2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: And the 2016 Ralph Nader Award Goes to Bernie Sanders - Time.com [View all]Garrett78
(10,721 posts)No progressive economic message is going to overcome those "parochial beliefs and attitudes." Those beliefs and attitudes transcend class interests, and not the other way around. Reverend Barber in North Carolina is probably on the right track.
The Democratic Party's best hope is reaching out to those who never vote, as well as genuine swing voters, but the latter are few and far between (and not easily identified). The vast majority of those who vote Republican are unreachable. Again, I refer you to the article from my last post about rural fundamentalists, who make up a huge percentage of the Republican electorate.
Charles Pierce, following quotes from various Trump supporters, wrote the following: "There literally is no innovative political strategy, and there is no creative policy prescription, that would have convinced that woman to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton. She is so deeply sunk in the mire of misinformation that she never will be pulled out again. Who is it, precisely, that doesn't care about her, and how was that manifested in her daily life? How, precisely, would Donald Trump care about her? The piece is replete with these kind of moments. What should the Democrats do to meet halfway the guy who believes the nation is being "pussified"? What's precisely the political outreach strategy that will bring back a guy who says this?"
We need to keep that in mind.
That said, I absolutely agree that the Democratic Party needs to do much more to transform the narrative regarding the mainstream media.
Gotta run.