Jason Zengerle wrote, "Winning these seats can be hard for Democrats, but winning Twitter is easy."
That may be true, but it's a trivial point. The vastly more important issue is the obscene amounts of money required to run for office.
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I'm all in favor of fighting for every district in every state. It shows the Democrats are going to contest everything everywhere. I think the presidential nominee ought to travel to all 50 states. The coverage is still seen outside of say Alaska or Montana by the rest of the country.
A lot of people want to know that they matter, and a candidate who takes the time to show up says that.
Just don't call a victory "doing better than expected even though we lost." That's akin to a participation award. Learn from it and either run a better candidate or a better race next time. Soon, please, before gerrymandering, cheating, and voter suppression make it impossible.
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A first solution could be for big city folk to move to those electorates, in the hundreds of thousands.
Wow, spend some time following the links to the videos - like "Doors," Mark Kelly and Kim Olson's work.
Stirring stuff, inspirational and worthy of a tear - and a donation, too.
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Just be yourself and run. Any received donations because she is the first contender against McConnell.
And if red states don’t like it to bad. McConnell is blocking all of us from representation and is in breach of his oath of office by sanctioning rule by fiat and standing on the sidelines.
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So these ads didn't ensure a win for Democrats in "deep red" districts. There's a shock. But did they improve the Democratic interest, registration, turn out? Did these candidates do much better than expected in their races? There are many more questions that should be asked.
Should candidates not try to connect with donors and voters and just walk away from the status quo? You might ask Democrats in Orange County, CA, where those Democrats are now the majority. Change doesn't necessarily happen because of one video, it takes time.
I'm just a little tired of story after story about how whatever the subject, the Democrats are doing it wrong.
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@1DCAce
You nailed it.
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Everything that is wrong with the Democratic Party in a nutshell. The money and policies are with the Coasters while the Flyover People are treated as deplorable. The Dems can't even see that they are losing in the rural parts of their own domains, let alone why they can't win in the heartland.
Nothing will change until the party abandon their media obsession and get back to boots on the ground.
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@Daedalus
Yet the rich red donors and Fox News with an overwhelming representation in the senate isn’t enough. You have all your power to the wealthy. It’s their choice now who they support in red states.
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@Daedalus
Why should the Dems prioritize the Heartland & rural areas, as opposed to metropolitan regions, where the majority of the American population lives? The GOP has become a minority party by appealing to those voters you mention & deliberately excluding other demographic groups (racial & religious minorities, young people, women in general & single women in particular, & liberal whites) that together constitute the majority of the population. Unfortunately, GOP voters (especially white evangelicals), being more fanatical, typically turn out, in higher percentages than Dem.-leaning groups, & the Electoral College, partisan districting, & voter suppression cement the GOP's electoral advantage. But that advantage is waning, as shown by the results of the 2018 midterms. Dems should concentrate on voter turnout, not on trying to "win back" a white, male majority that wants to go back to an era when they were in control. Those days are gone.
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In other words - as we have seen in HRC vs Trump - Democrats have much more money.
"...upon further reflection and further understanding of his record,” she would have voted no."
And the prospective candidates exploit donors with emotional affectations without actually meaning much of it. It's all just about the money.
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Except for Bernie and Elizabeth. They mean it. They aren't fake, and the voters know it.
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Conservative Democrats can use the best ideas of conservatives and liberals (progressives), while reputing Trumpism and radicalism. Decent voters and independents need a better choice.
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I guess it’s too much to ask for a politician to be honest about who they are and what they believe in. Instead it’s one message to this group, another message to a different group. It’s deceitful, but the media class loves it because (shocker) they are deceitful people.
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Hiring is broken, as much in politics as elsewhere. When are we (citizens, the media) going to vet political candidates according to the actual job requirements?
You were a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan? Thank you for defending Afghanistan. What experience do you have drafting legislation? If you, gentle reader, needed legislation drafted, quality legislation that would stand up in court, and you were spending your own money, would you hire a pilot? An ironworker? Probably you would hire an experienced attorney, or someone with demonstrated expertise on laws and their effects.
The same applies to officeholders / pols at all levels. I could never run for office because I'd have to sit through hours of dry committee meetings. I can't watch an entire city council meeting, even on cable TV, without falling asleep.
Quit electing people whose skill set is novel for the sake of novelty, or otherwise unrelated to the boring grind of running the government.
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@CantDecide
Quite frankly I have come to the conclusion that the best qualification now for being elected and representing the electorate is not being a republican or libertarian.
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@CantDecide You said it for me. Thank you.
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If we had public funding of campaigns we wouldn't have to worry about this stuff.
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So to boil it all down, Ds running in red districts and red states need to figure out how to tell more convincing lies to their voters.
Appalling.
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Mr. Zengerle writes that M.J. Hegar lives in "a deep-red district in Central Texas." But there is ample evidence that Texas is turning "purple" – particularly in the suburbs. When M.J. began her Congressional campaign against John Carter, he was polling way ahead, but by election day she had closed the gap to 3 points. Zengerle also cautions that in some instances, campaign videos will "lead enthusiastic Democrats to waste money on unwinnable races." But the high voter turnout by Democrats in Texas flipped other U.S. Congressional seats in 2018, and the flexing of that political muscle had a clear impact on Texas state legislators (who recently raised teacher salaries significantly for the first time in years). M.J. is a polished speaker, but it is her policies and her ability to help people find common ground that make her an appealing candidate – both in Texas and nationally. And she is again raising money from small, local donors at a rapid clip. If M.J. Hegar is the Democratic nominee for Senate, and if voter turnout is anything like it was in 2018, her Republican opponent will be in for the fight of his life.
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Great ad--
I can see why this appeals to Dems, and why it doesn't to Reps.
Reps want to feel safe and secure, and value traditional order---and, sadly, a women who flies dangerous missions in the military, then goes to "disrupt" other traditions in the military, violates all three.
I hope Hegar keeps trying---we could use a lot of bravery like hers in this country.
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I guess it makes sense to run ads like this to launch a campaign and communicate with donors to raise money, and then once you've got the money, switch to communicating more directly with voters.
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