Update: 3/27/2022 The crime increase is due to Democrat's soft on crime policy is a bunch of BS given a study that showed 8 out of 10 highest per capita rates occur in states voting for Donald Trump. . Per The Red State Murder Problem – Third Way
- "In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.
- 8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century."
By just focusing on racial issues, they are losing both Democrats and independents because the current concerns on the immediate burner are in particular kitchen table issues. Scarborough hit the nail on the head with the Three C's: COVID, CRIME, COST OF LIVING. This is critical as we come up to the midterms and so far Democrats are relying alone on "we are not Trump" and "our opponent is". It is a question of emphasis and whether Democrats are showing "we care about you" more than the other party. Those issues are the fierce urgency of now with more voters. Democrats need now to give priority to issues shared by both Democrats and independents, urban and suburban voters of all races. Arguing over who is rightfully woke or not is unhelpful in appealing to the broader Democratic base and falls into the divisive GOP trap of CRT. The GOP has seen it as a wedge issue that works. Democrats need to refocus their message on shared concerns. They are preaching to the choir and have already well-positioned themselves working in the interest of civil rights, but they now also need to focus on issues affecting broader constituencies given the fast-approaching midterms. This does not mean dropping vigorous civil and voting rights, but also adding to the message with it impacts everyone regardless of any affiliation. Biden can rightfully tout his bi-partisan agenda success: COVID relief, infrastructure, and Ukraine and that is well worth the appeal to independents and never Trumpers.
These 3 C's are ticklish issues because the GOP touts individual freedom on mask-wearing and anti-vax, Democrats are against the police so blame the recent crime wave on that, and there in unmistakable daily experiencing of inflation, even though jobs and income are up and it is only temporary (not true). Just passing the BBB to offset inflation is now a no starter since that one is dead for now. Instead of solely being defensive (Biden supports better and more police funding, and has his messaging clear). down-ballot candidates need to show what support they would give to solving that problem of inflation, especially the cost of fuel at the pump and dealing with crime in a way that is better and more effective than what the GOP is proposing. " More is not enough; better is also critical? Being defensive is not enough; Democrats should also go on the counterattack.
It is fair game to attack the GOP for dragging out COVID because of catering to those defying common-sense measures, but even Democrats are removing mask mandates, and Democrats have done their part by getting their shots. 60% of Republicans have not and they are the ones in hospitals and dying. A US News study found that counties that voted strongly for Trump also had the highest death rate from COVID. Counties That Voted for Trump Have Higher COVID Death Rates | Healthiest Communities Health News | US NewsThe GOP seemed" they only hurt the ones they love". It is no longer a matter of mandates. It is a matter of personal responsibility, and the victims now are those who followed the GOP advice to be irresponsible to themselves and others.
.On crime. take the Biden approach. Police funding has not been cut, yet urban crime is indeed increased. . He gets that. It may or may not be a COVID thing. What should be done is making it even better policing as well as putting more on the streets with the training of how to defuse violence, crafting anti-no-knock rules, and tightening bonding out "catch and release" practices that release those arrested for violent crimes back onto the streets without bonds as they. await trial. This has racial implications since the ones most hurt by imprisonment, even temporarily awaiting trial, are racial minorities, so focus on those charged with violent offenses which is where fear and safety drives opinions... This is a local by local, by-election-district approach, more than a federal one, except for Feds setting national standards, and criteria for extra funding. It is not much of a rural issue. It is an urban/suburban one.
These 3 C's are mostly urban problems, but that is where the Democrats are vulnerable because threat is where most of their base is.. Fuel costs are very rural issues, too. (Tread lightly on 2nd Amendment issues for the sake of rural voters but cracking down on gun-trafficking are real urban concerns) These issues in time may be old news in a year, but timing is everything and they likely will be still issues of concern in November.
Update 4/19/22: (parts of this posting is included in a 4/19 post: Election integrity means" "Keep your partisan hands off my ballot" Per the publication Colorado Politics, a bill is making it through the state to senate greater election integrity and to make it harder for anyone to mess with the actual paper ballots and tabulations. It passed out of committee. It addresses the issue on which Mesa County Clerk Tima Peters was indicted for criminal acts for giving non staff access to the room where ballots are secured. It would require card access and more than one staffer to accompany anyone entering the secured location. The bill has the word " integrity" in its title. On local issues such as the election of those supervising elections, as a former Clerk and Recorder o Denver and past president of the elections board, , this one is particularly close to my heart. Election integrity means different things to different constituencies. For Republicans, election integrity means put Republicans in control of the rules and compliance and the tabulation. For Democrats, just keep them secure, accessible, independent, with administrators directly accountable to voters and not to a partisan dominated body like a state legislation comprised of politicians who have a self-interested stake int he outcome. Democrats have got a strong hand in appealing to their base and swing voters touting free and fair elections and accusing the GOP of rigging the vote count and ballot access in ways that are so partisan we cannot trust them. Forget the Trumpster voters and go for the Democrats and independents on this issue. Go on the attack. This one is fair game in taking on the likes of Trumpists who want to deprive all but their loyalists of ballot access and control of counting the vote. This one should be: "don't trust the GOP to play it fair" They have a track record on this in ignoring the popular vote, laws, rules, and regulations, and overturning the will of the people) Instead, trust administrators pledged to follow the rules, not to circumvent them, and demand paper ballots electronic tabulators kept secure from tampering in case there is an audit (official or "forensic". . On voter access, a cross-racial/ideological approach would be "GOP wants to make it inconvenient to note, harder for everyone. Convenience affects everyone. While fair and free elections are keys to a democracy, calling the GOP autocrats and anti-Democracy is just too abstract. Having fair and free elections is not just a racial issue; it is everyone's concern. Voters should demand their will is expressed through the ballot box, not distorted, lied about, ignored, and are willing to let the chips fall where they are. Just do not get hung up on who stole what from whom in 2020. Instead, demand proof instead of opinions. (Use "opinions" instead of "conspiracy theories" and no proof with enough evidence has been found the election was stolen. Using "opinion" is less divisive than "conspiracy theory" when appealing to swing voters) Conspiracy theory is a bit derisive of those who think that if there is smoke there must be fire. The opinion is more respectful of those who are on the fence. Focus on how trumpsters want to screw with the term "fairness"., making the process only fair to them and controlled by them, not to or by anyone else. This is a state by state, district by local district approach that should work in swing and blue venues. Ruby red states and election districts have already swallowed the Trumpster cool-aid and see being unfair working to their advantage.
Colorado is a generally blue state with some enclaves of Trump land. Some county clerks, known partisans of Trump in Colorado, have been charged with giving the keys and passwords and hard drive copies of the ballots and tabulators to their partisans. They should be called out as the poster child of abuse and one now wants to run (or ruin) Colorado's gold standard system. Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters announces candidacy for Colorado secretary of state (denverpost.com) They were in violation of laws designed to keep partisan hands-off. Ballot and tabulation machine security procedure is the way to insure they and anyone else are unable to mess with them if and when there is an audit. . "We just can't trust them". Is a possible slogan. Above all, Democrats should support the election reform laws currently put on the back burner in DC. It is fairer for everyone. This is particularly true for Colorado that has an exemplary system in which all ballots cast are paper ballots. How Colorado's Stellar Voting System Was Improved in 2020 (5280.com) " Possible slogan to pin on such abusive clerks : " if it ain't broke, don't break it"
Update 4/19/22 Per publication Colorado Politics:.. "to fortify Colorado's elections against those with "inside access" to harm themSB 153 increases basic security measures, such as requiring 24/7 surveillance and key card access to rooms where election equipment is stored. In any county of more than 100,000, the bill would prohibit any elected official or candidate from having key card access to a room with voting equipment or devices without being accompanied by someone else with authorized access. For smaller counties, the bill sets up a $1 million grant to pay for the round-the-clock surveillance or key card access."
Update: February 17, 2022
There are several lines of attack by the GOP that cannot be ignored and need to be called out as Bull Stuff. in House district races. 1) "Democrats are socialists because they use taxpayer money to support undeserving poor people. " The hypocrisy of those who scream the loudest is astounding. They have their roots in the Southern states who get far more subsidies for their state coffers than they collect and pay back in tax money to the feds. It's the blue states who are subsidizing these red taker states. Remind their constituents what their incumbent candidate voted against, as well. This is what the GOP calls awful socialism child tax credit and early childhood education. and this is what your GOP represented/Senator voted against. 2)To " blame the BBB for inflation is equally amazing since the BBB was never enacted or a penny spent on it and it would have been completely funded by raising taxes on the ultra-rich. 3) When candidates in the GOP cutting ribbons for highway and infrastructure bills take credit for getting the money to their state or districts yet they voted against it, they deserve gold medals for the best performance in hypocrisy.
In Ukraine, the final scene has not played, but a new twist on the old Reagan cold war mantra of "Trust but Verify", is becoming "don't trust but verify"...and diplomacy backed up by economic threats in the wings There are always the American Firsters and isolationists hovering in the background of American politics just as there were in the late 1930's in the lead up to World War II. How did that work out? They forgot history or want us to repeat it with the denial we have economic and defense entanglements with the rest of the world to a much greater extent than the way it was 80 plus years ago. In the face of the Ukraine crisis their voices disconnected from reality are fortunately a small voice. Why is Ukraine important to the US when they are not part of mutual defense NATO. These, by the way, who applauded Trump's attempt to defang NATO's purpose, a trans-Atlantic alliance to defend themselves against an aggressive Russia and to claim the Baltic states were not important enough to defend in spite of their access of ports to the Atlantic. (The only time Article 5 of NATO has been invoked until now was in 9-11 when Europe came to the aid of the US). Russia is trying to pick off non-NATO neighbors and if he pays no penalty for that, he will put his sights on those protected by a hoped for weakened NATO. again, if some others like Trump get back in office. Trump foolishly refused to support Article 5 5, an attack on one member is an attack on all. This Ukraine crisis is due to Russians' naked aggression and Putin's desire to bring back UISSR satellites into the Russian empire, whether they want to be part of it or not. The biggest threat Ukraine is to Russia is not whether they join NATO but that they make Russia look bad with their free-market economy and freer democracy by comparison, per columnist Thomas Friedman. NATO only expands to countries who want to join and, Ukraine had no plans to apply. It defies credibility to believe Ukraine is about to pick a war with the second largest army in the world, Russia's, which is the nonsensical line Putin is feeding his media-controlled citizens. If Putin figured he could weaken NATO and drive a wedge between those more dependent on Russian natural gas, he miscalculated. His plans backfired. NATO has never been so unified since the fall of the Berlin wall thanks to Biden's leadership and Russia's threatened armed and unjustified invasion. Putin's aggression reminded the alliance members of NATO's purpose in the first place...defense against Russian expansion
An unanswered question: Is Putin a rational actor or not? If threats to ruin the Russian economy if they invade seems not to affect his resolve to take over Ukraine. On the irrational side, using his own words Putin believes he will be known by uniting all Slavs under the Russian banner, that breakup of the old USSR and satellites jointing the West, was a national tragedy that he wants to reverse. It is as if the USA decided to march its military into Canada and take it over, divide it, annex it, put quislings in charge, on the pretext that they are culturally the same and speak the same language (Quebec notwithstanding. It is as if he believes in the "manifest destiny" of his beliefs. Simply marching in with overwhelming military force to grab another sovereign country or dividing it into half, separating the Russian speaking part from the Ukranian nationalism of the west half (a most likely outcome) , changing boundaries, annexing a part into Russia, went unchecked before in Georgia and Crimea. No wonder he thinks he can get away with it in Ukraine, but this time he may have miscalculated with the reaction from the NATO allied nations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/19/opinion/democrats-biden-voters.html? Ouch.. A lot of truth in this Maureen Dowd column
to "fortify Colorado's elections against those with "inside access" to harm them,
SB 153 increases basic security measures, such as requiring 24/7 surveillance and key card access to rooms where election equipment is stored. In any county of more than 100,000, the bill would prohibit any elected official or candidate from having key card access to a room with voting equipment or devices without being accompanied by someone else with authorized access. For smaller counties, the bill sets up a $1 million grant to pay for the round-the-clock surveillance or key card access.
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