Here’s a fresh take on the Democratic party by Simon Rosenberg, veteran political strategist, grassroots guru, and author of the substack Hopium Chronicles. Hopium is what detractors accused Simon of smoking before the midterms proved that his astute optimism about Democratic election wins was, in fact, warranted.
We defied history in 2022, challenging the myth of the Red wave and producing one of the best midterm elections of a party in power in all of American history. How did we do it? What can we do to make it happen again in 2024?
In 2022, we flexed organizational muscle that our opponents lacked. We worked hard with our phone and text banks, postcard and letter writing, canvassing where possible, and anything else that spread our message. Our grassroots donations gave us a ~5:1 cash advantage and bought many more ads for our candidates and causes. The results made history in an election that was supposed to dishearten us and reveal our weaknesses.
A cautionary lesson, however – grassroots activism helped defeat the Red wave in the 2022 midterms, but only in battleground states where our message rang loud and clear. The take-home? When we can control the narrative, we can make gains. When we don’t, we fall back.
SO LET’S CLOSE THE LOUDNESS GAP IN 2024! There is a global information war being waged by oligarchs who are committed to replacing democracy with authoritarianism. MAGA negativity and noise pollution show which side they favor. And so far, MAGA has outdone us in negative messaging with false narratives and media bullying. If we fight the battle on their turf, we will lose.
Simon advises that we GO POSITIVE and GET LOUD! We have great news to spread; we have to GO BIG to crush MAGA. Through grassroots power and positive messaging, we can consign MAGA to the dustbin of history.
Therefore this year, we should add the following to our arsenal–
- Get Democrats into positive territory on economic news. Our numbers are great, and too few are touting them. This is an information deficit that we can fix. Spread the word every way you can – personal contacts, social media, Letters to the Editor, whatever route you can think of. Usual grassroots activities, e.g., postcards, also can spread the positive economic message.
- Expand our coalition to 55% – grow our majority to WIN BIG. Our margins of victory have been growing. In the midterms, we saw high numbers like 59% in CO, 57% in PA, and 55% in MI. In 2023, Judge Janet won big in WI, a battleground state, with 55%. So register new voters, persuade the persuadable, and recruit to expand our majority!
- Claim “political real estate” available to us due to MAGA extremism. Example: Democrat Donna Deegan is running for mayor in Jacksonville, the largest city in FL. While this is Ron DeSantis’s home turf, the city runs blue. Taking the city out from under Ron’s nose is not only doable, it makes a statement. Donate to Donna’s campaign here:
To hear more on this topic, visit Simon Rosenberg’s substack Hopium Chronicles. And thank you for helping to save our Democracy with your grassroots activism!