This is going to backfire
As Democrats are struggling to regain their footing in order to start winning elections in both 2025 and 2026, we’re seeing a little of the circular firing squad as they argue about what works and doesn’t work. Some of this is fairly obvious and proven and doesn’t change much from election to election, but a lot of it is about what messages get out on a landscape that’s considerably different from even where we were just five years ago – particularly when it comes to the brand of the party. A lot of these ideas will be fine-tuned in the months ahead, while we do what we always do to win elections – namely getting the word out via phone banking and social media to win special elections on the local level.
One idea that is sure to backfire, however, is directly going after Democratic politicians for not doing whatever the magical thing is that they’re supposed to be doing at any given moment. I’m not saying this just about the ones that are elected and holding office – but also those that have retired. A number of pundits are asking why Kamala Harris or President Obama aren’t anywhere to be seen, when the obvious answer is that neither of them hold elected office and don’t occupy their positions for life. When Hillary Clinton used her influence after 2016 to help the party, the media rather infamously went after her for doing that, if you’ll recall.
There may be some good intentions behind these – hoping that people can use their influence and good will to change things for the better, but we all have our own ability to do that to an extent. At worst, this can turn into an op to drive a wedge into the Democratic Party – driving us once again to attack each other when the actual enemy here is the GOP and we need our full attention if we’re going to drive them from power.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making