sister and gets no attention but is definitely a time bomb, as is FL.

[AllaN01Bear]

19. eggscllent

i live in a mostly red district of ca . but when biden and obama were elected , there were huge streaks of blue . most of the time we keep quiet beause the reds shout us down. but we know where to find each other . i personally think that the rs in tenn bit way off more than they could chew.