Sunday, Sep 7, 2008
Money, money, money. So what's with all these rich dudes who want to help the Democrats? Weird, huh, but hats off to George Soros for supporting and jumpstarting civil society here in America again. (More hats off, of course, to Howard Dean's campaign for showing the way on online fundraising, taking John McCain's virtual money machine of 2000 to a new level.) But while it's nice that there are progressive sugar daddies and mommies, the key here is building a sustainable revenue stream for our politics through small-donor networks and a membership-based, business model (wow, it almost sounds like a new union).
How do we steer in this general direction in the next 10 years? Well, we've got some real capacity with our many single-issue, cause-based groups, so let's make sure that we nurture and network them, and create new links between them, before we create another round of new 527s and other groups. When we do, a gentle reminder to our friends in Silicon Valley and at the new Democracy Alliance: Please make sure that for every great new group and big new vision, some percentage of that budget gets tithed to the grassroots infrastructure that every group needs (see the Fertilizer Fund, below). That's the missing piece from the America Coming Together model that I'd like to see in the new ACT 2.
Meet the Fertilizer Fund. Before we create another new group, or launch another new ad campaign, let's leave behind a little money to seed success for the long haul. Rich dudes, big groups, everyone, should pay in -- 1 to 3 or maybe 10 percent of their new money raised given to organizations that provide needed infrastructure. We know what we need (list matching, voter files, election protection), and what works (living wage, boots on the ground, a growing farm team of state and local candidates through great groups like Progressive Majority and Wellstone Action). Also needed: a new collective of smart state directors to run states, their way. Folks, you know who you are. Get organized and get your proposal out there.
States: The coin of the realm. Until the rules change in the Electoral College, ya gotta win states to win the presidency. They are the prizes that count. But we shouldn't wait four years. In 2006 and beyond, we will win elections when and where we can create effective state electoral networks that bring progressives and Democrats to the polls. The issue might be healthcare, it might be education, it might be some other local concern driven by a national player like SEIU, People for the American Way, the PIRGs, Sierra Club, you name it. The organizing center of that network might be the state Democratic Party or a new one like the Working Families Party in New York, or a homegrown organizing effort like the Oregon Bus Project.
In short, devolution is our friend. Because while we can't win diddly in Washington right now, we win all the time out in the states on issues like living wage (hello, Florida, and hello, Nevada, just last week). So let's leave behind an elite fighting force for existing federal regulations in D.C. and gather our strength in the hills. And remember one other thing: Both progressive and more centrist New Democrat Network candidates actually agree on most state issues, like workforce training, fighting sprawl, energy efficiency, public education, and an end to corporate subsidies and government waste. Not bad huh?
National Velvet. There is always a great deal of jockeying after an election, and with openings at the DNC, a postmortem on what the Soros money bought, open wounds in the labor community, head-scratching over the Latino vote loss, and the famous Rob Stein PowerPoint play calling for a new Democratic message machine, it's hard to know what will shake out. Plus, it's way above my pay grade.
What I do know is this: We do need a little bit of cultural change among our top leaders to help open new doors and share our strategic thinking more widely among the community. Last year, I wrote this in my original "Kumbaya Dammit" piece: "So take a deep breath if this collaborative-kumbaya stuff gives you shortness of breath. If you can't work with someone who theoretically is on your side, don't. But do find a way to share what you are doing. Just sharing that is useful data -- because transparency is a form of collaboration. Transparency, for progressives, is progress."
The good news is that a new generation of leaders is emerging -- folks like Cecile Richards of America Votes, Mark Ritchie of National Voice, and Amy Chapman of Grassroots Democrats. Rob Stein, of slides fame, is also a ray of hope. That Stein and others are focused on developing younger leaders and talking about training and leadership academies is heartening indeed.
Show trials for Shrum & Co.? You don't have to tell me that we've spent too much in the last 20 years on Democratic TV spots while underfunding infrastructure. But let's save the show trials for the creeps who OK'd the torture sessions at Abu Ghraib and tarnished our nation. Besides Rumsfeld on trial, the accountability I most want in politics applies to our candidates. But we can't expect party loyalty without something to discipline candidates who sell us out on key Medicare votes and the like. At a minimum, candidates who take money from progressive PACs should sign a pledge to certain core progressive values -- lots of examples abound. We need only look at how well Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, as well as Common Cause on campaign finance, have used broken pledges to exact a price down the line.
Third parties and other structural changes. After an election like this, there will be some percentage of folks who will have "had it" and will be moving to Canada -- or at least claim to be looking into it. If that's you, my suggestion involves getting lots of hugs, because I've been there, I have. I respect your instincts. But really, if you buy the point about winning states, you'll worry less about the future of parties. That said, if you really, really want a third party in your state, at least talk to Dan Cantor of the Working Families Party in New York about how to do it right. If you are into other structural reforms (voter rewards, instant run-off voting, open primaries, or parliamentary politics), know that they aren't my cup of tea. Personally, I'm a public financing, state clean-money kind of guy who likes a dash of fusion. But if your passion fits with taking strategic power for your state, I say good luck.
Message 101: Hope beats fear. I have not been ducking the message question, just warming up to it. First of all, forget the "values" debate -- that's their word, their frame, their Luntzian head game. Are we really as naive as the media? Do you really believe that the Republicans won the "values" game by espousing higher moral principles? By gay-baiting? By saying John Kerry would ban the Bible? By having dusted-off Nixon cronies lie about Kerry's war record? This is values politics? Give me a break. All this election proves is the old adage that "you can't fight something with nothing." We can't beat a fear-based, Republican message with silence. The Kerry campaign failed to articulate a hopeful, national call to action in the post-9/11 era and instead offered vague "plans" under the theme of "not Bush." This is not a moral crisis for the Democrats -- it's just a weak message.
Puritan/parental politics. That doesn't mean we don't need to distinguish between what is always going to be in our platform (abortion rights, gay rights and so on) versus what isn't always a great front-line message for red-state, Puritan descendants who are understandably reeling from Monica Lewinsky's dress, Janet's boob and whatever else is on MTV that day -- and I mean that. I have kids, as do millions of other parent-voters, and we all wish American culture would slow down just a tad. There are plenty of ways to talk about these issues effectively: Go ask Obama.
The perfect message. Guess what? There isn't one. We've got lots of inspiring core beliefs to share, from faith and tolerance in our hearts, to dignified retirement and childhood at home, to girls' education and citizen diplomacy abroad. Whatever we call the New American Dream, we just need to speak from the gut and articulate hope -- and echo it all via the new, collaborative platform for media, entertainment and activism now taking shape. We also need to micro-target, organize and motivate different audiences, in different places, at different paces. This iterative approach can work, especially if we mimic the right on one score: patience. Newt Gingrich, Eddie Mahe, Paul Weyrich and other top conservatives didn't look for one single slogan to win power in an instant or an election cycle; they crafted solid messages, organizing and executing over many years. Let's copy that.
And the war? Well, that's George Bush and Dick Cheney's problem for now. Along with the deficit. But this will be all of our children's mess for the long haul unless we get up and campaign smart.
Get Salon in your mailbox!