A little rain for the Democratic parade:
I recently suggested on Facebook that Democrats, especially Liberals, need to do some Humble Listening.
It was not well-received by some of my Liberal friends.
That is a bad sign for the Democrats' long-term prospects.
My argument: It does not matter if you think/know/believe that your policies will help a group of people that you want to support.
It does not matter if you see your political opponent as hateful toward the people you seek to ally yourself with.
The groups you seek to support and ally with are different from you and see the world differently - and that is a good thing.
In fact, that is the point of celebrating diversity.
If a group of people (who you say you are advocating for) do not understand how your policies will make their lives better, they will not support those policies and vote for you.
If a group of people assumes that racism is an issue for both sides (true), they will not necessarily see your opponent's racist actions and words as a deal-breaker.
And, if they do not vote for you, you will not get the chance to implement your policies.
And, without implementation, you cannot 'prove it' to them.
(Reflect on how Obamacare/ACA barely survived long enough to become popular.)
Trump's total number of votes increased from 2016 to 2020, especially in economically-struggling rural regions.
That is despite 10,000s of lies and a quarter million dead of COVID.
Trump's support appears to have substantially increased among some People of Color, especially Black, Tejano, and Cubano males.
That is despite shithole countries and toddlers in cages.
Yes, it has been 32 years since Republicans won the popular vote.
However, in that time they have won multiple presidential elections and gained dominance over the Supreme Court.
And they almost pulled this rabbit out of the hat again.
And their next candidate will likely be a 'Sane Trump' with the appeal without the downsides.
Liberals like me were too quick to assume that the folks we claim to be 'allies' of see the world the way we do.
So when the polls and MSNBC echo chamber started showing the possibility of a Blue Wave election, we ate it up.
I sure did.
We still have to learn how to walk and chew gum: sustain our base while winning over more people on the margin if we are going to overcome the systemic obstacles of the Fox News echo chamber, gerrymandering, the electoral college, and now the Supreme Court and Mitch McConnell.
We cannot do that without humbly listening to struggling, rural White Trump voters and men of color who find Trump appealing.
We need to hear their concerns and fears and work much, much harder at connecting their pre-existing desires and hopes with our policies.
I strongly suggest that the place to start is not at the top, but at the bottom, through personal, individual conversations where we do much less talking/preaching/convincing and much more listening.
I am guessing that this will lead us toward an economically-grounded argument that unites middle and working-class folk of every background rather than an identity-based one.
But, I am not sure.
That is the point.