Embrace the Base
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| Also listed in: 50 state strategy blog | Crafting our Message | Kicking Ass |
WHO
IS
OUR
BASE?
Click "READ MORE" to find out why its important to embrace the base....
What is a political "base?". By definition, it is not a swing voter - they vote whichever way the wind blows. No, on either side of the aisle the political base of the party is one the opposition tries to define as extreme.
Take a look at the images above. These are patriots. Faithful to our values, and ready to stand up for them in the face of great danger, including wire-taps, arrests, blacklists, and police brutality.
The party base might look a little extreme to some of us in this big tent we call the Democratic Party, but there are important reasons not to think of them this way - doing so has cost us elections in the past, and if we allow insecurity about our association with those the right-wing dubs "radicals," or "the hard-left", then we repel our most important asset: the people who risk life and limb to defend our values here at home. They are the soldiers on our home front - our army of activists.
One thing you will have noticed about the Republican Party: They never disavow their base, because they know they need the base to win and to get out the vote.
Why is this? The reason is that voters can tell when someone is being fake and trying to pander to them. Howard Dean's chairmanship and our renewed grassroots efforts in 2006 brought us great victories. The winning candidates were the ones who communicated their values in a direct and honest way. Voters don't like positioning; they would much rather see an honest and authentic candidate, even if their positions aren't exactly matched. When it comes down to it, we are entrusting this individual to act on our behalf. The way we know how they will perform is by knowing the candidate as a person, not as a set of policy positions.
In the end, if we wish to continue to build on the successes of 2006, the Democratic Party must affirm our believe in our base - we must find ways to communicate our progressive values honestly and with conviction; we must seek new candidates who are not afraid to do this; and most of all, we should not be afraid to let our base speak for us, and we must not apologize for them. They are us and we are them. We are one.
Gotta stick up for the kids, D.--if we democrats don't do that, who will?
Peace,
Barb
Our party can't forget us.
Great Post.
Peace to you,
marsha
All votes must count. Otherwise we are no better than the Republican machine.
The government of Florida or Michigan can not be allowed to dictate terms to political parties, because once the government does that it leads to the government mandating who can run and who cant. When this happens it gets really difficult to convince anyone but republicans that the election was fair, and it inevitably leads to a loss of credibility of the government that forces the choice they want.