Democrats and Transformational Politics

Good article from a Democrat in a very red county in Eastern Washington. Some comments specitic to WA State, but I think it's broadly applicable.

I remain amazed at how many in our party still refuse to grasp the essential differences between transactional politics (winning a particular election by mobilizing supporters) and transformational politics (changing the way people think about issues). Even many who do understand the difference prefer to remain focused on the next election, because that is what they know best and are most comfortable with. But if we do not start effectively challenging the GOP's dominance in transformational politics, we will squander our remaining advantages.

Local party organizations certainly must keep organizing. We can achieve higher percentages simply by identifying more Democrats, but it is virtually impossible for better transactional politics to achieve victory. The party at every level needs to practice transformational politics and start changing people's minds. The GOP has been doing this effectively for forty years--we don't even try. It will be difficult in rural areas. A lot of these folks are too old and set in their ways to change, but we have to start winning on generational succession.

Campaigns CANNOT spend much effort on transformational politics and win, unless they are in a district that doesn't need to be transformed. The people on the ground should generally be local people, not folks helicoptered in. We have such people everywhere in the state. But they are continually gainsaid by the messaging of the state and national party, and undercut by the actions of elected Democrats at both levels.

Our party has not practiced transformational politics for 40 years, focusing instead on "electing Democrats," often of dubious provenance. (Can you say "Rodney Tom"? I knew you could!) Many of the candidates who have won those elections have reinforced the opponent's message. Our Washington party has specifically not responded forcefully to, among others, the Grange's anti-party message on Top Two and repeatedly) Eyman's anti-tax message, because it would be hard. That has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are consequences to screwing up for 40 years.

As Wayne Gretzky famously pointed out, you don't win hockey games skating to where the puck is. You win them by skating to where the puck is going to be. Winning the hearts and minds of the Millennials needs to be part of our strategy to allow our nation to realize it's progressive values. Both they and socially liberal, but economically Libertarian Gen Xers will not be won over with rhetoric alone, they need real help with the dire economic predicament most of them are in. Among them, and the Boomers who share our values but no longer believe the Democratic Party represents them, our biggest enemy is the idea that "There is no difference between the parties."

We have a powerful tool to use in transformational politics. It is the result of what remains of our bottom-up organizing efforts, our platforms (at every level) and resolutions. I hope that at the state convention we will take a strong step towards using the work of those people we have on the ground in every corner of the state and change our by-laws to form a state committee dedicated to holding our elected Democrats' feet to those fires. Majorities still share our values but they no longer trust that we will act on them because of constant betrayals. We need to win that trust back. Small steps are being taken, a slim majority of Democrats opposed the $9 Billion in SNAP cuts in a Trillion Dollar Farm bill (but almost as many voted for them). The object of neoliberal globalist and corporatist desire, the Trans Pacific Partnership, seems to be foundering on a Democratic rock. But that is only a temporary setback unless we send in reinforcements with the 2014 elections. The president is talking about income inequality, but proposing only what amounts to more trickle-down to deal with it.

This is a moment when sane Republicans could be reached. Simply put, our party is not positioned to reach them. The economic message our party has been promoting is simply more trickle down, help Wall Street, help big business and we'll eventually get jobs. That kind of development has NEVER benefited the rural areas, it simply sucks resources out of them. That would include the young people who do what they are told, go to college, and then have to move to get a job. Exporting grain and lumber at loss leader prices because our agriculture policy is designed to profit Big Ag and depress commodity prices is NOT a route to prosperity. Economies and prosperity are built from the bottom up.

A coherent strategy, better use of VoteBuilder on issues would do wonders, and build a rural base for the future. It will NOT flip hard red areas, just give us a few more points in elections. A stronger, more active party base would at least allow us to check the rampant corruption that is proliferating under the one-party rule Eastern Washington now enjoys.. Levels of spending far beyond anything that could be contemplated by the party will not win elections here. To start winning victories we would need to reverse 40 years of the GOP's effective transformational politics. The best (and probably the only) way to convince anti-government voters that the government can work for them is to make the government work for them. When you go along with the Right and cut and privatize, you simply reinforce their views, but that is what we have been doing. We need effective action at the state and federal level on economic programs.

Only the party can drive transformational politics, campaigns don't have the time to play that game. Our party has not participated effectively, allowing the Grange, Tim Eyman, Washington Policy Center , Freedom Foundation and others to define the public debate on tax policy, the value of political parties, our elections, the role of government. Our labor allies and NGOs try to fill the gap, but the party, and more importantly, many elected Democrats actually undercut them instead of helping them.

Nothing would be as effective at flipping these areas as action at the state and federal level promoting the democratic values in our platform. The action needs to be not on fluff but on dollar and cents issues. Dramatic action, not nibbling around the edges. We will have to get the necessary majorities in the purple areas we are currently losing.