The one thing Democrats can learn from Republicans.
Our 2020 victory has changed the country & the world. Celebrate that success.
Another week, and once again I am looking at table full of angsty commentary where various pols and pundits opine on what Joe Biden must do to fix the Democrats’ message. It seems a foregone conclusion amongst our great political thinkers that all is lost- the GOP will prevail, and darkness will fall across the land. According to Politico, focus groups of high information Democrats show that we are “defined by our disgust.”
Clearly, we are not paying attention. The relentless negativity, pessimism, and overall orneriness is not only unwarranted. It is also terrible politics.
Democrats might take a page from the other guys
If a Republican President saw nearly 8 million jobs created in his first year and a half the entire GOP apparatus would be crowing about how great things are. They would be throwing parties and inviting everyone to the celebration. They would be using the good news to explain away inflation, calling it a product of the pandemic but now just a reflection of the tight job market and wages going up.
If a Republican President oversaw a successful vaccination program that ended a pandemic, they would widely claim the mantle of good-for-the-country leaders who get things done so the rest of us can get on with our lives.
If a Republic President passed an infrastructure bill, you can bet social media would be full of picture of bridges that were going to be fixed, roads that were going to be repaired, schools that were going to be built, along with graphics about job creation.
If a Republican President oversaw the uniting of a global coalition to protect a country invaded by Russia, the grateful GOP would be loudly talking about a Nobel Prize.
And, let’s be honest, the Republicans would be having a blast- partying on about all the victories they’ve won. And who doesn’t like a good party?
Well, apparently many Democrats don’t because we are trapped in a gloomy hall of mirrors where everywhere we look, we see disaster.
Let me remind you what your 2020 vote for Democrats meant for America and the world:
We defanged COVID. It’s still here, but it is no longer the terrifying deadly disease. Since Biden was elected more than 219 million Americans became fully vaccinated.
Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan that got people through the pandemic and kickstarted economic growth.
Biden has cancelled $55.6M in student debt and is getting ready to cancel more.
To address supply chain problems, Biden negotiated an agreement to open California ports 24-7 to relieve bottlenecks.
We have shrunk the deficit and
are on track this year to have its biggest reduction in US History.
We returned to the Paris Climate Accord
We ended our forever War in Afghanistan,
We passed an infrastructure bill that will renew our roads, bridges, water supply, internet, and mass transit.
We put Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court
Literally, your vote for Democrats in 2020 saved NATO, saved Ukraine, and kept the flame of democracy alive in much of Europe.
Just in terms of good government, Biden started to post white house visitor logs again- a practice the former president had ended
Oh- and he released his tax returns.
You vote did that. Your vote replaced thugs like Mike Pompeo with serious and talented people like Antony Blinken. And that’s just Washington. Democratic Governors are move us forward in state after state despite some really nasty opposition.
Let’s be clear, none of it, none, would have happened if the Republicans stayed in power. Instead, well, just look at Florida: Book bans. Children encouraged to report their parents and teachers to authorities for being sympathetic to the kinds of people the government wants to demonize. The power of government used to blackmail companies into supporting their policies and financing their campaigns. An end to abortion rights. A regime that continues to lie and to suppress votes.
I am proud of the work we did to save our country in 2020. I am proud of the progress we are making every day. Do we have a lot of hard work still to do? You bet. But it is work I am eager to do, in part because I know we have the talent, the creativity, the energy, and the will to get the job done.
We have earned the right to be optimistic. We are good, decent people doing important things. Let’s leave the finger-pointing, the ranting, and the rage to the unhinged folks on the other side. Tell everyone who will listen, beginning with the person you see in the mirror, that we saved the democracy, that we are making people’s lives better, that we are once again leading the world, and that if we have to whip the autocrats on the right to keep doing it, well bring it on.
And, guess what? We are a lot more likely to attract voters if we stop whining and start embracing, enjoying, and talking about our wins.