Last bit of politics
Open letter to the Democratic party:
First off, I know we're hurting but dammit y'all you have got to lay off the comments about the red states being full of redneck, ignorant, racist crackers. Cause that ain't true. Did you look at the numbers in most of the red states? They weren't overwhelming. And there five Democratic governors in the south, if you count West Virginia as part of the south.
Your first mistake was writing off the South. Don't ever do that again. I mean it. The south has been a Democratic stronghold for decades and should be again. But this elitest bullshit about telling people how to live their lives is got to end. Telling people they are stupid for being scared, telling them they are bigots and retards for having faith, you've got to end it.
Secondly, stop putting up candidates that sound good to you. Stop pushing the "moral" issues and start pushing the ones that matter. Tell folks why you'd be better for them. Make them remember all the good things the party's done for them. Tell them about the jobs, about the good times. Remember FDR? Clinton??
Oh yeah, and stop assuming that the black folks are yours. Really, I mean it.
Stop ignoring people of faith. Stop assuming that faith equals stupidity. Go the Liberatarian route. Tell the people that the Republicans want to legislate morality, they want bigger government, they want to break the bank on this country and make the little guy pay for it. Prove that you won't fuck the military given the chance. Prove that you won't raise taxes. Go into the churches and tell people that you won't let their way of life change.
Now I'm not saying give up on the abortion thing and the gay-rights thing. But scale it back, find a new way to talk about it. Emphasize that it's personal choice, that it's about the individual and the Dems support the individual. Paint the other guys as big business, big government, little-guy hating fiends.
Many of my liberal friends here in Tennessee felt their vote didn't count. You'd given up on us. You hardly advertised here, rarely visited and basically left us out in the cold. There's a huge base here for you. There are people who have been Democrats for generations, and yet this time, they voted for the other guy.
Why? Cause they think you don't care. Cause they think you think we're all retarded idiots down here.
I'm not saying that some folks in the south aren't bigoted and biased. I'm not saying that a good number of these little evangelical churches and their believers don't scary the holy shit out of me. I'm not saying you have to cater to them, just stop disregarding their power. Get somebody more personable than Michael Moore to represent us. Find a candidate that talks like a Baptist preacher, like Clinton did. That's comforting down here. Find somebody who'll come down here and embrace the good bits of the South. Hell, while your at it, move the DNC headquarters down here. Come live in Atlanta, or Nashville, or Huntsville. See what it's like, see just how liberal a lot of folks are down here. It might surprise you.
And to my friends in the blue states, I'm sorry. I'm sorry we lost, but the rage and the fuming does no good. Maybe it's that I grew up in the south and I've learned to hold my tongue, maybe it's that I was raised to respect others' beliefs. Whatever it is, I'm used to losing. I'm used to being the most liberal voice in the choir. But you know what? People down here listen to me. They know I'm liberal they respect it. They know I believe differently from them, and they are not shy about telling me I may go to hell for it, but they understand that I'll fight to the death for their right to tell me to go to hell. Because I don't tell them they are stupid, I don't tell them they are wrong, I try to use their beliefs to help justify mine. "Judge not lest ye be judged"
And that's what you need to focus on. Stop telling folks "You're stupid and we know better" and start telling them "You have the right to live the way you want, and we want to help you with that. We want to make sure there's food on your table, that your kids are safe in school, and there's an America to inherit. We don't care who you worship, or who you love, merely that you are safe and happy."
Oh and finally, I know it's a big seller in the northern states, but drop that whole gun control thing. Just wait a while, slow down on the big changes, it took a hundred years for civil rights to happen. It's only been twenty years that we could even talk about being gay without getting stoned. Let it ride a bit, it sucks and it's awful but change does happen, just a tad bit slowly.
Still proud to be a Democrat,
Jane
First off, I know we're hurting but dammit y'all you have got to lay off the comments about the red states being full of redneck, ignorant, racist crackers. Cause that ain't true. Did you look at the numbers in most of the red states? They weren't overwhelming. And there five Democratic governors in the south, if you count West Virginia as part of the south.
Your first mistake was writing off the South. Don't ever do that again. I mean it. The south has been a Democratic stronghold for decades and should be again. But this elitest bullshit about telling people how to live their lives is got to end. Telling people they are stupid for being scared, telling them they are bigots and retards for having faith, you've got to end it.
Secondly, stop putting up candidates that sound good to you. Stop pushing the "moral" issues and start pushing the ones that matter. Tell folks why you'd be better for them. Make them remember all the good things the party's done for them. Tell them about the jobs, about the good times. Remember FDR? Clinton??
Oh yeah, and stop assuming that the black folks are yours. Really, I mean it.
Stop ignoring people of faith. Stop assuming that faith equals stupidity. Go the Liberatarian route. Tell the people that the Republicans want to legislate morality, they want bigger government, they want to break the bank on this country and make the little guy pay for it. Prove that you won't fuck the military given the chance. Prove that you won't raise taxes. Go into the churches and tell people that you won't let their way of life change.
Now I'm not saying give up on the abortion thing and the gay-rights thing. But scale it back, find a new way to talk about it. Emphasize that it's personal choice, that it's about the individual and the Dems support the individual. Paint the other guys as big business, big government, little-guy hating fiends.
Many of my liberal friends here in Tennessee felt their vote didn't count. You'd given up on us. You hardly advertised here, rarely visited and basically left us out in the cold. There's a huge base here for you. There are people who have been Democrats for generations, and yet this time, they voted for the other guy.
Why? Cause they think you don't care. Cause they think you think we're all retarded idiots down here.
I'm not saying that some folks in the south aren't bigoted and biased. I'm not saying that a good number of these little evangelical churches and their believers don't scary the holy shit out of me. I'm not saying you have to cater to them, just stop disregarding their power. Get somebody more personable than Michael Moore to represent us. Find a candidate that talks like a Baptist preacher, like Clinton did. That's comforting down here. Find somebody who'll come down here and embrace the good bits of the South. Hell, while your at it, move the DNC headquarters down here. Come live in Atlanta, or Nashville, or Huntsville. See what it's like, see just how liberal a lot of folks are down here. It might surprise you.
And to my friends in the blue states, I'm sorry. I'm sorry we lost, but the rage and the fuming does no good. Maybe it's that I grew up in the south and I've learned to hold my tongue, maybe it's that I was raised to respect others' beliefs. Whatever it is, I'm used to losing. I'm used to being the most liberal voice in the choir. But you know what? People down here listen to me. They know I'm liberal they respect it. They know I believe differently from them, and they are not shy about telling me I may go to hell for it, but they understand that I'll fight to the death for their right to tell me to go to hell. Because I don't tell them they are stupid, I don't tell them they are wrong, I try to use their beliefs to help justify mine. "Judge not lest ye be judged"
And that's what you need to focus on. Stop telling folks "You're stupid and we know better" and start telling them "You have the right to live the way you want, and we want to help you with that. We want to make sure there's food on your table, that your kids are safe in school, and there's an America to inherit. We don't care who you worship, or who you love, merely that you are safe and happy."
Oh and finally, I know it's a big seller in the northern states, but drop that whole gun control thing. Just wait a while, slow down on the big changes, it took a hundred years for civil rights to happen. It's only been twenty years that we could even talk about being gay without getting stoned. Let it ride a bit, it sucks and it's awful but change does happen, just a tad bit slowly.
Still proud to be a Democrat,
Jane